Seeking advice please

[dsmith]

First of all Hi!
I am kind of new at this site so dont take my first instance as being a amature at cleaning a tank. I am not to happy with pet land right now so here is my story. I went away for a weekend I usually clean my tank on saterday. I bought weekend feeders and asked the professionals at pet land what I should do about my regular maintanence I am going to miss over the weekend. They told me it would be ok to skip my cleaning untill I got back home. When I got home the weekend feeders had not fully dissolved. One of my fish had died over the weekend and 2 of my fish had gotten clout eye. I went to pet land and told them I had a buildup of the weekend feeder and fish waist on the bottom of the tank and that some of my fish had developed eye clout. They told me to use Melafix to treat the clout eye and to get rid of the waist use a double dose of B clear to disolve the fish waist build up. I did so and the water ended up a bit cloudy. I maid a huge mistake and thought it would clear by morning. I fed the fish and then went to bed. When I woke up at about 5 in the morning the next day all my fish were dead except my 2 bronse catfish and my fairly large pleco. I had 13 fish dead and flowting in my tank and it was completely cloudy due to the deaths and looked almost a milky colour. I also added this dosage to my bottom tank and now my amonia levels are sky high. and my ph is sitting at 7.4 I really dont want to loose another tank of fish and I have a pleco and 2 bronze catfish that are sitting in a very small temparary tank. My other tank has 3 bleading hearts that are not that big(inch each), 1 guppy 1 inch, 2 neon tetris, striped danios, and 3 tiny red fish ( less than half to an inch long) as well as a supstaintial sized pleco about 5 inches.
Questions
1. Can I but my other pleco (5 inches) and my 2 bronze catfish in my other tank. and what do I do with my plecos that have now outgrown my current 10 gallon tanks.
Sorry its so long but I tried to be specific.
Water conditions
in the one tank I have fish left in.
is 7.4 for ph and amonia off the scale couldn't tell you the number sorry.

Please I'm asking for advice and not for flaming. All advice and suggestions will be well heard.

 

[Phantom Thief]

Ouch, what a long post! No offence, but could you use paragraphs?

OK, how big is are all the tanks? If you cant keep it, best you trade it in at the lfs to get another smaller fish instead.

P.T.

 

[kent]

I'm not an expert in this kind of situations but first of all, I would have cleaned my tank before going away... But now that it's too late... But for your question, I think it would be OK to put pleco and catfish in your 10 gallon in the meantime until your water on your other tank stabilize. Also, how big is your other tank? Well, all I can say is do constant water change until ammonia and nitrites goes down then you can transfer them back. I dont think this helps but good luck

 

[dsmith]

Both tanks are 10 gals, gravel bottoms, no driftwood and no live plants.

As for paragraphs sorry about that one...

 

[kent]

10 gallons? well, i see overstocking might be one of the reasons for the deaths of your fishes.. I wouldnt be surprised to know that your ammonia is really high the fact that you have kept 13 fishes in a 10 gallon tank. i may be wrong but that's what i think.

 

[Phantom Thief]

I agree with kent, he is probably right. And a pleco will definitely not fit in a 10 gallon, unless it is a bristlenose.

P.T.

 

[dsmith]

I was told from the local fish store that is was a common sailfin pleco.

 

[Zanne]

Common pleco will get too big for a tank that size (10 gal). You may want to try returning them to the LFS and get some oto's or small cory cats instead.

I used weekend feeders on my vacation (9 days) and there was some residue left when I returned. I simply picked up the larger pieces and then used a gravel washer to suck out the remaining residue.

Good luck!

 

[Jae1525]

When I go away I leave perfectly sized little baggies of food on the side of my aquarium stand so my sister can feed my fish without overfeeding them!!
I make sure the water is in 110% pristine condidtion 2.

My first port of call would be to buy a bigger tank, a much bigger tank if you wanna keep that plec! And invest in a decent external filter such as a fluval 304/404 or an Eheim Professional 2224.
Aquarium Superstore (UK)

If you cant afford an new tank and filter I think its only fair if you take the plec to your lfs before it gets any bigger.