Tank Problems

[lmpb17]

So ill start out with some history. My little sister asked for fish for Christmas so without doing any research I bought her two red cap orandas and one of those 2 gallon-everything included tanks. I got into the hobby and when my fish started acting weird I did a little bit of research. I invested in a 20 gallon tank with a bio-wheel 150 filter, heater, and air pump. I started doing a fishless cycle on this tank but my fish were really looking bad. Then one of them died so I put the other one in to the new tank without completing the cycle. Within a day it was doing much better. My sister noticed that one was missing so I bought her a new one so that she doesnt get upset (shes only 5). When I bought the new one I also bought a pleco and a clown loach. The fish were doing great, the water looked good (I was doing weekly water changes), so I bought some more fish. I added 2 fancy guppies, 2 plants, an angelfish, and a ryukin goldfish. One of the guppies died the next day but besides that the tank was good for a couple of weeks.

Within the past 2 weeks I have had some serious issues. 1. I had a large algae boom. Its mostly in the middle of my tank and a lot of the rocks are covered in that area. 2. My fish are acting strangely. They aren't eating and keep to spots in the tanks. Both the red caps have died along with another guppy. Before the guppy died it attacked the original red cap (which was also the largest fish in the tank at about 1.5 inches). Now the angelfish has been attacking the ryukin and at times the pleco. The angelfish is the only one eating besides the ryukin. I have a feeling the other guppy is going to die soon and the ryukin seems really stressed because of the attacks. What could be causing all this?
These are my water readings:
0 ppm Nitrites
6.0 pH (This has been the biggest water issue for me I have been adding pH up weekly but it always returns to 6.0-6.2)
1 ppm Nitrate
20 ppm Ammonia

Advice would really be appreciated.

 

[julioarca]

I think most obviously the ammonia is causing this, this level should be 0, are you sure your tank is fully cycled?

 

[Colin_T]

I am guessing the ammonia and nitrate reading are meant to be the other way around, ie: ammonia 1ppm and nitrate 20ppm.

Goldfish and tropicals don't really do that well together. Goldfish and guppies prefer neutral to slightly alkaline water (PH above 7.0).
If you add some shells or limestone to the tank then the PH should be a bit more stabile and stay closer to 7.
If the algae is like a green slime that covers everything then it is probably blue green algae (CYanobacter bacteria) and is often caused by excess nutrients and low oxygen levels and poor water movement. It happens when fish stop feeding and the food rots on the bottom and feeds the bacteria. then you get this blue green slime covering everything really fast.
Try doing daily partial water changes and gravel cleans for a couple fo weeks. his will dilute the nutrients and remove most of the blue green algae.

 

[Davo86]

Also should add that the tanksize is too small for the Clown loach (these shouldn't be kept alone), Angel fish and most likely the pleco too

 

[lmpb17]

Thanks for the replies.. Yea the ammonia and nitrate numbers are switched around... How should I clean the rocks? Should I take them out?

Oh and would ammonia levels really make the angelfish fight the others?

 

[Corleone]

It might. 1 ppm is very high (My rule of thumb: 0=good, >0=bad, 0.25=immediate concern, 0.5=panic). Any ammonia level would cause stress, which can cause behavior changes.

If your tank is processing ammonia and nitrite, but there's still ammonia buildup, it's possible the filter is overwhelmed and can't keep up. What's the tank's full stock right now?

 

[Colin_T]

Get a gravel cleaner to clean the gunk out of the gravel. You can make one out of a plastic cool drink bottle and some hose. Cut the bottom off the bottle and stick the hose in the top of it. Put the bottle in the tank and suck the water out the hose. When the water is draining out of the hose, push the bottle into the gravel and lift it up. The gravel will circulate in the bottle before dropping back down and the gunk will be drawn up and out with some of the water.

If you reduce the feeding you will reduce the ammonia being produced.

 

[lmpb17]

1 fancy guppy (1 inch)
1 pleco (about 2 inches)
1 ryukin goldfish (1 inch)
1 angelfish (1 inch)
2 plants (1 anubias nana and 1 banana plant)

Should I do water changes every other day to assist the filter for now?

Get a gravel cleaner to clean the gunk out of the gravel. You can make one out of a plastic cool drink bottle and some hose. Cut the bottom off the bottle and stick the hose in the top of it. Put the bottle in the tank and suck the water out the hose. When the water is draining out of the hose, push the bottle into the gravel and lift it up. The gravel will circulate in the bottle before dropping back down and the gunk will be drawn up and out with some of the water.

If you reduce the feeding you will reduce the ammonia being produced.

I have a self-starting syphon (its not really self starting, you have to put it under the water and pump up and down). It picks up the rocks and they circulate but it doesn't clean the algae at all, it just takes out the gunk from under the rocks. By the way I forgot to add that I have added algaefix 2 times (every 3rd day) but its only slowed down the algae growth.