Waste Floats Around After Gravel Clean

[adpgt]

I just cleaned my tank with a gravel vacuum( the one with a hand pump). During the cleaning, a lot of the waste didn't go in the tube and is now floating around the tank. I also sucked out about 35% of the water. So, what should I do at this point?

Also, how long do I have before I have to add new water in it? What do I have to buy to condition it?

 

[gilaesther]

You need to buy tap water conditioner. A lot of people recommend Prime because you only need a little of it, so a bottle can last a while. You can get it on Amazon for less than in a store.

Also, after removing water, you add back water right away. You should be changing some water at least once a week. As for the gravel cleaning, how often you do that, I don't remember. I have sand, so it's a little different.

 

[adpgt]

ok. So is it alright if I don't replace the water for a couple more hours?

I only cleaned half of the gravel in the tank because the water in the tank was getting low.

 

[gilaesther]

If you have any tap water conditioner, maybe a free sample from the tank or something, I would use it to put fresh water in immediately.

Here's the real question - what size is your tank, and what do you have it stocked with? If you're understocked may be able to get away with the lower water level for a little bit. Do not remove any more water until you can add some more.

If you have no water conditioner at all, you should go to your local pets store or any other store that may have fish supplies (I.e. Walmart) and buy some. Get whatever brand they have, because you need it immediately.

How long have you had the tank running, and when was the last time you gravel cleaned?

 

[adpgt]

Just put the water in

tank is 55 gallon.

Fish:
2 Balas (both about 6 inches each(
2 Glofish
1 common pleco
And then 4 other fish that I do not know of.

Gravel has never been cleaned. It's been set up for about 1.5 years. I am so glad I cleaned some of the gravel today. But when I cleaned it, it didn't seem that dirty. But then again, I only cleaned half of it.

Would you happen to know why the water looks cleaner now? I only cleaned half the gravel. Why would the water look more crystal clear? Isn't the waste only in the gravel?

Any other tips?

 

[LucyB]

Have you got any bogwood in your tank? It can leak tannins and make the water a yellow/brown colour

 

[adpgt]

No

 

[Electric Warrior]

Any other tips?

Yeah, try to rehome the bala sharks. Your tank is WAAAAY too small for them and it will just cause you a lot of headache later. The Glofish are basically danios, so they need to be in groups of 6-8+, otherwise they will be very timid and shy, and will end up bullied and/or stressed until the point of death. You also should find out what the other mystery fish are, so if you can post a picture here, people can help you identify them.

 

[gilaesther]

How often do you change the water?

 

[adpgt]

I have one of these:

I have one of these ( I had 2 but 1 died with a bent spine):

I have two of these:

Sorry for the lack of quality in the pics.

How often do you change the water?

First time today. The gravel vacuum forced me to do it. I should start changing it now more often.

 

[fluttermoth]

The first one is a long finned black widow tetra, the second one is a three spot gourami and the last two are albino black widows

 

[adpgt]

Thank!

Are these four fish plus the other five mentioned above good in my tank?

 

[PrairieSunflower]

I have two simple vaccumes for cleaning my tank. One is the very narrow sort, does awesome cleaning the gravel without taking out too much water. I use that one twice a week to clean the gravel so its minimal what ends up floating around afterwards. After that, I have a wide mouthed vaccume (also the simple syphon sort) which I use mostly for draining water, but I do so by hovering it over the gravel and it sucks up the majority of any debris that had been left disturbed. Seems to be quite effective.

 

[fluttermoth]

Thank!

Are these four fish plus the other five mentioned above good in my tank?

Temperament-wise they're ok, although three spot gourmais can be very aggressive.

It's the bala sharks and the common plec that are your real problem; both those species get too big for a 55g tank.

 

[adpgt]

The gouramai has just been sitting in the back of the tank ever since the over gourami died.

I was told to get a pleco because I was having brown build up on the side of the glass (algae). What should I do now?