Please help me i really need help

[Mice]

i have a 10 gallon tank with 3 orandas they pretty much are obsesed with each other i dont really know why my tank turns green so fast and often. i put in a new filter and i ahve a small filter too i still dont know why. Is it because of the sun hitting hit give me some replys please! thanks!

[grnlemonade]

sounds overstocked but thats a different issue. yes if you have direct sunlight hitting the water, it is causing the algae bloom making the water turn green. if there is a way, try to keep the tank out of direct sunlight.

[t_chelle16]

Actually, the overstocking could be part of the problem because one of the contributing factors to algae is high nitrAtes.

How big are the goldfish? Do you have plans to get a bigger tank any time soon? What are your readings for ammonia, nitrIte, and nitrAte? How long do you leave the tank light on?

-Chelle

[Mice]

my one oranda is about 3 inches he is pretty big and the other two are about 1 or 1.5 inches. But i'll tell u they are seriously really healthy in that tank and i've had them in there for a pretty long time. I am looking into about getting a new/bigger tank for christmas. i need to know if i should get an algae eater too. but then i hope that it will be too crouded

[Mice]

oh yeah sorry i forgot to tell u how long i have my light on for ehhhhh maybe 12 hours i turn it off when i got to bed and turn it on when i wake up.

[Mice]

after you are done helping me with all of that can someone tell me why my bigger oranda lost some color on his "WEN" the big wart like thing that all orandas grow on their forheads. It was mostly black and now it just has like a specle of black left i dont know what happend?

[t_chelle16]

How often and how large are your water changes? What filter do you have? How long have you had them? Are those lengths including the tails? Goldfish (even the fancy ones) get pretty big (like 6" w/o the tail) and keeping that many in a 10 gallon could be stunting their growth which will lead to all kinds of health problems and premature death.

You really need test kits for ammonia, nitrIte, and nitrAte. With your tank as overstocked as it is, I'm guessing those are all out of whack. Any amount of ammonia or nitrIte in the water will start to poison fish. And it's possible that the loss of color on your one fish could be a sign of stress due to poor water quality.

In the mean time, try only leaving the light on for 8 hours a day, get those test kits and post the results here, do NOT get a pleco (they're really not that great for eating algae and are extremely messy so it would most likely make the problem worse), and start saving up for at least a 45 gallon tank if you want to keep all 3 goldfish healthy.

[Mice]

i know what you mean T_michelle but i sort of have to keep the fish like i can't get a new tank and seperate them because i'm babysitting for my brother while he is in college. But i'm getting some money(40$) soon so i could look into getting some things at the petstore. any suggestions?

And to tell you the truth i really dont think that my fish is depressed or stressed out he/she is so active its unbelievable i would think that he/she would be at the bottom or less swimming and stuff if they were depressed or stressed like you say Chelle.And my friend has goldfish too and he said that my fish looks really happy. I might eliminate one of the smaller ones in my tank for a little while and see what goes on. Thanks.

-Mice

[t_chelle16]

You really have no idea how well they are really doing until you know what those readings for ammonia, nitrIte, and nitrAte are.

Again . . .
How often and how large are your water changes? What filter do you have? How long have you had them? Are those lengths including the tails?

-Chelle

[Mice]

yeah i'm not goign to argue with you but i think that my fish will be fine together because if you go to the petstore there are about 3 gallons of water with like 4 fish of 7 inches and you dont see them dieing. I have the Aquatech 10-20 gallon power filter. I'm going to check the pH tonight. but when i go to the petstore i'm ganna look for nitrate nitrite and ammonia testers for sure.

[Mice]

i change the water every week or two and about 30%-40% water changes. sometimes less. what should be the pH level when i do the testings do you know by any chance?

[t_chelle16]

You really can't compare a home aquarium to LFS aquariums. Many LFS's have a central filtration system with a big sump which links all the tanks and greatly increases the volume/fish. Plus those fish are not there long term.

Anyway, as far as pH goes, as long as it's somewhere between 6 and 8 and it's stable, it's fine.

-Chelle

[Mice]

yeah i didn't have enough money today when i went to the pet store i'm an idiot i know... but i got a pH balancer type thing and new filter cartriges. I also got "Algae Destroyer" tablets that you drop in the water and algae goes away in a day or two.

[t_chelle16]

You should have spent your money on the test kits instead of all that junk.

Chemical pH adjusters are some of the worst things you can put in your tank. They have a tendency to only work for a short time, then the pH goes back to where it was. Those fluctuations can cause a lot of stress. Plus, goldfish are pretty adaptable to pH as long as it's not really extreme. What is your pH? Were you having problems with it fluctuating?

You should never change your filter cartridge unless it is absolutely falling apart. When you throw out your old filter cartridge, you are throwing away all your beneficial bacteria and the tank will have to cycle again which means exposing the fish to very high (possibly permanantly damaging or even fatal) levels of ammonia & nitrIte. If the filter pad is dirty, just rinse it out in a bucket of old tank water when you're doing a water change.

Again, you should try to avoid adding chemicals to the tank unless absolutely necessary. Those algae tabs will not solve the underlying cause of the algae. Like I said before, with that many fish in that small of a tank, chances are your nitrAtes are through the roof and that's part of the algae problem. Of course you don't know just how bad your nitrAtes are because you didn't get the test. But if they are high, getting them back down to safe levels should take care of the algae. And the only way to do that is by doing a buch of water changes. But again (you may not think it's a big deal, but it really is) with that many fish in that small of a tank, it probably isn't practical/possible to do enough water changes to keep the nitrAtes at a safe level. And that is why you need a bigger tank, not just a bunch of chemical bandaids to try to cover up the problem.

If you haven't opened any of those packages yet, return them and get the test kits.

-Chelle

[Mice]

alright this is awesome i scrubbed my tank like crazy tonight (no soap trust me i'm not stupid haha) and filled it up and i twas still a lil dirty and i let teh filter run for a little while and i come back to my room and litterally my eyes poped out i was so excited to acually see the other side of the tank lol. well chelle can u post what ever i should do to prevent algae/nasty color to my fish tank thanks!! a lot oh yeah chelle do you know how to tell if they are stressed out or unhappy or what ever. is it true if their fins are droopy they are like upset or what ever. all of my fish have straight up fins. but um idk this is weird i didn't really believe him but my friend said that his dad told him that if the top fin i forget what it is called has a different spot of color at the tip of it on the top it means its healthy i dont know (idk) but thanks a bunch.

[t_chelle16]

The best way to ensure that they are truely healthy is to get those test kits and to test your water. And the best way to prevent algae (green algae anyway) is to make sure you don't have too much light and your nitrAtes aren't too high (which you need those test kits for).

-Chelle

[Mice]

Yeah, thanks a lot chelle i got my paycheck today so i'll get a test kit sometime soon