JillFlorio

A reader writes in about her overcrowded tank…here’s what to do:

My 10 gallon tank has mollys, guppies, neons, 1 Black Moor,and 1 plocostomus. They all get along great and always have. Just today I added 4 glo-lite fish to pick up the color and added some live fern I got from Petco. Now most of my fish are not swimming around in the tank but staying at the top of the water and hanging out in groups at the top of the water? I hope that I haven’t done something wrong by adding the plant life and the new fish. Do you know what could be wrong? Could my tank be over populated? I don’t think so but I really don’t understand this behavior. If you have any ideas, please share them with me. Thank you soooo much, Jennifer (name changed)

Your Fish might need a bit more room

Hi Jennifer! Thanks for writing. The reason your fish are in trouble is there are too many living creatures in a ten-gallon tank. The rule is, allow one gallon of water for every inch of adult-size of each fish…you’d need a much bigger tank, or several tanks, for the community you describe. It sounds like your fish have been in a barely-okay sort of balance, since there were getting along fine. The glo-lite additions quickly tipped the “scales” (pun intended) in the direction of pollution. Your fish, basically, can no longer breathe. So they are hanging out at the top, where there’s more O2 diffusing into the water.

Also, a Black Moor is a type of goldfish, and for his best health, should not be living with your tropical community fish. Just because one can ‘get by’, doesn’t mean he is happy. He requires a different set of living conditions, different temperatures, food, etc. Also, he is a dirtier fish and creates more wastes and a stronger filter. Please see the articles on goldfish elsewhere in this topic.

I recommend this:

1. Use your ten-gallon tank for your Black Moor (Goldfish actually need 3.5 gallons of water per inch of adult size fish…he will eventually need a bigger tank - he can grow to be a foot long all by himself).

2. Then get at least a 20 gallon tank for everybody else. 30 gallons is better. Make sure you have a good filter. Don’t add any more fish to that community!

3. Keep the fern plant in with the goldfish, who will appreciate the added O2 bonus it adds to the water. You can add plants to your bigger fish community, too, although some fake plants are usually easier until you get the hang of caring for aquatic plants(again, see article on aquatic plant care). Silk plants look very nice, not plastic-y at all. Petco or PetSmart can help with this. PLants will help make your smaller fish feel more secure pyschologically as well.

4. Tell me some more about your set-up, and I can try to help you out specifically. How often do you change your water, how do you do it, what kind of water conditioner do you use, do you test your pH, how are your algal levels? You know not to do entire water changes, right? Partial ones will keep them from going into shock.

Good luck! And get your Black Moor outta the comunity, first thing you do!

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Browse these products to help you set up a great tank!

When you go on vacation, your fish will still be at home, waiting for your return. Here’s how to make sure they survive until you get back.

• Clean your tank
  It’s a pretty good idea to do a nice, big water change the day before you leave. If you’ve been reading my articles, you have probably clued in that I think water changes are THE healthiest thing you can ever do for your fish! A 25% or larger water change will ensure you have lower concentrations of ammonia and nitrites, cleaner gravel and less bio waste in your tank. No matter what else, this alone will ensure the healthiest environment you can provide while you are gone. For a betta in a non-cycled tank, of course do a 100% water change.
• Change your filter
  While a water change will do most of the work in creating a healthy environment while you are gone, consider a filter change if it’s almost time to do change it anyway.
• Turn the light off
  Unless you have live plants in your tank that need the photons, the fish will appreciate a respite from the bright lights they are normally subjected to when you are home.
• Feed your fish
  Do NOT overfeed in anticipation of your absence. While there is a big tempation to dump the food in, you will only make your fishes bloated, sick and possibly constipated. Overfeeding does no fish any favors. Just do a regular feeding and say goodbye.
• Don’t tell a neighbor to feed your fish while you are gone
  Unless you have a fish-knowing friend or neighbor, chances are your well-intentioned care giver will overfeed and probably kill your fish. Unless you plan to be gone for more than 4-5 days, your fish will survive a nice, healthy fast period.
• If you will be gone a week or more
  I don’t like those feeder blocks - they really just pollute the water. Use them if you have a bottom feeder - one block only. For other fish, either use a mechanical feeder, or find that fish-knowing friend to help out.

These steps will help you see your fish alive and well on the day of your return!

This product promotes itself as a fast cure for ich and other parasites, and from my experience it is a very effective treatment. I can’t vouch for its claim to cure ich in two days in all cases, but it is a rather fast-working product. I like that this product is not as harsh a treatment as the wide-spectrum antibiotic preparations that people too often use for fish diseases. While it seems natural to reach for strong microbials when your fish are sick, it can stress out your fish even more, making things worse. QuICK Cure cures ich without resorting to antibiotics.

As with all ich treatment regimes, this works better if you raise the aquarium temperatures and keep the hood lights off. That will help speed along the ich parasite’s life cycle and keeps your fish in a quiet healing state.

Other caveats - you have to remove the carbon from your aquarium filters before adding the treatment drops, or it won’t work at all.

You will need to use the smaller recommended dose with tetras. Thin-skinned fishes, like the catfishes, botias and loaches must actually be removed, since the malachite green in the medication is too readily absorbed and is toxic to them.

QuICK Cure comes in a small dropper squeezy container. A 4 oz bottle treats thousands of gallons, which is a lot of ich. In other words, this one product should last your lifetime! Remember not to over-treat; use only the amount recommended per gallon. This product will turn your water blue and will dye anything else it touches. Be careful not to let this stuff touch you too much, since formalin is a cancer-causing agent.

If you have a big ich infestation, I recommend using this medication. Make sure to use it correctly, of course! For a small ich outbreak, you might want to just try high temps, no lights and massive water changes first.

If you are using tap water, which I recommend over distilled or bottled water for your tank, you will need to use a dechlorinator each time you add or change water in your fish tank.

If you don’t have dechlorinator, you can just let your water sit out overnight to allow chlorine fumes to disperse. But it’s just so much easier to use a water conditioner/dechlorinator that everyone should have a bottle in their fish kit.

If you have chloramines in your municipal water (ask your local fish shop to be sure), you will also need to use a product that breaks apart the bonds of chloramines. Some dechlorinators have this feature, and some do not. My reviews will be helpful to you in this regard.

Ideally, you should use a dechlorinator that also promotes the growth of a healthy slime coat, adds electrolytes to the water and neutralizes heavy metals. You can use this kind of all-purpose product whenever you add or change water, add new fish or toys, or if your fish are experiencing any stressful conditions.

Since all you need is a drop per gallon, bottled dechlorinator products last a good long time. Remember that a little dechlorinator goes a long, long way and do not overdose. Dechlorinators are non-toxic, but you never should add additional chemicals to your aquarium water if you don’t have to, since it increases the ionic load (ie - makes it harder for fish to breathe).

Here are links to my reviews of different dechlorinators on the market. I will add more reviews as I test different products:

NovAqua Conditioner and Protector
I like that this does more than just dechlorinate. NovAqua calls its product a “bandage in a bottle” for fresh and salt water fishes, pond fish and invertebrates.

AquaSafe Water Conditioner
The ergonomic bottle has a squeeze top and a cap, has a narrow profile, and adds both slime coat additive and dechlorinator/heavy metal neutralizer. The product also eliminates chloramines.

Ammo Lock 2
This product handles a lot of tasks at once, which is nice, but the main point is that the product breaks up Ammonia bonds to help make your tank water safer for existant communites.

This simple primer will help you choose the right foods, supplements and treats for your fish.

Quality Basic fish food should have all the nutrients needed for fish diets, as long as the right kind of food is provided for each type of fish. Tropical fish, bettas, goldfish, cichlids, bottom feeders and marine fish all need different proportions of meat, veggie and vitamin components. As long as you provide the right food for your fish, this basic diet will lead to healthy fishes.

You should consider the basic food choice, whether flakes, pellets, tablets, wafers or granules, your fish’s primary diet. You can also add supplements and treats to this diet. Fish do seem to like a treat of two, even if they are picky about their staple food.

Supplements could include algae wafers for goldfish and Oscars, dried shrimps for most cichlids, calcium blocks for bottom feeders to lick, spirulina for tropicals and color-enhancing granules (for anyone). These specialty foods can be fed every three days or so to provide a little dietary variety, and perhaps a few vitamins overlooked in your basic food product.

Treats are fun to give your fish from time to time, but as with all fish feeding, be careful not to overdo it. Remember that your fish can become sick or die if fed too much.

That being said, it’s a great thing to provide fun fish treats like brineshrimp for bettas, lettuce for goldfish, bloodworms for cichlids and homegrown live guppies/danios/goldies to almost all bigger fish. Fish seem to especially enjoy treat time and it’s a nice way to interact with your pets. My bettas and cichlids beg for food in general, but they literally wiggle and dance with joy when I break out the live foods and other yummy fish treats.

Related Information
Goldfish Swim Bladders - live food is best
A reader asks what to do for a fancy goldfish with swim bladder problems, and when to start feeding live foods.

Aquarium Product Review - Top Fin Freeze-Dried Bloodworms
These little bloodworm treats are fun to keep around to supplement the diet of your fishy pets. It’s important to keep a few treats on hand to make sure your fish get a variety of nutrients and trace minerals.

Comparing Betta Fish Foods
A quick comparison of some popular betta fish food. And a word of caution about the “Peace Lily Betta Death Vase”.

Buy Hikari Betta Bio Gold Pellets from Amazon

How often to feed your aquarium fish is a controversial subject. Some say to feed once a day, and some recommend many small daily feedings. Who is correct?

I have two pamphlets that include basic fish feeding information - one from Tetra and one from Wardley. Both recommend at least three feedings daily, in small, easily digestible amounts. Tetra says to feed flakes no more than the space it takes to fill up a dime, three times daily. They say, “A dime for every 10 gallons or 10 fish.” Wardley, on the other hand, suggests to pinch in as much food as it takes your fish to eat in five minutes each time.

While I respect the opinions of both Tetra and Wardley, it is my understanding they are in the business of selling fish food. Naturally they will recommend several daily feedings. Personally, I feel this is unnecessary and creates a higher bioload in your tank and greater work for your filters.

In the wild, fish do forage and graze continually, every day. When food is plentiful, they eat themselves sick - much like your pet fish will do at home. However, there will be days when wild fish do not find any food at all, or it is not safe for them to go looking, due to hunting predators. Fish can certainly handle a bit of a fast - for days, if necessary. As a cold-blooded species, fish lack the continous need for glucose that mammals possess.

I feed my own fish once a day, and enough food that they can “clear the table” in about five minutes. I also do a fasting day once a week, and sometimes give them an entire weekend fast if I plan to be out of town. My fish are healthy and never have swim bladder problems, or constipation. They are not fat, nor skinny. For my fish, this feeding schedule is just right.

You can, of course, feed your fish the recommeded 3-4 times a day, provided you are VERY SPARING in your feedings. When Tetra says “no more than a dime,” they do mean it. Overfeeding is one of the most common causes of fish death, starting with a constipated fish, leading to GI tract problems and resulting in a weakened swim bladder.

You can read all about real people’s fish problems, challenges, treatments and creative solutions at the BellaOnline Fish Forum.

Comparing Betta Fish Foods
A quick comparison of some popular Betta fish food. And a word of caution about the “Peace Lily Betta Death Vase”.

Ick Clear from Tank Buddies
The effervescent action of these fizzing tablets lets you know that they’re immediately going to work to clear ick from the tank within 24 hours.
Tank Buddies Fungus Clear from Jungle Labs
The effervescent action of these fizzing tablets lets you know they’re immediately going to work to clear up a wide range fungus.
Tank Buddies Parasite Clear from Jungle Labs
The effervescent action of these fizzing tablets lets you know that Parasite Clear is immediately going to work to treat parasitic infections.