1.) my aquatic plants' leaves ( i think they are elodea or somthing like that) are becoming stringy.they fall off and the entire plant dies. this happens to every leaf. what's happening and is there anyway to prevent it?
2.) i think i have high ammonia levels in my tank (my guppies' gills are really red) however i'm not sure how to reduce it. do you have any tips or medicine/liquid that helps reduce it? any certain brand?
3.) do you know any good way to do a full clean up on a tank without putting more stress to the fish? i'm really scared because the last time i tried i managed to kill off most of them.
thanks for your help
Answers:
In regards to the plants, it sounds like you have inadequate light levels. Elodea is usually pretty robust. What kind of light do you have? There are many brands of aquarium plant food. Ask your local fish store. You can add a bit to the tank as well and that will help. But do NOT use normal plant food. That will kill everything. Is your tank heated? I assume it is since you have guppies. Keeping it between 74-78 will also help.
High ammonia levels are really bad as you know. Do you know about the nitrogen cycle? Basically what happens is that fish produce ammonia when they pee. Ammonia has to be converted by bacteria to nitrites (still toxic, but not so much) and those nitrites are eventually converted to nitrates. Nitrates are pretty much non-toxic, especially when compared to the other two. It takes several weeks (maybe 6) to build up enough bacteria in your tank to deal with the ammonia produced by the fish. The best way to "cycle the tank", that is get good bacteria in the tank is to just have plants in the tank and add a bit of fish food every day. Test the water each day and eventually you see an ammonia spike followed by a nitrtie spike. See www.wetwebmedia.com for more information.
However, since you have fish in the tank, you already have a problem. You need to do 30% water changes everyday until the ammonia level comes done. You also need to make sure your tank isn't overstocked. For guppies, I would say that you don't want more than 10-15 in a 10 gallon tank (at most). I'm pretty conservative on that number. Some people would say more are okay. You also need to get a good filter.
There are some products like "cycle" that help your tank get good bacteria in it. Some people say they work and some don't.
Aquarium maintance: Once your tank doens't have an ammonia spike, you should test your water every week for ammonia, nitrites and nitrates. You need to change enough water each week to keep these levels low (ammonia and nitrites should be at zero). When you change water, I typically change about 10%, I have a syphon to pull the water out (you can also use a new plastic bucket) and add in new water. Be sure the water has been treated for chlorine (just add a bit of declorination solution to the water before adding it, read the package). You also might want to get a gravel vacuum if you have gravel on the bottom. Add water nearly the same temperature a the tank water.
But for now, do 30% water changes daily until ammonia and nititrites go to zero. If there is algea on the glass, either use a paper towel to scrape it off or get a scraper at the aquarium store. Be sure your hands are clean (no soap, no loation) before you put them in the tank. Most guppies are pretty curious so this shouldn't scare them badly. I wouldn't use any chemical algae killer because those can be dangerous.
Read www.wetwebmedia.com for a lot more informaiton. Good luck!
Catherine
PS -- sorry about typos and mispellings. Spell check isn't working.
some times if u chenge the water in the tank the plants have got use to te water so when u change it keep some old wter and then put fresh water in the tank and the old water
i can't think of the propper term for the fish, but get some of those bottom feeders that suck the walls of the tank. they will clean your plants too.
check your filters too. if they are bad, everything in the tank will die.
you can also take the plants out of the tank and clean them in room temp. water, but be very gentle with them!!
Well for your plants get a bottle of liquid iron. This is like plant vitamans, they really help the plants fight for life. And for a way to clean the tank you use the python and clean the gravel. Also clean the filter pads or whatever type of filters you have. When you have the tank filled back up you should add some Stress Coat, this will neutralize the chlorine and all other harmful chemical and help the fish survive. You should use this after every watrer change. ANd do a water change every week or every other week. If you have any other question feel free to ask.
i don't know what kind of plant you have -- different plants are different. its best to study up before buying plants. most go through a die off stage because their home has been radically readjusted and plants are usually treated horribly at the pet shop.
before buying plants do some research on them -- here is the best site i have found --
http://www.plantgeek.net/
its best to never do full tank changes -- do 25% every couple of days. if you have to but never all at once.
weekly i do the following --
1) remove decorations (other than live plants) and wash them with really hot tap water.
2) wipe down the sides of the aquarium on the inside with paper towels
3) gravel vacuum until 20-25% of the water is gone.
4) rinse off the filter cartridge in dirty water
5) replace the water and decorations and restart the filter.
if you do 20% water changes every 2-3 days for a week or two your ammonia should drop drastically and not cause added stress on anyone else.
It sounds your plant and fish problem are related. Elodia /anacarius is a hard plant to kill. This plant does not like temps over 75 degrees if you have your heater set on 80+ the plant could be dieing and poluting the water for the fish.Also many medications will kill plants. I would remove all the decaying plants and do a 30 % water change. If you have an out side filter run it to get any remaining plant material out of the tank
25% water change with a gravel vac. Wait at least 24 hours, then do a second. If you need to do a third, wait at least 48 hours. Too much at once is deadly.
