Goldfish tank - is disgusting...?

Question:

The water in the goldfish tank (2 goldfish in a 29 gallon tank) was disgusting. I haven't given it a good cleaning in a while now, so I cleaned the filter (leaving a little bit of gunk in there for beneficial bacteria), cleaned a scoopfull of pebbles, changed about 1/3 - 1/2 of the water, cleaned the algae off the walls of the tank, cleaned the algae off of the artificial plants and decor, put in water clearer, and algae destroyer. It's even more grosser than it was before I cleaned it!!! I turned off the lamp also and put a blanket over the tank so no light could come in. It's so gross I can't even find the fish!!! In a few weeks I'm gonna be putting in a couple live plants. What could I do to get the tank clean?! I did some of that in my tropical tank because it wasn't that bad, in fact it was pretty clean but it had lots of algae so I cleaned the algae. The tropical one is fine but the goldfish... it's horrible!!!

2 months ago

Answer Of Internet:

It sounds like you've disturbed the equilibrium in the tank, and this is likely what caused what you're seeing.

pets injuries



Regular -- and more frequent -- maintenance can help you to avoid this problem in the future. Vacuum the gravel at least every two weeks, and do 10-15% water changes once per week. Vacuuming the gravel will reduce the amount of fish mulm buildup, which in turn will remove the nutrients upon which the algae feed. Disturbing the gravel no doubt released much decaying material into the water.

As for what to do: let the material settle to the bottom, and vacuum it up. This will take a while, but will eventually remove the majority of it. Try not to change too much of the water at once, as well. I'm not a fan of anti-algae chemicals: algae is a sign of an imbalance in the tank.

As a side note: your goldfish may eat the live plants you put in. They may not, but most goldfish do.
2 months ago


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