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New Member
Group: Forum Members
Last Login: 12/13/2008 12:27:32 AM
Posts: 14,
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I just bought a 55G tank and I went to set it up the other night. I brought 20 kg coarse-ish natural gravel/sand because I want to add about 5 Kuhli loaches and 5 Corydoras catfish. I added the gravel and filled it up but the gravel has made the water murky and grey. I added 5 White Cloud minnows and 2 Goldfish and turned the heaters and the filter on and left it going over night and hoped it would settle over night. It didn't. I did a 50% water change in the morning and left it. Came back this arvo and it hadn't improved at all. I've taken out the fish and removed the majority of the water.I know it's the gravel causing the problem because when I stir it up it worsens the murkiness. Please help!!
6 Gallon Freshwater
-4 Male Rosy Barbs
-1 Female Long-finned Rosy Barb
-1 Algae Eater
-Leopard Molly
20 Gallon Freshwater
-2 Axolotl
-2 Platies
-2 Guppies
-3 White Cloud Minnow
2 Gallon Freshwater
-1 Betta
-2 White Cloud Minnow
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Senior Member
Group: Forum Members
Last Login: Today @ 7:04:50 PM
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Most gravels and sands need to be washed liberally before adding them to the tank to remove any dust and dirt that's accumulated in the bags. You may simply have to do several (3-4) very large (75-100%) water changes over the next couple of days to get rid of all the dust. It's much easier to do if you rinse the gravel and sand before you put it in the tank. You just drop it in a bucket, set a hose to run in it, and stir the gravel every now and then. After a while, the water will begin to run clear, and the gravel is cleaned.
About your setup, you know you shouldn't keep goldfish with any species of tropical fish, right? Goldfish are coldwater species, and should not be kept in a heated tank, and aside from the minnows, the other fish would probably not survive long at the colder temps the goldfish prefer.
Also, have you looked into cycling the tank? If it hasn't been cycled, then you should look through the pinned topics on cycling in this forum. Cycling gets the biological processes running in the aquarium so that it can break down any wastes the fish create. If the tank is not cycled before adding fish, then you will end up needing to do large water changes very often to make sure that the levels of ammonia, nitrite, and nitrates are not harmful to your fish.
You should also make sure the water temperature is where it should be and is stable, and the filter is running as it should before you add any fish. The shock of being added into a cold aquarium can be enough to kill many fish.
If you have any questions about this or anything else, feel free to ask, and we'll help as best we can!
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10g Heavily Planted - Betta, Cory's, Oto's
20L - Kuhli Loaches, Banjo Cat, Singapore Flower Shrimp, Thick-Lipped Gourami pair
125g Planted - South American Biotope - with a reticulated stingray!!!
20H - Breeding Angelfish
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Junior Member
Group: Forum Members
Last Login: 1/1/2009 5:59:14 AM
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| A bit off topic but.. your goldfish and corydoras have much different temperature requirements. Goldies prefer it cold (under 73 degrees F) while corys like it warm (above 74 degrees f) Not very good tankmates. I put my gravel in a cheap kitchen strainer and run the hose through that before putting it in the tank.
--Fisher
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Senior Member
Group: Forum Members
Last Login: Today @ 9:15:16 AM
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Sand can be very problematic to get clean. It needs to be rinsed thoroughly several times in order to remove the microscopic mineral particles that will not sink to the bottom. The tank will also need to be left undisturbed for a couple of days after introducing any kind of special substrate like sand, earth, or laterite - don't run the filter for a while and don't put in any fish. This will allow smaller particles (most should be gone through your laborous rinsing) to sink into the larger grains and become stable.
In the Mountains Of the Mountains For the Mountains
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New Member
Group: Forum Members
Last Login: 12/13/2008 12:27:32 AM
Posts: 14,
Visits: 26
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Yes, I do actually realise that, believe or not  I'm not as incompetent as you might think. Thanks the help anyway
6 Gallon Freshwater
-4 Male Rosy Barbs
-1 Female Long-finned Rosy Barb
-1 Algae Eater
-Leopard Molly
20 Gallon Freshwater
-2 Axolotl
-2 Platies
-2 Guppies
-3 White Cloud Minnow
2 Gallon Freshwater
-1 Betta
-2 White Cloud Minnow
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Senior Member
Group: Forum Members
Last Login: Today @ 9:15:16 AM
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There's no need to get defensive; we're just trying to help. A lot of people actually don't know that it's not a good idea to mix goldies and tropicals. Actually, I didn't mention before but I think it's great that you're making the effort to prepare the tank well for your bottom-dwellers, which was the whole reason for the post. So don't worry, nobody is calling you incompetent or anything like that. We're just making sure that we put the best information out there.
In the Mountains Of the Mountains For the Mountains
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New Member
Group: Forum Members
Last Login: 12/13/2008 12:27:32 AM
Posts: 14,
Visits: 26
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Yeah sorry about the outburst I was just having a really crap day. Thanks for the help again and I hope you accept my apologies.
6 Gallon Freshwater
-4 Male Rosy Barbs
-1 Female Long-finned Rosy Barb
-1 Algae Eater
-Leopard Molly
20 Gallon Freshwater
-2 Axolotl
-2 Platies
-2 Guppies
-3 White Cloud Minnow
2 Gallon Freshwater
-1 Betta
-2 White Cloud Minnow
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Starting Member
Group: Forum Members
Last Login: Today @ 7:58:47 PM
Posts: 104,
Visits: 2,862
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I keep an old household plastic sieve for washing my gravel. Works wonders.
There comes a time in your life when you realize So, don't worry about the people from your past, There is a reason why they didn't make it to your future.
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