14 gallon small fish tank

Hello, everyone. I have been working on freshwater/cichlid tanks for about two years. I've had my problems, and I've worked through them, but this one's got me and it's probably simple. In my 14gallon tank, I have artificial plants and decorations with an Aqueon 20 filter. The fish are all small guys, several cardinal tetras, 3 endlers livebearers and three glow fish. This tank was set up during Christmas 2010. Now, all of a sudden about a month ago, this brown, hairy looking, very slimy substance I can only believe is algae is taking over my tank. Even after water changes (with r/o water). And picking and scrubbing it off, it's still there and keeps getting worse. Tank parameters don't give me lots of info, ammonia 0, nitrites 0, nitrates 20 (problem there) and phosphates at 20 (problem there, too?). I placed both a nitrate and a phosphate pad in the filter, but since the filter's so small the usefulness may not be too great. They are crammed in there. My critters do not seem to be hurt by it yet, but they may eventually happen if I can't get the under control. And, I'm not the chemical type unless there's no other option. Can you give me some suggestions, please?:;purplefish

 

I had a algae prob once, I bought some led lights and it fixed that right up. led's are bad at growing plants, and algae is a plant.

other than that what kind of lights are you using? how long do you have them on?

 

Lights are standard fluorescent that are used on the cheap tank kits. They are on 8-10 hours a day and have been for a year and a half. Think upgrading the lights a bit would change the picture? Not willing to go LED at this point, too expensive for what they are and I would never find anything to fit this small hood. Don't want to fiddle too much with this tank. I have never had a dead critter in this tank since I got it Christmas of 2010. Not one. "don't mess with Mother Nature.

 

I would cut the time you have the lights on to 6-8 hours. that should help. extra water changes and manual removal will also help.

if you change your mind here are some cheap led lights $40.

 

ok. well, the manual removal doesn't seemed to help as I couldn't get a grip on the slimy stuff. any safe snails to put in there? those are some awesome LED lights and reasonable, but i'm not sure. do they sit on top of the tank? I only have about 4-5 inches to play with where the old lights are. the rest is tank hood and I have to have hoods on all my tanks due to 6 cats. need I say more? I will lower the amount of time the lights are on and that will drop one of my cichlid tanks lights, too, but i'm sure it won't hurt them (they are on the same timer).

 

Lowering the length the lights are on should help.

I don't have these led's so can't say how they fit for sure. I think 5in would be enough, if you need a lid you would have to buy a glass one Prob $15.

Yes you can add nerit snails, prob spelled that wrong. Tiger blood, zebra snails would be great choices. But they can only help so much.

 

I placed both a nitrate and a phosphate pad in the filter,

What exactly are these? Are they specifically to remove nitrates and phosphates?

Why are you using RO water? I've heard of people having problems with that, but it might not have been algae.

 

I would agree RO water is not recommended. RO water is to pure if that makes sense, you would need to add to many things to this water that the fish need. I'm not sure it causes algae though. the best way to remove nitrate and phos is through lots of water changes.

 

I use conditioned tap water mixed with r/o for my 2 fresh tanks, and strictly conditioned tap for the 2 cichlid tanks. I should have made that clearer. I am assuming that a glass lid for this little tank would already be cut for filter and heater? I'm sorry, I've never looked at them before so I'm in a bit of the dark. I admit that I wanted a new filter anyway, but was trying to make sure I didn't lose any of my little guys when I did it. It was the cheap filter that came with the kit and, it's larger version, for a 20 gallon tank I put in later I traded for a Marineland 350 HOB. Much, much better!

Btw, we have water so hard here that you could shoot a '44 through a glass of it and it will only sustain a dent!

 

the glass top dosnt actually cover the whole top. there is a plastic piece that covers the back. so you can cut out a area for whatever you want.

 

What exactly are these? Are they specifically to remove nitrates and phosphates?

Please respond re your nitrate and phosphate pads.

 

to my tests and then backups at the fish store, ammonia 0, nitrite 0, nitrate about 15, and phosphates around 20. Working on thos higher readings. Didn't have them when this problem began according to my journal. Everything was 0, except nitrates were 25 but phosphates were only 10. After a water change that day, all levels were 0 except nitrates went down to 10 but phosphates remained approximately the same at 10. And I'm sorry LyndaB that I didn't answer your question about the filter pads. Honestly, I didn't see the question. My apologies.

Oh, forgot to describe the filter pads for LyndaB. They are a chemically treated pad that is usually placed in conjunction with your standard filter media or instead of if your situation is bad. The pads come approximately 14"x14". Cut what you need mine ran from $14-$16 a pad regardless which kind it was. Can be used salt or fresh. I think I got it all right now.

 

Oh, forgot to describe the filter pads for LyndaB.

It's not the first time I've been ignored and I'm fairly certain it won't be the last.

Personally, I don't think it's good pratice to start using voodoo (chemically treated pads) in a filter. It seems the more "stuff" people add to their tanks, the worse their issues.

 

yeah, I agree. i'm very careful what goes in my tanks, so other than Prime water conditioner and the pads only when needed, I try not to put anything "unnatural" in there. the pads are not working in this instance anyway. I will try to get over to Petsmart, Petco or PetSupermarket to get a couple of snails and try that after I clean the tank this week. I will probably clean it twice because I am going to be out of town for a full week. those 3 pet stores are the only ones I know of that sells freshwater. I have a reef tank I began about 6 weeks ago and to get anything for it, I go to the lfs but they are not particularly helpful although all the do is salt. all their livestock is captured so I usually drive an hour in heavy traffic to get to a very nice shop, large, all reef, that will not sell you anything you do not need. a lot of the livestock is captive bred. got two pretty 1"percula clowns that they bred upstairs. wish I could get a freshwater lfs like the reef one. anyway, thanks for the help with my 14 gallon. i'd sure hate to lose it and it is really nasty.

Since I am leaving town in 4days, I'm doing the "express" version of getting the algae problem solved. I am going to buy a new bulb for the current hood, look at the glass hoods and LED lighting, and look at filters that would be a definite step up from what I've got and that would fit the glass hood. I did some more reading last night and the article I read said to get a couple of Amano shrimp to help with this. Any ideas? I can get snails, shrimps or just about anything else that won't hurt my little guys, but that may help. My two little granddaughters, ages 9 and 7 spent 45 minutes standing on their toes using a mag float and their hands, trying to get the stuff off the plastic plants, walls and decor. See, I have a lot of help. Tomorrow, I will clean the tank and change the filter again, just did it last Friday, but the girls stirred up so much gunk. I will try to get to the lfs tomorrow or Thursday. What do you guys think of the Amano shrimp or snail option, along with a new (temporary) bulb for the short term? BTW, I feed once a day except on Saturday, once a week some frozen brine or daphnia, and the rest of the week spirulina, tropical flakes, and freeze dried Mysis. Obviously, each on a different day, wanted no confusion there. And a reminder that the tank and occupants (most of them) have been together since I set it up Christmas 2010. Closest problem like this was diatoms after initially cycling. Anyway, I ramble. Thanks for the help.

 

that all sounds fine, amano shrimp are best at eating algae but red cherry shrimp also eat algae. good luck!

 

Ok. Will go to lfs tomorrow and get a new bulb and a couple of Amano or red cherry shrimp. I just hope the tank holds out until I get back and can implement the rest of the items. I'm kinda partial to this tank. Thanks. Anything else you can think of, let me know.

Went to the lfs actually, went to two and they had none of the above mentioned shrimp, so I had to leave for my trip with only a new lightbulb. I'm sitting next to a heated pool and worrying. Guess that's what you do when you love your fish.

 

check out Aquabid or BST section here for your shrimps.

From my experience, LFS usually sells the shrimp at a higher price.

 

I ordered my cherry shrimp form dr fosters and smith, live aquaria. I had 3 deaths and one shortly after, so order more than you want you'll prob loose 25% of them. just call them up and let them know how many have died and thell put it right back on you credit card.

 

Check the buy/sell/trade section here to purchase shrimp. Not sure what harpua might have for sale. She carries just about everything.

 

Returned from trip to an absolutely horrible looking tank. After a year and a half, I can't figure out how this happened. It looks like I will have to break it down and pray my little guys will be ok. It's gone far beyond what I think a couple of Amano shrimp can handle. The driftwood has brown mucousy hair and inch and a half to two inches long and you can't even recognize the silk plants I just put in there a month ago.

 

I'm very sorry to hear about your tank.

you can break it down if you want. I really can imagine doing that myself, but its your call. are you levels ok? ammonia, nitrite, nitrate if so I would try blacking out the tank. iv heard of people leaving the lights off for a couple days to kill off algae. some flourish excel can also help. do as many water changes as you can over the next couple of days/weeks tell your tank is back to normal.

 

Thanks. I have blacked out the tank, and will pull everything out tomorrow and scrub it with a weak bleach solution, then put it all in a bucket with dechlorinator. The driftwood I will sand down and dry outside (won't take long-this is Florida) then reassemble carefully. I will do a water change first, then another before I reassemble. I will have to be so careful when putting everything back not to hurt my little guys or stress them a lot. Does anyone have any other suggestions, comments, etc?

 

are you taking the gravel out? if so I would move the fish to something else until your done.

 

no, I will leave the gravel and fish and just vacuum the heck out of the gravel three or four times before I reassemble. I will turn the lights back on so I don't set a plant in the gravel with a neon tetra under it. all told, the lights will probably be out about 4 days or so.

thanks, bankruptjojo, for the confidence.

 

just glad if end up helping at all hope it works out.

 

Well, I removed everything, including one neon I apparently killed. My first loss in this tank. I vacuumed out so much stuff that the siphon clogged up twice. I will definitely have to vacuum again once or twice before I reassemble. I ordered a new filter, three times the strength of the little one as it is so covered in algae, I don't know how the water gets in, but it does. I changed an absolutely horrible filter media. Ball deco was bleached for one hour, then scrubbed with a toothbrush. They sat in 2 gallons of clean water with Prime in it. They are now drying but I am not going to reassemble until the driftwood is ready. My poor little guys look so lost. I'm anxious to get it back the way it was initially.

update. I will vacuum again today and change the filter media, sand the driftwood and turn on the lights to the tank while I reassemble. just hope I don't kill another one of my little guys. the new filter and heater are on their way, so I will attack the ones in the tank with a toothbrush again before I vacuum. with luck (and my daughter doesn't call me), I will have my rainforest back tonight.

Update: it wasn't until today that I was able to get it all done. I sanded the driftwood, and someone suggested a hydrogen peroxide bath, then rinsed well and put in a bucket of Prime for an hour or so. Meanwhile, I scrubbed the heater and filter intake with the toothbrush after turning on the lights, and scraped the glass with a credit card. A 50% water change with thorough vacuuming, then put in the driftwood and other deco, plastic and silk plants, and it's done. My little guys look so happy. I won't completely be until in the morning when the lights come on and I do a count to make sure everybody is there. Next week, I will get a Pleco to chew on the driftwood. I'm so glad that's finished (I hope).

 

good to hear, are you going to post some pics for us?

 

I think cuting back the light will help a lot. I would go with 4 hours a day.

Roger