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I have a 45 gallon tank and I'm not good with percentages. If I take out 3 gallons of water and add back the 3 gallons of water is that enough of a water change or should it be more like 4 or 5 gallons. I ran out of water tests and need to get some more today, but this morning my tiger barb was fine eating normal and swimming around then like 5 minutes ago it went belly up and was dead.

My tank has been set up for well over 6 months and I'm at a loss especially since my bala shark is still alive. Also my water is still cloudy am I doing something wrong? I have a fluval 204 filter on it but don't have a sponge in it should I add that to it for better filtration?

Hi,
In case no one has told you yet, welcome to Fish Profiles!

With a 45 gallon tank, a 10% water change would be 4.5 or
4 and a half gallons. A 20% water change would be twice
that or 9 gallons.

There are probably a few things going on in the tank at the
same time. What are you using for test kits and what
are you adding to the water to eliminate the chlorine
and chloramine?

What did your tiger barb look like before it died?
Did it look like this:
http://animal-world.com/encyclo/fresh/cyprinids/tigerbarb.php
Or, were the colors "washed out" or faint. Did it have
anything on it, like grains of salt, or a white cloudy
cottony film?

What is the substrate (gravel) in the tank and when was
the last time you vacuum cleaned it? What do you use to
vacuum the gravel with?

Of course we are going to need the results of a water test.
What are the values for" pH, GH, KH, Ammonia, Nitrite, and
Nitrate? What temperature is the water kept at?

How are you performing your water changes and at what
interval? How big is the shark?

Sorry for all the questions, but the clues as to what is
wrong are in the answers.

Frank


-->>> The Confidence of Amateurs, is the Envy of Professionals <<<--

I have an ammonia test kit a 6in1 test strip, well had I need to get more tests. I use ammo lock for the ammonia, and tried accu clear a while back to clear up my water with no luck.

The fish was still fully colored, he looked the same as he did the day we bought him, no dull spots and no ick or other spots, and his fins looked fine and not nipped up. He was the red tiger barb and still had the pretty red glow when he bellied up.

I had regular black gravel, but I haven't vacuumed it yet. I have rocks and plants in there that take up most of the space and am afraid of uprooting the plants if I try and vacuum the gravel.

I need to get more test to find out what the ph and everything else is.

I change the water every two weeks with RO water, and the water temp is 77* And the shark is only 2.5-3 inches long

cloudy water usealy mean bad water qulity......... what fish are in the tank??????

I had a dozen guppies until my husband bout me a tiger barb and bala shark. The barb ate all but 2 guppies. Then today my barb bellied up and I don't know why. So that leaves me with 2 guppies and the bala.

Hi,
Hummm,
The white cloudy water is the result of a bacteria bloom.
This generally occurs as a result of over feeding and
lack of proper aquarium maintenance.

Barbs should be kept in schools of 5 or more and when
kept that way they are less inclined to pester or nip
at the other fish in the tank as they are too busy
establishing their place in the shoal.
Barbs are not a terrifically hardy fish and with poor water
quality and and infrequent water changes it may have been
overcome by the poor quality tank.

If you can afford a better test kit, I would strongly
suggest you switch to one of the liquid kits such as
Aquarium Pharmaceuticals (API).
http://www.drsfostersmith.com/product/prod_display.cfm?c=3578+4345+4454&pcatid=4454

Test strips, while very inexpensive, are notorious for
giving false results. They are strongly, negatively,
affected by age, exposure to moisture, and light.

When feeding, you and your "helpers" should know that a
fish's stomach is no bigger than its eye. The old adage
of never feeding more than what is eaten in a minute or so,
or only feeding enough so that none of the food survives
long enough to hit the bottom is good advice. Feeding
twice a day, very small amounts, is better than a bunch
right after the light comes on.

The color of the gravel was not important, but the maintenance
of the tank is. When changing the water, probably weekly,
you should look at the tank as a whole and mentally section
off the non-planted parts of the tank into four sections.
Then, with each water change, vacuum a different section
of the tank. That way, over a month, you will have cleaned
the entire non-planted tank. Ideally, you want the
Ammonia and Nitrite to be zero (your .25 is about right
when using the water conditioner that you are), and the
Nitrate should be zero to a max of 5 or 10 (depending upon
the amount of live plants are in the tank). Lots of plants,
allow the nitrate to read around 10. A token one or two
the tank should have a nitrate reading of zero.
You get that reading by frequent water changes, and regular
gravel and filter cleaning.

Exclusive use of RO water is not a good idea. RO water
contains none of the minerals that the fish and plants need.
Over time with consistent changes using only RO or Distilled
water will completely fill the tank with it and the fish
as well as plants will begin to suffer. For instance,
we all need some salt in our diets, its adding the additional
that is a bad idea, using what nature provides in the
construction of the plants and foods that we eat is
sufficient for good health. Doing away with any salt and
all foods that are virtually salt free will upset our
metabolism and interfere with the cell walls and water flow
across those walls in our bodies. The fish need the
Magnesium, sodium, and other elements that are naturally
found in water for the correct balance of their bodies.
RO or Distilled water alone won't provide it. If you are
trying to adjust something such as the GH or even pH by the
use of the RO water, you should mix the RO water with the
regular tap water to dilute the tap water.

BTW, that shark can, over time grow to be 13 inches long!

I hope this helps some...
Frank


-->>> The Confidence of Amateurs, is the Envy of Professionals <<<--

and to add on to the shark gets 13 inches it is a schooling fish and really need 100s of gallons to be truly happy.....