Phosphate problems

I have no idea what the K is on my twisty bulb. The light is very yellow. I have to half my cheato every month.
 
Bifferwine said:
Too many fish. Your tank is stocked with double the number of fish it should be. And overstocking is the one factor you have refused to address.
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Sarah , I do know now that my tank is well overstocked , my fish are pets and all have names which my granddaughter gave to them , apart from buying a larger tank and start again is there no other answer , am I to suffer high phosphate for ever ? Or get rid of 50% of my fish
 
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I would personally get rid of half the fish. I understand that you are attached to them, but they need more space. If the granddaughter asks just tell her they had to go on to a bigger home, and that they needed more space.

Try and find her favorites. Upgrades are always nice too ;)
 
algy1943 said:
Sarah , I do know now that my tank is well overstocked , my fish are pets and all have names which my granddaughter gave to them , apart from buying a larger tank and start again is there no other answer , am I to suffer high phosphate for ever ? Or get rid of 50% of my fish
Click to expand...

You know, I think this is a great learning opportunity for your granddaughter. You guys can sit down together, read up on the various fish and what their needs are, and then work to find them new homes with the right sized tanks that will meet their requirements. I think if she is part of the process and is assured that her pets will go to good homes where they will be well cared for, then she learns a valuable lesson about fishkeeping and pet keeping in general - and while she might be sad for a few hours after the fish leaves, kids are pretty resilient and she'll find something else of interest soon enough! At this point, I think that is a better option then starting to lose the fish because they die from chronic phosphate exposure.

I agree with Kelz around having her identify her favorites and keeping those - except if they are the tangs, which really do need larger tanks.

Of course, an upgrade is another option, and with the holidays around the corner, there are bound to be a ton of used tanks posted on Craigslist come January :)
 
FishyReef said:
You know, I think this is a great learning opportunity for your granddaughter. You guys can sit down together, read up on the various fish and what their needs are, and then work to find them new homes with the right sized tanks that will meet their requirements. I think if she is part of the process and is assured that her pets will go to good homes where they will be well cared for, then she learns a valuable lesson about fishkeeping and pet keeping in general - and while she might be sad for a few hours after the fish leaves, kids are pretty resilient and she'll find something else of interest soon enough! At this point, I think that is a better option then starting to lose the fish because they die from chronic phosphate exposure.

I agree with Kelz around having her identify her favorites and keeping those - except if they are the tangs, which really do need larger tanks.

Of course, an upgrade is another option, and with the holidays around the corner, there are bound to be a ton of used tanks posted on Craigslist come January :)
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If you had 10 children and the social security decided you had too many for the size of your house and they were going to take 5 into care how would you feel ?:bowdown:
 
algy1943 said:
If you had 10 children and the social security decided you had too many for the size of your house and they were going to take 5 into care how would you feel ?:bowdown:
Click to expand...

That would be terrible.

Fortunately, that is not the case in your situation. You should want your animals to be happy and healthy, which in an overstocked tank is very rarely the case.

Sometimes the things you love need to be (not literally, in this case) set free to be happy. It's hard to come to terms with that, but unless you upgrade, that is your fate.
 
eventually I will have a big tank in my living room. My tank is now in my bed room. Maybe try a medium sized in your bedroom, The sound of my tank really helps me sleep. I totally understand about not wanting to get rid of fish...pets do become family but you have to do something about the issue at hand. If it was me I would be looking for another tank and run two. If not you are going to end up with every kind of reactor on the market spending more money then a second tank would cost and the fish will still be to crowded. No one on here wants to be the bad guy (or girl) and say get rid of them but this is the first of some catastrophic problems you will end up with. God forbid that you end up with a total tank crash but it can happen. My first setup I didnt have all these people telling me what was wrong and I had a very overstocked tank with the wrong sized fish...I woke up one day and everything was floating...lost everything. I just sat there and cried with my kids...
 

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