yucky tank and big goldfish

[Spunky23]

Okay, I have a 30-gal tank w/ 8 large fantails in it. -I know this is way too many, but at the time i didn't know they'd get that big and I can't do anything about it now, i'm not going to just flush them!
So, my problem is: our tank is sooo cloudy all the time, it has a brownish tint to it, the bubble stick/air tube/filter tube/any decorations we put in it are constantly covered by slimy brown goo. It's not fish poop, because we clean all of that out. we don't overfeed, either. What causes this brown slime/algae? and most importantly, how do we get rid of it?
We clean our tank every week, by the way. we used to do a complete 100% change (because it is necessary- believe me) but we received some advice about doing partial water changes every week, which is what we now do. Oh and we use "Start Right" too.
Thanks so much!

[FroggyFox]

not sure what start right is...assuming its some type of water conditioner (dechlorinator)?

most everyone suggests about 35% once a week for a water change on a normally stocked tropical tank...with an overstocked goldfish tank, I'd say 50% twice a week, or 100% once a week probably isn't out of the question. You could try having double filtration on it (pop another filter on? what type do you have now?)

Generally diatoms (brown algae) can be caused by not enough light and not sure, maybe too many nitrates? do you test your water for ammonia/nitrites/nitrates? Might give you an idea of just how overstocked the tank is and that no matter how many water changes and gravel vacs you do, you're just never going to catch up.

An excuse for a bigger tank?? (welcome to mft!)

[Spunky23]

Yes, start right is stuff to put in the water to balance everything. We use it weekly. We have a filter from Walmart, I think it says Tetra whisperer on it... i dont know if that helps or not. it's a large filter, but probably not large enough.
About the nitrates etc: I did test the water almost a year ago when we first got the tank, but i kindof gave up on the idea since nothing seemed to help. we practically bought out walmart of all the chemicals, which i also heard is unnecessary.
Yeah, i wish we could get a bigger tank, but i doubt that will ever happen. We got this one for free!

Thanks for ur help, i appreciate it, and wil gladly listen to other peoples'!!!!

[CAPSLOCK]

Do you vacuum the tank when you water change? That might help some, if you aren't doing it already. Maybe you could add another filter or a powerhead or something to keep the water moving, might help stop the brown gunk from collecting.

[FroggyFox]

That helps...so its a HOB (hang on back) powerfilter, tetra whisper. Not a bad filter. If you invested in a canister filter, or a 2nd filter it'd probably help a bit, but honestly there isn't any magical fix. You need fewer fish or a bigger tank. Tanks are not cheap...but you could try something like www.craigslist.com and keep an eye out for a 90G setup for a hugely discounted price? If a larger tank is totally out of the question you might think about putting an ad ON craigslist for your community looking for a good home for like half of your fish or something? I'm sure others will have some input for you too.

[Spunky23]

We usually take the gravel out and clean it and dump it back in. When we do our 100% water changes... i'll start doing 50% ones, more light and see if that helps a little and look into a bigger filter. Any websites where we can get some??
Thanks!

[FroggyFox]

www.bigalsonline.com and www.drsfostersmith.com are both pretty good distributers if you are in the US.

[Spunky23]

Okay. So i know nothing at all about filters. Any suggestions? also, if you say we have diatoms, would a diatom filter help? (FYI - I'm a bio major so i understand this stuff) What about undergravel filters? If i'm going to buy a filter i want to make sure its the best for the price and that it will help our problem. (though i do understand that we have too many fish)

[mudracer06]

Someone correct me if I'm wrong, but wouldn't cleaning the rocks remove all the healthy bacteria, couldn't that be a problem?

[FroggyFox]

no...their bacteria is mostly in their filter. Its probably not incredibly helpful to take all the rocks out and clean them...would do just as good to do a gravel vac each water change though instead.

Some people say no to a UGF, but sometimes they work well when you're using it as the 2nd type of filtration in a tank and are sure to keep up with the cleaning. Installing a UGF would mean taking out all the gravel, most people consider that the biggest pain...but it sounds like you're used to it heh and it would definitely be the cheapest option for you to try (aside from giving some of your fish away...). IF you decided to try the UGF route you would no longer want to take your gravel out and wash it. You'd want to vaccuum the gravel while in the tank because as mudracer mentioned, all of those rocks will have good bacteria on them because they are your 'filter media' for a UGF.

Diatom filter...dunno. Dont usually mention them around here maybe someone will pipe up?? If it was a tropical tank I'd say get some otocinclus in there...but they're not coldwater fish and your goldies would probably think they were put in there for a snack

Your other options are HOB filters (like the one you have but all different brands and versions, some are made for huge tanks, other for smaller tanks but basically all the same filter type. They hang on the tank.) or Canister filters...which are usually designed for larger tanks, but basically have a bigger capacity for filtration. The filter part is a big...canister...that sits below the tank level (usually on the floor) with two hoses going into the tank...one sucking water out and pushing it through the filter media in the canster and the other putting it back into the tank. That'd be an option for you, but it is a more expensive type of filter overall. The best type is eheim...and you'll see they're very expensive. I have a fluval 304 on my 46 and its done a good job. Others have a RenaXP and they really like them.

Have you tried carbon in your filter as a way to get rid of some of the cloudyness?

Also, you shouldn't replace the filter cartridge in your whisper as often as the box says...but you should rinse it in used tank water every time you do a change. I imagine with such a high bioload you may have to replace it more often than a more lightly stocked tank though...I usually only replace mine once or twice a year.