I think Im going to accidently kill my fish.

Question
It's been set up for about three to four months. It's 20 gallons. They told me it was called a fancy gold fish. I only have one. I'm not sure what the kind of filter it is or what the pH, ammonia, or nitrite levels are. I wasn't told I had to check and this is my first fish. I change the watter about every three weeks. I was told only to replace 5 gallons each time I changed the watter.

My problem is that my tank is so murky and there are bits of stuff floating everywhere. I cant seem to get it clean. The water pump I have is the kind that you have to move up and down in the water to get it working and the thing is useless. It has no suction at all. Is there an electric one I could get that will just vacuum the bottom of the tank and get rid of all that nasty stuff? I'm so worried that I'm just going to slowly kill my fish. Was I told to do the wrong things when I bought the fish?

Answer
Hi Emily;

I think most of what you were told was just fine. Your fish is in a good size tank, and you know not to replace more than 25% of the water at a time. You just need to change water more often, and as you already know, vacuum the gravel at the same time. 25% of your tank water needs to be changed once a week, every week. Be sure to use water conditioner every time too and be sure the new water is the same temperature as the old water. You could get a battery operated gravel vacuum or one of those spill-free units with a long hose that hooks up to your faucet. I have a spill-free and just LOVE it. No more buckets of water! If you still want to try and get your other one working but are having trouble getting the siphon started, try this;

Put the whole thing including the hose into the tank water very slowly to fill it up with water. First put the big end in the tank and then slowly work it down in the water inch by inch right to the other end, and it will fill up. There should be little or no air in it at all. Then put your thumb over the small end. Keeping the big end in the water, pull out the small end and place it in your bucket. The top edge of your bucket must be below the tank water level in order for "siphoning" to occur. The lower your wastewater bucket, the faster the flow will be. It works by gravity. Takes some practice, but you will get the idea.

Good luck and let me know if you need more help...

At Your Service;
Chris Robbins