new fish owner, cleaning the tank, compatibility of fish

Question
QUESTION: my LOVELY husband bought a new fish tank and stocked the tank before doing any research or letting me do any research, so I'm doing it all now. And I have a couple of questions.  Just a litte back ground.  We have a 20 gallon tank in which he has placed (1)albino cat (3)blackfin shark cats (5) tiger barbs and (1) sucker fish, sorry can't remember the name.  My question about this tank is #1, is the tank too small for all of these fish.  All of the fish in my opinion or small, but I'm worried that it's just too many.  (2) his water is becoming cloudy, I'm thinking it's because there is some uneaten food in the gravel and it probably needs a gravel cleaning, which it's my understanding that with the gravel cleaning, you usually change about 20% of the water.  Is it safe to do this while the fish are still in the tank.  And what if this doesn't help.  Is there a way to test the water to see what's going on. #3.  Two out of the three black fin sharks are starting to get spots.  From what I've read, this might be ICK??? what's the best way to treat? and can it harm the other fish?

I really wish, he would have waited for me to do more reading before he filled these tanks, but of course he didn't. So now, I'm trying to fix his mistakes and do my best to make these fish happy and confortable.  Any help that you can provide is greatly appreciated.

ANSWER: Hi Patricia,
You've got some work cut out for you huh?! ;-)

Well, it sounds like your tank has a whole load of problems. In answering the first question "is the tank too small for all these fish?" For some of the fish it is... The Tiger Barbs are safe. However, I'm not sure what type of sucker fish you have. Because lots of fish come under this generic name. He could be a Chinese Algae eater. Or he could be Pleco or "Plecostomus" these are the two most common fish called Sucker fish. Either fish isn't the best for your tank. They may be fine for a while but the Chinese Algae eater, for example, as it gets older it stops eating algae and is known to start being aggressive to other fish. Plecos  are not aggressive but they grow to Monster sizes of 12" inches or more plus they put out a lot of waste because of their diet (lots of vegetables). The Sucker fish could certainly cause problems for you later on if you keep him. And if it's at all possible, your best bet would be to give him back to the petstore.
But your fish could be sick with ICK and unfortunately you'll have to treat them all before doing anything.

I'm hoping the Albino Catfish is just a cory and not a Channel catfish. If it's a channel catfish, you have a soon-to-be giant on your hands. These are the same huge catfish people fish out of local lakes. But if hes just an albino cory then the little guy is completely safe.

The Blackfin sharks are also potential problems. These sharks (actually a catfish) grow to about 12" inches and when juveniles they do best in brackish water which is sort of in between saltwater and freshwater. And as the sharks grow larger they should really have stronger brackish water to fully marine conditions! So these sharks are completely incompatible with your current setup.

I really hate being the bearer of bad news and get all your little fish in trouble but it's just the facts I know. These are lovely fish, but they just have special needs to be met that just couldn't be possible in your situation.

Plus the aquarium hasn't had time to cycle yet and you likely have some ammonia issues going on. You should get some liquid test kits as soon as possible! Get one for Ammonia, one for Nitrite, and one for Nitrate...
*Start testing your water everyday to keep track of the ammonia level...
*Whenever the ammonia level gets above safe bounds, immediately do a 30-50% water change. This is vital for keeping your fish alive. Ammonia is extremely toxic to them.
*Make sure to feed your fish lightly
*Continue with the testing and water changes, it should help keep your fish alive and able to make it through the cycle.

~Make sure to siphon all the uneaten food and fish waste from the bottom. Uneaten food is a serious problem because of the ammonia it produces as it decays.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Now because your fish have ick, you'll have to ignore cycling your tank for now and just focus treating them for ICK and making plenty of large water changes. Once you've got the ICK cleared out, you can start cycling it.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

With your sharks being infected with White spot or ICK. You'll need to treat the whole tank right away.
Start by:
~Raising the temperature to 82F
~Do a large water change
~Start a medication
~Increase aeration by making sure the filter is running efficiently and rippling the water plus a few airstones helps tremendous

Increasing the aeration is important because warmer water (that is needed to help speed the lifecycle of ick so it can be destroyed faster by meds) decreases the amount of oxygen in the tank.

You'll also need to search for a medication that is safe for sensitive fish like your Catfish that you have. Not any medication will do. So be sure to check the label carefully before treating. Just make sure to do a large water change before medication because most meds are less effective with excessive dissolved organics and what's worse is most medication levels advise you not to.

Remember to remove carbon from your filter before medicating.

Make sure to treat for the full treatment period and its critical to continue treating for 3 more days just to be sure all the ick parasites are gone. And do not discontinue the treatment if the spots disappear.

I cannot stress the importance of water changes, not only do they relieve stress off of the fish but gravel vacuuming also removes excess ick parasites multiplying in the gravel.

Some potential ICK medications that are safer for catfish-
* Ich Guard II
* Ich-Attack

These two are very good medications for for the scaleless fish you have and you can look up and read more about both medications on- drsfosterandsmith.com

I really hope this helps! Sorry to be the bear of so much bad news! I'm willing to help as much as I can to get you through these problems...

Best of luck,
Karen~

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Thank you so much for all of your help.  My husband was able to find someone to take the blackfins.  He has a brackish tank and I think this would be best.  I plant o go this evening and get the ick treatment for the rest of the fish.  THe sucker fish is a pleco.  And the albino is an albino cory.  So I'm hoping now that they will be fine with one another.  I have found a 30 gallon aquarium and I'm hoping to move all of the fish after I've cycled the tank.  We did a 20% water change last night and I've been told that we can do another as soon as tonight, do you know if that is okay?  Also, from reading another site, if've been found that the aquarium may not need gravel and that it's pretty much just for decoration. What's your opinion on that?   Are there any decorations, ie.caves and logs, that you recommend for any of these fish.  We have a small cave now that the pleco has claimed, but what about the other fish?

Thank you again for your help.  I was truly worried that he had gone way overboard and their was no hope.  I hopeful that I can get this tanks set up properly and all of these fish will be happy and safe.

Answer
Hi Patricia,
That's wonderful that you were able to find a home for the Blackfins, they will be so much better off.

The cory and pleco is safe but the pleco will grow very big in about a year or so. You might be able to trade him back into the petstore.
The 30 gallon will be a nice upgrade also!

You can easily do several water changes in one day, I know there are lots of people who would argue this but 50% water changes are much more effective in relieving stress or fixing water quality problems rather than just a few 20% water changes. It won't hurt to do larger water changes as long as you make sure the replacement water is equal in temperature to that of your aquarium (or a little warmer is fine) and you make sure it is dechlorinated properly.

Gravel is fine for the aquarium. It does provide a place for beneficial bacteria to colonize and thats very important. It also helps fish feel more secure. I have found if you don't have gravel in the tank the fish tend to be more frightened and may even crash into the sides of the tank because they are confused by reflections and such. One inch to two inches of gravel is fine in your aquarium. What's most important is keeping it clean by regular vacuuming. Just be sure to vacuum it thoroughly with each water change and I assure you it will not cause problems.

Any kind of caves or hollow logs are great for any fish to get into when they feel the need to. All fish will appreciate hiding places. And especially your cory and pleco. Try to have several (like 3-4) different hiding places in your tank. Plants can also create great hiding places for fish. Both live or just plastic works. And it's especially good if you arrange them together in a way similar to a "weedy" area or a jungle in other words make the plants grouped together a bit so there are secretive hiding spots around them.
But yes, any kind of artificial cave you can find at petsmart or other petstores are excellent for providing hiding places for fish. If the tank is bare the fish feel scared more easily and their colors can also appear faded as they are more stressed.
You can also go and get a brand new clay plant pot and let your fish have that as a hiding place. A very clever way to use plant pots is to knock out a notch in the top rim so when you set it with the open end facing down, it's an instant dark cave. I've used a screwdriver like tool and a hammer to carefully knock out a piece of the flower pot and whichever tank you put it in, somebody always instantly claims it!

I sure hope you can get everything straightened out with your fish! Just remember lots of research and reading is the best thing you can do and its vital in able for you to keep your fish happy and healthy.And asking questions helps you avoid or get through any problems you run into.

Best wishes and happy fishkeeping!
Karen~