Dieing Fish Tank

Question
hello karen, i've a very big problem rghit now and was wondering if you can help me. my fish tank is filled w/ dirty cloudy green water and i don't know why. also my mickey mouse fish is dieing, lying on the bottom of the tank unable to move. my black neon tetras are seem very stressed. my swordtail is swiming sideways and both betta and lyre tail molly are always by the top. and i have a 5 gallon fish tank. what should i do?  

Answer
Dear Julia,
Cloudy/green water is a bacterial bloom and an Algae bloom together.
The bacterial bloom is hundreds and hundreds of microorganisms that are feeding upon a sudden abundance of nutrients in your tank water (from fish food and waste) and it's their numbers clouding your tank.
Algae blooms are free-floating algae that develop when there is a sudden abundance of nutrients as well just like with the bacterial bloom.

Both these problems are common in a newly setup tank. But they can also appear in a tank that has been setup for a long time, but something has just gone wrong with the balance of your tank. Balance means keeping your tank conditions stable. You can test your water with test kits from your local petstore. The most important things to test for are Ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate. Testing these levels are important especially if your tank has been newly setup. Here's why,
In all established aquariums there are special good bacteria that grow and thrive in your gravel bed and filter, these bacteria take care of the ammonia in your water which is very dangerous to your fish and causes much of the fish loss many people experience with their first tank. First the good bacteria convert the ammonia into another chemical called Nitrite which is still harmful. But fortunately, more bacteria convert the nitrite into nitrate which is the least toxic of them all. Nitrate is safe but should no be allowed to build up to high levels. It is easily removed with your regular partial water changes.
However, when you first setup a tank, these good bacteria are not present in your tank. And ammonia can build up to very dangerous levels. These good bacteria take several weeks to establish in your tank. Once they have an ammonia-source (from the fish waste) then they begin to colonize your tank. We need to provide an ammonia source in order to get these bacteria established, but this means adding fish. But we cannot absolutely cannot add too many fish at once. You'll need to add only 1-2 hardy 'cycling' fish such as Black Skirt tetras. And test your water everyday for ammonia and nitrite. The -most- important thing to do when cycling your tank (establishing the bacteria) is to do those vital partial water changes. Testing your water everyday will let you know when to change it. If ammonia ever rises above safe bounds then immediately do a 50% or larger water change. Don't scrub anything in the tank, just use a gravel vacuum and siphon water down and then use prepared tank water that has been dechlorinated properly with a good water conditioner such as Amquel+ or Aquasafe and equalized in temperature to your tank.

Cycling a tank takes from 4-6 weeks of patience, careful feeding to your 'cycling fish' and plenty of water changes when needed.

Once your test kit shows ZERO ammonia and nitrite and nitrate will have appeared your tank has cycled! Then you can gradually add a few small fish per week to your tank and testing your water frequently during this time just to be no ammonia appears which it really shouldn't.

But what to do for your current problem?
Water changes are the solution to your whole problem. It's certain that your fish are suffering from ammonia and/or nitrite in your aquarium water and the best solution to this is water changes.
*If your tank hasn't had a partial water change in a month or more. Do small 20% water changes twice a day. You don't want to put a big shock on your fish with a large water change.
*If the water in your tank isn't very old (example, the tank hasn't been setup very long) then do a 50% or larger water change. Repeat these water changes if necessary.
*If you think your tank is still cycling and it might be if it hasnt been setup for more than a month or two. Then try to get test kits for ammonia or nitrite. Test these levels in order to keep your fish safe.
*Make sure you feed your fish very lightly. When your tank gets established, you can include more variety in your fishes diet
*For now, water changes are the best solution to all of this. There is nothing better you can do for your fish than water changes.

If you need anymore help, feel free to let me know!
I hope this helps,
Karen~