Welcome to Gaia! ::

I hear ya Kami

The guy at the aquarium store told us one of the reasons a tank gets dirty so fast is overfeeding of the fish. He told me to only feed Goldie every other day. That prevents there from being too much food in the tank which encourages algal growth, etc.

Michael was good about not sticking stuff in the tank, Thank Goodness.

Maybe someday you can get the pets you want.

Well, overfeeding is one thing. It depends on filtration system, what you're feeding, how much you're feeding, etc.

I'm the Fish Department manager at a Petland nearby, so I maintain the tanks and, my baby, our 95 gallon display planted tank. Now mind you it's 95 gallons, but on my shifts, I'll feed them anywhere between 12-15 times a day. The matter is feeding lots of small feedings rather than one big one. Out in the wild, they'll pick at some algae here, nibble a snail there and mother nature doesn't just dump in a whole lotta fish food all at once.

Also, tanks get dirty when your fish are on a cheap diet (like Tetra foods). They add ash and phosphorus to the food (which is the equivalent of chicken by product meal and corn in canine and feline diets), which pass right through the fish and fuel BAD algae growth.

i used the ones they recommended my brother just likes the fishes so much he feeds them to much at a time stare more like half of the bottle of fish food