I am really beginning to remember why I stopped having fish tanks. I was given a betta as a gift and set up a 5 gallon tank for him which is going really well. Perfect levels, clear water, and just a really pleasant tank. A few months ago I had set up an old 20 Long tank and cycled it with a few zebra danios and everything was going really well. I tested frequently and once everything was good I added a few more fish. I added the final fish a few days before we were going on vacation. Did a 15% water change right before leaving and plopped in a vacation feeder block. I normally don't like adding feeder blocks, but the pet sitter was already overwhelmed with the cats/dogs/birds, so I really wanted to cut down on what she had to do.
Well when we got home 10 days later the tank was a tad cloudy, but nothing crazy, and water levels were actually pretty good (ph a little high, but that's an issue with the tap water that I keep an eye on). I went to do my regular water change with the gravel cleaner and eek debris everywhere. I think my rainbow shark (Shark Bait), was a little over zealous with the feeder block and spread it everywhere. It had settled in the gravel so it wasn't really that noticeable at first.
So now I have food debris all over and decide to do a bigger water change to get that stuff out. I run to get another bucket and come back to a cat in mid air jumping into the tank. This particular cat is a plump asthmatic cat and took a complete dive to the bottom. I fish her out and make sure her airway is clear (her asthma is really bad) and ended up doing a nebulizer treatment for her. Apparently jumping into a tank of water is really stressful. It was hard not to laugh, she looked really pathetic. Anyway, i finally get back to the tank and it is FULL of cat hair. It's everywhere!! I sucked up what I could and cleaned up what had gotten stuck in the filter. I've been doing water changes but the poor tank still is very cloudy. I'm hoping with a few more water changes it will get back to normal. Ugghhh!!
Well when we got home 10 days later the tank was a tad cloudy, but nothing crazy, and water levels were actually pretty good (ph a little high, but that's an issue with the tap water that I keep an eye on). I went to do my regular water change with the gravel cleaner and eek debris everywhere. I think my rainbow shark (Shark Bait), was a little over zealous with the feeder block and spread it everywhere. It had settled in the gravel so it wasn't really that noticeable at first.
So now I have food debris all over and decide to do a bigger water change to get that stuff out. I run to get another bucket and come back to a cat in mid air jumping into the tank. This particular cat is a plump asthmatic cat and took a complete dive to the bottom. I fish her out and make sure her airway is clear (her asthma is really bad) and ended up doing a nebulizer treatment for her. Apparently jumping into a tank of water is really stressful. It was hard not to laugh, she looked really pathetic. Anyway, i finally get back to the tank and it is FULL of cat hair. It's everywhere!! I sucked up what I could and cleaned up what had gotten stuck in the filter. I've been doing water changes but the poor tank still is very cloudy. I'm hoping with a few more water changes it will get back to normal. Ugghhh!!
Thanks for the great visual and chuckle. 
