Help - Fish Rescue

fishyaddict

fishyaddict

AC Members
Jan 25, 2006
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Auburn, NY
Ok today my girlfriend went to a yard sale to check on an aquarium that was for sale...found that the people were selling a 30 gallon with 1 unknown mbuna and a 15yr synodontis cat, also a 10 gallon with 2 large angelfish :duh: We have decided to rescue all of them and the 30 gallon :Angel: the africans can go in my 125 gallon with my africans, and temporarily till i can get one of the 30 gallons set up for them the angels can go in the 20. My question is because i am not sure of the water change schedule of the former owners...and fearing OTS how slowly should i acclimate the new fish??
 
acclimatise the fish as you would normally do after receiving them from your LFS. I would advise using a hospital tank and you should always do a weekly water change with angels.
 
Have the fish been moved out of their tanks and into new water, or are you transporting the fish in the exact water they were living in?

If you can: test the old water it for a nitrate level. That should give some sort of indication as to how often changes were made. If the nitrates are extremely high or off the charts, get as much of the old water as you can and put it in a large bucket/tub with the fish. Use a VERY slow drip method to acclimate them to new water. Very slow or they could suffer from osmotic shock.

I would, if I had to move them from the old water, also test the old water for GH and drip until the water in the bucket/tub matched the GH in the new water. That will help ensure that they have been acclimated in water that is as close to their new source as possible.

Hope that helps

Roan
 
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Sorry that i have not responded, trish found these people through a moving sale and they wanted the fish gone today..so i didn't have too much time to wait..the african's are in my 125. Since they have had them for years i didn't quarantine them. Both have acclimated fine to the new tank. The unidentified african appears normal and healthy. The synodontis on the other hand has some serious scraps on his tail, and one of his fins is worn down to about half the size of the other one (maybe i'll name him nemo :laugh: ). They had alot of rocks in this tank, which i have since found out is a 38 gallon. I would have to guess that he is an eruptus. Like i said previously I was told he is 15 years old and he seems to be about 8 inches long so i'm guessing he maybe stunted. Trish said they had to feed him to get him to come out of hiding when she went and looked at him the first time...but now he's out swimming all over the tank...he seems thrilled with the new much larger tank.

The angelfish were gorgeous, a mated pair at that..trish gave them 10 bucks to take them out of there little tank...i consider it a steal. We will reset up the 38 gallon the cichlid and syno were in and place them in that but for now they seem happy in our 20 gallon.
 
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Yes, well done, fishyaddict!

Glad it worked out okay. Keep an eye on the syno, though. Those types of abrasions et al may be a symptom that he was in very poor water. Probably not, from what you are saying, but you never know.

Great job!

Roan
 
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