Taking care of a tank for another...

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Aphotic Phoenix

Graver Girl
Jun 5, 2007
585
0
0
Virginia, USA
Much to my horror, my mother purchased a fish tank recently. Which I instantly knew would quickly become my problem. She had kept tanks in the past that were only successful part of the time (which lead to my long held assumption that aquariums were simply expensive and smelly lamps). My opinion changed after doing the research for her that she Should have done herself, and desire one day to have the skill, knowledge and dedication to own a specialty tank (like a Discus tank) for myself. The problem right now is: how do I properly care for a tank owned by someone else when I have limited resources?

My mother REFUSES to perform water changes as much and as often as she should despite Ammonia levels that are too high. She also puts in too many fish at once in a tank that isn't fully cycled yet, and one fish has already died (which was partially due to poor handling on the part of the pet shop), but another is starting to display the same symptoms.

I really do feel that the only responsible thing that I can do is try my best to help take care of the tank myself, but would like some advice on a few problems/questions I have.

The issues:
1) Nitrites, Nitrates, and very hard tap water. I have forgotten the Nitrite level, but the Nitrate level is about 40 ppm which is an amount that I have read indicates a water change may be needed. There are some live plants in the tank, but I doubt enough to handle the tap water amount + the bio load. The water hardness also caps out our test strips so I can't really be sure how hard the water is. So what is the Nitrate "limit", and how hard should I push for a RO/DI filter? Any other alternatives?

2) Safe way to pre-heat the water for water changes. Although several sources talk about how important it is to have the temperature of the water you are adding be as close as possible to water already in the aquarium, none really say HOW they accomplish this. In a perfect world I would have a large container and heater that I could leave over night to preheat my "new" water, but alas that is not an option. So currently the only way to really warm up "new" water is to boil a small amount of water to mix in with the new water before adding it to the tank. I'm concerned about chemicals (from detergents etc) getting into the tank water with this method however. Is this safe?

3) A friend of mine, had a tank fail due to his roommate overfeeding them, and due to this let the tank rapidly decline into a horrible state. Now it's my job to help him get it back into shape (since I'm already taking care of my mothers tank why not right?) It's caked with algae and looks rather toxic although the live plants have managed to survive. The filter has been kept running so I assume that some of the beneficial bacteria have survived. The problem is He wants it to be tropical, but it last housed goldfish. So what is the best way to reclaim this tank?

Sorry for the wall of text...any help would be greatly appreciated.
 

Coler

AC Members
Jan 30, 2007
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Hi & Welcome to AC :) Kudos to you for taking up the slack as well.

1) Nitrites, Nitrates, and very hard tap water. I have forgotten the Nitrite level, but the Nitrate level is about 40 ppm which is an amount that I have read indicates a water change may be needed.
Don't worry too much about the hard tap water - least of the fish worries. Nitrate above 40ppm means you need to do a water change and gravel vaccuum. Use a good dechlorinating water conditioner to condition the new water. Seachem Prime is great. Try ultimately to keep Nitrates below 20. I see you're using test strips. They are considered a bit hit and miss. Get a good liquid test kit and retest the tap level...it may not be 40.

2) Safe way to pre-heat the water for water changes. Although several sources talk about how important it is to have the temperature of the water you are adding be as close as possible to water already in the aquarium, none really say HOW they accomplish this.
Don't worry too much about this either. Do a dip test with your fingers in the tank and compare it too the mix out of the tap - if it feels relatively close you're good to go. Fish swim through cooler/warmer parts of water all the time in the wild. It is unlikely to cause any trouple as long as its plus or minus a couple of degrees C, and you should be able to judge this yourself.

I'm concerned about chemicals (from detergents etc) getting into the tank water with this method however. Is this safe?
Never put anything in your aquarium/use a container for water that is not dedicated to aquarium use. So have a special bucket that you only use for water changes etc.

3) A friend of mine, had a tank fail due to his roommate overfeeding them, and due to this let the tank rapidly decline into a horrible state. Now it's my job to help him get it back into shape (since I'm already taking care of my mothers tank why not right?) It's caked with algae and looks rather toxic although the live plants have managed to survive. The filter has been kept running so I assume that some of the beneficial bacteria have survived. The problem is He wants it to be tropical, but it last housed goldfish. So what is the best way to reclaim this tank?
Are there fish in it ? If so do lots and lots of small water changes. 10% a day every day until the nitrtates are below 40. Then you can probably do 25% twice a week depending on how many fish, the revert to slightly less changes. You don't do a massive change in one go because the fish will have acclimated to the crummy water and a big change to new clean water in one go could shock them to deat - old tank syndrome.

If no fish the beneficial bacteria won't be around for long - they die off without a food source. I would say if no fish the best thing to do is break it down, scrub it out and start again.

The main thing to do in any event is to do as many water changes as are necessary in the tank to keep ammonia & nitrite below .25 ppm. Could be twice a day changes of 25 - 50% early on in a cycle. Eventually when cycled you can do just weekly maintenance most of the time.

Good luck :)

edit : no harm to post the tank size here and inhabitants for some advice; there's no point in trying to maintain something which is likely doomed to failure because of inappropriate stocking.
 
Last edited:

Nolapete

Monster Tank Builder
May 29, 2007
5,274
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New Orleans, LA
Your mother will probably keep doing things the way she always has and expecting her to change is probably a futile exercise at best.

The biggest issues you have to contend with her about are feeding too much and overstocking. The "smelly lamp" syndrome usually stems from overfeeding.

You can do two things: let her tank decline on its own until she gives up and gifts it to you or you can maintain it for her and demonstrate to her how it's supposed to be done instead of telling her which falls on deaf ears.

The issue of preheating the water can be handled easily by having a container to prepare your replacement water in advance. Put an aquarium heater set at the same temp as the aquarium in it and let it sit over night prior to doing the water change.

What size aquarium is it?

You say you have limited resources then ask about RO/DI which is quite expensive. If your resources are indeed limited, then you'll have to find another way. RO/DI with extremely hard water as you describe will require prefiltering otherwise you'll be replacing the membrane/resins constantly. Have you asked your LFS how they handle the water issues? It's hard to give advice on how to deal with the hardness issues without knowing what's available to you.

Your friends tank would be best torn down, cleaned thoroughly, and set up basically as a new tank. You can probably save the plants if you set them aside in a bucket of water and then put them back in the tank after it's set up again. You could set the filter aside without emptying it and reinstall on the clean tank to speed the cycling along, but I would strongly discourage it.
 

Coler

AC Members
Jan 30, 2007
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sorry AP I was editing my post. Still didn't get all the typos :)

Get a liquid test kit and retest that tap water. 40 would be really high. The test strips are notoriously inaccurate. Ask the local fish dealers how they manage if in fact the nitrates are that high (tell you what I wouldn't be drinking that stuff...)
 

jm1212

Pterophyllum scalare
Jul 22, 2006
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if your nitrate is at 40ppm straight from the tap, it may be time to contact your water treatment plant.

2) the tank should have a thermometer for it so you can monitor the water temperature. my thermometer is one that hangs in the water on the side of the tank, and its handy for measuring the temp of tap water also. just run the thermometer under the flow of the tap water and get the temp of the tap water to be the same as the temp of the tank and then fill up the buckets (or let the python go).

3) if you totally break down the setup, scrub the tank and decor, throw out the gravel, and save the plants, that would be the easiest way. if there have not been any fish in the tank for over a day or two, chances are the bacteria in the filter are dead, and it would probably be best to get a new one anyway.
 

Aphotic Phoenix

Graver Girl
Jun 5, 2007
585
0
0
Virginia, USA
Well when I say my resources are limited...I mean I can't go out and purchase things on my own to take care of the tank. Therefore any purchases that are made must be coaxed out of my mother. Hence why things such as getting a secondary heater for water changes isn't possible right now. She stubbornly contends that she doesn't need to change more than 10% a week (mind you she let it go for two weeks without any water change at all)

I will try to get a better testing kit. I had to purchase the test strips because that was all I could afford at the time (one of those things that my mother apparently didn't find important enough). The LFS is in a different town (about 1/2 hour away), so I'm not sure how much their water quality varies.

My mothers tank is ~29 Gallons, 2 weeks old, and currently has 3 Zebra Danios, 1 Cory, and 4 Guppies (was 5). She wants to add Dwarf Gourami's in the future.

My friends tank is ~20 Gallons...all that is left in there currently is plants and snails. He's undecided what kind of fish he wants in the future.
 

Coler

AC Members
Jan 30, 2007
7,291
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62
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My mothers tank is ~29 Gallons, 2 weeks old, and currently has 3 Zebra Danios, 1 Cory, and 4 Guppies (was 5). She wants to add Dwarf Gourami's in the future.
sounds ok - maybe just the one Gourami...bit territorial. Add more corys; they like to be in groups. Don't add any fish until you get the cycle under control.

get the test kit to verify your nitrate level from tap. don't worry about a heater for water changes. Bucket + hot water mixed with cold water = ok. Use a thermometer to be sure if you like.
 
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