Correct way to clean up a neglected tank

[sivic]

Well heres the story, my friend (i promise it aint me), has a 55 gallon tank that he completely neglects. He has goldfish mixed with tropical fishes, never does water changes, never cleans his gravel, and never changes filter media.

Well he always is losing fish due to how much he neglects the tank, and after explaining to him enough he finally is getting around to to clean his tank up. I brought my pyhton over and cleaned his gravel and changed some of the water. I also got him to change his filter media( Whisper 40 ). Im going to take all his goldfish to throw in my pond and give him some mollies to trade and i want to know what else should i do to clean his tank up properly?

He has a underground filter that might be set up incorrectly. Its the plastic bottom sections with small opennings to allows waste to fall to the bottom. But in both the tubes extending to the surface, he has 2 airstones dropped in to their bottoms. Dont UGF's require a power head?

I was thinking about having him take it out completely cause you can see underneath his stand how dirty and filthy the bottom of his tank is. He used to feed his fish extremely too much food and i explained to him how bad excess food is.

Would adding salt help kill anything that might be unhealthy in his water along with weekly water changes and a good cleansing?

 

[mooman]

It all depends on how much work you want to put into it. Cleaning under the plates would mean a complete teardown (maybe someone else has a better way). See if you can get him to test the water after his cleaning schedule is back on track. If all his levels look good, then don't worry about it. A less labor intensive fix would be to pull ugf completely, do a good gravel vac, and let the HOB filter stand alone. That way you wouldn't have to drain tank and pull all the gravel.

As for the ugf question: UGF filter do work just fine using a "bubble lift". Power heads did not become available untill several decades after ugf filters became popular. As the bubbles rise, they carry water along with them. The water has to some from somewhere. so it gets pulled through the substrate and then moves up the tower. Its the same principle that sponge and box filter use.

Good job getting your friend to see the light

 

[OrionGirl]

Keep in mind that neglected tanks need slow correction--fast changes can be lethal to the inhabitants. Start with daily 10% water changes, and make a grid along the bottom, cleaning one section very wel with each change. Once the gravel has been cleaned with this method, and the parameters are stabilized the same as the source water, the tank will tolerate large, weekly water changes for maintenance. At this point, you can use airline tubing to thread down the riser tubes and clean out under the plates fairly easily.

Getting the appropriate mix of fish and controlling nutrients going in a big step in the right direction, as well.

I would not add salt--you want to create gradually improving water conditions, and adding salt will create a sudden change that may shock the fish. Salt should only be used to treat specific conditions--it is not a panacea for all conditions.