Help! I inherited a mess!

S

Sirius

Registered Member
Nov 14, 2009
4
0
0
A distant relative of mine recently moved and asked me to take over the care of her 10 gallon fish aquarium. She said she put a lot of time and research into making it a great tank and didn't want to see that go to waste. I was excited because I have always been interested in starting up an aquarium and I thought getting one that was already established would be a nice bonus. Wrong!

She brought the tank over and set it up in my home this week. I knew right away that this tank was not the glorious work of art she boasted about.

Here are the details:
It is a ten gallon aquarium. There is a heater in the tank that looks ancient. I can't even read the numbers on the settings, but she told me to leave the knob where it was and it would be fine. The rocks and decorations are caked in algea and brown hairy goop. There is a large black filter that hangs on the inside of the tank down in the water (it takes up alot of space). There is a live plant. It looks like some sort of long grassy plant, but I think it is dead because it's all brown and limp.

I made the mistake of taking some of the decorations out to clean them and found out that any disturbing of rocks or decor in the tank unearths months of dirt and debris and clouds the entire tank so you can hardly even see the fish.

The aquarium currently houses the following fish:
2 flat black and white tiger striped fish with long, flowy fins.
2 flat clear/white fish that have the same body type as the tiger ones, but short fins and no stripes.
2 "glowfish" a pink and a yellow
1 catfish looking thing that hides under the decorations like an "algea eater"
There was a small white guppy with a fan-like wavy tail that died the first day it was here.

I had a 20 gallon aquarium as a child that I cared for myself and never had problems but that was almost 15 years ago and I honestly know practically nothing about tank care and maintenance.

I immediately went to the pet store and purchased a filter that hangs on the back of the tank that was recommended by their aquarium specialist and a new reliable heater. I also bought test strips and checked the water in the tank. The values are all over the place. It has a very high ph and nothing matches up in the "safe" part of the test strip.

I feel like everything in the tank is just old and nasty and needs to be thrown out. I plan on purchasing new rocks and decorations tomorrow.

If anyone can help I need the following advice.
At this point, can I do a 100% water change on the tank? Don't I have to let the tank sit and rebuild the proper balance before adding the fish back in? If so, what should I do with the fish while I do that?
Is there any danger to getting all new rocks and decor as long as they are cleaned well with hot water before I add them in?

I also don't know how to go about reintroducing the fish to the tank because I read that putting too many in at once can throw the balance off and I know 10 gallon tanks are harder to manage in the sense that a small water problem effects the fish more than in a larger tank.

My main goal is this. I want to fix this tank without killing all the fish. any advice would be much appreciated. I feel like these fish are going to die if I dont get this underway.

Sorry for the long-winded post and thank you in advance for your advice and wisdom.

:goldfish: <----------This goldfish cracker is cute.

~Sirius
 
I'm not sure if I would do a 100% water change on this tank. You might experience the phenomenon whereby fish who have lived under horrible conditions get shocked by pristine water (seriously.) A partial change would be most advisable, I would think. By taking out all of the substrate and decorations, and given that you have replaced the filter, you may run the risk of starting tank cycling all over again due to removing beneficial bacterial colonies. I don't think you want that. Could you start with a really good tank vacuuming and a partial water change? At least then you might see what you're working with. If you can give the experts on the forum the exact water parameters, they will probably be better able to advise you. Also, pictures of the fish might help to identify what you have in the tank.--Just a few thoughts, certainly open for debate from more experienced fish keepers than I.
 
Do a 10% daily water change for about a week and a half.

Don't get cheap plastic decorations, as you'll tire of them fast, get some good slate from home depot, or some rock from your backyard. If you do get some rocks from your back yard, put a drop of vinegar on the rock and if it fizzes, don't put it in, if it doesn't fizz, clean it up, soak it, maybe boil it, and put it in. :)

Good luck! Welcome to AC!
 
Hi and welcome to AC.
This is a case of too much is a bad thing. Yes you should change water but only a small amount daily until things are better. WHY? Because the fish have become use to the water that they are in, yes it may be bad but that is their home. By changing 10% of the water every day it will SLOWLY but safely bring the water back to a good quality. I would go to the pet store and purchase a gravel vacuum and clean the gravel until you have removed 10% of the water. Buy a good water conditioner like prime, stress coat or amquel, follow the directions on the box. Also you can clean those rocks by putting them in a clean (never had soap or cleaning fluid in it) and put about a cup of regular unscented bleach, cover rocks with hot water. By the next day the rocks will be clean of all the yuck. Rinse well twice, let them air dry, and they are good as new. Good luck.
 
Thanks for the advice so far. I'm going to go get a gravel vacuume asap since it sounds like a giant overhaul would be too much.

I did a test strip on the water just so I could post the results. I read that they are not the most accurate, but at least it's a jumping off point.
Nitrate was at 200. That's the highest possible testing category and it said "HARMFUL"
Nitrite said it was 0 in the SAFE category
The water registered as Hard
Alkalinity was 300 (high)
and the ph was 8.4 (the highest possible on the strip)

I don't know if the test strips are universal, so maybe I didn't put enough info, but at least it's something to comment on : P
 
Vacuum off as much of the goop and algae as you can..it may come back at first, but it will help lessen the cramped feel of the tank...

Do you have a small air pump? Oxygen will help choke out the algae..

Measure your tap water yet? Those readings will help you have an idea of where you tank should be... Changing one gallon of water will change the levels by ~10%
 
I would agree that you need to change water often but not too much at a time. Avoid stirring up the water to much in the process. I would recommend getting a gravel vac. :)
 
I have come across the same exact problem when I agreed to take care of a neighbor's tank (they went out of town). Ammonia, nitrite and nitrate levels were off the scale, the water was cloudy and it smelled.
All advice above given was good.
1) DO NOT change 100% of the water. This will cause the fish to go into shock
2) DO NOT take out and clean the ornaments -all at the same time. They have good nitrifying bacteria on them and this helps to turn ammonia into less harmful nitrates.
3) On a very polluted tank like this -- vacuum the gravel and remove about 1-2 gallons every day and replace with fresh dechlorinated water. You will see brown yuch coming out of the gravel - which is probably months of rotten fish poop and uneaten food. When you vacuum, you'll want to do more - but avoid the temptation was we don't want to replace all the water all at once.
4) After a few days of doing this, the tank will look better and you will see the nitrates coming down.
5) Don't overfeed them.
6) If there's excessive algae on the glass, take sponge and remove it - dead algae grows bacteria which can be harmful.
Once the nitrate levels are normal -- do vacuuming/water siphone about 1.5 gallons twice per week is sufficient.
Don't worry so much about the pH.
 
Sirius said:
Thanks for the advice so far. I'm going to go get a gravel vacuume asap since it sounds like a giant overhaul would be too much.

I did a test strip on the water just so I could post the results. I read that they are not the most accurate, but at least it's a jumping off point.
Nitrate was at 200. That's the highest possible testing category and it said "HARMFUL"
Nitrite said it was 0 in the SAFE category
The water registered as Hard
Alkalinity was 300 (high)
and the ph was 8.4 (the highest possible on the strip)

I don't know if the test strips are universal, so maybe I didn't put enough info, but at least it's something to comment on : P
Click to expand...

Not only are they not the most accurate, they are very inaccurate. I would by liquid tests very soon and then test the water with those.

The nitrate level does not sound right to me. Above 40 nitrate is harmful, so I would think that if it was 200 then your fish would be dead (but I could be wrong).
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
AquariaCentral.com
Top Bottom