Need help with "adopted" tank

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naturestee

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Nov 6, 2003
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Hi, I've been lurking here for several years but I rarely post. My neighbor gave me his 29 gallon tank, and I moved it in this morning. I had to take the fish with it. They were extremely neglected- haven't been fed in over a month, no water changes for ages, cigarette butts and broken glass in the water! :eek:

The fish are currently sitting in bags in the tank, acclimating. There are a small assortment of tetras and two golden chinese algae eaters. I've heard these are territorial. Have any of you had problems with these? Also, will they eat plants? I want to plant this tank once I get a hood. I may be able to take these to an LFS if I have to. Aside from otos, which I have in one of my other tanks, what would be a good algae eater?

The tetras include 3 bleeding hearts, one bloodfin, one serpae, and one painted white skirt. I'm interested in getting more serpaes and maybe a few bleeding hearts since there are already a couple. Are any of these nippy? I'm interested in gouramis, peaceful bettas, rams, or dwarf cichlids- not sure which, and I have a lot of time to research before this tank cycles. I'm also looking for some kind of small loach or neat little catfish (not cories- have those) for bottom feeders. I have to look around to see what I can find locally. Any suggestions?

Thanks in advance!
 
Boy, nobody ever gives ME a tank and setup.....one of the teachers here where I work just got a nice 130gallon saltwater setup from someone....for FREE !! Another of the bus drivers was given a 55 setup which he put into a wall in his house....jeesh...how come I'm never around when deals like this come around !! (whine whine cry cry) :rolleyes: :huh:
 
With the amount of stress those fish have been through buying a packet of Biospria would be in your best interest. After you use that I'd get rid of the CAEs since they're probably mature and will most likely ignore any alge in the tank in favor of the slime coat on other fish; flesh out the the bleeding heart shoal, get 4-5 serpaes, and the gourami should be okay but may be frightened by the quick moving fish. Personally I'd get 4-5 cories, flesh out the two tetra shoals, get rid of the bloodfin and CAE's, and pick up two rams or three/four female bettas for a nice SA biotope. But that's just me.
 
I always hear that serpaes are nippy, but I have a small school of 5 and the never bother anything else in the tank
Also, did you empty out the tank and gravel etc., and plan on starting new? It sounds strange, but the sudden shock of clean water and good conditions might be really hard on the fish. Just curious how you are setting things back up. If you have filter media from your other tank, you might very well be able to instantly cycle the new tank with it.
 
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I have a zebra loach in my tank (about 3") and he is great! Very active but not aggressive at all. Of course, they do best in groups of at least 3 (hence I have an order in for a few more).
 
Thanks for the advice!

EMG, my husband is going to kill me when he realizes how much money will be spent fixing this tank! No cover of any kind right now as it was broken- that's where some of the glass came from. Cheap Walmart filter with no filter media- I'll be looking for any excuse to replace this thing. It has filter media now, though. I'm looking to trash the Whisper heater, too. I have one in my 10 gallon and it sucks. Not to mention some non-trashy decorations ie driftwood and rocks, plant when I get an appropriate light fixture.

So far the fish are okay. I was worried they would keel over even with slow acclimation to clean water. Poor little buggers. I'll pick up some Biospira when I'm next able to. I wish I had remembered that when I ran into town for gravel.
 
Wow..broken glass and cigarette butts! Poor fish! Good luck!
You may just want to slowly clean and upgrade the tank and see how the fish all get along, the poor things. People are making good suggestions, but I think you want to get everyone healthy and see what their behavior is before you start changing stock. The stress of the changes, even tho they are good, could bring out something like ICH, or some other disease. Clean up their environment and give them some time to become healthy and wait a few weeks before you make any stock additions. You may have to pull the CAE's out for the sake of the others if you see they are harassing them, but if not just leave them for awhile.
 
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haven't been fed in over a month, no water changes for ages, cigarette butts and broken glass in the water!
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I find little expalanation often goes a long way in these situations.
Just explain to them that you have moved them from under the docks in an urban port, out to a lovely little backwater where they can be better fed.
IME fish are pretty gullible. I bet it would fly.
Oh, and watch for signs of nicotine withdrawal. (testiness, pacing, biting own pectoral fins, searching under rocks for more butts)
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No cover of any kind right now as it was broken- that's where some of the glass came from. Cheap Walmart filter with no filter media- I'll be looking for any excuse to replace this thing. It has filter media now, though. I'm looking to trash the Whisper heater, too. I have one in my 10 gallon and it sucks. Not to mention some non-trashy decorations ie driftwood and rocks, plant when I get an appropriate light fixture.
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No worries, EMG
No such thing as a free tank. yes indeed....
 
In addition to Purple Smurfs advice I suggest that you stay away from Peaceful Bettas as well. The rest of your list of fish that you are interested in as well as the quick moving fish such as the Tetras you already have will be too much for their timid nature. The rest of your list sounds great, but take the Bettas out. They are far too shy for your list of tankmates.
 
Darn. So ixnay on the betta. I'll probably only get one type of fish that I had listed, so either gouramis, or rams, etc.

I won't be adding any new stock until at least a month. I'd rather get these guys healthy first. Plus, it'll probably take that long to upgrade the equipment and get the plants going.

As for the tank setup, the old filter didn't have any media in it. I tossed the gravel, as it was very large grain. Not to mention full of glass and ciggie butts. I replaced it with new small grain gravel and a couple handfuls of gravel from my 10 gallon. I kept some of the "decorations" and man are they cheesy! They're only in there to provide some cover and hiding places. Normally I would have kept some of the old water, but this stuff was pretty toxic. I'll pick up some Biospira on my way home from work.

They were decently active when I left for work. I got some of the tetras to eat- just a tiny pinch of flake. They have yet to learn what a hand over the tank means.

What should I feed to recondition them? I have tiny pellets that are meant for tetras and such, color-boosting flake, spirulina flake, live fruit flies, and some bloodworms and brine shrimp in gel packets. Plus a two types of sinking food- algae wafers and general bottom feeder tabs. My fish are spoiled. :D
 
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