Saving A Neglected Tank?

[Maroonostrich]

My dad has had a small Juwel for some time. Lost interest and it was handed over to me. I can't get around to doing anything with it as I am scared of hurting the inhabitants!

It's a Rekord 60 54 ltr tank. It's currently housing 2 very shy corydoras and 3 ottos. It's live planted, dwarf anubias I think, and some Java fern or something with bogwood in it too. The filter is not working properly but stuttering along. The light and heater seem ok.

It is COVERED in algae, thick, brown- green clumps of it that grows on all the decor and on the plants themselves. It's pretty gruesome looking and I've tried removing lumps of decor and trimming bits of it, drying out the hard decor and trying replacing it, but this algae stuff keeps coming back.

I'm procrastinating with any other action because I'm fond of the little ottos particularly, who seem to be doing quite well and have lived in that tank for about 3 years, and I don't know what to do to tackle the infestation without hurting them!

Any suggestions? Thank you very much for any tips on how to start.

 

[NonstickRon]

http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?showto...t&p=2104339

Someone around here has a really great algae guide in their sig. Place to start would be testing the water levels.

 

[toshapetriji]

My dad has had a small Juwel for some time. Lost interest and it was handed over to me. I can't get around to doing anything with it as I am scared of hurting the inhabitants!

It's a Rekord 60 54 ltr tank. It's currently housing 2 very shy corydoras and 3 ottos. It's live planted, dwarf anubias I think, and some Java fern or something with bogwood in it too. The filter is not working properly but stuttering along. The light and heater seem ok.

It is COVERED in algae, thick, brown- green clumps of it that grows on all the decor and on the plants themselves. It's pretty gruesome looking and I've tried removing lumps of decor and trimming bits of it, drying out the hard decor and trying replacing it, but this algae stuff keeps coming back.

I'm procrastinating with any other action because I'm fond of the little ottos particularly, who seem to be doing quite well and have lived in that tank for about 3 years, and I don't know what to do to tackle the infestation without hurting them!

Any suggestions? Thank you very much for any tips on how to start.

Drain off a bucket of tank water and move the fish to this temporarily. Then drain all the tank water, remove all the plants and features. The features can be washed clean. Plants are not expensive so just buy new. Take the filter apart and clean the sponges gently in the tank water you drained off. Do not wash sponges in tap water, this will kill the bacteria living in the sponges.

Now tackle the glass and remember to clean the substrate. Refill the tank with fresh dechlorinated water and try to match the temp to the water you removed.

Finally when everything is working normally replace the fish.

Should be a good afternoons work but the result will be worth it.

Keep checking the ammonia and nitrite readings for the next few days to make sure everything is settling down ok.

Your ottos may be able to keep up with the algae problem if it returns. Certainly you should keep the tank away from direct sunlight.

 

[Miss Wiggle]

yes first stage is learning what you are dealing with, so test pH, ammonia, nitrite and nitrate and then test the levels from your tap.

get the filter working as No 1 priority, don't remove decor or algae for now as this will be consuming some of the ammonia and therefore acting as a filter.

in what way is the filter not working, does it just need a good clean out or does it need replacing?

Either way don't touch too much of anything but get a filter working on there. If when you test the levels they are bad then do some water changes, just start with small changes particularly if the levels in your tap water are v different to those in the tank. Just try a 10% water change and see how it goes, if nothing bad happens do another the same the next day and keep going until water quality is where it should be.

Light tubes should be replaced every yr or so, if they haven't been changed in a while then this will be contributing to the algae growth, so changing the bulbs would be a good place to start once you're happy that the water quality is getting there.

The trick will basically be softly softly, large changes may shock the fish so just do small changes.

 

[Maroonostrich]

Oh thank you ALL OF YOU, these are great links/hints.

Re: the filter, not sure what the problem is, whether it's just on it's last legs or what. I've took it to pieces, rinsed the sponges in a bucket of the aquarium water and got them clear, and put it back together again, but the marginal improvement I get from that takes all of 2 days to disappear.

I try these things every so often, get disheartened when it doesn't work, and go back to trying not to look at the poor thing...

 

[K-Holed]

Any chance of some photo? In many cases the problem may be purely a cosmetic one caused by overfeeding/direct sunlight/old lighting tubes. I've seen some truely horrible tanks in my time that have taken no more then cleaning the contents in tank water, rinsing the filter out and gently scouring the glass to remove algae from there.

You can find that a swamp can be turned into something beautiful, with an afternoon of patience and perseverance. As long as you dont start attacking it with bleach or raw tap water, you can conserve your bacteria at the same time.

 

[Maroonostrich]

Any chance of some photo? In many cases the problem may be purely a cosmetic one caused by overfeeding/direct sunlight/old lighting tubes. I've seen some truely horrible tanks in my time that have taken no more then cleaning the contents in tank water, rinsing the filter out and gently scouring the glass to remove algae from there.

Hi, I can certainly try and get one, will give it a go if I get a sec tonight.

 

[waterdrop]

Agree that the above posts have really good advice and paying attention to the sequence of events you take is a good thing to notice. Once you realize that the important thing to preserve is the media itself with the 2 bacterial populations, it really frees you up to do good cleanings like this.

Tanks really take to having frequent attention. Its easy to get into a pattern of letting them sit too long.. much better to go ahead and not hesitate to give all the things the cleanings they need - of course with the warning we must always repeat that care should be taken to use tank water in situations that will impact the bacteria.

Also, I wonder if it should be mentioned in first description way up there that of course you can make good use of that tank water the fish are temporarily in in the bucket. Probably obvious but it should be returned to the tank so that not all the water is completely new I think -- think that was the intent in the description.

~~waterdrop~~

 

[NonstickRon]

What exaclty is the filter doing? Do you have a bubbler? If its noise and you have a bubbler, it could be sucking in air bubbles. Mine here at work is pretty loud becuase of that.

 

[waterdrop]

Actually, would it really be a big deal to just replace the filter? That question should be asked. The mature media could just be transferred over if you got the same type.

 

[Miss Wiggle]

None at all, providing you keep the same media you can replace the filter, it's basically just a box with a pump in after all!

 

[Maroonostrich]

None at all, providing you keep the same media you can replace the filter, it's basically just a box with a pump in after all!

I haven't bought a filter in quite a while... are they pricey? Is there a good UK website where I can buy one and have it delivered- I'm at work so much is hard to go shopping?! Seems like getting a new one might be a good idea. The Juwel still has that box thing in the corner which was once a filter and is no longer working, then there's this one that's dying a death slowly.

 

[Miss Wiggle]

do you knwo what size the tank is, that'll affect the filter we recommend to you.

can ususally pick up good deals on ebay

 

[waterdrop]

None at all, providing you keep the same media you can replace the filter, it's basically just a box with a pump in after all!

LOL, this is why we (and of course all the newbies) like you so much, you'll even answer a question meant to draw out the budget concerns of the OP, and you'll answer it straight up!

 

[Erised]

If you haven't gone ahead with it already, try sticking a little bit of cucumber in your tank and see if the otos are interested in it. If they've been living of algae for 3 years they might not take to other food once you remove all the algae. I know a lot of people have a hard time keeping ottos alive in their tank just because there isn't enough algae to serve as a natural food source, and they aren't readily willing to take on other food.

As for the filter, I would indeed replace the whole thing but keep the filter media and stick that in the new filter.
At the moment, does the tank have gravel or sand? If gravel then there might be a lot of dirt stuck in between it as well causing the water to be in worse quality then you'd think. So I really would suggest testing your water for all parameters possible and giving the gravel a good clean when you get a chance. I can understand you not wanting to do too much at the moment, but the cories would probably prefer sand in the long term.