Advice

[jackkelly32]

I have just been offered a 5ft setup.It has gravel substrate and loads of plastic plants the only fish in the tank is a albino plec about 6" and a couple of cories, well thats all i can see anyway as i dread to think when it was last cleaned out.
My question is i want to do a complete new setup with it and i am obviously going to have to recycle as the water and filter are minging.
What is this fish cycle people talk about and could i do this with a plec in?I could put the cories into my smaller tank but not the plec

 

[Jonno]

if the tank is already cycled, then beleive me, don't start from scratch!

the more minging and mature the filter (not the water though) is the better

 

[rabbut]

I have just been offered a 5ft setup.It has gravel substrate and loads of plastic plants the only fish in the tank is a albino plec about 6" and a couple of cories, well thats all i can see anyway as i dread to think when it was last cleaned out.
My question is i want to do a complete new setup with it and i am obviously going to have to recycle as the water and filter are minging.
What is this fish cycle people talk about and could i do this with a plec in?I could put the cories into my smaller tank but not the plec

It would be more advisable, to change around half of the water, and clean all filter media in the old tank water, rather than starting a fresh, if you already have fish. Gravel vac while removing the water, so as to get all of the muck out of there. I say this, as you need to have bactiria in your filters, to break down fish waste, or the fish will die, due to being poisoned by their own waste. Belive it or not, a dirty filter will work better than a clean one. If you do choose to re-start, I would advise you move all fish to a friens/relative's tank, to avoid any harm comming to them while you re-cycle the tank. The tearm cycleing, refurs to the nitrogen cycle, and is linked back to those bactiria, as explained below.
Fish produce ammonia in their waste. This is very toxic to them. A set of bactiria in the filter, break this ammonia down into nitrIte, which is equily as harmful. Another set of bactiria then break nitrIte down into nitrAte. Nitrate is still toxic, but not anywhere near as bad as the other two chemicals mentioned earlier. NitrAte is removed from an established aquarian, with weekly 25% waterchanges. To cycle a tank, you have two options. The first is a fish-in cycle, which is back-breaking work and almost always lead to health problems for your fish. This involves introducing a few small fish, to produce ammonia, and start the process going. This methord usualy requires dayly 50% waterchanges, to keep ammonia and nitrite below 0.25ppm. Ammonia and nitrite are both measured by test kits. Liquid drop tests are best, as they are more accurate.
The second methord, is the fishless cycle. It involves adding an artificial source of ammonia to the tank, to start the process going. You simply test the water once to twice a day, to see if more ammonia needs to be added. This mothord is less work and is harmless to your fish. For more detail, see the pinned thread at the top of this sub-forum, labled fishless cycling, two methords in one thread, by RDD.
HTH
rabbut

 

[jackkelly32]

Ok thanks for that.
To get the tank here i am obviously going to have to take the water out to transport so if i only brought some of the water and could i rinse the gravel in some of the water i bring with me as it really is stinking.then put the rest of the water into the tank with the cleaner gravel and top up?I can imagine the fiter is going to be just a solid block of slime
From what i was told they have been away for 8 months and they just left the tank to its own devices

 

[rabbut]

Ok thanks for that.
To get the tank here i am obviously going to have to take the water out to transport so if i only brought some of the water and could i rinse the gravel in some of the water i bring with me as it really is stinking.

It would be better to rinse out in the water you are discarding, rather than that you are keeping during transport. You need to keep as much water as possible, to avoid having to fully acclimatise your fish again. Rince the filter foams in the water you will be discarding, on location, and transpot the fish and the filter foam in the water you are keeping. Remember to only move the tank when it is empty, and keep those fiters wet with old tank water. Once you get home, fill the tank with water at the same temporature as that the fish are in, and add dechlorinator. Add the filter and heater. Switch the filter on and add fish, but wait half an hour before swithching the heater on.

then put the rest of the water into the tank with the cleaner gravel and top up?I can imagine the fiter is going to be just a solid block of slime
From what i was told they have been away for 8 months and they just left the tank to its own devices

The gravel cleaner is a tool that is used during waterchanges, not a product that is added to the tank. You drain water from the tank, using a length of hose, usualy into a container benieth the tank. This tube has a wider pice of hose on the end. While the water is draining, you dig the wider end of the hose into the gravel, and all dirt contained in it, is pulled out of the gravel, up the thiner tube and into the container, while leaving all of the gravel in the tank. This waste water is then discarded, with the dirt in it, and replaced with fresh dechlorinated water from the tap.
HTH
rabbut