Clean Tank Or Not?

[GTS_MAD]

Hey guys,

Last night i purchested a well estabalished tank that had been running for 4 years to use as my hospital tank, got it home, but the gravel looks like it has never been cleaned, it has this grey rubbish all over it and the water goes cloudy everytime the gravel is disturbed.

My question is....... Ammonia is 0ppm in this tank if i do a smal water change with the gravel being cleaned with i ruin everything because doesnt the bacteria live in the gravel to??

Cheers Guys

 

[GTS_MAD]

anyone?

 

[kiriyama]

I'm no expert but for what I have read on other posts I understood it to be the filter which held the useful bacteria and the gravel ony a small percentage of it, unless maybe it has an under gravel filter , in that case the bacteria would be in the gravel....

 

[Harlequins]

Does it have any fish in the tank?

 

[GTS_MAD]

Yes about 4 tetras and 3 tiger barbs

 

[Forestpisces]

Kiriyama is right Your bacteria are held in your filter sponge/ ceramic rings which is why you should never wash them under the tap or even change them unless they are falling apart literally. Although some bacteria will be held in the gravel it will do no harm to change it (which is what i'd be tempted to do for clenliness sake) or give it a very good cleaning. However, what will harm your bacteria is not having anything to feed off. If there are currently no fish in the tank then you need to be dosing it daily with ammonia or keeping some small fish in there otherwise your bacteria will effectively starve and die. Alternatively you could do what many of us do and take the filter out of the hospital tank and run it on your main tank this keeps it cycled and gives you exxtra filteration untill it's needed. Win win situation

Best of luck

 

[emma12321]

if this tank has a seperate filter internal or external filter you could save a 3rd of the water in buckets with the fish, strip the tank and clean the gravel then top up with dechlorinated fresh water and add the fish and remaining old water, don't clean the filter for a few weeks and when you do clean the sponges in old fish water.

if its running an under gravel filter its more awkward you would just have to keep gravel vacing. If you added a new internal or external filter and let it run for a month, you would then be able to get rid of the undergravel filter as most people don't use them any more.

Emma

 

[waterdrop]

In any tank where the actual maintenance habits are unknown but the results of it exhibit signs of possible neglect I would worry about old tank syndrome. These fish may have become used to much higher mineral content and/or trace materials due to a lack of regular water changes.

Now if the tank water they were living in has already been exchanged to a large extent by tap water during the process of getting them home, the chance to deal with this problem may already be past, but if not then you may need to go through a procedure where water changes start out small and stay small for quite a while before gradually getting larger. This is used to acclimate the fish to the more normal parameters of your tap water.

~~waterdrop~~

 

[GTS_MAD]

Great ill give that a try thanks everyone!

 

[GTS_MAD]

Guys,

Iv done a water change and gone though the gravel and it was black!
But.........

Water is very cloudy and been at least 2 hours since changing and also ammonia is 0.25ppm now and it was 0ppm before is this normal? or have a missed it up

 

[GTS_MAD]

cant even see through the tank

 

[GTS_MAD]

any ideas guys?

 

[arobinson1984]

Just give it time to clear, it may take a day or 2 and it wont bother the fish.

Keep an eye on the ammonia, its likely just a tiny spike whiolst the filter catches up to compensate for any bacteria that was in the gravel. If it rises above 0.25ppm, then do a water change, preferably 50%+

The filter should catch up in a day or 2

Andy

 

[GTS_MAD]

Thanks for the Info!

 

[OldMan47]

If you have stirred the substrate without removing all of the dirt that was released, you have set up conditions for an ammonia spike. By releasing the dirt in the substrate without removing it, it floats around in the water and the organics in it start to decay and produce ammonia. You will see some ammonia in the water and it will look dirty. Instead, spend the time to thoroughly clean a part of the substrate and watch the dirt go out the siphon before moving to a new spot in the substrate. By doing it that way, it may take 3 or 4 water changes to clean the whole tank but you won't get ammonia spikes.