Getting A Tank, Thought I Would Journal

[EllieJellyEllie]

HElloooooooooooo!
 
Im hopefully getting a tank on Friday, and if not Im saving up more money for a stand.
 
Its on craigslist, and has fish. Im hoping the fish arent too bad, and could maybe be betta food? I dont know. But it is a fulll setup.
 
My full plan is to have a duel planted betta tank with snails. But this might be a while as I need money.
 
Any advice for cleaning the tank an such is appreciated, Im going to setup a bucket with the fish, heater, filter, and bubble stone and totally clean out the tank. Scrub it down and use some muscles.
 
I dont know what is a good way to clean, good substrate etc. Im also getting a natural look first, with pea gravel or sand.
 
The tank isnt the style I want, its very bright but I mean, its EVERYTHING I need for 40 bucks. I really want it.
 
Any tips for new tanks and such? Im just praying that it is there Friday for us to call and ask to see it!
 
Also, they want it gone as soon as possible, and Im going to try to get them down to 30 dollars. Hopefully that works too. But if not, Im fine with 40 though.
 
 
AHH!

 

[ncguppy830]

Wait have you asked what fish are in it? What are you going to do with the fish if you are gonna have a dual betta setup?

 

[Ninjouzata]

You may be able to re-home the fish either to an LFS, or via craigslist. Just means you may have to wait a little longer before you can do what you want with it.
Do they say what kind of filter/heater they have on it?
One of the used tanks I've gotten was 20g, and had a 5-15 filter on it. I know I should've checked more thoroughly but I was so excited about the deal that I didn't notice.

 

[EllieJellyEllie]

We havent even talked to guy. Dad said we will contact him when we get the money on friday.

 

[ncguppy830]

oh well you should really ask what fish are in it before, considering you couldnt rehome your betta, it would be harder to rehome 2 new fish.

 

[Blondielovesfish]

Exciting news!!! Let's hope its there Friday
 
Make sure to try and preserve the filter media, do not change anything until you're sure it is safe to do so. Not replacing filter media will help greatly in your cycle!
 
The gravel will most likely be safe but if you want it really clean then take all of it out and put some in a bucket and fill the bucket up with water, give it a really good swish around and then pour out. Repeat as necessary. Make sure to get to the bottom of the gravel while you're swishing everything around.
 
You can use a salt solution or a weak bleach solution (1:19 Bleach:Water) to clean the inside of the tank. For the outside, you can use a standard glass cleaner, just make sure that none of the spray gets inside the tank. 
Make sure to give everything a really good rinse after. For the inside, let the tank sit with dechlorinated water after a few rinses, the dechlorinater will neutralise  any remaining bleach.
It may pay to give the outside a quick rub down with a wet cloth.
 
As you get some more money, you can start to replace the things you don't like. Its easier to replace them before you fully set the tank up with fish and plants than it is with everything.
 
Good luck!!!

 

[EllieJellyEllie]

I couldnt rehome the betta because he was my responsitbilty. These fish arent. Might join a fish club and say "Hey, I got these fish in a tank off Craigslist, and I dont know what to do with them. Its a betta tank so I cant have fish."
 
Im planting the tank once I get 1 or 2 better peices of decor and pea gravel.
 
Could I set up the 2 fish, filter and heater in a bucket while I clean everything? Will that help peserve the filter media? I beleive the bucket is a 5 gallon and they should only be in there a day or 2 max. Might be less depending on if we get the tank on saturday or sunday (or if its even there!)

 

[Ninjouzata]

You could also re-home them via craigslist or possibly the lfs.
I think the bucket should be okay, but you may want to wait on someone else to answer that one. 

 

[ncguppy830]

still you should really ask first,theres no way of telling if there bala sharks, given that balas need large tanks theyll be hard to rehome.

 

[EllieJellyEllie]

You couldnt see the fish in the photo, and if all else fails I will join a fish club

 

[ncguppy830]

so you cant ask? look joing a fish club doesnt mean you get rid of your fish, there just a bunch of hobbyists meeting together no gurantee

 

[EllieJellyEllie]

Ok. The guy has a south american (or african, cant remember) cichild and an african cichild. One is neon yellow one is bright red.
 
He isnt upgraded, he just moved so I need to sycle the tank because he emptied it to move it. Tank was running a year before that. It has everything I need including cleaning tools, water conditioners, food, etc etc/ And it has a heater!
 
How big do cichilds need for a tank? My friend (who has the giant water pools) is in this with me now. She said she would get anything up to a 29 gallon. So yea. Anyway! So excited! Dont know how this is going to go through now though...

 

[Ninjouzata]

Unless they're the shell-dwelling kind of cichlid that 29g is not going to work. Even then I'm not sure, as I really don't know much about cichlids. Can he send you some pics so you can show us and hopefully someone can ID them?

 

[EllieJellyEllie]

He said what they were. Cant get pics because it costs money. And yea. I dont know if this is gonna work anymore. Here is his text-

Yes it is still for sale just moved 2 weeks ago anf had to emprty it to move it. But before that it was running almost a year there. Keep the tank running. Too much to list its better to just show you and I can give you everything you need.yes there is a heater and I changed the filter cartridge when I moved there are some live plants that just started growing. I have everything you need too have. The fish are an odd couple of fish. I managed to get a south american and african cichild to live together and its an electric yellow and red devil.


Thats the whole txt. Sorry for spelling errors.