I Got A Job Maintaining A Fishtank

[Torrean]

I went to the business that owns the tank I cleaned yesterday. The woman who owns the business said the tank was over ten years old, and that the guy who used to clean it had done so for fifteen years. The tank only had one zebra danio swimming around, so I asked what she kept in it before. She said that she kept angels. The tank had no heater and no thermometer. I asked her if she had any trouble keeping them alive. She said no, one of her angels lived 10 years. This sounds kind of odd to me. She said that the temp was normally around 77F but when I felt the water it felt a bit cooler than that. She is going to put in a thermometer so I'll know next time. So my first question is how long do angels live and how likely is it that one would live ten years in a room temp aquarium. Second question Anybody got any suggestions on how to convince someone that has gone without for 15 years that they need a heater (or does she). I like to think that I know a bit about fish but I am still terribly inexperienced.

As I said the tank only has one zebra danio in it at the moment. I asked her if she would like for me to organize a few stocking options for her. The PH in the tank is at 7.8 I don't have an NA GH KH test atm but I'll be getting a new master test kit soon. I just use my Girlfriend's for my tanks. Ammo 0 NI 0 temp ? So with this very limited information I was hoping to get a decent starting point for my research from you guys. I'll post a few fish names or types and you give me a list of a few compatible tank mates with the one you like best or if the fish is just a bad idea tell me. These are just a few types of fish that I think would interest her, I have not researched them in depth as of yet so if you see a train wreck about to happen feel free to tell me. BTW the measurements are aprox. L35 W18 H21.
I really appreciate any help you are willing to give. Also if you have a favorite fish or a favorite set up that is easily maintained feel free to talk about it. Oh I almost forgot althought this really should have been what I said first, She will only let me do water changes and clean the tank once a month.

any stocking tips welcome. If you come up with a full stocking list for me please remember that I want to slightly understock to help make up for the long waits between water changes. What all should I take into account. BTW the gravel is very fine, and the tank has rock decor with plastic plants.

Angel Fish
PH 6.5-7
temp. 78-80F
peaceful usually, semi-aggressive when spawning, mostly against other angels
size 5-8"

various Rams
PH 7-8
temp. 76-80
peaceful usually, semi-aggressive towards other rams
size 3-4"

cockatoo dwarf cichlid
ph 6.5-7.5
temp. 78-82
Peacefull usually, semi-aggressive towards other apistogramma
size 3-4"

Shelly? Cichlids (right name?)

gold or blue gourami

dwarf gourami
ph 6.5-7.5
temp 76-80
semi aggressive, aggressive towards other dwarf gourami
size 2-2.5"


a tank of just "low" aggression SA cichlids
mbuna tank?

 

[annka5]

Re: the angelfish - they can live for 10 years, more normal around 8 years. Really, it depends on the tank temp as to wether they could've done that without a heater. I doubt it, to be honest.
You need to find out if she's willing to buy a heater before you decide on stocking - otherwise you'll be limited ! maybe weather loach and white-cloud mountain minnows if she won't provice a heater.
If you're only going to be able to change water monthly, you need to understock the tank . The main issue would be nitrate levels, so adding a few live plants would help with that, which would rule out some cichlids who would destroy them - I know little about African cichleds, mbuna and such, but am pretty sure they would destroy a planted set-up and need a rocky one instead.
Anyhow, hope something there helps.

 

[Torrean]

That is very helpful thank you. Any information on stocking levels i.e. 1 male 3 female kinda thing would also be greatly appreciated.

I may be able to talk her into letting me come twice a month. If not I'll ask her to remove about 10-15% of the water in between. I'll monitor the NA levels once i get my new kit and see what's necessary.

I bought a 55 gallon kit and the heater broke in it. I bought a new one and then realized that the old one may very well still be under warranty. It is. So what I am thinking of doing is getting a new heater with the warranty and selling it to her cheap.

I know I need to find out about the heater first. I want to do a few stocking lists so that I can use those to manipulate her into buying one. Ya know, look at this beautiful cichlid tank with all the pretty colors and the angel fish you wanted. Then show her a pic of a white cloud tank with maybe a betta and some frogs. Or goldfish. I think she'll decide on the heater as long as I can convince her it is necessary. I need a few temp readings for that though. Sucks trying to work with a tank when you can only look at it once a month.

 

[prankster705]

Yea go manipulate her into the heater thing, in my opinion planted tropical is the best, less expensive than marine, more colorful than coldwater. BTW how much are you getting payed?

 

[lisie]

Or if she won't get a heater there's always goldies...

 

[Torrean]

I was thinking of a plantless mbuna tank. No way in hell I'm going marine. To much investment for me to mess up. =)
I'm getting paid $30 to clean the tank. I'm considering charging more for the stocking thing. It's a good bit of work. I'm definitly going to charge per mile if i have to pick up the fish myself. I hope I can pick them up myself because I don't trust her eye for fish yet. She could pick out an ich coated angel and say oh what interesting markings=)

 

[prankster705]

30$ for it I sure would love a job like that. And LOL about the ich.

 

[Torrean]

30$ for it I sure would love a job like that. And LOL about the ich.

Well when you take into account expenses like gas and stress coat and test kits the actual profit gets cut into a good bit. I'm hoping to get some more customers soon. There was a business across the street that had a tank too. It was between 40-55 gallons. It had a school of bala sharks in it aswell as a few other fish. I only got a short look at it but I might be cleaning that one soon too, and possibly restocking it. Bala sharks get pretty big. I wonder how lucrative a fish rehomeing business would be. Buy fish too big for one tank and sell them into a bigger one.

I got this job because I had to rehome a rainbow shark. It's a pretty long story. Suffice to say I bought 4 rainbow sharks and put them in a 29 gal. Ended up buying a 55 to rehome them. Left one in the 29 put 3 in the 55. One died because of aggression so I had to rehome one of the other two before they killed eachother. I took Angus the rainbow shark to a 29 gal owned by a friend of my sister. She asked if I'd like to clean the fishtank of a friend of hers. I said ok. She gave them my phone number and they called a week or so later. I told her that if she wasn't happy with what I did that she could just pay for my gas and i'd be on my way. She said that she'd pay me $30 and I said fine. I worked for about 5 hours for that $30 by the way. It should only take me about an hour now that all the catch up work is done. So I haven't made any money yet but I have got a customer now. The reason it took me 5 hours was mainly because I had to fix the filter.

 

[sylvia]

Sorry if I over-looked this but how big is the tank in question?

None of the fish you listed will work without a heater and some of them, like the rams, are sensitive to fluctuations and bad water quality so are best avoided in a tank that won't have water changes done often. Also, because of the once-a-month water change issue, you should avoid anything that produces huge amounts of waste (most cichlids, plecs, larger catfish etc) or anything that 'needs' to be over-stocked (ie mbuna). The pH of the tank also wouldn't be ideal for dwarf cichlids (including rams - unless you mean bolivians which are fine at a higher pH). Having said that, it's manageable as most willa dapt to the higher pH if thet were raised localy and provided you don't expect them to breed. I would NOT advise trying to alter the pH - especialy in a tank that'll only be monitored ocne a month.

What are you going to do with the danio? I would suggest, particularly if the tank does not get a heater, that you keep it and add a few more (depending on the tank's size, 5-6 more would be good but add them gradualy as I can imagine the tank's biological filtration has gone all haywire by now). Zebra danios can handle lower temps. very well. There are also various other varieties of zebra danio or you can get leopard danios - they'll all school and are the same species and will add some hardy variety.

Other fish that can handle lower temps are checker barbs (schooling), golden barbs (schooling), half-banded barbs (schooling), ticto barbs (schooling), spotted danios (schooling and wills chool with leopards and zebras) and white cloud mountain minnows (schooling). Also, mosquito fish (heterandria formosa NOT the nippy gambusia affinis) are tiny, hardy, livebearers that do fine in low temps but are often eaten by larger fish.

These are still, however, all tropical and will not do well if the temp drops below 68 deg F regularly (check it doesn't drop during the night as well).

American-flag fish (a killi) would do better than any of the above and can survive temps of 66 deg F and, if necessary, lower, for short periods of time. These do well kept in trios (1 male, 2 females) with 20 gallons per trio.

Similarly, paradisefish can survive temps as low as 59 deg F if necessary and would be ideal for a large-ish unheated tank. However, males especialy, can be extremely aggressive. Avoid keeping more than one male per tank and I'd advise keeping 3 or more females along with him. These are beautiful, hardy fish that only grow to 3" but allow them plenty of space with about 5 gallons per female and at least 10 gallons for a male. Hiding places are essential and don't keep them with anything very slow, long-finned, nippy or territorial as you'll only experience problems. Most quick-moving barbs and danios make good tankmates as long as the paradisefish is not kept singly.

The other somewhat obvious coolwater option is the fathead minnow/rosy red often found in LFSs that sell them as feeder fish (well, in the US anyway). These are coldwater fish and should be fine without a heater. They are schoolers. Simialrly, most bitterlings would work, as would rudo.

If you come to realise the tank is, indeed, destined to be a coldwater setup and, if temperatures drop low, you want true coldwater fish, besides goldfish (which are not ideal due to their high waste production anyway), you may wish to consider sunfish. I personaly don't like them much but people who like cichlids tend to like them so they might make the ideal option (judging by your list above). They can be somewhat difficult to get a hold of and I can't tell you much about them so you'll have to do your own research but they do come in all sorts of shapes, sizes and colors and, from what I have heard, have cichlid-like personalities.


If you end up with a heated tank, from the list you posted, the angels would work, the rams (bolivians is best) would work, the cockatoo would probably work (though my experience with dwarf cichlids is extremely limmited) and I know the shellies would work but would suggest against them because they have some special requirements that may be difficult to meet if you're not there often and may not be appreciated by their owner in the same way as you or I might appreciate them.

As far as the gouramies are concerned, there are several I could suggest (and probably will once I hear the tank size and if you're getting a heater) but the two you listed are best avoided.
Dwarf gouramies (colisa lalia) are prone to disease and a bad choice for a tank that's just starting over, is probably quite unstable, won't have frequent water changes and won't have someone watching it on a regular basis. They are, however, peaceful... unlike the other gourami you mentioned - the three-spot (blue and gold being variants, along with platinum, opaline, lavender, cosby, marble etc) - trichogaster trichopterus. Though these fish are hardy, they grow larger (6") and can be terrors. because you won't be there to supervize them and, in the event of a serious fight, won't be able to intervene, it would be best to avoid them altogether.

That's all I can think of to say

 

[Torrean]

I could kiss you
I think the tank is 55 gallons aprox. L35" W 18" H 21" and supposedly had a problem with getting too warm in the past. I don't know how i'll work out checking the temp at night but I will try. If I can get a heater in this tank I think I'm going to get 4 angels to start with. 24" (Should they all be the same color variation or does it matter.) I'll talk to the store owner's and see if I can return 2 after 2 pair off. I'm thinking of a rubbernose pleco 3-5" and some more Danios, maybe a school of 8 longfinned zebra's. I was thinking of putting a pair of rams in somewhere but there might be aggression from the angels and like you said they are sensitive so nevermind that. Can you think of another fish that would add some more size and color to the tank. Is a gourami a possibility? Maybe the cockatoo?
20" + 5" + 16" = 41" 41 gallons

I have a dilemma though. She kept angels for years before I came along without any problems, or so she says. I don't know what I can do. I doubt i'll be able to talk her into coldwater fish but I don't know if i can talk her into a heater. She seemes kinda stingy.

 

[yvez9]

i would honestly refuse to take care of saomeone else's tank if they don't meet basic requirements for the fish they want.

if it worked for them in the past, i'd let them take care of it otherwise you'll be blamed for sick fish!

hope she understands why heaters are a good investment!

 

[Torrean]

good point. Not a great option but I agree with you that that is the right thing to do.

Sylvia I know that you said that I should avoid cichlids and plecs. Are the cockatoo's, angels, and rubbernose included in this. If it is too much waste I will change this setup.

 

[yvez9]

cockatoos and angels are not too bad
you should get away with it

i know lots of people who kept angels with a 50% mothly water change

again, i would skip all forms of pleco

you should get cories instead

 

[Torrean]

again, i would skip all forms of pleco

you should get cories instead
[/quote]

So one five inch pleco equals 12-16 inch's of fish. Or are you just saying that i'll get more fish per inch total with cories. Just trying to understand why you say cories instead of pleco. Thanks for your help.

I thought cories were bottom feeders, will the cories clean algae off of the glass and plants? That's why i would like to add a small breed pleco. I thought about otto's but they just die too easy.

 

[Xcric]

again, i would skip all forms of pleco

you should get cories instead

So one five inch pleco equals 15-18 inch's of fish. Or are you just saying that i'll get more fish per inch total with cories. Just trying to understand why you say cories instead of pleco. Thanks for your help.

I thought cories were bottom feeders, will the cories clean algae off of the glass and plants? That's why i would like to add a small breed pleco. I thought about otto's but they just die too easy.
[/quote]

plecos (small and large) will produce a good amount of waste which could turn out to be a major problem without frequent water changes, also most plecos will lose interest in algae as they get older making the cleaner bit pointless, and some will develop a taste for slime coats

the cories are bottom feeders but they won't clean anything really, they don't create a lot of waste though, and they're very active unlike the majority of plecos which hide most of the day, and they're not too picky about water quality