Inherited The School Tank - Omg!

[**sarahp**]

So as the title would suggest - I've inherited the school fish tank. I dont think its been cleaned in years judging by the amount of cr*p that I have disturbed this morning. The fish looked ragged and tired and stressed - and I need some help from you guys please to tell me the best way to go about sorting this mess out. First some stats

Tank size 115cm x 41cmx 54cm; 56UK gallons, 67 US gallons
Running 1 fluval 2 and 1 fluval 4 - and I've just added in a spare rena xp3 that I had in my loft.
Ammonia and Nirtrite both 0ppm (amazing but true!!!!) nitrate about 20ppm.
Hard water area = although not tested hardness or ph.

Occupants

2 common plecos (!!) 1 poss both gibbies - approx 8cm long - no idea of age - could be stunted. Terratorial and one or both going to have to be rehomed.

2 silver dollars - approx 6cm - both in really bad condition - ragged fins, one has what appears to be scarring or rot across top lip area, VERY skittish. Apparently these have to stay as they used to belong to deputy head!

2 boesmani rainbows - one male, one female approx 4 cm

1 full grown clown loach - seems ok but probably very lonely.

1 molly

1 unidentified - pic below - id required please.

So as you can see its a bit of a mess to say the least. What do you suggest I do bearing in mind that the dollars have to stay and it has been made clear that people will not be happy fo the clown loach goes!!! Although I have said if needs be he can go and I'll just take the grumbling from the staff!!!!!

I'd like a peaceful, colourful tank suitable for a class of 8 year olds!!

All ideas and sugestions welcome - thank you

Unidentified fish - sorry its not a great pic

 

[Wills]

Wow thats a lot to drop on someone!! Right first of all I think just clean it all out like you said, then I would swap out the plecs and the clown loach - you could probs sell the clown and help fund the rest of the future additions to the tank.

The fish you pictured I think is a Buenos Aires Tetra or an Exodon or Bucktooth Tetra - either way it looks in bad shape.

As for stocking of the tank I would perhaps consider doing a large schooling fish tank so get an other 3 Silver Dollars and 3 more of the Rainbows and then maybe 5 Yoyo loaches? Lots of activity with bright shiny fish and hardy fish at that. And then its just dealing with peoples reactions but if you can keep the tank healthy they will see the difference in fish that are thriving as opposed to just surviving

You sound like you know what your doing so Im not brushing you off by any means but if you have a gut instinct for this tank go for it But obvs ask as many questions as you can/need

Good on you for taking these fish on! I can tell you know how to do best by them and will do it as well

Wills

 

[Assaye]

Looks like an exodon - the're a bit like mini piranhas in their behaviour and eating habits. Don't think they're community fish and they need to be kept in large schools to disperse aggression. Can't be kept on their own either without major impact on their wellbeing.

Nitrates are low. That's a good sign. If your local water matches the pH and hardness of the tank water then I think you can go ahead and do a large water change. However, just to be sure and to make sure that the fish adjust properly, I'd do small daily water changes for a week or so, making sure to clean the gravel as you do.

Stock wise - school of silver dollars, school of rainbows, BN plec or other smallish plec, maybe a large school of corys? I would rehome the plecs and clown loach. Poor things will get miserable if they are not already. How big is the clown loach? See if you can find someone with a group of clowns that he can join.

It's great that you took this tank on!

 

[Verminator89]

I'm glad to see you've opted for adding an external. Certainly a tank of this size with the fish it has requires external filtration. You could sell off the internals once your rena xp3 has matured for also to gain funds for new stock.

1 full grown clown loach - seems ok but probably very lonely.

Unlikely unless he's roughly 12inches! I would say not fully grown, concidering how big he would be in a tank this size. They are truely huge fish when "fully grown" The following website has to be one of the greatest read ups for clown loach i know. People seriously underestimate these fish.

Clown Loach Information

I would defo suggest he be rehomed with someone who has a group in a big enough tank Also the plecs as has already been mentioned aught to be rehomed too - simply too big for a tank. I like Wills idea of adding a few more silver dollars, definately a good move. Boesemani's are stunningly beautiful, especially when fed the right diet to cater for their vibrant colouration. An alternative to yoyo-loaches could be corydoras. Not a fan personally but they are active lil fellas and will help stur up the substrate keeping it clean(ish).

It's good to see the plight of another tank has been taken over by keen hands eager to turn it around I'll be looking forward to seeing how it shapes up.

 

[Curiosity101]

I think assaye/wills are correct about the unidentified fish and I'd go further to add that it may well be what has caused the damage to the silver dollars.

I like wills suggestion to give you:
5 Silver dollars
5 Rainbows
5 Yoyo-loaches
1 Molly

Although if it were me I'd be tempted to drop the rainbows and molly and replace with a mid sized cichlid, something like a blue acara.

 

[meguro]

rainbows and silver dollars will benefit from a more plant matter based diet. i'd keep the rainbows over getting any cichlids as they will provide more activity and generally colour, plus u will avoid nasty aggression issues too. i would also opt for loaches over corydoras but i would try to find some other than yoyos (not that yoyos are bad) such as botia kubotai, botia striata, botia histrionica, botia rostrata.

i think u shoudl probably keep at least one of the other internals in there too, if not both. this way if one of them breaks u still have something going. plus the rainbows and loaches will appreciate the flow. i would avoid adding plants as the silver dollars are most likely going to have fun devouring them. and i would also consider adding some additional rainbow species such as australis, splendida inornata etc.

edit: and yes that fish is an exodon paradoxus as previously identified

 

[Rafael Dilone]

Hope you are able to restore that tank to a pleasurable environment to view. The fish you have is a Buenos Aires Tetra for sure. You seem to be running a good amount of filtration on the tank. But a few of the fishes you have are schooling fishes so you would need to either get rid of some of them by giving it to the LFS or a friend or getting more of them. I really wish you the best of luck and maybe you can post pictures of the tank when its done

 

[Curiosity101]

Oo I also just had a thought...we've focused on stocking. But I would definitely suggest changing that background and getting hold of some fake plants (depends how much you're happy to spend/can get from the school).

A nice dark blue background could look nice, or generally something a bit less busy... like lots of greenery with lots of blue on the top half eg.

An alternative to a stick on background would be spray paint...have to be careful not to get it in the tank though of course.

You may also want to consider changing the substrate depending on what fish you settled on for the bottom of the tank... and also depending again on how much you want to spend as substrate can be pretty expensive.

Anyways... just some more food for thought.

 

[**sarahp**]

Hi guys,

thanks for all the help and encouragement. TBH I did agree to keep them in my classroom as I've been walking past them every day for a term and trying not to look at how bad they really are. Honestly if it was a dog or cat we'd have had the RSPCA in by now!!!

I like the idea of adding more silver dollars; and thanks for the id of the tetra - I was suspicious that he may well be some/all of the cause of the raggedness of the dollars.

Am also very happy to get rid of clown and suffer the moans from the others (incidently he is about 8 inches long and very fat!!) Not sure about other botias or corys though as the substrate is gravel and to change to sand would be a complete pain as I have not got access to an outside tap and am doing all water changes with a bucket! Would gravel damage the barbels? I have corys and polka dot loaches in my tank at home but the substrate is sand and they love that!

Have checked pics of the tetra and the one in my tank looks a very odd shape by comparison - almost bent in the middle. Would a LFS take him in such poor condition?? Have already asked them to take the 2 commons and they are happy to do that as they are very striking fish - actually may put up pics tomorrow just to double check although they do look like my one at home.

For the time being I do intend to keep all three filters running - and as long as its not too noisy when I'm trying to teach I'm happy to keep it like that - would rather over filter than under and like someone said if one fails I still have several back ups!

I do intend to change the back drop and a lot of the internal decoration - its very busy and very harsh with a lot of grey rock and cheap fake wood which looks horrid!. I want something a bit more gentle and natural looking iykwim! One good sign - people have been commenting today that the smell that has been lingering around that classroom now seems to have gone so I think the good clean and the additional filtration are starting to make a difference!

Will post pics of the transformation as I go along.

Once again thanks for all the ideas and suggestions

 

[Curiosity101]

You should deffo start a journal or similar. Make sure you get plenty of before pictures including full tank shots and the similar.

That's a bit annoying about the lack of taps but don't despair... you can change the substrate whilst the fish are in the tank... so long as you're as careful as possible and stick to very fine round gravel as opposed to sand you should be fine. And so long as it's round gravel not sharp stuff then it'll be fine for corys n loaches etc.

Any chance you can set-up a python from a tap? Basically involves a tap and a long piece of hose (like garden hose).

 

[Assaye]

I've kept corys on very smooth, fine gravel now for a year and it has not done their barbels any good I was assured by numerous people that fine gravel was OK for corys but my experience tells me otherwise. I would avoid corys if you have gravel. I certainly won't be adding any more corys until I can change the tank to sand.

The exodon looks rather the worse for wear. Maybe someone local will be able to take it or maybe you could try to give it away on here if you could sort shipping? Poor little thing.

 

[mystus]

I've kept corys on very smooth, fine gravel now for a year and it has not done their barbels any good I was assured by numerous people that fine gravel was OK for corys but my experience tells me otherwise. I would avoid corys if you have gravel. I certainly won't be adding any more corys until I can change the tank to sand.

AGEED!!

Have you thought about having guppies? for eight year olds see the babies would be cool and they are pretty hardy.

Or you could add more tetras like silver tipped ones. in my aquarium they are pretty hardy they even have bred in my community tank.

 

[Curiosity101]

I've kept corys on very smooth, fine gravel now for a year and it has not done their barbels any good I was assured by numerous people that fine gravel was OK for corys but my experience tells me otherwise. I would avoid corys if you have gravel. I certainly won't be adding any more corys until I can change the tank to sand.

I never had a problem with mine on gravel...weird.

 

[Peanut0701]

Obvously clean the rocks up and get the algae cleaned off but leave some for the plecos to eat if you end up keeping them. Put a lamp or something by the tank or something i think that will take some stress away. maybe get some new decorations or rearange the stuff so the fish aren't in the same environment all the time. Get some research done on the fish and maybe see if you can get a better diet for them. I am not an expert or anything but i do have some experience on fish. Just new to the forum. Well good luck i hope i helped.

Peanut0701