Need Advice Please

[Red Devil 73]

Hi, I have a 10 year old kissing gourami living in pretty harsh conditions unfortunatly.. It's a 20 gallon tank, but it hasn't been cleaned for a few years now with water just added. He seems happy though, and since hes lived this long, I always thought its better to just leave him be, since he would always get really stressed out when his tank was cleaned. The problem now is that the bottom is just too dirty and it's really about time to make him a better home. I was just wondering is it okay to place him in a 5 gallon tank for a few days till I can clean his 20 gal up and let the new water feel at home with the tank. I use to use this method back when he was younger, but now Im having doubts. Thanks.

 

[Tolak]

Wow, talk about old tank syndrome.

The pH & hardness of the new water are bound to be vastly different from the replacement water. Get a gravel vac, Prime, a water treatment made by Seachem, and some Ammo-lock. Vac the gravel, if you can see it, every other day, and remove not more than 10% of the water. I wouldn't vac more than 25% of the bottom at one time. Treat with the Ammo-Lock before touching the bottom. Double dose the replacement water with Prime. Do not remove the fish, or mess with the filtration.

After a couple of weeks of doing this every other day you should be somewhere near where you can keep up on a regular maintenance schedule. That means a 20% to 25% water change weekly, with a good gravel vac. You can also then consider filter maintenance, I wouldn't touch the filter until you have done several 10% water changes. Rinse the filter media in used tank water, do not replace it.

The best thing you could do is read the stickies in the newbie section.