Regenerating A Old, Dying Fish Tank.

[m00se]

Ah you guys are awesome, thanks to everyone of you(although i still have many more questions )

My petshop says they'll test PH/Nitrite for free which is good for now.

It is good, but a liquid test kit will be your friend for life

Ill take a look around for pond chlorinator then, does anyone know if london england use chlorine or chloramine? I assume most dechlorinators cover both, but will double check when i purchase them. Does anyone have a cheap product/brand they can recommend as there are many around, specially on ebay.

Any brand of dechlorinator will do, they all do the same thing. I just buy whichever lets me dose the largest volume of water using the smallest volume of dechlor lol

Co2 & light are my main concerns about plants, i only have 1 tube and another means more ££££ and electricity. Co2 also sounded a bit 'scary' from what i read and plant foods another expense, however i have no idea on prices/how much-how often its used so if someone could summarise their experience, costs, maintenance plan that would be great specially with regaurs to this Co2 business

Light isn't really that much of a problem, there are several different systems and theories of advice about what to use and how much (wpg etc.) but I just plonked over some lights on top of my tank and just used what made them grow. From experience, if you have any live plants at all, it's worth adding CO2, but you can do it easily and non-scarily (honest) for very little money using pop bottles, a bit of airline tubing, some sugar and yeast. My plants are thriving with that.

Ah yes my pet shop sells elodea(These names sure do get confusing!) for maybe £1 a bunch, my girlfriends mum put some in her new goldfish tank and i was keep an eye on it to see if it actually survived. Its not the greatest looking plant i agree, but i suppose it would make a nice 'background' to begin with.

*nods*

Attempting to put everything in a priority list for now keeping in mind the bacteria/cycling, filter needs a service/clean, Plec needs treating and gravel/Plants/Limescale all need doing.

3) Should i leave gravel change untill i know tank is cycled or do i risk prolonging it due to bacteria loss from gravel?

There isn't really much bacteria in your gravel (there is a little bit, to be sure) - almost all your biological colony is in your filter media.

4)Should i clean the filter sponge now or later(bacteria) but at the same time an effecient filter is required.

Don't really clean it, just wash out any big lumps if it's clogged up or blocked, otherwise just leave it be.

I don't want to have to recycle my tank again, i also don't want an ill fish getting worse - Ah so much to do, enjoyable though although the fish's welfare is on my mind right now and not sure what step to do first or how to go about treating him/them.

The other questions I leave to those who know about them

 

[Curiosity101]

1) Confirm water is Ok (you need ammonia and nitrite testing more than nitrite and pH) Also ask them for the value in ppm (parts per million AKA mg per litre)
2) Whilst waiting for water results get plec diagnosed
3) Unless water is perfect you need to be doing water changes to get it as clean as possible. Clean water will be needed to sustain health. There is no point the fish being treated just to get ill again. Or even worse, to not get better and be under additional stress due to meds in the water.
4) If water is fine and plec is diagnosed. Treat according to directions given.
5)Bacteria on gravel should be minimal...change it whenever you like.
6) Don't clean the filter sponge unless the flow of the filter is actually restricted.

 

[m00se]

Ah yes cabomba is what i saw in my very old "Practical aquarium" binder. Excellent news if this grows well in my gravel (or whatever i go with, i really have no idea what my future fish would prefer?). It does look softer i agree and less weedy, doesnt need any special requirements then? Will my light suffice?

Grows really well in my gravel-only substrate, and I'm sure will do just as well in sand. As I said above, though, make sure you get the green one, the red-tinged one needs higher light levels and probably something else that I wasn't giving it - mine just fell to pieces on me. It may just have been a weak specimen, mind you. Who knows.

What wattage is your light? Is it T8 or T5 (8/8" or 5/8" diameter)? How long is it (in terms of the length of the tank)?

 

[ChrisChrisChris]

Thank you M00se.

Ok i think ill get started shortly on removing this horrible gravel then(Although my nails are still soft/painfull from being wet for 7 hours during the last fish tank 'operation'!).

The tube/bottle/yeast/sugar sounds interesting and easy, i shall investigate this now.

Ill certainly purchase a test kit soon, i was planning to make the same price based decision on dechlorinator myself Price wins!

Some say sand is a nightmare to clean yet cheap, others say gravel is bad for floor feeders here AHHhh whats a beginner to do . Right now sand is tempting me (Cheap), but ive not looked into how much/how expensive natural looking gravel would be. So whats everyones opinions of this?

 

[Curiosity101]

There is a nack to cleaning sand. Bit after awhile all of the really tiny particles are gone and you get used to it. I rarely suck up sand now whilst vaccing the surface.

Also you don't need ANY co2 with your setup. If you were going to do anything I'd thinking about getting liquid carbon. But to be honest overall I'd get neither. You will only even possibly need a fertiliser for trace metals and minerals.

 

[ChrisChrisChris]

Ah yes cabomba is what i saw in my very old "Practical aquarium" binder. Excellent news if this grows well in my gravel (or whatever i go with, i really have no idea what my future fish would prefer?). It does look softer i agree and less weedy, doesnt need any special requirements then? Will my light suffice?

Grows really well in my gravel-only substrate, and I'm sure will do just as well in sand. As I said above, though, make sure you get the green one, the red-tinged one needs higher light levels and probably something else that I wasn't giving it - mine just fell to pieces on me. It may just have been a weak specimen, mind you. Who knows.

What wattage is your light? Is it T8 or T5 (8/8" or 5/8" diameter)? How long is it (in terms of the length of the tank)?

Dad recently purchased one before i took control of the tank and scrubbed it!
Aqua-Glo T8
140 LUX
Energy rating B
Goes about 6" short on each side of the tank so length -12" at a estimate. Says 40W 25mm/1" behind the very sticky price tag.
£15


Just noticed scratches on glass #####, people must have played with the window cleaner magnet and caught gravel in it.

 

[m00se]

Curiosity101 is right, you don't need CO2 with those light levels. I always found it helped, though, even when I was using much lower light levels than I currently am.

 

[ChrisChrisChris]

Pregnant guppies?
http/img53.imageshack.us/img53/4193/pregnanthuh.jpg


Light tube T8 Aqua glo 40W http/img382.imageshack.us/img382/7365/fi...nedillfish4.jpg


Ill patchy white plec http/img54.imageshack.us/img54/5648/plecill2.jpg
Another http/img383.imageshack.us/img383/9191/illplec.jpg

 

[nosoup4you]

Let's start by diagnosing the pleco. Have a look here and see if your fish's symptoms match any of these.

 

[nosoup4you]

From the last set of pics, he looks like he is suffering from an external bacterial infection. Not sure what kind of meds you can get over there, but it should be easy enough to treat.

 

[ChrisChrisChris]

Gee it seems quite difficult to even identify the possible illness.

Bacterial infection i suppose, white slimy/cotton wooly patches on him. However the guppies don't seem to be affected? They potentially have red gills but the problem is when you look for something, you can usually convince yourself you've seen it/got it.

Hmm, i'm quite lost as what to do to be honest. I suppose its going to infect all the fish? Even if i removed him, i would still need to apply some treatment?

 

[ChrisChrisChris]

I noticed the guppies has "fin rot", i have "interpret Number 8 - Finrot and fungus". Should i use this as per instructions? Worried that it may affect water readings (which will be taken tomorrow) and affect friendly bacteria in the filter?

Appreciate your guideance, thanks.

 

[ChrisChrisChris]

1) Confirm water is Ok (you need ammonia and nitrite testing more than nitrite and pH) Also ask them for the value in ppm (parts per million AKA mg per litre)
Water test (Nitrite/PH both ok). Will get a second test at Pets At Home and get PPM reading if possible.


2) Whilst waiting for water results get plec diagnosed
Seems to be finrot for definate. Aswell as fungus as it looks like this picture

but only on the plec!
Although i suppose it also looks like this as they virtually look the same. Very fustrating

3) Unless water is perfect you need to be doing water changes to get it as clean as possible. Clean water will be needed to sustain health. There is no point the fish being treated just to get ill again. Or even worse, to not get better and be under additional stress due to meds in the water.

Have removed all gravel and water currently sits at 50-60%, waiting for dirt to settle (may take hours) then siphon it off. Unsure wheter to treat at 50% water or top it to 100% then treat.... The former uses far less medicine which is a definate plus for my wallet.



4) If water is fine and plec is diagnosed. Treat according to directions given.
Assuming i am right and they have finrot, i'll be using Anti-Fungus & finrot Interpret number 8. AS my tank is 48" long, 15" width with water up to a height of 8" i make this 24 US gallons/97 Litres requiring 4x 4.5ml capfulls (4.5ml treats 23 litres). Only sponge & biomax are in my filter, no carbon.

5)Bacteria on gravel should be minimal...change it whenever you like.
Changed, tank is empty - Just awaiting dirt to settle/siphon off.

6) Don't clean the filter sponge unless the flow of the filter is actually restricted.
All rinsed in fish tank water, although they were left out of water for a few minutes - Hopefully not much bacteria died. Filter is far more effecient and alot of slimey much was removed...yuck!

Does using less medicine and water at 50% seem wise?
Does finrot & fungus interpet number 8 harm biologial filter (Bacteria in filter)?
Do i need to do a water change after treatment/when/how much?

Thanks!

 

[Curiosity101]

Treating 50% of the water should be fine. Just keep it well aerated as some meds can lower te oxygen content of the water.

Dont know if the med harms the filter. But in theory you'd hope it wouldn't! It's a fish med afterall....But check on the bottle. It should say.

Just follow the instructions on the bottle with regards to water changes as it should say.
Personally whenever I finish a treatment I'll normally do a 50% change and stick some activated carbon in the filter to clear it all out.

Ps. No bacteria should have died during the cleaning process. They're hardier than you may be giving them credit for.

 

[ChrisChrisChris]

Ah thanks curiosity101, your a great help its appreciated.

Its not mentioned anything on the bottles with regaurds to bacteria in filter so i assume its ok, will have to go over the guide & bottle again to confirm. #

Now my filter is cleaned the pressure is great so ill have the water spraying (like rain) into the top of the tank, this should help oxygenate? I've also found an old air pump (for undergravel filters) which i could attach an airstone to which i assume will also help?

Thank