Taking Over A Friends Established Tank.

[DaveIOW]

Hi, first post

I have been give a 70 litre / 18 US Gallon(?) tank by a friend that's going to travel abroad for a year.

The tank now has 2 tiger barbs and a 'plec' in it, the 'plec' is around 4 inches long, which looks too big for the tank to be honest, the barbs are around 2 inches long. There was 2 angel fish about 6 months ago, but both started floating on their side a few weeks apart, there was a problem with the water, which I've been told, was sorted right after they died.

The main part of my question is that I'd like to change the whole tanks look, it's got multicoloured gravel in there and many statues and really vibrant plastic plants which look completely out of place.

Now, I've bought a new background for the tank and some new gravel, black, from Pets at Home.

I'm also going to be buying some replacement plants for the tank, most likely plastic, but more natural looking.

How would I go about making so many changes, introduce them over a few weeks, starting with the gravel?

The tank has a heater warming the water to 27degrees Celsius.

The filter is a Aqua One 102f -maxi that flows a max of 500l/ph and apparently big enough for a 75litre tank.

 

[KrystaK]

What I do when I change substrate is take  about half of the tank water out and put it into a bucket (I have a 30 gal so I actually use a plastic storage tote) then I empty the rest of the water.
I take anything I plan to keep in the tank, fish included, and put it in the bucket/tote of old water.
I rinse the new substrate in a different bucket and put it in the tank, rinse any other new items going in the tank, and them put them in. Then I place anything from the old tank that I want to keep into the tank with the new setup. Then add water, about half new water, half old water if you can help it. Leave a few inches of water in the bucket holding the fish.  I allow the water to sit in the tank (With filter on, cycling the water) for about 30 min if the water is clear. If it's cloudy wait an hour or so (Doing a a small water change on the tote to keep the water airated for the fish.)
Then add the fish, turn the lights off and leave the room for an hour to allow the fish to calm down and explore their new environment.... 

 

[Meeresstille]

When you move the tank to your place it should already be mostly empty anyways so I would have the new gravel washed and ready to go, so when you are setting up the tank again all you have to do is put your new gravel in instead of the multicolored one.
 
Make sure you are taking about 20 % of the old tank water from your friend, or as much as you possibly can. Also make sure that the filter is not allowed to dry out, so you don't harm the bacteria in the filter. Don't ever rinse the filter media with tap water, the chlorine or chloramine kills that beneficial bacteria and you would have to cycle the filter again.
 
If you are not going with live plants try to get silk plants, they are softer for the fish. Make most of the changes right from the start. After your tank has been fully set up it will be more difficult to change things. The background too, get that on as soon as you can before you move the tank into position with all the gadgets on, which can hinder full access to the area. 
 
Are you keeping the Tiger Barbs or are you having a different stocking in mind? I would recommend to get more of their kind if you are keeping them, they are stunning fish and do better in larger groups. I believe they don't need to have their water's temperature quite that high, but check on that!  

 

[DaveIOW]

Hi, thanks for the replies

The tank has already actually be moved to my place, it had about 25% of its water in, has been refilled and running for about a week, the fish seem happy, feeding well.

The tank is 24"x15"x12", guessing a reasonably common size. Ideally I'd like a larger number of smaller fish, over a few more barbs in my tank. They are great looking fish, and really quite active, but ideally, I think I'd like a 5-6 platies and a bunch of tetras or something along those lines to bring some colour in.

Kind of hoping for dark gravel, dark background, decent bogwood, mostly green plants and some colourful fish to keep the focus on those. The barbs being silver/black, I feel, might not be vivid enough to stand out?

Is a plec of 4inches too big already to be in that sized setup? He seems happy moving about and everything.

If I was to keep the barbs, imagine they must be at least 3 years old, could you suggest something that could work with those to bring some colour in? Preferably a largish group of small fish as previously mentioned, something that won't be eaten/intimidated by the barbs?

 

[TallTree01]

I dont reccomend keeping tiger barbs in a tank less than 30 gallons. If it was me I would return all the fish to the LFS, empty the tank and start from scratch.

 

[fluttermoth]

It would be best if you could post a pic of your plec so we can identify the species (there are hundreds of 'plecs' some only get to two or three inches, some to more like two feet!); it might be a fully grown member of one of the smaller species (*crosses fingers*).
 
If you want to change the stocking, you're going to have to rehome the tigers; they do not mix well with other fish, especially if there's only a few of them; they're very bad fin nippers! Personally, I think a two foot tank is too small for tigers anyway.

 

[DaveIOW]

I'm trying to get a picture of the plec, he's hiding at the back though and doesn't want to reveal himself

I've managed to get a couple of pictures of one of the barbs, I do feel that the enclosure isn't big enough for them, did wonder when asking about adding more!

I'm really quite a novice with this, but very willing to listen and learn. To be honest, I'm not entirely sure if they are tiger barbs, there's no orange coloration on either of them anywhere, most of the google images show atleast a tinge of orange on the top/bottom of the fish.

Here's mine, you can also see the 'decoration' of the tank too, kind of looks like a 6-8 year olds setup for a goldfish, something I can't wait to change.

That horrible mark is down the outside, not inside!

Have just gone and cleaned it off after noticing it.
Also, I imagine they are closer to 3 inches long.

 

[TallTree01]

I must say, if that's a tiger barb it's a very sad sorry looking tiger barb. Not at all how they should look. Full pics would help. Tiger barbs aren't normally fish that sit in the bottom of the tank. Something else that worries me is the size of its gut. It's huge! How much are you feeding? Do you notice that when the fish swims its tail floats and it has to struggle to stay down?

 

[DaveIOW]

They do tend to swim around the middle of the tank usually, he was just at the bottom looking at me when I got the picture, I'll try to get a better one.

They both swim completely level, or it certainly seems that way to my untrained eye.

I've had the tank a week and was told to feed every other day, with only just enough that they consumed them all within a minute?

 

[DaveIOW]

Right, managed to get a decent picture of the plec today.

Changed substrate, removed a few bits and changed over some plastic plants. The tank looks a lot better now, more room for the barbs to swim in, which are now happily swimming about mid-tank, they look ALOT happier now. If they stay or not is still yet to be found out, but I'm glad they seem more content.

The old substrate was filthy, which could be why they were milling about at the bottom with no enthusiasm. Within 15mins of being back in the tank, which had a 50% water change, the difference was unbelievable.

Anyway, if anybody could ID this plec, I would greatly appreciate it.

I'll try and get some of the happier barbs tomorrow, hopefully to confirm what type of barb they are.

I don't have any before pictures of the tank and to be honest, I'd have been quite embarrassed posting them.

I know this isn't anywhere near any of you guys tanks, but it was the best with what I had.

Arriving soon I have a java fern to replace the orange plastic thing over by my filter, some flame moss to replace the plastic grass and a couple of moss balls to pop in.

Looking forward to putting the real plants in there, hoping the fish are too.

 

[MBOU]

Unfortunately the plec is a Gibbiceps or Sailfin Plec and he *really* needs to go! They can easily attain 40cm at the very least... they ought to get a lot bigger! They aren't fast growing as they live such a long long time... but if you compare his body size now to the size of the tank, does it take him more than one good swish of his tail to move one end of the tank to the other?
 
I have a picture saved somewhere (not my photo!) of a similar species that had been kept in very cramped conditions as whilst the fish 'looked ok'... no one thought to give it a bigger tank to allow it to grow and so all that happened was that it deformed.
http/i17.photobucket.com/albums/b78/mshill90/South%20American%20Cichlids/IMG_0398.jpg
 
Algae eaters and plecos are a bit of a 'con' and a cop out, few algae eaters truly eat that much algae (many preferring to eat microorganisms that live in algae, others eating fish food and high protein foods and others fibre such as bogwood etc) and those that do eat algae tend to leave little mouth shaped scrape marks through the algae as they aren't trying to clean it thoroughly...
 
Then you have the fact that the more algae they eat, the more waste they produce which increases nitrates and phosphates in the water which in turn makes algae grow faster and faster and you end up in a vicious circle...
 
If you want funny little algae eaters, look up Zebra Nerite Snails, funny little critters and wont breed in your tank (may lay eggs but without salt, they wont hatch). Alternatively once the tank is more settled, you can look at Otocinclus as they are small, active and good algae eaters!
 
As for the barbs, not sure on species without full body photos but cant tell you now they certainly aren't Tiger Barbs! The body shape looks normal and typical of the barbs, it doesn't look ill, it just looks horrified at having its photo taken and a bit stressed.
 
I cant work out what barb it is and the family is too huge for me to search each one... though front half has markings more like a Spanner Barb....

 

[DaveIOW]

Thanks ever so much, great information

I'm just about to go to a different LFS today to see about rehoming him. The tank is 24inch and he/she must be at least 5 inches long after closer inspection, nowhere near enough room to swim. Shame really as its a fantastic looking fish.

I'm going to take a sample of water with me too but guessing the day after a 50% water change is not the best day to have it analysed?

If my barbs, aren't tiger barbs, which I'm relatively sure aswell through extensive googling, does that mean I could have a few smaller fish in there with them? I'm thinking 6 tetras or something along those lines?

 

[DaveIOW]

Here's a couple of pictures of the barbs just incase anyone does recognise them

 

[Essjay]

MBOU is quite right, they are spanner barbs As you'll see form the link, they are big fish and far too big for a 70 litre tank. I'm afraid you'll need to rehome them as well.

 

[DaveIOW]

Been to the LFS today, I have rehomed all 3 fish.

Tested my water and my ammonia and nitrate levels were both 0.2, they did mention this was probably because I had changed the substrate last night and all the filth that was hidden amongst it is now in circulation.

The PH of my water was 8.

I've been told to bring another sample down in 2 weeks time and we'll go from there.

Next step is obviously choosing what I would like to restock with.