so i bought this tank from a woman who didnt take care of it, it looked terrible.. i have put alot of time and money into and ive only had it for a week..
Ok first of all let me just say well done for taking on a challenging tank, despite being new to the hobby
I have done this in the past and it is rarely easy!
As above says first thing to do is to get your water in a situation where you have 0 ammonia and 0 nitrate - your nitrate being at 40 is a good indicator that things are going in the right direction though.
The link that Primous provided is an excellent section for you to read, though I would read the sections about the Nitrate Cycle and the Fish in Cycle, fishless is not really an option right now as it means reahome all your fish and since you are part way through the cycle now anyway you will be able to manage it.
Right now its a case of regular water changes and water testing, its probably going to be daily for a few days perhaps weeks but it will drop down in time. I would suspect that some of the bad water has come from the move and the filter being unplugged and also some of the large fish producing too much waste for the tank to deal with.
What kind of filter do you have? Also very important! DO NOT clean the filter or filter pads with tap water as the chlorine will kill off all your good bacteria you are currently trying to build up.
I think that your best bet for some of the fish you have now is to rehome them some of them get too big for this tank and would generally be regarded as unsuitable.
Where abouts are you located? Perhaps a member can either take some fish off you or help you find a shop that rehomes. If you have a maidenhead aquatics near you (if you are in the UK) they often take in fish, though they can not buy from you but they will take them in. The advantage of this is they have tanks big enough for your large growing fish and also lots of others of the same type of your schooling fish.
So from the fish count you got I would try and rehome
4 rainbow sharks or 5 if you dont not want these in your tank long term
2 young balla sharks
1 big common pleco
1 clown loach - though if this is still small this is less of a priority as they take ages to grow but if you can I would as it takes up room and long term your tank is not big enough to house a group of them.
However you actually have some really nice fish in there. The Keyholes are a lovely fish and start you off with a really good center piece fish to perhaps take your tank down the Amazon route? I think your small catfish could be a Cory Catfish? Google the name and have a look at the images. Or perhaps an Oto if it is really small? Either way these need to be in groups which are always nice, if my guess on the cories is right make sure they are all the type like if they are Panda ones get all Panda or if they are Bronze you can get all Bronze or a mix of Bronze and Albino as the Albino ones in the stores are Albino Bronze.
I can really tell you care for this tank and the fish already so please forgive my post if it comes across as cold, I know messages on the internet often can but just doing my best to get you on the right track - dont underestimate how much info you can get from this forum
It will always save you money as well, as a general rule I am always cautious when I need to buy an aquatic product and always check on here first if I really need it or if the shop is just trying to make money off me - same goes for fish never underestimate the lack of knowledge the fish store assistant really has - always make them tell you everything and if your still not sure write down the name google it at home and go back the next day, you will rarely miss a fish by a day if you can.
hope its helped
Wills
/www.fishforums.net/index.php?/topic/277264-beginners-resource-center/ see either "fishless" or "fish-in" to help get you started and the create a "cycling" thread in that forum section and the members will guide you through the process.
