46 Gallon Bow Front

[I'm the new guy]

I have made a deal through craigslist, I am getting a 46 gallon bow front tank. It comes with a filter, heater, light fixture with bulb, thermometer, stand gravel which I will not use, and some decor. The guy selling it to me says it is very dirty. It also has not been taken care of for 3 weeks. The water is half empty and there are fish that he doesn't know what are in there that haven't been fed in 3 weeks. I most likely will not want the fish he has. First question, what should I do with the fish. Second question, how should I go about cleaning it. Third question, how should I go about cycling since there will be fish in it. The water that will be in the tank will be 95% new tap water. Fourth question, I want 5 Angelfish in there what other fish would you put in. It will be stocked with live plants and driftwood.

 

[garyspence84]

If the tank and filter has been up and running already, which it sounds like it has, then you wont need to worry about cycling.

If theres any fish that you dont want you could always post them on our classified section. Im sure someone here would be more than happy to take them off your hands. Failing that, you could always ask your local pet store to take them (they might even give you some store credit in return )

When adding new water, remember to get some Tap-safe, or something that will take the chlorine out the water to make it safe for your fishes.

And as for cleaning..... just some good old elbow greece with some water and a (unused) brillo sponge, (unused) tooth brush, (unused) dish or nail brush and scrub

Hope this is helpfull and look forward to seeing and reading on some progress.

G

 

[snazy]

Well, if there are fish in the tank, then it's more likely a cycled tank and you can just wash the filter media in the dirty tank water to take off the big bits. Just because it's dirty doesn't mean the fish are diseased or anything and an established/mature disease free tank is better than a sterilized new tank for fish. I'd just remove the fish in a big container with the same tank water, plug the old filter and the heater there while cleaning the tank itself, then do your scrubbing and gravel changing, do a water change with dechlorinated/temperature matched water, plug the filter and heater back, and then slowly acclimate the fish with the new tank water, topping up the tank if needed with more dechlorinated/temperature matched water. Then keep testing the water to make sure the huge scrabbin/gravel changing won't cause a mini spike. Check out the fish, they maybe something you like and can co-exist with the angels and suitable for a tank this size. If not, keep them until you find them a good home with someone that at least feeds them and changes the water once in a blue moon. By this time they will produce enough ammonia for your new stock. Start off with the same inch ammount of fish as the current inhabitants, then up it slowly if you want more.