Help, New Tank Arrived With Current Fish

[Orbit887]

Well as per this thread http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?showtopic=188399 Ive been given a tank, and tonight a collected it - major disaster!

The tank itself is 27" x 19" x 17", quite a strange old size, but works out at bout 35 US gal. When I arrived to pick up the tank, still had all fish and water in it, about 2 inches of gravel, and the water was filthy, and the fish v stressed out and skittish!

Unfortunately when picking up the tank, I also have had to take the current occupants with it, and I didn't quite realize just how badly stocked it would be. A few didn't make it the hour journey home, probably cause they were in their own bad water in the bags, and also the added stress.

Tank mates who've made it back so far are:

3 x clown loach
6 x kuhli loach
2 x silver dollar
3 x Bala shark
1 x tiger barb
1 x common plec (I think, not checked it too closely as yet)

Now obviously the majority of these fish are waaay to big for this tank, and was planing on re-housing them anyway, but a further turn of events has added further problems to the situation.

The heater, light, filter + air pumps were all on the same plug socket, which was 'cut' from the plug as the person who i was picking it up from couldn't work out a way to unwire all the items (my back was turned at this point, I wasn't too happy ) This was after the bloke had forgotten he hadn't unplugged everything, and had the heater out of the water, only for it to crack and break about 30secs before he realised there was still power running through it all.

So at the moment, I've got all the remaining fish in the tank, with as much of the old tank water as we could manage, the heater from my 29gal tank, fresh water, and no filter running, as the plug & all wiring for anything that came with the tank originally was ruined. The fish are obviously not in a good way, but as the temp is slowly rising, they seem to be improving slightly. I've also got an air stone running, to oxygenate as much as possible.

I think I'm gonna loose definitely the Silver dollars, tiger barb and the kuhli's, they're the worst looking by far. Plec seems fine, the clown loaches look happier by the minute, and at least 2 of the 3 bala sharks look ok.

Problem is going to really occur over night. I will need to take back that heater to put it in my main tank, else that will have problems. I'm planning on putting some bottles full of hot water in to float in the tank, and wrapping it in a duvet, but with no heater and no filter running, I'm not holding out much hope. I'm going to return all I can to the lfs tomorrow morning, as that tank is really too small for all of them, and tbh it really needs sorting out before I will put any livestock in it.

Feel so guilty and terrible when I think about the tank. I really wish I'd known the state of which the tank would've been in, and current occupants before I picked it up, and also really wish I had spare filters/heaters as well Is there anything else I can really do to help them live & survive over night?

P.S. If any of them make it through the night, and anyone in the Reading/Newbury/Basingstoke area wants any of the above, let me know, else they'll just go to the lfs

 

[WILDER]

Check ph and do a water change, yes run the airstone, done all you can what a nightmare.

 

[Orbit887]

Just checked the PH, nothing too high, it's at just below 7.5, but for me in this area that's normal, just hope it's not too different to the water they're used to.

Most of the water in there is fresh from tonights add, but i'll change another lot tonight before I goto bed.

Yeah, has been a total nightmare, but I suppose I've done all I can so far. Luckly got the day off tomorrow, so can hit the lfs, and keep as much alive as possible. Still fell so bad about it. Would've been better for me to just buy a new tank, instead of getting this free one and causing all those fish so much distress.

 

[WILDER]

You live and learn, good luck.

 

[MoonstruckMuse]

Sounds like you saved them from slowly rotting away in their own waste, and you're treating the fish right, so you shouldn't feel too bad. You're being a good person, trying to save them like that.

I have some heating packs that I've thrown into the tank for emergencies like when the power goes out, those may work well. I know they also say that light can stress fish out, but if you change to a less efficient light bulb, that may generate and add some heat to the water. You could also place the tank near some heater, though of course this could be slightly dangerous and just keep heating up the tank. However, if the heater's on a lower setting, this shouldn't be too horrible.

As for filters... perhaps you could make a mini sponge one, haha. I know the DIY forum has a really simple one, and if you use mature filter media from your other tanks you should be okay. At least it'll do something?

Best of luck to you and the new fish.

 

[Amunet]

You shouldn't feel bad. You saved those poor fish from rotting away in a tank that that person obviously didn't care anything about.
Good for you for taking care of the fish as best as you can!

 

[Orbit887]

Well just a quick update, managed to get the temp upto about 22-23degrees all night, with the aid of floating bottles full of hot water, and insulation!

Nearly all of the fish have survived, the only ones not to make it were 1 x rummy nose tetra and 1x tiger barb. Both of these though weren't in any sorts of schools, and were significantly smaller than the more hardy other occupants.

Been out today and got heater + filter for the tank, so they're all looking a bit happier in there. Only thing left to really sort out if the lighting. At present it's just relying on the room light & daylight, which is probably a good thing, keeping the lighting levels down so not to spook them any more!

 

[Miss Wiggle]

wow what a nightmare, glad most seemed to have made it, you've obviously done all you can.

but in general it's a good idea to have a spare heater and filter lying around, even if they're just little ones it's better than nothing.

best to keep teh lighting to a minimum anyway, it'll keep them calmer, i'd also be doing daily 10% water changes to gradually get the water quality to somewhere decent. have you run any tests for ammonia, nitrite and nitrate?

 

[Orbit887]

wow what a nightmare, glad most seemed to have made it, you've obviously done all you can.

but in general it's a good idea to have a spare heater and filter lying around, even if they're just little ones it's better than nothing.

best to keep teh lighting to a minimum anyway, it'll keep them calmer, i'd also be doing daily 10% water changes to gradually get the water quality to somewhere decent. have you run any tests for ammonia, nitrite and nitrate?

I really wish I had of had some spares kicking about, would've been able to have a lie in today, and none of the stress from last night if I had that sorted before hand! But hey, you live and learn.

I did a water change last night at bout 3am before bed, and have jsut done another one, as you said, just trying to keep on top of it all. The filter is overfiltering, which has gotta be good. Also put some of my filter matter from my 29gal tank into it, so hopefully that'll speed things up a bit.

Just did a fresh water tests, ammonia was at 0.1, nitrite was at 0 but nitrate was up at about 20ish, so not too pleased about that, but it's gotta be expected at first i suppose!

 

[Miss Wiggle]

It's the ammonia that would worry me, moving a tank (especially when it's very dirty) can start a mini cycle, all the muck gets stirred up and effectivley creates more waste than the filter can process so it starts to cycle to build up enough bacteria to deal with the waste. daily water changes should help as will adding more mature media if you can.

basically just got to keep your fingers crossed and try and keep on top of things, test the water every day, any day you get a reading for either ammonia or nitrite however small do a 20% water change.

 

[Orbit887]

Luckly we emptied out nearly off of the gravel that was in the bottom of the tank, only v small amount is left in there. Means that in a lot of spaces in the tank there's a bear bottom, which kinda need to sort out as don't want the fish getting spooked from their reflections in the state they're in. So it did mean that nearly all the gunk in the tank was left at the house i collected it from.

I was expecting to see more ammonia than registered, but like you say, I'm gonna have to keep an eye on it so that when it goes through a mini cycle it won't kill everything off.

How about feeding these lot? All my 29gal inhabitants are much smaller than these lot (tetras, corys, dwarf gouramis), but I assume they'll still much on the same mixtures of stuff, just will need to eat more of it. Also when to try feeding them? Do you think I should just give them a day or two more to settle in? I dont really want them to not eat the food and add more waste into the tank, or even over eat and pollute the tank further.

 

[Miss Wiggle]

try a little bit of food half an hr before you plan to do a water change, then you can siphon out the food if they don't touch it before it starts polluting the water.

depends what you feed your fish now if it will be suitable!!

i'd initially try some frozen food like bloodworms, they're generally popular with a lot of fish

 

[Orbit887]

Ah frozen bloodworm, good idea, not thought of that! got some of them in the freezer, so not a problem.

Was gonna try a mixture of flakes and small slow sinking pellets, along with algae tablets for the bottom feeders, but they all look so small compared to the fish in that tank's mouths! I'll give the bloodworms a go tomorrow

 

[Miss Wiggle]

my oscar's mouth is maybe 2" across when he's got it fully open. his food is about 5mm across so don't worry about the size too much, they may not take flake but some sort of pellets will probably go down well, algae wafers will be wanted by the plec probably, try sticking some veg in for him too.

did the previous owner tell you what he'd been feeding them?

 

[Orbit887]

Well from what the old owner said, he was just feeding all of them flakes, and nothing else.

Feel a bit sorry for the plec as seems he would come out at feeding time and swim on top of surface grabbing what he could. They also were saying about how he liked to be stroked, but have my doubts, and not really something I've got any intention trying.

I'll get some cucumber tomorrow for him, my BN loves that, so hope that when he sees it for the first time, he'll love it at first sight! Slightly worried about the plec, he's looking a bit white/grey over some of his skin, colour is slowly returning, but worrying still.