I've bought a 2nd hand tank.......

[beetlesteve]

Well, after having my 5 gallon tank for 4 weeks and stocking it to the max with just 2 platys and 3 harlequin rasboras, I decided to look in the local paper for a new tank.

I went round to look at one on friday and agreed to pay £50 for this:

Tank 36inch x 12inch x 18 inches high
Stand
Fluval external canister filter (fairly new)
Heaters
Air pumps
and a another 5 gallon tank glass tank

Is this a good deal?

the only problem is that it actually has a few fish in with the deal including 5 or 6 neons, 1 harlequin, a couple of barbs?? and a huge (4 or 5 inches) algae eater that was stuck upright on the side!

I want to start afresh with this tank as it's my first big one so wondered if anyone could answer any of these questions, I should be going to pick it up tomorrow night and the guy says he'll empty it and put the fish in the smaller tank for me to transport.

1. The tank needs a thorough clean, what will be my best course of action when I get it home with the fish in the tiny tank?

2. Because the filters been running for ages before, does this mean that the cycling won't be such a problem?

3. Is there anyway of getting rid of surplus fish? Do LFS take fish in? Anyone know of anywhere or anyone that may want these fish in the Ascot/Berks area?

4. I'm tempted by a planted tank, what are the benefits/disadvantages? Would you recommend a deal from one of the companies that does "packages" (90 plants?). Or go for fake?

5. Substrate - Sand or gravel? (I want a community tank!)

6. Are there any sites on rennovating/buying and cleaning 2nd hand tanks?

I think these all I can think of for now!

Cheers for all your help!

Steve.

PS I'm trying to read up as much as I can at the moment!

 

[StiX]

Hi there, If I havent allready said it, welcome to the forum!

The price u paid is quite reasonable

onto ur questions :

1 : I think u should put the fish u get with the new tank into ur allready set-up tank, but this will cause it to be overstocked! so u must do 15-20% water change each day untill u can put them into the bigger tank.

2 : If u get the person ur buying it off to leave the filter full of water, then when u get home and have given the tank a quick clean and filled it, u can set up the filter and the bacteria should be ok and kick start ur cycle real quick (as long as u dont over clean the filter sponges before u put it in)

3 : Ur lfs ,ay or ,ay not take them off u, give em a ring and ask, if they dont u could try putting them in ur local free ads paper free for collection as someone may want them.

4 : Real plants do look far better then those fake plastic ones, but the lighting u have on the tank will probably be insufficiant for good growth, u should try to get a minimum of 2wpg (watts per gallon)

5 : Its up to u! a couple of points tho, the smaller gravel or sand are better for plants as they can root up much stronger than with the larger gravel. But with sand it can be stirred up easily and get messy.

6 : no, not that I know of, but then thats what we'r here for


-HTH

 

[semper fi]

also you will ant to get some of the water from the old tank before he empties it. make sure that the substrate is covered with the water. the old tank has been cycled, so you will not want to disturb the biological filter that has already been established.

maggie

 

[Amadaca]

1) There are various cleaning products available on the market. Consult your local dealer & inform them of your situation. They should have just the remedy for your quandary.

2) Quite often, yes.

3) Your LFS will generally take the fish, provided they are in good health. Make a quick call before bringing them in. You should be able to find a place that will take them off your hands with relative ease.

4) Some artificial plants can look & even move in surprisingly realistic fashion, to the point where they can often be indistinguishable from the real thing. They may look poor in packaging or at first glance, but remember they will become coated after a month or two in the same aquarium, dramatically increasing their lifelike appearance. They also wont die, or overgrow the aquarium.

IMO, artificial are far better than the real thing.

5) Gravel, but preferably fine. Sand can clog filters & be easily stirred, bringing up waste into the aquarium water.

6) Try a quick search on Google.com or any other search engine. I'm sure you could find one post-haste.

 

[semper fi]

only have one disagreement to what amadaca said. plants do serve a purpose that the plastic ones do not. the help to rid the tank of nitrates. plants feed on nitrates like household plants do on carbondioxide. the faster growing plants require larger amounts of nitrates than the slower growing ones. something a plastic one cannot do. granted with the cichlids it is a pain to have real ones. they are constantly being uprooted and eaten.

maggie

 

[gadazobe]

After all the good advice you've been given, there's only one thing I can add. Don't worry, but you seem to have developed MTS (multiple tank syndrome) It's not contagious to others, but once it takes hold of you, it does get worse and, unfortunately for the sufferer, there is no known cure.

 

[Elisabeth]

I'd suggest a mixture of fake and real plants.
That way you have the beneficial properties of the real plants in absorbing the nitrates but you limit the potential damage that could happen if they rot and pollute the water.
And as Amadeca says, some of the real plants DO look surprisngly realistic.