Rebuilding an old abandoned 29g

[wgoldfarb]

Put them in a bucket with a couple inches of organic potting soil in the bottom, enough water to cover them, and a desk light on top for 12 hours a day. That ought to pep them up a bit.

Since I normally water my household plants with plain tap water, I assume the water in the bucket for these plants does not need to be treated with prime?

 

[FishHobby99]

Up until 3 years ago I had a 29 gallon freshwater planted tank, and was an avid fishkeeper. I am originally from Venezuela so I had stocked the tank with fish from home: Black Bar Endlers (P. wingei), Venezuelan Pygmy Cories (C. habrosus), Red Phantom tetras (H. sweglesi), Green Neons (P. simulans) and a handful of small Otos (O. vitattus). Since I was a beginner and I had a medium-low LED light fixture I got a "beginner" plant package with an assortment of easy plants (planted on a substrate of Laterite topped with pool filter sand). Everything was going well. Soon I upgraded my light to a better, brighter fixture to give myself more options on plants, and I was even starting to use the Estimative Index to dose nutrients.

Then, for reasons explained in my introductory post, the tank sat abandoned for 2 years. I won't repeat all the details here, but you can imagine what I found when I finally returned home after 2 years of no maintenance whatsoever. Obviously all my poor fish died (and most of my plants), and the whole thing was overrun with slimy growths of many different colors. Part of the water had evaporated, so a lot of those growths had become dried and encrusted all over the tank walls, hoses, etc. Amazingly, the light, heater and filter were still running. As explained in the other post I was unable to clean the tank at the time, so I turned off the light, heater and filter, but had to leave the mess unattended until now.

I am now finally able to take care of the tank again, so I will rebuild and restart my 29g. Since I now have a bit more knowledge than when I first started and a better light fixture, my options for plants are broader so I am aiming for a more densely planted tank than I used to have. I will also relax my requirement to only have fish from home to give myself more options for stocking.

Still, choices for plants and fish will come later. My first step is to clean the swamp that currently sits inside my tank, so I have a clean slate to rebuild. I know I will have to ask lots of questions for that!

In a moment I will start by posting photos of what my tank used to look like before I abandoned it, and what it looks like today.

Looking forward to your photos! I‘m trying to learn how to take fish photos. I’ve been using this iPad. Not good for fish! Ok for somethings.

 

[wgoldfarb]

Looking forward to your photos! I‘m trying to learn how to take fish photos. I’ve been using this iPad. Not good for fish! Ok for somethings.

It's tricky. Built-in flashes usually don't help, because they create reflections and bad shadows. But other than that, I'm afraid I haven't figured it out either!

 

[MonsieurLaGrenuoille]

Well, I see I will have to work hard on Shakespeare for a while, I also had the idea to save the poor plants as WhistlingBadger suggered but I forgot to say you. I would have a tricky and maybe indiscreet question to ask you, sorry but it doesn't want to go out of my head (and you don't need to answer), but, if you are married and you have a wife, how could it have been possible that your wife didn't stop the disaster at your aquarium? I have first thought you are a single living alone.

 

[MonsieurLaGrenuoille]

JennySolano said: I‘m trying to learn how to take fish photos. I’ve been using this iPad. Not good for fish! Ok for somethings.

The only thing I can say is that with your smartphone and so on you are able to try to shoot hundreds or thousands of photos, no matter how many, and some few perhaps will be good. Making fish-photos is a real job that need to be learned and isn't surely easy and cheap at all (there are some books), most of my photos are catastrophic and that's ok like that (apart from that there are a lot of other things that are also catastrophic and I can't count any longer).

 

[wgoldfarb]

how could it have been possible that your wife didn't stop the disaster at your aquarium?

As I mentioned in my introduction, I spent a long time in the hospital, and a lot of it was very delicate. She spent almost all her non-work time in the hospital with me. In addition she had just started a very demanding job, and since I wasn't working (or even at home) she had to pick up the slack created by my absence (specially with the kids), all while trying to take care of me as well. It was a very intense, stressful time, and obviously the tank wasn't on her list of priorities. In addition, nobody at home (other than me) knows how to maintain the tank. I found out later my kids were feeding the fish for a while, but they don't know how to do a water change, let alone clean the filter.

 

[WhistlingBadger]

As I mentioned in my introduction, I spent a long time in the hospital, and a lot of it was very delicate. She spent almost all her non-work time in the hospital with me. In addition she had just started a very demanding job, and since I wasn't working (or even at home) she had to pick up the slack created by my absence (specially with the kids), all while trying to take care of me as well. It was a very intense, stressful time, and obviously the tank wasn't on her list of priorities. In addition, nobody at home (other than me) knows how to maintain the tank. I found out later my kids were feeding the fish for a while, but they don't know how to do a water change, let alone clean the filter.

100% understandable. In a crisis you just do what you have to do. Kudos to your wife for holding down the fort.

 

[MonsieurLaGrenuoille]

Well you all haven't understood me correctly, I was aware that in such a situation there is no time to be busy with the aquarium at all, but it could have been possible to tell someone to dismantle the whole tank, some aquarists friends or so, even to ask in an aquaristic shop for help, I think it could have been possible to do something to dismantle the tank in the meantime, I'm not a monster that can't understand your serious problem but live is still going on and your family is still been living in your home and they do have seen what was happening with the tank day after day, that's what I couldn't understand, but sorry if I hurted someone (as you have mentioned even the filter was still running as you came back home...).

 

[MonsieurLaGrenuoille]

But if you didn't have known someone who could have helped that's clear, there was nothing that could have been done. Before your get the disease you was in a forum like this here and perhaps you have had some mates near you that could have helped, that was my thougth and I think it's understeable too, or do I be a monster? (it was just about dismantling the tank).

 

[NannaLou]

But if you didn't have known someone who could have helped that's clear, there was nothing that could have been done. Before your get the disease you was in a forum like this here and perhaps you have had some mates near you that could have helped, that was my thougth and I think it's understeable too, or do I be a monster? (it was just about dismantling the tank).

It’s difficult to reply for for someone else, and I think I probably had the same thoughts about someone else keeping the basics ticking over, but in times of emergency the essentials get attended to and non-essentials get left. I’m sure there were times when the family looked at the deteriorating tank and then just didn’t know what to do to rescue the situation. I’m not sure that @wgoldfarb has taken any offence, he has just clarified the situation and defended his wife’s actions.

I don’t know anyone in my city that keeps fish; people on this forum are all over the UK, and the world, but no one local, and no one in my family would know how to access the forum and know who to ask either.

And we all need to remember that when we read something on a post we add our own emotional interpretation and it’s not always what the poster may have intended. That, and you in particular are not writing in your first language (or maybe even your second) and sometimes subtleties can get a little lost in translation.

 

[MonsieurLaGrenuoille]

English is completly strange to me, I'm not able to understand most of the subtleties, I don't think wgoldfarb's wife has acted wrongly but perhaps himself should have said to her that something should be done with the tank to not let it decay completey (I surely would have done it), but as you said I cannot estimate how he was suffering at the time, I found the reaction of WhistlingBadger a little severe towards me because I only asked something, I wasn't criticizing any actions of nobody, but well, I would be thankfull if this thema could be left aside for now, and excuse me all please.

 

[wgoldfarb]

First of all, in no way was I offended. I fully understand the question.

The short answer is that I was facing very serious medical issues. I didn't know when I was going to leave the hospital (or even if I was going to leave the hospital!). I won't repeat the details (they are on my introductory post linked at the start of this journal) but our focus was completely on my illness and my family, and everything else was getting neglected. I don't know anyone locally that could have helped, but even if I did, I don't know I would have had the presence of mind to ask.

In any event, it's done, and there isn't much I can do about it now, other than regroup and restart. And find a local friend who is into fish keeping... Just in case

 

[FF_Member146894]

is this tank expensive, made of low iron glass or something that makes you want to keep it?
it's probably permanently tarnished by all of the gunk even if you manage to somewhat clean it out

 

[wgoldfarb]

is this tank expensive, made of low iron glass or something that makes you want to keep it?
it's probably permanently tarnished by all of the gunk even if you manage to somewhat clean it out

Nah, just a plain Aqueon 29g. I'm almost certainly going to get a new one, I'm just waiting to see if anything goes on sale on black Friday. Cleaning it is really just matter of pride.

 

[MonsieurLaGrenuoille]

If you have a storage room it would be useful to keep this tank for any eventuality, but I wish your new one could be a little bigger and not same size! The old times are now over, you are a new person now. By the way, how many litres are exactly one gallon? This cause a headache to me to calculate all yours units of measurement, here and elsewhere we normally do have the old french ones, litres metres etc, it's the same as in soccer (one world two Ronaldos). Today I hope to get some chocolate guramies I ordered, I have been waiting now for tree weeks to get them, they are magnificent fish. Do you have good water in your water tap at home? The softer the water, the better. Well, if I get these fishes today I will write some silly stuff about that in my thread here about "aquarium journals", cuídate mucho viejo y un abrazo.