Abused Aquarium Help Needed

[Luvmykids2008]

My in laws took a tank setup from a neighbor but after seeing the tank and how bad it was, the in laws called me. I stepped in. Now the situation is an apprx 30 gal setup w/ 4 blue gouramis, neon tetras, a Chinese sucker fish. I added 3 Cory cats & a tiny tine pleco. When I received the tank there was 2-3 inches of water and (no joke) hardened green algae top to bottom on every side. I was pretty appalled and bagged the fish, cleaned the tank & all supplies. Re-set up, de-chlorinated and returned the fish to the tank. This was a week ago.
My questions I can use some help in are: with the gouramis, I have two male, two female, they seem to be in pairs already and 2-3 in long. From what I've read they are or will be very aggressive... Should I rehome a pair or let them all be? Also they hide constantly like I've read but what's the joy if they rarely come out unless eating? The sucker fish apparently gets extremely aggressive but as of now is 3in and calm, should he go as well?
Sorry for so many questions but I've never dealt with these particular ones.. I've had fish for around 30 years but would never have picked these fish on my own. These clearly needed help.. And now they are all doing well.


Sent from my iPhone using Aquarium Advice

 

[hennaartist]

You could either rehome one male or rehome a pair. Two males in a 30 gallon probably isn't going to work out, and could be part of the reason they're hiding. As for the Chinese sucker fish, I'm guessing it's a Chinese Algae Eater, which as adults, don't eat algae and become aggressive.


Sent from my iPhone using Aquarium Advice

 

[Glene20]

Another thing your tank wont be cycled. So lots of water changes

Sent from my GT-I9505 using Aquarium Advice mobile app

 

[philipraposo198]

The reason they are hiding is because of stress and coming from.horrible conditions. This will pass. My blue aka 3 spot gourami doesn't hide at all. Front and center actually . He too is a rescue fish.

Another thing to note is that just because the fish profile says they are aggressive doesn't always mean they will be. My blue gourami is very docile and doesn't have any aggression issues. Since all your fish have lived together for probably s while already I would imagine they might be okay going forward.

I would rehome the cae myself, I don't like the fish and they have a pretty bad reputation.



Sent from my SGH-I747M using Aquarium Advice mobile app

 

[Luvmykids2008]

Thank you all! To answer the questions asked of me, yes Chinese algae eater.
Even though I've had fish for years, I've never knowingly cycled a tank. My dad taught me old school, setup, maintenance etc. I suppose I have very good, dumb luck as I rarely lost fish in a beginning process. I will look farther into the cycling though. Without checking with test kits or doing cycling I have also successfully bred, cared for fry and grew them 99% to adults from betta, goldfish, koi, and the little live bearers.
I always thought I knew what I was doing until I read this forum lol!!!

Also, thank you!! It's very nice to hear from another gourami owner!! Maybe once these guys calm down they will act normally.. As of now the males are pretty submissive and the one female. However the second female seems pushy, I've seen her chase both males around!! Funniest part is sometimes both males & the one female will take refuge in the plants and the second female just observes from the top corner of the tank..


Sent from my iPhone using Aquarium Advice

 

[hennaartist]

If you have other tanks, I would add some filter media from your existing tanks to this tanks filter ASAP. This will aid tremendously in the cycle as it will have the beneficial bacteria needed to establish the tank.


Sent from my iPhone using Aquarium Advice

 

[Luvmykids2008]

If you have other tanks, I would add some filter media from your existing tanks to this tanks filter ASAP. This will aid tremendously in the cycle as it will have the beneficial bacteria needed to establish the tank.


Sent from my iPhone using Aquarium Advice

Question- with how gross this tank was when I received it, even with the cleaning is there a possibility the good bacteria is still in there? I rinsed most of the gravel, the filter and bio wheel were black and muddy looking- but I usually rinse them to see the true condition and they came out pretty nice looking so it still has the original wheel & filter it came with. I also bagged the cleanest water w/ out debris they sat in from the original tank water. Total between the two ziplocks around a gallon of original water went back in as well.
I recently bought a house and closed down all of my aquariums over the last two years prior to moving. My dad has a large tiered filtered pond, would some of his filter mesh work?


Sent from my iPhone using Aquarium Advice

 

[joejeff]

That establish media will certainly help

Sent from my DROID RAZR using Aquarium Advice mobile app

 

[joejeff]

I would be doing daily pwc

Sent from my DROID RAZR using Aquarium Advice mobile app

 

[Luvmykids2008]

Another issue! One of the male gouramis looks like this as of morning. I'm going to get test kits today but his face looks like a bruise. It's red/orange and looks like he injured himself. He does have his black spots just more silver colored. The other male is very dark colored with brilliant blue but seems to be in a mood today. I'm ready to pull the aggressor male today.




Sent from my iPhone using Aquarium Advice

 

[joejeff]

It looks like it may be near his gills. If so could be gill burn from ammonia or nitrate spike. A PWC is always a good place to start. Get that test kit so you can see what's up.

Sent from my DROID RAZR using Aquarium Advice mobile app

 

[Luvmykids2008]

Well after doing the tests, the results are as follows:
Nitrate 0
Nitrite 0
Ph 7.2






Sent from my iPhone using Aquarium Advice

 

[joejeff]

No ammonia. And nitrates at dead zero. Tank is recently set up rt?

Sent from my DROID RAZR using Aquarium Advice mobile app

 

[Luvmykids2008]

No ammonia. And nitrates at dead zero. Tank is recently set up rt?

Sent from my DROID RAZR using Aquarium Advice mobile app

Yes. I did use the original filter cartridge & bio wheel after rinsing them off. I also added about a gallon of original water they were bagged in.


Sent from my iPhone using Aquarium Advice

 

[joejeff]

Huh. Maybe someone more informed than myself may be able to answer better but I thought there should always be some nitrates.

Sent from my DROID RAZR using Aquarium Advice mobile app

 

[joejeff]

A lot of what your fish are experiencing and demonstrating may have to do with stress. I would go lights off for a day to allow everyone to become more at ease.

Sent from my DROID RAZR using Aquarium Advice mobile app

 

[hennaartist]

With nitrates and nitrites at 0, you will need to test for ammonia daily for a while (month or so). Hopefully, by using the old rinsed off filter will cycle the tank, but to be cautious, I would watch and test for any possible ammonia spikes caused by "fish in" cycling.


Sent from my iPhone using Aquarium Advice

 

[Luvmykids2008]

Huh. Maybe someone more informed than myself may be able to answer better but I thought there should always be some nitrates.

Sent from my DROID RAZR using Aquarium Advice mobile app

Your on the right track for sure. I did hours worth of online research and the nitrate spike you mentioned kept rolling into my head. I tested the water at least 4 more time today, the results... Horrible! I could not be more thankful that you said maybe nitrate burn. It really stuck with me.
Between those 4+ my next result showed 20 nitrate, than 40, than 80!!!!! By this point I RAN to water change, I took out 1/3 of the water, added 1/3 back. Nitrite 0 & PH 7.2-7.5 showed good on all the next tests.
As of now/ nitrate is under 20 and looks to be still declining.

However this tank was a mess from the beginning.. Now the same gourami has a white spot on his fin. Just what I needed ich...


Sent from my iPhone using Aquarium Advice

 

[Luvmykids2008]

With nitrates and nitrites at 0, you will need to test for ammonia daily for a while (month or so). Hopefully, by using the old rinsed off filter will cycle the tank, but to be cautious, I would watch and test for any possible ammonia spikes caused by "fish in" cycling.


Sent from my iPhone using Aquarium Advice

I will certainly be looking all the time from now on. Do you happen to know how important gh & kh testing is? They are included in my kit but I haven't heard of those too much. I'm looking on gourami pages to see how those apply to them but not finding much.


Sent from my iPhone using Aquarium Advice

 

[joejeff]

I am not sure on that man. I would just start a routine of daily water changes and strap in for the next month while tank cycles. Buy prime and treat water w it daily when you do PWC. Sorry to hear about the ich. You have a hospital tank?

Sent from my DROID RAZR using Aquarium Advice mobile app