Free Tank. Need FAST advice. - Aquarium Advice

MyMonkey · 10-16-2005, 03:32 PM

Hello. I came upon a free tank. I want this to be Fresh water. It's a 47 Gallon Bow front. The water was as green as could be. Rocks are covered in agae, driftwood is the same.

What is the best way to clean the tank, gravel, and driftwood? Any suggestions?

10-16-2005, 03:48 PM

Take it all out and scrub it in a 10% bleach solution... Rocks, Driftwood, tank, everythings. Then rinse it all in Dechlor and then rinse rinse rinse until you can't smell any more bleach. Then you can set it up and do a fishless cycle.

MyMonkey · 10-16-2005, 03:49 PM

Thanks a million. THat's what I planned on. Wanted to make sure.

rich311k · 10-16-2005, 03:50 PM

Congrats on the free tank. Good luck.

MyMonkey · 10-16-2005, 04:55 PM

Well, I don't have anyplace for the little fishes. 3 of them. Can I use the filter media from the existing Emp 400 to help cycle with the fish? Darnet. No place for them.

10-16-2005, 04:58 PM

what kind of fish are they? you can use them and just do a cycle with the fish but you will want to do lots of water changes

MyMonkey · 10-16-2005, 05:49 PM

One is a Swordtail. Not certain on the other two.

greenmaji · 10-16-2005, 06:56 PM

if the tank is set up maybe you can work with it (instead of breaking it down and scrubbing everything)
do you have testkits for [acronym:4f4b21fe4b="Freshwater"]FW[/acronym:4f4b21fe4b]?
do you have any [acronym:4f4b21fe4b="Phosphate"]PO4[/acronym:4f4b21fe4b] in your tapwater?
if you dont have any [acronym:4f4b21fe4b="Phosphate"]PO4[/acronym:4f4b21fe4b] in your tapwater I would suggest just doing water changes to get the [acronym:4f4b21fe4b="Phosphate"]PO4[/acronym:4f4b21fe4b] thats making the water green out of the tank.. as long as your not creating big [acronym:4f4b21fe4b="power head or Measure of the concentration of hydrogen ions, depending on context"]PH[/acronym:4f4b21fe4b] swings (test the [acronym:4f4b21fe4b="power head or Measure of the concentration of hydrogen ions, depending on context"]PH[/acronym:4f4b21fe4b] of the tank and the [acronym:4f4b21fe4b="power head or Measure of the concentration of hydrogen ions, depending on context"]PH[/acronym:4f4b21fe4b] of the tapwater after its set out for 24 hours or aggitated with an airstone for 20min) if the [acronym:4f4b21fe4b="power head or Measure of the concentration of hydrogen ions, depending on context"]PH[/acronym:4f4b21fe4b] is near the same you can do larger water changes getting rid of the green water faster.. [acronym:4f4b21fe4b="Hope this helps (or) Happy to help"]HTH[/acronym:4f4b21fe4b]

10-16-2005, 08:01 PM

i just would start over because you don't know what all diseases could be in it, and it sounds as if it was poorly taken care of, this way you can start with a clean slate... Also i have heard that green water is VERY hard to get rid of.

greenmaji · 10-16-2005, 08:22 PM

most illness is caused by poor water, not diseases laying in wait. green algae cleans water quite well.. the only dormant illness I can think of might be ich/ick wich is abundant in [acronym:58639aa488="Local Fish Store"]LFS[/acronym:58639aa488] stock and very treatable. I dont think personaly that breaking the tank down is nessisary. but its your call.

10-16-2005, 03:32 PM	#1
MyMonkey Aquarium Advice Activist Join Date: Jul 2005 Location: Oklahoma Posts: 111 Images: 1	Free Tank. Need FAST advice. Hello. I came upon a free tank. I want this to be Fresh water. It's a 47 Gallon Bow front. The water was as green as could be. Rocks are covered in agae, driftwood is the same. What is the best way to clean the tank, gravel, and driftwood? Any suggestions? __________________ 58 Gallon [acronym:37b4566f57="Saltwater"]SW[/acronym:37b4566f57], 65 pounds of [acronym:37b4566f57="Live rock"]LR[/acronym:37b4566f57], 2 inch sand bed, 198 Watts of [acronym:37b4566f57="Power compact fluorescent"]PC[/acronym:37b4566f57], Emperor 400, AquaC Remora, Maxi-Jet 900 Stock: Pair of Amphiprion ocellaris, One Chrysiptera parasema, 3 Green Chromis, 1 Royal Gramma, Yellow Clown Gobie, Kole Tang, Mandarin, Button Polyps, Folded Brain Coral, Hawiian Feather dusters, Orange Linkia Star, Hair Algae, SkunkCleaner Shrimp 4 Clibanarius vittatus Hermit Crabs, a few Blue Legged Hermits, a few red legged hermits, one HUGE Turbo Snail and a few Bumblebee snails.

10-16-2005, 03:49 PM	#3
MyMonkey Aquarium Advice Activist Join Date: Jul 2005 Location: Oklahoma Posts: 111 Images: 1	Thanks a million. THat's what I planned on. Wanted to make sure. __________________ 58 Gallon [acronym:37b4566f57="Saltwater"]SW[/acronym:37b4566f57], 65 pounds of [acronym:37b4566f57="Live rock"]LR[/acronym:37b4566f57], 2 inch sand bed, 198 Watts of [acronym:37b4566f57="Power compact fluorescent"]PC[/acronym:37b4566f57], Emperor 400, AquaC Remora, Maxi-Jet 900 Stock: Pair of Amphiprion ocellaris, One Chrysiptera parasema, 3 Green Chromis, 1 Royal Gramma, Yellow Clown Gobie, Kole Tang, Mandarin, Button Polyps, Folded Brain Coral, Hawiian Feather dusters, Orange Linkia Star, Hair Algae, SkunkCleaner Shrimp 4 Clibanarius vittatus Hermit Crabs, a few Blue Legged Hermits, a few red legged hermits, one HUGE Turbo Snail and a few Bumblebee snails.

10-16-2005, 04:55 PM	#5
MyMonkey Aquarium Advice Activist Join Date: Jul 2005 Location: Oklahoma Posts: 111 Images: 1	Well, I don't have anyplace for the little fishes. 3 of them. Can I use the filter media from the existing Emp 400 to help cycle with the fish? Darnet. No place for them. __________________ 58 Gallon [acronym:37b4566f57="Saltwater"]SW[/acronym:37b4566f57], 65 pounds of [acronym:37b4566f57="Live rock"]LR[/acronym:37b4566f57], 2 inch sand bed, 198 Watts of [acronym:37b4566f57="Power compact fluorescent"]PC[/acronym:37b4566f57], Emperor 400, AquaC Remora, Maxi-Jet 900 Stock: Pair of Amphiprion ocellaris, One Chrysiptera parasema, 3 Green Chromis, 1 Royal Gramma, Yellow Clown Gobie, Kole Tang, Mandarin, Button Polyps, Folded Brain Coral, Hawiian Feather dusters, Orange Linkia Star, Hair Algae, SkunkCleaner Shrimp 4 Clibanarius vittatus Hermit Crabs, a few Blue Legged Hermits, a few red legged hermits, one HUGE Turbo Snail and a few Bumblebee snails.

10-16-2005, 05:49 PM	#7
MyMonkey Aquarium Advice Activist Join Date: Jul 2005 Location: Oklahoma Posts: 111 Images: 1	One is a Swordtail. Not certain on the other two. __________________ 58 Gallon [acronym:37b4566f57="Saltwater"]SW[/acronym:37b4566f57], 65 pounds of [acronym:37b4566f57="Live rock"]LR[/acronym:37b4566f57], 2 inch sand bed, 198 Watts of [acronym:37b4566f57="Power compact fluorescent"]PC[/acronym:37b4566f57], Emperor 400, AquaC Remora, Maxi-Jet 900 Stock: Pair of Amphiprion ocellaris, One Chrysiptera parasema, 3 Green Chromis, 1 Royal Gramma, Yellow Clown Gobie, Kole Tang, Mandarin, Button Polyps, Folded Brain Coral, Hawiian Feather dusters, Orange Linkia Star, Hair Algae, SkunkCleaner Shrimp 4 Clibanarius vittatus Hermit Crabs, a few Blue Legged Hermits, a few red legged hermits, one HUGE Turbo Snail and a few Bumblebee snails.

Thread Tools	Search this Thread
Show Printable Version Email this Page	Search this Thread: Advanced Search
Display Modes
Linear Mode Switch to Hybrid Mode Switch to Threaded Mode

10-16-2005, 03:48 PM	#2
Guest Posts: n/a	Take it all out and scrub it in a 10% bleach solution... Rocks, Driftwood, tank, everythings. Then rinse it all in Dechlor and then rinse rinse rinse until you can't smell any more bleach. Then you can set it up and do a fishless cycle.

10-16-2005, 03:50 PM	#4
rich311k Aquarium Advice Addict Moderator Emeritus Join Date: Jul 2005 Location: Long Island, NY Posts: 8,972 Images: 35	Congrats on the free tank. Good luck.

10-16-2005, 04:58 PM	#6
Guest Posts: n/a	what kind of fish are they? you can use them and just do a cycle with the fish but you will want to do lots of water changes

10-16-2005, 06:56 PM	#8
greenmaji Aquarium Advice Addict Join Date: May 2005 Location: Central Kentucky Posts: 5,937	if the tank is set up maybe you can work with it (instead of breaking it down and scrubbing everything) do you have testkits for [acronym:4f4b21fe4b="Freshwater"]FW[/acronym:4f4b21fe4b]? do you have any [acronym:4f4b21fe4b="Phosphate"]PO4[/acronym:4f4b21fe4b] in your tapwater? if you dont have any [acronym:4f4b21fe4b="Phosphate"]PO4[/acronym:4f4b21fe4b] in your tapwater I would suggest just doing water changes to get the [acronym:4f4b21fe4b="Phosphate"]PO4[/acronym:4f4b21fe4b] thats making the water green out of the tank.. as long as your not creating big [acronym:4f4b21fe4b="power head or Measure of the concentration of hydrogen ions, depending on context"]PH[/acronym:4f4b21fe4b] swings (test the [acronym:4f4b21fe4b="power head or Measure of the concentration of hydrogen ions, depending on context"]PH[/acronym:4f4b21fe4b] of the tank and the [acronym:4f4b21fe4b="power head or Measure of the concentration of hydrogen ions, depending on context"]PH[/acronym:4f4b21fe4b] of the tapwater after its set out for 24 hours or aggitated with an airstone for 20min) if the [acronym:4f4b21fe4b="power head or Measure of the concentration of hydrogen ions, depending on context"]PH[/acronym:4f4b21fe4b] is near the same you can do larger water changes getting rid of the green water faster.. [acronym:4f4b21fe4b="Hope this helps (or) Happy to help"]HTH[/acronym:4f4b21fe4b]

10-16-2005, 08:01 PM	#9
Guest Posts: n/a	i just would start over because you don't know what all diseases could be in it, and it sounds as if it was poorly taken care of, this way you can start with a clean slate... Also i have heard that green water is VERY hard to get rid of.

10-16-2005, 08:22 PM	#10
greenmaji Aquarium Advice Addict Join Date: May 2005 Location: Central Kentucky Posts: 5,937	most illness is caused by poor water, not diseases laying in wait. green algae cleans water quite well.. the only dormant illness I can think of might be ich/ick wich is abundant in [acronym:58639aa488="Local Fish Store"]LFS[/acronym:58639aa488] stock and very treatable. I dont think personaly that breaking the tank down is nessisary. but its your call.

Similar Threads
Thread	Thread Starter	Forum	Replies	Last Post
Krib's spawning to fast! {Now there free swimming again!!}		Cichlid Discussion	11	05-27-2006 07:26 AM
Need advice fast !!	c0mf0rt	Saltwater & Reef - Archive	2	11-26-2004 09:26 PM
Another newbie needs free advice...	JHawk	Freshwater & Brackish - Getting Started	6	10-19-2004 07:07 PM
Advice requested/questions on free tank from co-worker (long	JenNewbie	Freshwater & Brackish - General Discussion	15	01-19-2004 04:21 AM