"inherited" tank and fish. HELP!

[tamtam]

Hubby just brought home the 50 gallon tank we were getting from a coworker of his.

I'm a little scared. May have bitten off more than I can chew right now.

My biggest concern is the fish. The tank is a mess. It's really gross, I'm honestly not sure the last time it was cleaned but I was pulling out "balls" of stuff.. looked like algae covered waste balls. It's currently sitting on my kitchen table and I'm trying to clean it up.
I've got all the fake plants soaking in h ot water. The filter media is in a bowl with conditioned water and I'm currently acclimating the fish to my 20 gallon though really not sure if I should be putting them in my tank.
This 50 is not going to be cleaned and filled for a while though. I'm still not certain on where it's going to go. The best place is where the current 20 is but that means tearing down another tank to put up this one and means this fish will be even longer without a tank/proper set up.

I have some pix here and would like some IDing help and personal opinion on what you would do with them. Some of them look is a bit of rough shape.

I know there is a pleco, believe it to be common. He is going to be rehomed but I'm not sure when. He's looking good but his fins are a bit rough looking, like he's gotten himself torn on the plants. Which are mostly pointy and rough.

There is a long finned black skirt, his fins are in rough shape as well. I think it's similar, torn fins from decor but I'm not certain.

Then there are 2 others I'm not certain on. I think there is a WCMM and perhaps a bleeding heart tetra. The one I think is the WCMM looking one has a strange looking tail. I'm not sure if it's a wound or just the normal body shape of it but it looks sort of.. squished? Where his body meets his tail it sort of dips in. He's the one I'm the most worried about adding to the tank.

The only option I see is either adding them to my tank for a day or so until I can get the 50 cleaned and filled again and work to rehome them. Or try and keep them in a bucket with a bubbler. It won't have a heater or filter though and again they would be there for a day or so.

photo bucket is down so I can't get the pix up that way but after I post this I am going to try and upload them to my profile and post links. Any comments in the mean time would be great as I've got fish in bags and a tupperware container at this point and am a bit worried about them.

 

[tamtam]

Ok hopefully this works.

link to the album

Aquarium Advice - Aquarium Forum Community - tamtam's Album: Inherited fish

 

[Bbarb27]

I agree the last one is a white cloud mountain minnow and from the picture it looks like maybe there is a wound near his tail?

What stock do you have in your 20g right now?

Any idea what the water parameters were in the 50g they were in? I would be concerned with OTS and moving them too quickly to clean, pristine water if they've been used to water with high nitrate levels.

 

[tamtam]

lambchop rasbora, neon tetras, a few platy and a sunset gourami. I know this will def over stock my tank but was thinking for a couple days this would be ok.

Currently I put the one I believe is the tetra and the pleco into my tank as I'm not worried about them. They seem very active.

I've cleaned the tank it's self and am filling it up for now in a temp spot. It's just going to be empty for now as the substrate and decor is a mess but I want to start getting it full and have the heater turned on ASAP.

 

[tamtam]

Perhaps by tonight I will be able to move them over but I'm still worried about the minnow and black skirt and what to do with them in the mean time.

I was just talking to my husband and he said that the girl he got it from has had the tank for 6 months and hasn't cleaned the gravel once because she didn't know how. I figure anything at this point is better than what they've been in. Hopeully I can rehome them soon but in the mean time I'm going to focus on keeping them in the cleanest water possible and try to get those fins looking good.

 

[Rivercats]

The other fish is a bleeding heart tetra. That poor black shirt has the worst messed up tail I've seen in a long time. I think with time and good clean water it should heal since it doesn't appear to have any fungus on it. Plus if it was tail rot just the middle wouldn't be gone (at least from what I have ever expierenced with tail rot. Also if you can add just a couple drops of bleach in with the soaking plastic plants that will be sure to kill anything on them. Just rinse them well before using them.

 

[Tetra1990]

Good for you to take over this tank. Even though it might be one heck of a chore now, it will be worth it in the end. At least the pleco wasn't in a 10 gallon. Having it in a 20 for a day or 2 should be ok.

 

[tamtam]

The other fish is a bleeding heart tetra. That poor black shirt has the worst messed up tail I've seen in a long time. I think with time and good clean water it should heal since it doesn't appear to have any fungus on it. Plus if it was tail rot just the middle wouldn't be gone (at least from what I have ever expierenced with tail rot. Also if you can add just a couple drops of bleach in with the soaking plastic plants that will be sure to kill anything on them. Just rinse them well before using them.

I know, I feel bad for him. I was wondering if there is anything other than great water quality I can do to help him along. I'm almost out of water conditioner and was thinking about making a trip out to the marine store(they have started to carry a small fresh water section) to pick up some PRIME at the least.

The 50 gallon is up and running and I now have the white cloud and black skirt in there. The tank is empty except for a few decorations I've cleaned thus far. A castle, ship wreck and a rock wall that is suppose to hook up to a bubbler. The plants around probably going to have to wait until tomorrow. I've been scrubbing away but they are a mess and I'm honestly thinking the gravel is a lost cause. The algae build up is unreal.

The temp seems steady but I'm going to keep an eye for the rest of the night to be sure it's not jumping/dropping. While I was cleaning the heater I noticed she had it up almost full blast! Hubby said the water was really warm. Poor things must have been cooking.

It's a lot of tank for 2 fish that's forsure. I'm hoping the openness doesn't stress them out too much.

I've been debating adding the bleeding heart and pleco. I know my 20 gal is way to small for the pleco but with a freshly cleaned tank(it's got the old media in it still but is now cleaned) I'm not sure if he'd be better off in my 20 for now?? I do have algae wafers.

I think I'm just going to focus on getting these guys in the best shape I can before I rehome them.

 

[tamtam]

Good for you to take over this tank. Even though it might be one heck of a chore now, it will be worth it in the end. At least the pleco wasn't in a 10 gallon. Having it in a 20 for a day or 2 should be ok.

It cost me 50 bucks. LOL! But a 50 gallon tank, with stand, some decor, heater, filter, bubbler and a bunch of other "stuff" chemicals that I most likely will never use and some food.. it was a pretty good deal. I've seem similar set ups online here for 100 or more. Good ol Canada, even second hand aint cheep.

 

[Bbarb27]

The white cloud prefers cooler temps, so he/she could do ok without a heated tank.

 

[tamtam]

I still have no clue what this filter is and need to figure out what I've got for lighting to work with. Hopefully it's not too shabby.

 

[Rivercats]

Good quality water and WC's is about the best thing. You could try something like Melafix but really don't know if it would help alot. I've used it when my angels fins get torn up, which isn't often but it did work pretty good.

 

[tamtam]

Good quality water and WC's is about the best thing. You could try something like Melafix but really don't know if it would help alot. I've used it when my angels fins get torn up, which isn't often but it did work pretty good.

maybe I'll look into that. Poor guy is in rough shape and it certainly wouldn't hurt

 

[JerseyGirl1385]

Oh, my goodness do you have your hands full!
Good for you AND those fish! At least they have someone who will know how to properly care for them now.

Hope everything work out for you and you don't wind up banging your head on the wall. Good luck and keep us posted!

 

[tamtam]

Oh, my goodness do you have your hands full!
Good for you AND those fish! At least they have someone who will know how to properly care for them now.

Hope everything work out for you and you don't wind up banging your head on the wall. Good luck and keep us posted!

I'm over the worst of it now I think. My arms still hurt today from scrubbing though. lol. I still have the fake plants to do and am really not sure if they will come completely clean of the algae.

I will def be investing in a water changer soon though. Lugging 50 gallons of water by bucket was some work out. lol.

 

[tamtam]

Thought I'd update this morning for anyone that is interested.

Things look great this morning. The temp has stayed leveled in the tank since last night and they are pretty active considering. The tank looks SO empty with only a little minnow and the big old black skirt in there though.

I'm debating adding the pleco and perhaps the blood fin. Thoughts?

I've been wondering if perhaps the blood fin has targeted the black skirts fins which is why he's in such rough shape? I haven't seen any aggression from him and she assured me that they've always gotten along. Though with 3 singletons that should be in schools I wouldn't be surprised if there was nipping.

The pleco is roughly 5 or so inches including his tail. While I do have a nice supply of algae in the tank and some driftwood, poor thing's been living without any for the last 6 months, I'm debating if he'd be better off in the 50 over the 20 until I can rehome him? He looks so big in my little 20

Hopefully I'll have the fake plants in there today but it's only got 3 or 4 things right now. Is there any harm in keeping them without the substrate right now? That stuff is a royal mess and I'm going to be doing sand in this tank when I get it properly set up any how, I just don't want to cause more stress on them right now to go through the system of adding it if I don't have to. My plan is to toss or give away the old substrate, it's bright blue and not my style so if I can forgo adding it to the tank to remove later then I'm happy with that.

Here is a more recent pic since the cleaning. Very empty. Hoping the plants make it a bit better. If I move the pleco I will relocate a hunk of DW and probably a piece of rock or two with some good algae growth.

and Mr black skirt,

 

[Tetra1990]

Whoa, that is an empty tank for sure. You would do the pleco a favor to add him to the larger tank. Just give him some cover and driftwood to chew on/hide out in. Even though he might not have had any, he will figure it out.

 

[RussellC]

I don't have any sage advice for you (or even any non-sage advice).

I just wanted to say that like a lot of folks I'm following the story and rooting for you (and the fish!).

Best!

 

[tamtam]

Whoa, that is an empty tank for sure. You would do the pleco a favor to add him to the larger tank. Just give him some cover and driftwood to chew on/hide out in. Even though he might not have had any, he will figure it out.

Yes, it's very bare. I've added the fake plants but they mostly float without the substrate. I'm going to take a few things from my other tank to put in there but nothing really matches the height of this tank right now.

I'll be moving the pleco over tomorrow, he's def got driftwood figured out, he's been hanging out on/under the biggest piece in my 20 gal most of the day. It's got a nice supply of algae to which I'm sure helps.

I'm debating adding the sand but I'm not sure if that's a stress I want to add to them right now. I think this will be his home for a while as I can't imagine his fins will heal too fast.

 

[Tetra1990]

Yes, it's very bare. I've added the fake plants but they mostly float without the substrate. I'm going to take a few things from my other tank to put in there but nothing really matches the height of this tank right now.

I'll be moving the pleco over tomorrow, he's def got driftwood figured out, he's been hanging out on/under the biggest piece in my 20 gal most of the day. It's got a nice supply of algae to which I'm sure helps.

I'm debating adding the sand but I'm not sure if that's a stress I want to add to them right now. I think this will be his home for a while as I can't imagine his fins will heal too fast.

I'd add sand. It's more natural,IMO, and the pleco will love to sift through it.