Used tank advice

[SuCraM]

Hey everyone. I am picking up a previously enjoyed 55 gallon tonight for my goldies that are residing in my 10 gallon tank. I just wanted to know what you guys think is a good way to clean the tank of calcium buildup. I read that vinager is good and maybe bleach but i want to make sure i do it right. Also the tank is coming with ornaments and rocks. Should I clean all of them as well? Any thoughts or advice is appreciated. Also the tank does not come with a filter. What can any of you recommend for a freshwater setup for my 4 goldies?

 

[neilanh]

Vinegar and water is my preferred method, will clean it all up really nice. I'd wash everything, at least with a good long water rinse.

 

[Purrbox]

Vinegar and water is my preferred method, will clean it all up really nice. I'd wash everything, at least with a good long water rinse.

I'd follow Neilanh's advise for clean up as well as making sure to perform a leak test in a safe place like the garage.

 

[Zagz]

Sometimes you may have to also scrape carefully with a razor blade to remove stubborn calcium build up. I too use vinegar and water.

 

[SuCraM]

Update

The guy that i bought the tank from took very good care of it and gave me the gravel and ornaments and I filled the tank up last night and tested for ammonnia and nitrites and they both were 0ppm. So i decided to take my 4 goldies from my 10 gallon that is not done cycling and put them in there. The guy said that it would be fine and he seemed very fish smart so I am going to trust him.

 

[neilanh]

Did the gravel and ornaments stay wet the whole time? if not they won't benefit you, and you'll be essentially starting over on the cycle. Did you move any filtration from the old 10g over too?

 

[SuCraM]

There was a bit of water still in the tank with the gravel and ornaments but not too much. And i did not transfer and filtration from the old tank. Should i just monitor the levels of ammonia and nitrite the next couple of days to make sure they stay at 0ppm? And if they do then I could assume the tank is cycled right?

 

[Purrbox]

Since the gravel and ornaments were kept at least partial wet, it may have sucessfully seeded the aquarium. I would expect that it will still go through a cycle, but that it will be shorter due to the seed material. Until you see Ammonia and Nitrite at 0 and Nitrates rising, the aquarium is not cycled.

 

[Zagz]

Since your 10 gal was not done cycling anyway, it certainly can't hurt and hopefully his bacteria is alive enough to help.

 

[SuCraM]

Things are looking good so far no ammonia or nitrites.

 

[SuCraM]

Update

Hey everyone I decided to get rid of my goldfish and go with some other fish. If I have no fish in my tank that is cycled and good for around 2 months should I keep adding pure ammonia to the tank to keep the beneficial bacteria alive until I get some more fish or would it be ok to leave it for about a week with just water, filter and heater running?

 

[Purrbox]

I would add some sort of Ammonia (Pure Ammonia, frozen shrimp, fish food) to ensure that the aquarium stays cycled. In that length of time without any Ammonia some or all of your biofilter would die off.

 

[SuCraM]

Thanks alot for the reply Purrbox. That was my assumption so I have been dosing between 4-5ppm of pure ammonia.

 

[Fishyfanatic]

I completly agree. Keep dosing.