ChrisKhan
Aquarium Advice Newbie
Hey all,
I bought a used 20-gallon tank from someone on Craigslist that basically let their tank slip from maintenance and not proper care. The tank was already set up with black gravel, stones and dying plants. They apparently had other people's fish for a few months but the fish started to die and they gave up on the tank. The only thing in there right now is black gravel substrate (loaded with gunk it looks like), some long porous rocks, anubias plants attached (which are dying and melting big time) and the old filter media (which when I disassembled and rinsed in old tank water was FILTHY, hasn't been cleaned in a looooong time).
I have some fish that I want to move in there eventually but I want to make sure it's safe. Will this foreign tank with its own bacteria shock my fish since it is an entirely new tank to them with new bacteria, or does that not matter?
I was thinking if not, I might have some options for proceeding with this tank:
1. Should I sterilize everything and start the cycle over again? I think this is the safest but SLOWEST way to get my fish into this new tank. I don't know if the fish died from disease or parasites so I don't want to introduce my fish to this threat. I believe the previous owner's fish died from temperature fluctuations because she didn't have a heater in the tank............ But other possibilities exist.
(I have a smaller 10 gallon that I could seed the 20-gallon with but the small amount of bacteria that I move from the 10 to the 20 will not be able to help the 20 gallon's bioload, correct? I read somewhere that the bacteria can be overwhelmed and die before it can catch up and grow, causing spikes and whatnot. )
2. Keep the old bacteria colony and add aquarium salt to the tank to help sterilize any harmful threats.
3. YOUR RECOMMENDATIONS!
I bought a used 20-gallon tank from someone on Craigslist that basically let their tank slip from maintenance and not proper care. The tank was already set up with black gravel, stones and dying plants. They apparently had other people's fish for a few months but the fish started to die and they gave up on the tank. The only thing in there right now is black gravel substrate (loaded with gunk it looks like), some long porous rocks, anubias plants attached (which are dying and melting big time) and the old filter media (which when I disassembled and rinsed in old tank water was FILTHY, hasn't been cleaned in a looooong time).
I have some fish that I want to move in there eventually but I want to make sure it's safe. Will this foreign tank with its own bacteria shock my fish since it is an entirely new tank to them with new bacteria, or does that not matter?
I was thinking if not, I might have some options for proceeding with this tank:
1. Should I sterilize everything and start the cycle over again? I think this is the safest but SLOWEST way to get my fish into this new tank. I don't know if the fish died from disease or parasites so I don't want to introduce my fish to this threat. I believe the previous owner's fish died from temperature fluctuations because she didn't have a heater in the tank............ But other possibilities exist.
(I have a smaller 10 gallon that I could seed the 20-gallon with but the small amount of bacteria that I move from the 10 to the 20 will not be able to help the 20 gallon's bioload, correct? I read somewhere that the bacteria can be overwhelmed and die before it can catch up and grow, causing spikes and whatnot. )
2. Keep the old bacteria colony and add aquarium salt to the tank to help sterilize any harmful threats.
3. YOUR RECOMMENDATIONS!
