Desperate for help

[EnigmaPole]

I had to leave my apartment for 2 months and kindly asked my roommate to do my aquarium maintenance for me. He said he would and I just got back and low and behold he didn't do a **** thing. There was algae everywhere, the nitrate levels where through the roof, ammonia sky high, ph balance all gone. Pretty much anything that could be wrong is. Thankfully and I don't know how but half of the fish stayed alive.

I have a 55 gallon tank and I've spent the last couple of days doing water changes, scraping algae and trying to clean the gravel but my efforts seem to be doing nothing but scaring my fish. I think I would be better off starting from scratch but I'm not sure how to even begin. I have been thinking about upgrading the filter as well, i would like 2 since i want to filter around 550 gal/hr (any recommendations), I also want to change to substrate, put in new silk plants (since I don't think I'm quite ready for real ones) to create a better home for them with more hiding spaces.

Does anyone have any advice or experience doing something like this. I do have a spare 10 gallon from when I was younger.

 

[mikem691]

On the filter I'd go with an ac70.

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[Mebbid]

Just do extra water changes. There's no need to start over. The water parameters will come back in line and the algae will start to disappear.

As for added filtration, just add another filter. I never liked 55g tanks with only a single filter on it. It leaves a lot of dead spots on the far side.

As for changing the substrate... Just go for it. I prefer sand personally. When I want to change the substrate I pull the fish out, pull the decorations out, siphon as much water as I can, pull the substrate out, and then put the washed substrate in. Fill the tank up and acclimate the fish as if you had just bought them.