Need help! I was given a tank w/fish, too crowded

[hermansmama]

So I'm very new to the fish keeping scene, although I've had goldfish in the past (one is currently 4 years old) but never any tank larger than a 10 gallon. I also work at a petstore, and so know a LITTLE bit about setting up an aquarium.

The problem is I was given a 29 gallon tank with what I thought was going to be TWO bala sharks, about 7 inches each....but in reality when the guy brought the tank over, it turns out he has TWENTY fish in the 29 gallon tank. They are all fairly large, and I have...5 tiger barbs, 3 gold gouramis, the two balas, 5 danios, a black skirt tetra, a swordtail, two silver dollars, and a rosy barb. In other words, WAY TOO MANY FISH for the tank! Most of the fish are fairly large, (at least to what I'm used to)...the danios are probably full grown, the silver dollars are huge...they are super crowded!

He was moving to another state and decided it would be best to give the fish and tank away, rather than try to transport it and risk losing the fish...I asked him to bring as much of his water as he could with him, however he only brought enough in the bags to cover the fish, which didn't amount to much at all! We didn't have any containers to keep them in temporariliy, so as soon as we got the tank home we had to add water, do a quick water conditioning, and after they had floated for a bit, add the fish to the tank. I know this is not ideal...I'm wondering however what I need to start doing next?! My fiance and I had an empty 75 gallon tank from reptiles, did a thorough cleaning on it, and have since set it up with water, gravel, the filter, heater, and decorations, but it's only been running for two days. He also sent some of the Nutrafin Cycle? And I was wondering if it actually makes the tank fish safe immediately?

So, which is worse...20 fish in a 29 gallon tank with new water cycling....or 20 fish in a 75 gallon tank with new water cycling? I'm not sure if I should move a few over, or all of them, or leave them in the 29 until the 75 fully cycles? AH! I would really appreciate any help you can give me!

 

[spoonman]

If you used the filter media from the 29, it is not cycling. Maybe a minicycle at most. Also, if you got media with the 29 that was kept wet, I would put it in the filter for the 75 and move the fish. You dont need to move the water, it has nothing in it that you need. The beneficial bacteria that you are looking for are on the decor and in the filter media.

 

[LyndaB]

The 75 won't be large enough either. If it were me, I'd rehome a bunch of those species. Some aren't in proper school numbers, you have comptability issues, etc. The only reason they didn't kill each other off in that small tank was the fact that they didn't have enough room to establish a territory.

People on Craigslist and freecycle are always looking for fish for their tanks.

Was that 75 meant to be a fish tank? If it's actually a reptile tank, the glass will not withstand the pressure that the water will provide.

Nutrafin Cycle does not work. Tetra Safe Start is the only one that I've heard good things about, although I personally don't believe in using that stuff.

 

[hermansmama]

Was that 75 meant to be a fish tank? If it's actually a reptile tank, the glass will not withstand the pressure that the water will provide.

Yes, the 75 was originally a fish tank, I got it from an ad in the paper, and was just using it for reptiles, so it's safe to fill--we weren't sure how old it was so we filled it a few inches and checked for leaks over night, then a few more inches, etc, and it's holding up well.

 

[Galligak]

So do you have any media to seed the 75 gallon tank with? If you do, then put all the fish in there, keep an eye on the parameters, and try to get rid of some of the fish. What are some that you like, so that we can help you get an idea on stocking? And to give you an idea on what to get rid of.(I like having an idea on stoking because I like to change my mind and the cycling process gives me the time to switch and make adjustments)

 

[bruinsbro1997]

Sell the balas, silver dollars, and gouramis and then we can go from there. If you haven't already here's a great guide to cycling: http://www.aquariumadvice.com/artic...g-but-I-already-have-fish-What-now/Page2.html

 

[hermansmama]

So do you have any media to seed the 75 gallon tank with? If you do, then put all the fish in there, keep an eye on the parameters, and try to get rid of some of the fish. What are some that you like, so that we can help you get an idea on stocking? And to give you an idea on what to get rid of.(I like having an idea on stoking because I like to change my mind and the cycling process gives me the time to switch and make adjustments)

The 29 the fish came with had gravel, decorations, and a filter, so I could use those, put them over to the 75 gallon and that would seed the new tank, correct?

I actually really like the bala sharks, so it's somewhat dissapointing to read that typically a 120+gallon tank is recommended for them! Is that for their full grown size, and would they be super uncomfortable in a 75 gallon if there weren't a ton of other fish in there?

What if I moved the balas, the barbs, the danios, the silver dollars, and maybe the gouramis over to the large tank (based on size but I definitely need to do research on compatibility, I'm new, but want to do this right), and leave the tetra, swordtail and rosy barb (all about the same size) in the 29 gallon? OR should I just move all of them over?

 

[bruinsbro1997]

Keep the smaller fish in there and move the larger fish up, you are absolutely correct. No, balas need like a school of five, one of the reasons why you can't keep them in a 75, five ten inch fish would be really cramped.

 

[Galligak]

Yes do what bruinsbro said to do. And get rid of the bala sharks... But there are other sharks sorta like the balas that would be good in the 75 gallon. Eventually you will need to up the amount of the schooling fish to about 6 per school, but for now just work on cycling. And yes you could move some of that stuff from the 29 gallon (if it's still wet) to help the 75 cycle but be careful and watch the parameters.

 

[LyndaB]

The 29 the fish came with had gravel, decorations, and a filter, so I could use those, put them over to the 75 gallon and that would seed the new tank, correct?

What size filter is on the 29? That filter is used to handling that particular bioload, so you probably won't have "much" of a problem, however, it'll be very interesting to see if the guy you got the tank from upgraded his filter to handle the tank. I have a feeling he had multiple tanks and just popped all his fish into the 29 when you said you'd take it.

What are the current readings for ammonia, nitrite and nitrate?

 

[Galligak]

Actually before we get to the readings what are you going to use to get the readings? I would suggest getting an API master liquid kit, probably everyone else would as well. Skip getting strips as I know they don't work well and spending a little more on this kit will be better in the long run!

 

[hermansmama]

Actually before we get to the readings what are you going to use to get the readings? I would suggest getting an API master liquid kit, probably everyone else would as well. Skip getting strips as I know they don't work well and spending a little more on this kit will be better in the long run!

I actually just ordered this kit online (it was $50 at the pet store?!?!), so I should have it within a few days...in the meantime I had my fiance take a sample in to the store to get a free water sample done (with strips) and he said it looks like all the levels were right on target (this was from the 75 gallon tank)....

 

[LyndaB]

My lfs uses API test kits. That, I trust. The strips are pretty much worthless. And also, the results will only be as good as the employee who took them for you.

Kensfish.com has the API test kit for about $23, I think. Not sure why the store would've been that high. That's crazy.

 

[Galligak]

I cannot believe that the API test kit cost that much! Mine was $34 at petsmart! But I really wouldn't trust the lfs test... If you are using wet and used filter media and some decorations I think that you'd be okay to put some fish in the 75 gallon tank!