rtsowner222

Ok so my landlord had a tank sitting in her living room for a couple years now filled with algae to the point you could barely see through the glass. Last month her kids realized there was something swimming in the murky waters, it was a RTS. She didn't have time to maintain the tank and simply forgot about it over time. Still alive I asked her if I could take the tank and the fish with it. We got it to my apartment, I put a new filter in, cleaned some of the algae off the glass, added some snails to eat some of the algae etc. I've noticed that when it is hiding, it's almost on it's side. But at night it becomes some what active and swims around as if no one is watching it. There is a UV light that I do 12 hrs on/off. I've never owned a RTS or any fish for that matter. I would assume it is dying if its on its side like that. Any help/comments appreciated.

eiginh

Buy an API test kit and have the water parameters (ammonia, nitrite, nitrate) tested.

How big is the tank and when you moved the tank, did you put the existing water and fish in a bucket/s then moved the tank and added the same water into the tank again?

Redtail97

do you know if the previous owner has being feeding it well or at all for that matter and have you been feeding it since you got it how long have you had it?
maybe its just in shock of the move or maye its has an illness as you say she didnt have time to maintain the tank

rtsowner222

I believe it is a 40 gallon tank. What we did was take maybe half the water out of the tank put it into a bucket, brought it up a flight of stairs then refilled it with the same water. She said the heating device was especially designed to stay around 78 degrees. I think the fish was living off of algae cause she didn't indicate anything ever about feeding it since she didn't even know it was alive. Our water supply is well water. I've been giving it fish flakes, the only source of food she had for tropical fish. I've been sprinking in 2-3 times a day. I've had it since May now. She also gave me ick and a bacteria solution to add to the water. He use to be a very pale color but after a couple drops of ick it returned to its dark colors. It hasn't been bothered since the move.

AlyeskaGirl

Poor little guy. Its nice that you rescued him.

Feed him some frozen bloodworms and brine shrimp too. He will love them!