Need some help with my new tank.

HI guys,

I am new to fish tank ownership as of today. A friend of mine offered me his 55 gallon tank with everything (pumps, air, fish, decor etc) for free. I agreed to take it, however I needed some time to find a tank stand and to learn some things. Today he showed up at my door with this fish tank and about 25% water in it. There was also the fish that were in a bucket and, a bucket of sand. I was not quite ready to take it but he insisted.

I Immediately brought the tank inside felt the water and added water at close to the same temp. I waited a minute and put the fish in. At this point I set up the pumps and air lines and got those running ( I left the old filters in). I have been keeping an eye on the water temperature. I have been adding water about every half an hour for about 4 hours, the tank is now full. With everything running I took a moment to do some research on what to do next. That is when I came across this forum, I did some reading and became very concerned. It appears that changing that much water at one time is bad. I hope someone can help with this, about 75% of the water was changed. I also noticed that chlorine is a concern.

I am very worried about these fish. The fish are 5 ciclids and on plecostamus. There is sand for the bottom. there air two top fin 60 filter systems. and a top fin air 4000. all of the fish are smaller (about 3 inches for the biggest.) Please help me with this, I don't know what else to do!

 

If you did not dechlorinate the water yet, and the fish are still alive, go to the nearest pet store immediately, buy a dechlorinator such as AmquelPlus or Prime, read on label how much to put in to treat the entire volume of water in your aquarium and add it immediately. After you have done this, come back here for more info, but dechlorinating water can't wait.

 

Did the friend give you de-chlorinator like Prime or Amaquel?
If yes, add to water when filling tank w/ water.

Where the filters out of the water a less then 24-48 hours?
If no, then your tank should be cycled.

You're off to a good start. You added the water slowly and made sure it was at the proper temp.

Welcome by the way!

 

Ok so I read your reply JoannaB and immediately took my self to wal mart ( I hate that place) and got some de-chlorinator. Psalm, No the filter were out for maybe an hour tops. I made sure on this as I am sure the contents of the filter (bacteria) contribute to that little ecosystem. So filters are good and the tank is de- chlorinated! what else am I missing?
Also thank you for the welcome! I truly appreciate your help!

 

Hmm, while the filters were out of the water only briefly, but they were in chlorinated water. Chlorine kills bacteria faster than it kills fish. I am assuming that your friend did not give you a water test kit to test for ammonia, nitrites, and nitrates? If he didn't, you will need to get one to check whether your tank is cycled or not (whether enough bacteria survived the chlorine to regenerate). Is the dechlorinator that you bought Prime or Amquel? This matters because these two detoxify ammonia and nitrites for 24 hours. If not, you will still be ok for now. the downside to Amquel and Prime is that they mess with water test results for 24hours as well. So, if you get a water test kit, such as the API Freshwater Test kit ( avoid test strips which are inaccurate, you need a test kit that comes with bottles of liquid and little glass test tubes and instructions on how to use it). if you used Prime or Amquel wait 24 hours before you test the water. If you got a different water conditioner, test earlier (I am not sure when - others may know). if the test results show that your bacteria did not survive the chlorine, then you should change the water daily until ammonia is 0 and nitrites are 0, or use Tetra Safe Start (and if you use that you would have to get that exact brand because others do not work - what it is it is bacteria in a bottle, you need to buy a bottle big enough for entire tank and pour entire bottle in, but you can't do it right after a water change). I am not sure though whether Tetra Safe Start would be sufficient with the amount of fish in there. I think it would be safer to do daily water changes if needed until tank is cycled again, if you lost your cycle due to chlorinated water.

Do you know what type of pleco this is? how long is it? And how old (do you know how long your friend had it)? Some (but not all) plecos get too big for 55 gallon tanks. If the pleco is like five inches long and is grown up, no problem. But if the pleco is a foot or more long (or still a juvenile and likely to grow to a foot or two), that would be a problem.

Sorry just read that the biggest of the fish is 3 inches. That's good. Still would be good to find out what type of pleco is, since that will make a difference once it grows bigger or not.

Given that there are six fish all under three inches, I wonder perhaps Tetra Safe Start would work if needed - hopefully it won't be needed though.

 

He did not give me a test kit. I will get one tomorrow when I get off work. I did not get amquel or prime, the brand I purchased was Jungle. I am sure this is not the best but, wal mart was my only option. By pleco I am sure you mean plecostamus? He is fairly small, few inches at best. I believe my friend had him for a while. I really hope these fish will be ok! They are pretty cool, they swim up to the glass to check me out. It is pretty funny

 

Yup, plecostamus = pleco. Not all plecos are the same, some grow very large, while others stay small. Can you ask your friend how long he has had it or do you know already? Also if you can take a picture and upload it here, that might help us ID it.

While you are at it, if you could also take pictures of the cichlids. There are different types of cichlids, and while I do not happen to know enough about cichlids, but some people here do.

Also we love seeing pictures of other's fish here in general, so even if you can find out from your friend more details on what kind of pleco and cichlids they are, we would appreciate it if you post pictures anyways.

 

I will post photos! I know two of them are jack dempsey cichlids. They all get along very well it seems. They hang out together in their little school. I can't wait to see them get comfortable. I am sure that today was a very stressful experience for them!

 

I would suggest something like biozyme

 

From what I have learned, most products like biozyme do more harm than good, the one notable exception being Tetra Safe Start. Most bacteria in a bottle products have the wrong kind of bacteria, which are not self-sustaining, but outcompete the naturally forming self-sustaining bacteria, so that if you add one of those products you have to keep adding it with every water change for the life of the aquarium. Tetra Safe Start does not have this problem, so it can be used for fish-in cycling. However, let's first establish for sure whether this aquarium is truly no longer cycled. While chlorine kills bacteria, but if any bacteria did survive, maybe they can multiply again without TSS, if you are lucky. Also TSS does not always work - we've had stories here on fishlore of TSS fish-in cycle failing, while others reported success.

 

alright so here are the photos, any ideas on the Pleco?

 

Hello! Welcome to fishlore

The pleco that you have is a common pleco, and will either need a bigger hone or will need to be rehomed.

The thing about cichlids is that there are certain types that cannot be mixed together. There are African cichlids and American cichlids (which shouldn't be mixed). You seem to have both. You will need to decide, once the fish are all identified, if you want to keep the Americans or the Africans. I can tell you right now that the yellow one is a yellow lab (an African) and that the blue one is also an African. It's a hard to tell by the pictures the exact kind.

 

Thanks for the reply dolphin! I was looking at a couple of other plecos because I fugured that was the common pleco that I have. I was looking at a gold nugget pleco, would that be adequate? I was also considering an albino bushy nose pleco. Please let me know what you guys think about this. In regards to the cichlids there are two yellow labs I have been looking hard to determine the exact type these guys are. I believe the blue one is an Acei, however I am no fish expert. I think that is what he is due to the yellow fins and blue body. There are also two Jack dempseys I know this for sure. I am not sure at all about the little striped guys. Any help with these would be greatly appreciated.

Is it really impossible to keep them together? I have been researching my tail off and I see very mixed opinions on cichlids together or even with different fish. They all get along pretty well. A new tank is not really an option at this point so how would I go about re homing my pleco? Do I take him to a pet shop? I appreciate all you ladies and gentleman helping and offering advice on this. I did not expect this to be such a task ( who would guess fish tanks were such delicate enviroments?) I am really confident I can do this right though!

 

The striped fish looks like a convict cichlid. Some pet stores will swap the plecos out, that would be an option. Your best bet for a pleco would be to get a bristlenose.

 

Don't worry, it gets easier!

You could try bringing the pleco top your lfs, maybe even for some store credit. You could also try craigslist, or once you reach 50 posts, you could try to sell him right here on fishlore

Sadly, yes, it will soon be very hard to keep the cichlids together. the Jack Dempsey is American. If you like him best you could dip an American tank. Americans are generally less aggressive than Africans.

I wish I could help you with the striped one, but I have no idea what it is

 

I thought about convict but, I have seen them before and I did not think those looked like convicts. Yet again though I am no fish expert. What should be the ideal maximum size for a pleco in my 55 gallon?

 

Bristlenose pleco aka bushy nose pleco never get too large for a 55 gallon (in fact I have one in a 29 gallon, and that's ok). A common pleco really belongs in a tank that is 100 or 120 gallons minimum, and if you keep him in smaller aquarium, its growth will get stunted which is very unhealthy for the fish.

 

Yeah I am already looking into a new pleco. How soon should I get the new pleco? I got the test kit today and according to the test they were fine! (what a relief) I also got the fish some bloodworms today and all of them really chowed down on it!! I figured out which fish is the boss too. When I dropped the bloodworms in they all were timid, then the smallest went for it. Followed by the Dempsey (the largest) bolting in eating his fill while the others waited. When he was done the rest had their fill. So I assume that means he has the biggest fin.

 

Figured I would give you guys an update. My fish are all doing great! Some of them have been getting brighter/ more color. The water tests have all been coming back great. I have also been visiting LFS to find one that would suit my needs. Some of them were really bad and some are really good. Also, any idea how long I should wait to replace my pleco?