Question about restoring tank!

Hey guys,
I didnt really know where to post this so I guess here works. I have a 55 gallon freshwater tank and have had it the past 5 years. I kinda got bored of it after my Jack Dempsey died after being 7 years old. All the other fish were given to a neighbor because I didnt really like them and he was starting a tank of his own. But, my tank has been sitting in my room and I turned off the filter and was gonna wait til I decided what to do with it. The tank right now is kinda gross but I wanted to redo all of it and clean it out and put new sand in and everything and make some sort of ciclid tank or jack dempsey tank. basically start from scratch again. I was wondering if there was anything specific I need to do when restarting my tank with the water since the bacteria from the filter will be gone or anything along those lines with the ph or anything. Help would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks,
cwag9

 

Good morning and Welcome to Fish Lore!

The first place to start is learning about the Aquarium Nitrogen Cycle <---click link. According to your Aquarium Profile Information you are not aware of it. Check out the link and if you have questions, please do not hesitate to ask We are all here to help each other.

I hope you enjoy the forum.

Ken

 

For cleaning purposes, vinegar works great for the glass. Make sure it is rinsed out thoroughly with just water.

I'll give you several options of cycling the tank and you can check them out on your own.
-fishless cycle (check out the nitrogen cycle thread under "more freshwater topics")
-cycle with fish (not highly recommended)
-seeding with old filter or other objects from established tanks
-using cycling chemicals (much debate on how well they work, I personally don't trust them)

In all honesty, I used three of the four methods to start my 29 gallon tank (all but the cycle with fish), and it make for a very quick cycle, not the 2-3 months it normally takes.

I hope this is a good starting point for you and welcome to fishlore!

 

Thanks very much! I knew a litttle about the cycle but I forgot how important it was. If my tank has been sitting for 2 or 3 months with no filter running would it be bad to use anything in the tank such as the bacteria from the filter or any of the sand on the bottom or would it be much more safe to competely restart?

 

Well, I'm no pro on bacteria, but I believe if a tank has just been sitting for that long, then the bacteria is probably dead, as it has had nothing to eat. Maybe someone else who has a little more knowledge can answer that question better.