# New tank



## Tbird (Oct 5, 2009)

So I finally picked up that free tank I found in Kijiji last week. It's a little smaller then I thought, 48x12.5x21. Not sure how many gallons that is. I was originally told that it was 48x18x24 for about 90 gallons I think. 

So I get there and not really sure what to expect. It's in an office and i told them I'd be there for around 4:30. The lady I originally spoke to was not there and the contacts she gave me to speak to happened to not be there also. So the receptionist, tells me they close at 5pm! I'm thinking how am I going to empty a 90 gallon tank (what I thought the size was based on dims she gave me) tear it down in 30 min??! She also told me that if was a bit dirty and would need some cleaning and there were about 9 fish. She didn't know what kind other then some were called pumpkin heads, I figured blood parrot.

Well I get there and I see the tank. I realize right away that it is not a 90 but smaller. I was disappointed but whatever it is free.  I look at the tank and realize that it was in SEVERE need of a water change and cleaning. The only fish I could see were the blood parrots because of their bright colour. Even that was a stretch! LOL So the receptionist tells me she thinks there are 8 fish and the contact I was given also thought there were 8 fish. So whatever, I see a python and me and my buddy start to get to work. I scoop out some water to put in my 5 gallon tank to transport my fish. It really wasn't what I wanted to do as the tank water looked so green and absolutely horrid. But I didn't have much choice. We start to empty the tank and about halfway I start to try to scoop out the fish. I'm eventually able to get 8 fish with some effort as it was sooo hard to see them! It's 4 parrot cichlids and 4 SA cichlids of some sort. I'll have to get some pictures so that you guys might be able to help, I don't know much about SA ciclids. LOL. I pull out a bunch of fake plants and a couple ornaments. All covered in tons of algae. 

As the tank empties, we take apart the one Rena still hooked on the tank (the second one aparently not working was already disconnected), the air filters and lights etc. We put everything aside and start to pack everything up. As we are almost empty we can finally start to see the bottom of the tank. I think there was about 5lbs of gravel, yes 5....and a bunch of other rocks of various shapes sizes and colours. I think he got a bunch from a river or something. Definitely not python friendly. lol. As we get to almost empty, I see the 9TH FISH!! It looks like a convict. I scoop him out and put him with the others. As we are moving the tank to the truck, me and my buddy realize how filthy it was. What a stank!!! LOL We finally get everything empty and packed away in the truck. 

So we finally get to my house and everything unloaded. I realize setting up the new tank and putting the fish in there really wasn't an option due to the amount of crud at the bottom. And I didn't really have any time to do a clean up this evening cause I was supposed to work. I look at the fish and they seem a bit stressed, probably due to the water conditions and the moving. My original plan was to fill a few buckets I has and with the original water and leave as much as we can carry in the tank while we moved it. I figured at most it would work out to a 75% water change. I decide that my best option is to set up the 20 gallon and put the fish in there for now. So I take some water from my 65 gallon and mix it with the some new water and the bit I had the fish in. 

So I tried feeding the recently and they haven't really eaten anything. Not really sure what condition they are in. The 4 parrots and the unknown SA cichlids were swimming a little. As for the assumed convict, it doesn't look too good. Kind of just sitting on the bottom of the tank and really not moving. 

I'll keep everyone posted on how the fish do and what I plan on doing with the tank.

So what I got tonight.

A tank with metal stand. 75 gallon is my guess.
2 Rena xp-1's. One working, one apparently not.
1 Tetra air pump. the largest one from what I've seen at the LFS.
A bunch of plastic plants and a couple ornaments.
A net
some fish food, 2 1 week food pucks. the kind you would use for vacation.
Some chemicals, water treatment, etc.
A huge bottle of ICK cure. (kinda scary they had that)
A couple buckets and a few other misc things.

I'll keep everyone posted on what happens. I just hope the fish do ok. Never really liked Parrot cichlids but kinda cute....almost looks like they are smiling. Anyways, sorry for the long story. Thought I would share. 

Any info on how these fish should be kept and the parameters would be great. 

Thanks
Wil


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## bigfishy (Jun 19, 2009)

48 x 12.5 x 21 = 55G tank



if you dont want the parrots, I can buy it off from you 

^^


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## Tbird (Oct 5, 2009)

bigfishy said:


> 48 x 12.5 x 21 = 55G tank


Thanks Buddy!!

Do you know anything about SA fish?

I still have to play with the one Rena that they said wasn't working. I might be bugging you for help on that. LOL.


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## bigfishy (Jun 19, 2009)

Tbird said:


> Thanks Buddy!!
> 
> Do you know anything about SA fish?
> 
> I still have to play with the one Rena that they said wasn't working. I might be bugging you for help on that. LOL.


All I know is SA cichlids need the water to be soft and acidic and can't ID them without pic (too many to list)

If some of them ends up to be a peacock bass, I'd like to buy that too!

I'd bet the non working XP1, just got a clog in the magnetic / motor part, and once it free up it will work again. I had the same problem with an AC 70


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## gucci17 (Oct 11, 2007)

TBIRD to the rescue!

Poor guys were being tortured...they should've posted it up a lot sooner. 

Post some pics and I'm sure someone can ID them. Bigfishy is right, could just be the impeller. Clean it all up and it might actually work.

I'm wondering if they got ripped off in the first place buying it off someone thinking it was a 90 gal. That's clearly a standard 55. Good find though, can't complain about that!


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## Zebrapl3co (Mar 29, 2006)

Nice find. Sounds like the cleanning is going to be the long part of this whole thing. Let's see: (48 x 12.5 x 21) / 231 = ~ 54.5 Gallons
As for the poor fish, they may be in shock right now. Could be the temperature as it's pretty cold out there. Don't feed yet, they can go on without food for one or two days. Let the adjust to clean water first.
Also, if you can't fix the XP1, don't throw it out. I have a broken XP3 that needs spare parts. I won't mind picking it up from you.

*Never pay again for live sex! | Hot girls doing naughty stuff for free! | Chat for free!*


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## Tbird (Oct 5, 2009)

Thanks for the input guys! I'll try to post pics tomorrow. I've tried before but had no luck. But I will try again!

Ya they are probably in shock. Each one is probably thinking where did all these other fish come from??!! I thought it was only me in here. LOL

Ya I'm going to mess around with the filter sometime this weekend. 

I started to try to clean the tank a bit last night and managed to make a huge mess in the bathroom sink!!  I guess I should have checked how quickly the sink drains before I started to drain the tank!!! LOL I'm actually going to try to clean the tank again this weekend but I'm definitely not looking forward to that!!! Anyone know a way to extend the pythons?? I need to go from the main floor laundry room to the basement and a 50 won't cut it. I don't want to make another mess in the washroom in the basement that I have to clean!


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## MichaelAngelo (Jul 6, 2009)

that's a sweet freebie dude, my buddy and i would be literally racing over to that deal if we ever saw it posted

congratulations!!!


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## Tbird (Oct 5, 2009)

LOL...ya it was a good find. but I'll feel bad if the fish don't make it! We'll see. Tried a bit of food tonight and nothing still. Will try in the morning again. 

Ok so it looks like 4 of the fish might be Jack Dempseys. I have pics but don't know how to post. LOL. I'll try in the later this morning when I get up. 

Can someone please advise some water parameters for jack dempseys, the parrot cichlids and MAAAYBE a convict??

Maybe I try putting in one of the vacation food pucks that they gave me. LOL


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## Chris S (Dec 19, 2007)

Water parameters = clean, healthy water around 25-26 celcius. Don't worry about the pH or anything like that.


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## bluekrissyspikes (Apr 16, 2009)

Chris S said:


> Water parameters = clean, healthy water around 25-26 celcius. Don't worry about the pH or anything like that.


x2
clean will be good enough.


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## characinfan (Dec 24, 2008)

Good job with the rescue, and good luck. I'm looking forward to your pics when you get a chance to post some.


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## bigfishy (Jun 19, 2009)

Chris S said:


> Water parameters = clean, healthy water around 25-26 celcius. Don't worry about the pH or anything like that.


CLEAN water is NO good, especially when the fish is in bad water quality for a long time!

It will shock them and kills them! (It's like their immune system can't adjust to the sudden change)



They need time to acclimate from dirty to clean, else they are as good as dead


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## Chris S (Dec 19, 2007)

How do you produce dirty water for them though?


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## Tbird (Oct 5, 2009)

Dirt water huh?? Never thought of accimilating that. Might be hard now!! Well unless I turn the filter off and take all that crud from other filters and put it n this tank. They still haven't eaten so I'm not sure what to do. 

Suggestions


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## bae (May 11, 2007)

This 'clean water after dirty water kills fish' idea has a long history, back to the first half of the last century and even further back.

Way back when, long before even my time, when fish keeping was a hobby not a business, people had this idea about the virtues of 'old water'. People kept small tanks -- 10 gallons was considered big then. They sometimes heated by a small kerosene lamp under the slate bottom of the tank, because there were no electric heaters. Air pumps were a very expensive luxury, and were only used for airstones and small box filters that used charcoal (often crushed coal) and glass fiber. 

People carefully removed mulm with a 'dip tube' that removed minimum water. They topped up their tanks with rain water to compensate for evaporation. A dark yellow color was the prized sign of true 'old water'. When they did even a small water change, the fish showed distress and sometimes died.

What was happening? All those dissolved organics resulted in very acidic water. In acidic water, ammonia is in the form of the ammonium ion which isn't very toxic. Fresh water raised the pH, all that ammonium changed to ammonia and the fish got their gills burned and died. The sharp change in osmotic pressure didn't help, either.

How did these guys get away with this style of fishkeeping? They had plants in all their tanks, which helped control nitrogen and phosphate. They kept fish that are native to swampy waters in nature. They fed a lot of live food, mostly stuff collected in ponds. Nonetheless, they bred neon tetras and many other difficult species, using rainwater and 'old water'. They observed everything carefully.

The fish Tbird rescued are pretty tough. All that yucky algae was probably what was keeping them alive in there. He's now got them in clean water, but unfortunately rather crowded. It may take them a few days to settle in, and they'll need a larger tank ASAP, and frequent water changes in the meantime.

Tbird, dump the crud in the toilet, not the sink. Dump a gallon or two of water in the tank, scrub well, then siphon the dirty water into a bucket. Repeat a few times, and you should be okay. If there's crud left after siphoning, pick it up with a sponge or paper towel.

Don't worry about getting every speck of algae out. Under good conditions, it won't get out of hand. Just be careful not to scratch the glass with a particle of sand on whatever you're scrubbing with. Those knitted plastic pot scrubbers are good, but the flat sheet of fiber kind, sometimes sold glued to sponges, are sometimes hard enough to scratch the relatively soft glass used in aquaria.

Keep us posted about how it's going.


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## bae (May 11, 2007)

Tbird said:


> Dirt water huh?? Never thought of accimilating that. Might be hard now!! Well unless I turn the filter off and take all that crud from other filters and put it n this tank. They still haven't eaten so I'm not sure what to do.
> 
> Suggestions


Don't worry about it. Keep up the clean water. They'll eat once they've settled in. It may take a few days, but they won't starve.


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## bigfishy (Jun 19, 2009)

I have started a new thread at another site! (same topic) Go read it and I don't want to explain!

  

http://www.monsterfishkeepers.com/forums/showthread.php?t=292172


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## Tbird (Oct 5, 2009)

Thanks for the advice people!! Gonna try to get the tank clean today. At least started. Wasn't dumping crud down the sink. Just had the pyhon in there. I'll have to see why the sink drains so slow. My plan was so scoopeverything out of the tank. I'll just throw out everything, rocks and all. Then I'll start to scrub. Lol. We are on the same page. I just got some of those scrubby thngs u suggested. Lol

can anyone tell me if these fish should even be together. What other kinds they are good with and temperments. 

4 parrot cichlids
4 Jack dempseys (I think)
1 convict (I think)

also, is there a thread on how to post pics. Maybe then people can cnfirm these fish. 

Thanks


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## Chris S (Dec 19, 2007)

The fish aren't dead though, how is this the same topic?

I'll agree that it is always better to acclimitize your fish, whether it be pH or temperature, but in this case the tank was drained, the fish and tank moved and the original water was not tested. How can you possibly replicate the old water?

Not only do I agree with bae, but what other options are really available? Dump a form of ammonia in? Lower the pH with chemicals? I think you would agree these are both bad ideas.


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## Chris S (Dec 19, 2007)

Tbird said:


> also, is there a thread on how to post pics. Maybe then people can cnfirm these fish.
> 
> Thanks


http://www.gtaaquaria.com/forum/showthread.php?t=314


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## Tbird (Oct 5, 2009)

So it looks like they are finally eating. Not alot but eating. At least its a start! Its funny, when I first got them, they would try to get as far away from me when they saw me. Tonight, I try to take pictures and the parrots, keep swimming towards me. LOL Get out of the way for a few minutes so I can take pics of the other guys.  LOL

So I think the guy at BA got me messed up. I think they are green terrors and not Jack Dempseys.

Here are some pics. Maybe you can help me identify them.


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## Byronicle (Apr 18, 2009)

yea those are green terrors - those green stripes underneath the eyes

lucky you, and luckily for them


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## bigfishy (Jun 19, 2009)

green terror and severum


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## Tbird (Oct 5, 2009)

Cool!  sooo....any info on these guys? Temperment, how big do they grow? What other types of fish are they good with?


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## bae (May 11, 2007)

Tbird said:


> Cool!  sooo....any info on these guys? Temperment, how big do they grow? What other types of fish are they good with?


IIRC, green terrors are Aequidens rivulatus, or maybe another Aequidens spp. They get fairly large and are very territorial, which amounts to aggressive, when they are mature. Severums used to be Cichlasoma severum, but lately they are in the genus Heros, and have been divided into several spp, H.severus, H.appendiculatus, and some others. I think yours is one of the newer spp, because of the red fins. Severums get large and look a little like discus. They are less aggressive than most cichlids, probably about the level of angelfish.

You're going to have to move most of those fish out of the 55 as they grow. I don't think you can keep more than a single adult green terror or a mated pair in there, and you'll have to work for water quality. IIRC, somebody on pricenetwork wanted to buy green terrors. I don't know how aggressive parrots can get. They are a complex hybrid of several species, and most of them are sterile.

Those fish look really healthy and the intense color of the parrots is remarkable. Algae, yucky as it looks, is not only great for water quality, but it's a terrific color food for any fish that will eat it.


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## Tbird (Oct 5, 2009)

It's been awhile since I've updated here. Sooo life kinda gotten in the way with a lot of things, namely cleaning and setting up a whole other tank, the 55 G. After doing some reading I realized that the Green Terrors were definitely at the point of getting to big to have 4 together in a 55 gallon. Especially with 4 blood parrots and a severum as room mates. 

So after a few weeks of trying getting everyone back in a healtier environment, most of them were seemingly happier and livelier. Unfortunately the severum, didn't quite make it. I think maybe a combination of definitely not being in good shape when I got him and getting picked on by the green terrors. After some thought, and knowing that they were getting more active and healtier, I knew the temporty 20G tank everyone was in would definitely be a problem sooner rather then later. So a friend of mine adopted the 4 green terrors. They should do better in a 100G tank. Well at least for now. LOL Even though I tried to make the change quick enough so that the Severum might have a chance I lost him a few days later. 

So now I just had the parrots. Well a few weeks after having them, they seemed to be very friendly, more active and I had actually grown to like them. They always looked like they were smiling and would come see you when it was feeding time or if you just happened to be near the tank. Well after taking out the green terrors, they became very skittish and would hide where ever they could anytime someone came near the tank. After about a week of similar behaviour I decided to give them to a better home, hopefully with some other roommates. Well they definitely have gotten healthy. If you look at some of the original pics, one had black marks one him, I thought it was just some kind of birth defect. Well I was wrong, that has pretty much disappeared!! Sooo today, they found a new home with BK and they have a couple of new room mates. 

Here are a couple pics of the 55 tank as I got it. If you look at one of the pics, you can see how dirty the water is. That is after I pretty much completely drained it where I picked it up. There are also a couple pics of the fish before they took a trip to their new home.

Anyways, sorry for the rant. Thanks to all those who had some great input when I get them! I'm hoping life takes things a little easier and then I can completely clean that tank the way it should be, cycle it and get some new things going.

I'll try to post pics later. Doesn't seem to work.


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