20 gallon rescue

phin

Large Fish
Oct 21, 2009
218
0
0
#1
I responded to an add on craigslist yesterday. A guy was giving away for free a 20 gallon tank with stand, heater, filter, light, and fish. It was free so I thought I'd see if I could get it. I call the guy within about 10 minutes of him posting the add and convince him to hold it for me for a few hours.

I pick up the tank and...ugh.

In this 20 gallon tank there was 2 silver dollars, a red-tail tinfoil barb, a pleco, and another catfish (looks like a cory but I don't think it is).

These fish were huge, and the tank was filthy. The guy said he was moving and didn't want to take the tank with him. I asked him how long he had been in town - he said 3 years. Well, the fish all looked to be at least that old. The pleco is 10-12 inches long, the silver dollars the size of my palm and the barb at least 6 inches.

I don't think he had done a water change in 3 years. I think all he did was replace the water that would evaporate. he had a gravel siphon, but it looked brand new, and the gravel was pure filth. He had a tetra filter, I'm not sure which size, but definitely did not produce enough water flow for all the fish in there. I also noticed in the supplies he gave me he had some water conditioner that claimed to neutralize ammonia, so I'm guessing thats what he did instead of changing the water.

When I got the fish home (the tank was 40% full when I moved it) I filled it up with treated tap water. I didn't test the water, didn't really see a point as I knew it was bad and needed to be changed. After I filled the tank back up I replaced the filter cartridge and added aeration via airpump and stone.

After I was able to get the mess to settle, a few hours later, I replaced 5 more gallons siphoning the gravel.

The barb and pleco look relatively healthy. The pleco might have "hole in the head" but it might also be a scar from being in such a small tank. The barb looks good, but is missing a few scales, no apparent infections though.

I haven't seen much of the small cat that is in the tank so I don't have much to say about him.

The 2 silver dollars are in horrible condition. One has no tail and almost no fins. It has a few dorsal rays and thats it. The other's fins are rotting away and will soon be in the same position as the first.

Today I'm taking the pleco (and possibly the barb) to my LFS. I'll continue to do daily water changes and keep siphoning the gravel. Once I get a more stable environment, I'll start treating the silver dollars.

Any suggestiions on what to treat with. I have melafix, formalin, API parasite powder, and some fungus tabs by "jungle'. I had the melafix and formalin, the others came with this tank.

I'll update the progress of the silver dollars as they improve.
 

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bassbonediva

Superstar Fish
Oct 15, 2009
2,010
0
0
Northern Arizona
#2
Oh wow! Good for you for taking on such a huge project. Hopefully you can get those silver dollars healthy and then rehomed (or in a bigger tank since they need to be in schools of at least five and they get to be about 6"). Good luck and keep us posted!
 

Feb 27, 2009
4,395
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36
#3
The pleco is 10-12 inches long, the silver dollars the size of my palm and the barb at least 6 inches.
So much for the advice I hear at pet stores all the time 'the fish will only grow to fit in the tank' eh?

I don't have any advice on how to treat the fish, other than what you are doing. You will be in for a lot of water changes. Be careful not to change things too fast is all I'd recommend, and keep the temperature the same so they don't go through more stress.
 

phin

Large Fish
Oct 21, 2009
218
0
0
#4
I haven't adjusted the heater and it is set at 72. I don't have time for more than 1 water change per day since I'm working during the day and have a 2 yr old and a 7wk old at home. It looks like the SDs and barb have velvet. I noticed what looked like silver specs of glitter on them. I haven't encountered it before, but it was definitely distinct from the skin/scales. I started dosing with formalin: 40 drops yesterday, today I'll change 25% of the water and add 5 drops, then after tomorrows water change 40 more drops and so on until all signs are gone. I also turned the light off. Any idea on how long it takes to cure velvet? I didn't get to taking the pleco back yesterday, but I see no signs of velvet on him, how contageous is it?
 

phin

Large Fish
Oct 21, 2009
218
0
0
#5
Today I changed 25% water, continued dosing with formalin and began dosing with melafix. I also increased the water temp from 72 to 74.

I've had the fish for 3 days and I tried feeding them for the first time today. I put in some tropical flakes (that came with them) and they didn't touch them. I watched the tank for almost 10 minutes with big flakes floating right by their eyes. Nothing. The closest they came to eating was when the barb picked up a flake off the gravel and spit it out. They keep pooping so they're eating something, right? but nothing I'm feeding them. I guess they are used to surviving off all the crap on the bottom and whats floating in the water.

I'll continue with the dosing and wc's tomorrow. My LFS doesn't want the pleco until the velvet is cleared up in the tank. Don't blame him.
 

phin

Large Fish
Oct 21, 2009
218
0
0
#7
Water temp is now up to 76, I think I'll keep it here. I found the little cat, he looks like an old ragged cory, but his fins are so badly damaged its really hard to tell. They all seem to be responding well to the WCs and melafix. Today they ate some flakes and seem much happier. I suppose another week or so of daily 25% changes and formalin + melafix and I should be able to find a home for the pleco and the barb.
 

phin

Large Fish
Oct 21, 2009
218
0
0
#8
I've increased the water temp to 80 and may go a couple of degrees higher in the coming days since I'm trying to kill off parasites (I think). I'm still medicating the tank and doing daily water changes and the water looks much better. I cleaned out the filter (Topfin 30, I believe) and it still isn't flowing well, I have extra aeration, but even without filter media and clean pipes there isn't much flow. Might I need a new impeller?

Also, I looked at some more pictures of velvet online and I'm not sure the fish have it. They might, but there is no sign of any on the pleco at all. The fins of the barb look good and clear with no signs of parasites. There might be a dusty coating on the silver dollars and the barb, but it might also be my imagination. What I do see are a few flecs of what looks like silver glitter on the silver dollars, appearing distinct from the fishs' skin. I also see a similar silver glitter flecking on the barb. Not gold or tannish, but bright and silver. Could this be velvet or something else?

I'm halfway through medicating with formalin, so I'm going to continue through the 10th day just to be sure.

The barb might have a fungal infection on the front of the head, below the eyes, but it also might just be an injury. If it doesn't clear up (with all the melafix I'm adding) I'll start treating for fungus.

I hope I can find homes for the silver dollars when all is done.
 

Doomhed

Large Fish
Feb 11, 2003
687
0
0
42
Rhode Island
Visit site
#9
the impeller might be clogged with gunk. the topfin has an open impeller design, so all you need to do is open her up and clean the gunk out.

I recommend always keeping a spare larger air pump, tubing and bubblestones just in case. I leave mine on whenever I have to clean the tank and it lets me take my time doing water changes knowing my fish have air.
 

phin

Large Fish
Oct 21, 2009
218
0
0
#10
I've got an air pump and stone and I've also cleaned the impeller and intake tube. The whole thing might need a run through the dishwasher.

Well, the cory died. I found him last night upside down struggling to breathe. his stomach was sunken in and it was so skinny. I hadn't seen him eat at all since I had him. it could have been the combination of the formalin and trying to compete with the pleco for food.

The spot on the barb's head isn't getting better and has little white tufts so I added a couple tabs of Jungle Labs Fungus Clear (came with the fish) and will forego a water change today to let the tabs work. only one more full dose of formalin in 2 days and the tank should be parasite free.

I might have found a home for the silver dollars. I got a response from a guy who has a 200gallon with an "elaborate setup" i informed him of the fishes' condition and we'll see if he still wants them.
 

phin

Large Fish
Oct 21, 2009
218
0
0
#11
Well, mission completed. I was able to find a home for the 2 silver dollars. A lady from CL has a 45 & 55 with some silver dollars of comparable size already. She picked them up tonight. I took the pleco and the tin foil barb to the LFS today and they should find a good home from there. The cory died, but I don't think he had much left in him when I got him.

FYI - tin foil barbs do not make good friends for silver dollars, but they do like to eat their fins, apparently.

Now I have a 20 gallon tank & stand. Maybe a small african cichlid tank? Or probably sell it on CL and pay down my CC.
 

phin

Large Fish
Oct 21, 2009
218
0
0
#14
Both great ideas. I was thinking about starting an malawi cichlid tank. That wil be my next tank I think, but not for a little while. Incidentally, I did snag (free off CL) a 20g long yesterday that had a blue gourami, 4 black neons and a platy. I think I'll pick up a few more black neons and add them to my 18g and take the gourami (beautiful fish) and the platy back to the LFS. If I had the room I would just keep all the tanks I get of CL. But I'd need to add another room to the house.
 

ValRasbora

Superstar Fish
May 2, 2009
1,202
0
0
Atlantic Canada
#16
about the silver dollars, I had a neon tetra in similar condition... He lived for a good 2 years. He had only 1 pectoral fin, half his anal fin, his claudal fin had a huge chunk out of it and so did his dorsal. 2 years! What a fighter. He always swam crooked. I called him Maverick and he only recently jumped out. Since then I got a light hood\cover to prevent this