hi,
My folks have a nice 55 gallon aquarium thats been sitting for like 10 years in the attic think if i clean it it will still be good didnt leak before?
thanks
P.S still has gravel in it. Was gonna toss that.

Push on the silicon with your finger nail. If it is still flexible it is probably fine. If it is brittle and flakes, then it probably will leak. You can easily re-seal the tank if it does.

Always test any used tank. Just take it out to the yard or in the tub and leak check it to be 100% sure before you get going.

If the silicon is brittle and not sticking, I wouldn’t even bother trying to check it and would scrape and re-seal, then check it.

My friend has an aquarium with sting rays in it and is looking to get some moray eels. The concern is that they will fight to the death or something when they get together, just wondering if they can coexist all cool like or not.

I have seen them co-exist before. The eel sticks to the rock, the ray to the sand.

I have a 40 gallon tank, and its 78 F which isn’t good for goldfish. I want to lower it to at least 65 F, so I need some tips.
Btw I don’t have a heater

Without heaters or chillers the tank water will match that of the surrounding room. Drop the temp in the room and the tank will follow. Also, it might get just a bit warmer than the room if running a hot light above it, or if the tank is sitting in the hot sun. Moving it out of the sun or running a fan with the light will help in that regard.

If you want to get the tank cooler than the rest of the room the best method is to invest in a chiller (but they are outrageously expensive!) A mini air conditioner or swamp cooler might be cheaper (pick up at a garage sale). Shop around.
Chillers: http://www.marinedepot.com/chillers__index-ap.html

The fish being at a constant, albeit high temp, is better then adding ice cubes and dropping the temp, and then it increasing again, and then dropping again, etc. Consistency is very important and if you keep changing the temp back and forth it can be way more harmful than a short season of warmer water.

Goldfish and other pond fish can do just fine in summer months at higher temps. Don’t worry about it. the damage comes from LONG term exposure to constant high heats.

But, there is less oxygen at higher temps in the water, so increase surface agitation.

I want to know the best place of situating the filter and heater in a corner fish tank? Was thinking of putting the filter in the centre at the back of the tank but don’t know where to put the heater. Can anyone help?

i have an 72 corner tank, and for a tank like that you want a canister filter as HOB filters will stick out too much if your planning on placing it next to a wall.

On my tank, i have the spray bar, as it is an ehiem, on the back side of the tank and it is spraying towards the front, that way the current will follow the curve and circulate the water evenly.

The intake is on the other back wall.

The heater should be right next to the intake, as the intake will suck up the heat from the heater and it will circulate the heat when it comes back out of the filter.

But that is fishkeeping tankset-up general, the heat should always be by the intake of the filter.

Whenever I go to my dentist office, or other places that have tanks, I see this small fish about 3-4 inches. They are grey with a little black and they look like miniture nurse sharks.
They aren’t Bala Sharks or Iridescent Sharks, and when I see them they don’t move a lot, it actually doesn’t move from the bottom it has a mouth on the bottom… like i said it always swims around the bottom of the tank.
they are gray with black spots on their back and they have s cylinder body, lt has the same shape of a nurse shark only it’s about 4 inches.
has really tiny wiskers
kinda looks like this http://www.richard-seaman.com/Underwater/Belize/FishYouMightNotWantToMeet/NurseShark.jpg

http://www.scubainkorea.com/Downloads/Files_For_Download/Permanent/Nurse_Shark.JPG

but smaller and black spots on it’s back

In addition to above, a clown loach that has faded colors is a possibility, but I’m not confident enough to really say that’s what it is. I have seen CL’s stressed enough their typical brown was white/greyish in several local sellers. I’d think this is not the case and I’m thinking that you are saying shark as it has a top pointed fin? What is the overall body shape? Is it more cylindrical or more boxlike? Whiskers on it? How about the underfins? I’m figuring getting a picture for us is out of the question in this case, so alot of guessing is going to be involved.

JV

We’re putting some large rocks in our fish tank and we’re a bit worried about the added weight. Does anyone know how much weight a fish tank that size is equipped to support?

i would have thought that if the base is well supported all over its area then it shouuld hold whatever weight you put in it. just dont rest ornaments against the sides and make sure the stand that the tank is on is strong enough to hold all the weight.

Do glass or wire mesh require any hardware? Thanks

you can use a wire mesh…easily available at any hardware store..just cut it out to fit the tank…this will prevent from something falling into your tank and also help exchange of gases as it is not completely closed..also prevents fish from jumping out..:)

I am planning on populating it with
1 Oscar (already owned in a separate tank)
3 silver dollars (already owned with the Oscar)
1 Archer fish (already owned)
2 large other large Cichlids
1 freshwater long fin eel
1 large catfish

Can anybody tell me why i would not be able to get these fish together in a 360 liter tank with a Fluval canister filter?
Do any NEED brackish water?

Any other suggestions for fish, Thanks

The Archerfish is a brackish water fish,so a prolonged exposure to freshwater might be harmful. Also you don’t name the species of the other two Cichlids. They may or may not be a factor. I’d give the old tank to the Archerfish and make the new tank as soft as possible with a low pH,and maybe a peat filter to mimic an Amazonian black water river.
That should be plenty of fish in the new tank. And the old tank can be converted to a brackish tank to keep the Archer and some Monodactalys or Scats,or Orange Chromis (or Green).