OMG please help,

[ppumpkin]

my mother has a 30 gallon tank and left it here when she moved out, i dont know anything about saltwater fish or how to check anything, anyways my 2 year old daughter dumped a brand new card of Omega one fish food in the tank yesterday and now it is all green and yucky, and the fish are hideing in the tank how can i clear it out and make it look like water again?(it is green water with flacks in it) My mom is going to be very upset and i will have to pay for the fish if they die

 

[scotty37]

First off, get a net and scoop as much of the flakes off as possible, then you need to do a large water change... but i doubt you know how to do that and you need appropriate water. Whatever you do, dont use any kind of cleaning chemicals

 

[scotty37]

where are you located, maybe someone nearby can help, or direct you to a lfs with some water they can sell you.

 

[scotty37]

do you have a tank brush, and a syphon?
Does the tank have live sand and rock?

 

[ppumpkin]

OK i got a 5 gallons of water siting. it will take 24 hours to dechimical, i took as much of the flake out as i could. do i take water from the bottom of the tank when i add new or from the top, and do i add salt? my mom said once a tank is set up that the salt will not go away all i do is add water and it should be fine, but i am takeing water out,

 

[ppumpkin]

i do have brush here, and it got sand from a pet shop at the bottom.
I know i am so much help..
that is why you never leave a saltwater tank with stupid ppl...

 

[grabberblue67]

+1 on not using any chemicals. If there is any sand or anything on the bottom, try at best not to stir up anything because it could be bad for the fish. Did she leave any plastic tubing? For a water change all you would need is a Large Bucket and some tubing. I guess if the water is as bad as I'm thinking it is I would change out Half now and maybe 1/4 tomorrow and so on till everything looked better. Just remember it could have been a lot worse than her dumping food in the tank, it could have been something much worse!

 

[mach03infront]

your going to need to syphon water out like 5 gallon bucket (i have a 30gallon my water changes are about 6 gallons) and use fresh salt water

 

[scotty37]

yes, you are taking water out... she is talking about evaporated water. When water evaporates, the salt stays in, you just replace the water. With a 30 gallon, you are going to have to be fairly accurate on the new water salt level. Measure the salt level in the tank, then get your replacement water to the same temperature and add salt until it gets to that salt level. I use a powerhead to mix the salt. Hopefully you know how to work a hydrometer or refractometer. If there is a bunch of flakes at the bottom, i would try to syphon that up without pulling out the substrate.

 

[grabberblue67]

Don't beat yourself up over this because everybody makes mistakes with saltwater tanks.
Do take water from the top and not the bottom.
Since you will be changing so much water I would add salt - Instant Ocean makes good salt. Or you could buy premade saltwater from local fish store

 

[scotty37]

what kind of fish are in there?

 

[grabberblue67]

This is a very active thread for 9:30 in the morning

 

[scotty37]

early for an emergency thread too!

 

[ppumpkin]

Ok no tubing at all was left, just some testing stuff two typs of filters and a fish book, i have not stared anything up at the bottom, just most of it was flooting at the top.(i got to it really fast) and i took what i could out at the time she came and got me saying she feed them. this moreing there is a little bit more food flooting at the top.but i do have big cups that have never been washed. for the tank itself.
Ok i do have a hydrometer thing here but i was never shown how to us it. she kinda set the tank up let it sand for 3 months put fish in it, and it stayed that way.

 

[caz2022]

You're going to need more than 5 gallons. If I were you I'de mix up at least 15 gallons of saltwater and let it sit overnight with a powerhead running in it. I know people hate them, but ***** is the cheapest place I've found for the premixed saltwater. Lightly syphon the bottom of the tank as you're removing the old water. Slowly add the new saltwater to the tank. I'de bet the farm that this ordeal has stressed out the fish so I'de watch them closely for a while. Make sure to test the water after about an hour.

 

[scotty37]

at 30 gallons I guess you could scoop 5 or 10 gallons out with a large, clean, never been used for anythigng else cup. Just make sure the new water is the same temperature. Tanks that small are easy to shock with water that is not at a close temperature to that of what is already in there.

 

[ppumpkin]

Ok i tested the water,(got out the book) its salt is 3.0(i hope that is ok) anyways i though there was ocean salt here and i cant find it, and the bigest gallon i have is 5 gallons i dont have a larger gallon bottle
yes they are hideig. but i have not disturbed them to much, Deal a bright pink fish is hideing and it is all ways out

 

[ppumpkin]

OK heres is room temp, excite winter she use to put on the heater, so i put room temp water in it when it gets low, and it never really at the 30 gallon tank, because she wanted the water to get half was so she could move it. witch never happend

 

[scotty37]

i dont know what 3.0 is, but its not a salt level I am aware of. your salt should be between 1.023-1.025

 

[scotty37]

Doesnt really sound like she put too much concern into great care of this tank anyways. Measuring temperature by room temperature and using external heaters... oh my. I keep my house at a cool 68 and my tank at 80. I dont think anyones room temp is the temp a saltwater tank should be at.