Algae slime tank filter media good for cycling?

[Saria the Cat]

Hi all,

My grandfather recently purchased a 29 gallon Biocube (lucky guy) and I am helping him set it up. I am helping him because upon visiting him, I saw he has a ~16 gallon tank with one large (~4") kissing gourami in it surviving in the worst possible conditions. The tank has a slow leak. The ph is off the charts, at least 7.6 or beyond the testing chart available. The entire tank is also filthy and EVERYTHING, including all the water pumps and filter media, rocks, etc. is covered in this red-colored algae I can only guess is slime algae. This is due to lack of maintenance and major overfeeding and the room light being kept on at all hours.

I want to rescue this fish as soon as possible and transfer him to better conditions, though I know if I change the conditions too quickly it may ruin him. He's out-survived all the other long-dead fish somehow and seems to be doing...okay. He's not extremely active but no major signs of lethargy, disease, fin rot, etc.

I have been using a dose of API's "ph Down" every day to attempt to safely lower the ph but it is still above 7. The new tank is here and I am ready to set it up. I want to cycle it as quickly as possible, but the only filter media and other things of that nature would be coming from this slime-infested tank. I'll be planting live plants right away.

I was planning on using most of his original water, is this a good idea? Should I use the old tank media or is this no good to me? I'm also buying some freshwater substrate that is supposed to help cycling along. Does this stuff work? I know I should probably buy some ammonia and nitrite test kits to figure out that situation as well, what do you think?

Sorry for the long post, but thank you in advance for any help!

[Judge]

There is no quick cure all or "quick cycle". I would do about a 50% water change in the old dirty tank and continue to complete weekly water changes to begin improving conditions over all WHILE completing a fishless cycle in the new tank. A lot of pet stores will sell all kinds of "miracle" instant cycle snake oil and/or fish that are really hardy so you can use them to cycle with. It is still hard for me to imagine why a pet store would recommend the slow poisoning of anything alive but, well...On a happier note, kudos to you for jumping in there and fixing the problem. We have several videos that might be useful, one on cycling! Let us know what else we can do to help.
Oh, I almost forgot. Welcome to FTF, we are glad you are here.

[Saria the Cat]

Thank you so much for the reply and warm welcome! I think I may try the "cycling" substrate anyway since the other stuff at the LFS is unnatural, dyed "gravel." I'll do a 50% water change tomorrow and hopefully the conditions will improve, I am just afraid of killing the fish due to drastic environ changes.

...Still wondering, should I use the old filter media to help cycling along in the new tank or not? The red-looking algae is EVERYWHERE.

[Judge]

I would have some good water testing supplies so you will know exactly where the cycle is if you are going to use this "cycling substrate". (do not know what that is) The water is not where you find the bacteria. It is in the existing substrate, filter, etc. So, yes you can use some of the filter media but I wold rinse it out in the water you have siphoned off when you complete your water change. This might speed things up a day or so..maybe. Remember, a good healthy environment is what we are all looking to achieve with our watery pets so take it slow, no need to hurry and research everything before action. Many mistakes can be avoided this way. Keep us posted..maybe even some pics of your progress. We like photos!

[bowfin]

You can find a quite lengthy but also very informative article on red algae, here http://www.thekrib.com/Plants/Algae/red-algae.html

Not spamming for that site just trying to give you a really good idea of what that problem really is, so you can move in the proper direction.