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October 20th, 2009
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| | Fish Lore Newbie
| Introduction and questions
Hello! Thank you for viewing.  I currently have 2 tanks, a 10g and a 20g, both freshwater. I currently have 2 goldfish, one in each tank. I am quarantining them since one of them is new. The question that I have is this...
The 10g tank has been set up for more than 60 days (bought it on 8/12) and it is still not showing any nitrItes. I have 5 nitrAtes from my tap water. My ammonia is crazy, and I have to do large water changes on both tanks every-other-day. I tried Dr Tim's H2o Pure and that did nothing. What can I do to cycle these tanks? I'm running ragged doing water changes so frequently.
Any input is greatly appreciated! | 
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October 20th, 2009
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| | Fish Helper
| Unfortunately you will probably be doing daily 25% water changes daily for a while where your tank is not cycled. The best thing to do is add prime or amquel+ to water you add back in for the water change and get an API water test kit to test your parameters. I have been doing this for 2 weeks now for the same reason. There are more experienced aquarists here that will offer you even better suggestions as well and welcome to fl  You have come to the right place for a wealth of helpful info! | |
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October 20th, 2009
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| | Fish Lore Newbie
| Quote:
Originally Posted by Melissawater  Unfortunately you will probably be doing daily 25% water changes daily for a while where your tank is not cycled. The best thing to do is add prime or amquel+ to water you add back in for the water change and get an API water test kit to test your parameters. I have been doing this for 2 weeks now for the same reason. There are more experienced aquarists here that will offer you even better suggestions as well and welcome to fl You have come to the right place for a wealth of helpful info! |
I do 50% water changes every-other-day in both tanks. I use Prime as a water conditioner, and I have the API Freshwater Master kit as well as the API kh/ GH test kit. My water is very soft, sadly. Source water kh is 3dh and source gh is 5dh. | |
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October 20th, 2009
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| | Fish Master
| welcome to fishlore!!!
Allot of us have been where you are...go on the hunt for tetra safe start...it has the bacteria needed to complete your cycle...do a good water change before adding it(50%) with your prime, wait 24 hours then add the tss... wait 7-10 days and you should be cycled...
you might have an issue in the tanks as you have huge waste producers (goldies) that could overwhelm the bacteria...the 20g would be ok, as thats whats recommended for one goldie but the 10g might have a bit more strain to keep up..maybe buy a bottle of tss that does up to a 30g tank...so id put one full bottle in the 10g and another bottle (for up to 30g) in the 20g tank.... | |
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October 20th, 2009
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| | Moderator
| Welcome to Fishlore . I agree with Shawnie. Goldies produce a lot of waste, so it's hard for the nitrifying bacteria to build up enough to process that amount of ammonia quickly.
The Tetra SafeStart would be a great way to get that bacteria built up. | |
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October 20th, 2009
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| | Fish Helper
| I would go with Shawnie, she has way more experience than I do! You may have to order the safestart online, I had looked at Petco and Petsmart here and didn't see that they carried it (yours might) or a local fish store perhaps. | |
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October 20th, 2009
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| | Fish Mentor
| Hi Draw and WELCOME TO FISHLORE! 
Great info and advice above. Best of luck!  | |
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October 20th, 2009
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| | Fish Keeper
| Welcome to FishLore!  | |
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October 20th, 2009
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| | Fish Helper
| Also, don't let the LFS person talk you into buying another bacteria seeding product. Tetra Safe Start is the ONLY one known to work. If they don't have it, order it online.
On a separate note, I've used TSS to cycle all three of my tanks. The first one was in a similar situation to yours. I'd had the tank up for 6 weeks with fish and couldn't get the tank to cycle. TSS had me cycled in a week. Just be sure not to do any water changes while your using it (it does something to keep fish safe) or it won't work.
Last edited by thorpbrian; October 20th, 2009 at 06:14 PM.
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October 20th, 2009
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| | Fish Mentor
| It may be difficult for your tank to cycle with the goldies. Using the Tetra Safe Start will help to jump start the proper bacteria. While you are doing this, watch for signs of ammonia poisoning or septicemia. Redness, red lines in the fins or tail, or white patches that weren't there before are all signs to watch for. Good luck with getting your cycle done and please post pics of your goldies for us! | |
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October 20th, 2009
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| | Fish Lore Newbie
| This is Ponyo in her 10g tank. 
Disco in her 20g tank. 
So the Safe Start stuff is really better than something like Seachem Stability?
I test the water daily, sometimes 2 or 3 times a day, and I change the water every-other-day. I only had difficulty as far as goldfish health at the very beginning. Ponyo had a few days where she was very lethargic and the water was scummy. Other than being a fat little porker, she is doing just fine now. I haven't had any problems out of Disco yet, other than the fact that she is very skittish and doesn't like to be handled. Ponyo will "snap" at the surface of the water to get me to put my hands in so she can play with me. Disco just runs and hides when I try to play. | |
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October 21st, 2009
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| | Fish Helper
| Quote:
Originally Posted by Drawtaru
So the Safe Start stuff is really better than something like Seachem Stability?
I test the water daily, sometimes 2 or 3 times a day, and I change the water every-other-day. I only had difficulty as far as goldfish health at the very beginning. Ponyo had a few days where she was very lethargic and the water was scummy. Other than being a fat little porker, she is doing just fine now. I haven't had any problems out of Disco yet, other than the fact that she is very skittish and doesn't like to be handled. Ponyo will "snap" at the surface of the water to get me to put my hands in so she can play with me. Disco just runs and hides when I try to play. | Safe Start is definitely better than Stability. I've used both. One of my LFS's didn't have TSS when I was cycling my first tank (after adding fish before learning about cycling) so they sold me Stability. It didn't work and I ended up buying Safe Start. And TSS will work for cycling with goldies. I cycled my 20 gal goldie tank with two goldies in it and it worked fine. | |
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October 21st, 2009
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| | Moderator
| Welcome to FishLore
Great advice from the members above.
Your goldies are gorgeous.
Best of luck! | 
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October 21st, 2009
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| | Fish Mentor
| Beautiful goldies! Will they be in the same tank at some point? or are you going to keep them where they are? Disco may come out of her "shell" eventually...just give her treats with your fingers. | |
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October 21st, 2009
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| | Moderator
| Hello Draw and  Welcome to Fish Lore. Great tips above. Stability doesn't contain the necessary bacteria to sustain your cycle without adding it for the life of the tank. It's not recommended as Tetra Safe Start (TSS) is.
Your Goldies are "beautiful"! Thanks for sharing their photos.
I hope you enjoy the site!
Ken  | |
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October 21st, 2009
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| | Fish Lore Newbie
| Quote:
Originally Posted by gremlin Beautiful goldies! Will they be in the same tank at some point? or are you going to keep them where they are? Disco may come out of her "shell" eventually...just give her treats with your fingers. | Yes, Disco is in quarantine by herself, for one month. When that is up, I will be putting them together.
She is already getting friendlier at mealtimes, and will *ALMOST* take the gel food from my fingers. | |
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October 21st, 2009
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| | Moderator
| Beautiful goldies! Thanks for sharing the pics | |
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October 25th, 2009
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| | Fish Lore Newbie
| Well I wasn't able to find TSS anywhere locally. I tried to order it online, but after reading that most sites recommend 2-day air shipping for that product, which would have brought the total price to over $30, I backed out. I went for the Seachem Stability instead. I gotta say, I was pretty surprised. Day 4 out of 7 days recommended to use it for, and I'm showing nitrItes in both tanks! I have salt 1tsp/gallon in both tanks to protect against nitrite poisoning. I am finally almost cycled!! Woohoo! | |
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October 25th, 2009
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| | Fish Helper
| Quote:
Originally Posted by Drawtaru Well I wasn't able to find TSS anywhere locally. I tried to order it online, but after reading that most sites recommend 2-day air shipping for that product, which would have brought the total price to over $30, I backed out. I went for the Seachem Stability instead. I gotta say, I was pretty surprised. Day 4 out of 7 days recommended to use it for, and I'm showing nitrItes in both tanks! I have salt 1tsp/gallon in both tanks to protect against nitrIte poisoning. I am finally almost cycled!! Woohoo! | Good to see your seeing some results.
I'd still be wary since your going to have to add Stability with every future water change or risk your cycle crashing. I would've paid the $30 for TSS because in the end you'll end up spending more than that on lots of bottle of Stability over the life of the tank. TSS is worth it's weight in gold in my eyes. Because in the end it's always going to save you $$$ (even over a fishless cycle since my time is worth $). However, if you are willing to dose Stability with every water change you should be alright.
Last edited by thorpbrian; October 25th, 2009 at 11:51 AM.
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October 26th, 2009
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| | Fish Master
| SafeStart does not need to be refridgerated, so there was really no need to pay for 2 day shipping. | |
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