Jackie Frost

Well it's been almost a month and a half and I'm still in the process of cycling my tank. Unfortunatly I also have a black moor who is enduring the cycle too. At first she was doing so well; acting perky, swiming about. Now (unless I'm feeding her or she's scavaging for food for about five minutes) she is extremely listless. All she does is hang in the middle of the tank and work hard at keeping this position. At least she is not resting on the ground.

I think her behavior is caused from my exchanging the water every day. (Maybe it's the daily change in pH levels?) But what else can I do? She's a goner for sure if I don't. I wish I could make it easier for her somehow. Do you guys have any suggestions?

By the way, even though I have been cycling the tank for what feels like forever. She started this behavior for about two weeks ...

Lucy

I'm sorry she's worrying you.
What are your readings today? She's probably feeling the effects of a cycling tank.
Why is your pH different from tap to tank?

gremlin

The only thing I can think of would be the combination of the ammonia in the tank (from cycling) and the warm water temp. Warmer water holds less oxygen, so you may want to add a few airstones. Daily water changes should not be causing listlessness.

Jackie Frost

It's always %25 amonia and 0 nitrates! That's the results for today's test and yesterday's too! No matter how often I change the water that's always the results! Very frusturating!

As for pH I've got the balance tablets I'm scared to mess with that. Some members on this forum said I should leave it alone. I'm not even sure what pH means to be honest with you.

iloveengl

Do you have access to "Prime" or "Amquel Plus"? Adding some of that will help your goldfish feel better in between water changes.

Have you tested your tap water?

pH is the acidity or basicity of the water. This is more important for some fish/inverts than others, and it is mainly a concern only if the water is ridiculously acidic or if there is a major swing from high to low pH.

Jackie Frost

Really? Well I do have an airstone already ...and I'm also very careful to match the new water temp with what remains in the tank. I also use a lot of Prime with each water change and to keep the toxic amonia under some control. I suppose I could do like 50 - 60% water daily changes. Do you think that would help? (Right now it's more like 20 - 30% water exchanges.)

Oh Gremin it's you! The mysterious fish-helper Gotta kid you about that.

gremlin

Yes, it is me again. You know I always lurk around here!

There is really no difficulty in doing a 50 % water change daily. That will help to remove the excess ammonia. Since your ammonia level is running so high, I would say yes, the listlessness is probably a reaction to the ammonia level. Prime or Ammolock will help to detoxify the ammonia, but the level is still awfully high for your fishie to handle. There is also a product called zeolite. It is a stone that serves the double purpose of absorbing excess ammonia and providing a rough surface suitable for the good bacteria to grow on. Drs Foster & Smith sell it in their pond section. I like the larger rocks rather than the little bags that go in your filter. That way you could have them sitting around in the tank as part of the decor. I would also add extra bubblers (if you have them), at least until the tank is cycled, to help with the oxygen levels. It may help your goldie to have a bit of extra oxygen in the water. Also, since the water temp is so warm, it wouldn't hurt to have the new water coming in be a couple of degrees cooler. Not too much difference, but 77 or 78 degrees instead of the 80 wouldn't hurt. I find my goldfish are most active when the water temp is in the upper 60's to low 70's (or when they are hungry).

Keep us posted on how things go.

whisper

Please don't forget that your goldfish is a cold blooded animal and does not need high temperatures. If you water tests out good then you may want to try shutting your heater off if the goldie is the only one in the tank. High temps could be making him listless.

gremlin

Her aquarium info says the temp is steady at 80 without a heater. She must be in a very warm house!

Shawnie

aww poor t hing...at this point, and after you being at it so long, id go on the hunt for some tetra safestart to help these fish and get that tank cycled!!

Meenu

Shawnie, she asked what TSS was in another thread. I think Jackie's thinking about getting some. I agree - it's what I would do as well.

whisper

And get that temp down.

Meenu

I thought goldfish do fine in temps up to 90 degrees? aren't they in ponds in cities that get hot in the summertime?

Shawnie

goldies do best in 74-76 and need that change of temps from cold to warm (50's-70's during winter/ summer times) to have a thriving life...if you see a goldie in a pond thats 90 outside, ill betcha the pond is super deep for cool off periods, or they die often and are replaced before anyone knows...but they prefer 70-76 ..anything higher, slows their metabolism down so much, they have a hard time breathing and moving ...they will survive in warmer, but wont thrive and wont last long...

Beth1965

Shawnie, This is good info to have. Thanks.

whisper

90!!!!!!!!!!!!...I live in Texas and have an outdoor pond. The water temp does sometimes get up in the 80's but the fish are not comfortable in it. I can bring the temp down a few degrees by floating bags of ice in it. I also hang those big decorative outdoor flags on each side of the pond to try to shade it some. If the temp goes up to high and stays there it can kill them being coldwater fish. At those times I am always a nervous wreck.

Meenu

I got them 90 degrees information from the goldfish care sheet on fishlore. Also, I live in San Antonio, Texas, and I have seen ponds at restaurants with huge goldfish and koi. It gets lose to 100 degrees here!

This is really interesting information. thanks!

gremlin

There have been days in the summer that my pond gets up into the high 80's to low 90's. Since I have a double waterfall, it keeps the pond well aerated and the pond temp cools off to the 70's at night. A constant temperature in the 80's is really too warm. The goldies need the break of the cooler night time temperature.

whisper

I'm in Euless TX.just outside of Dallas. We had in the 100's here all summer. Yes I too have 3 large Koi in my pond along with fancy goldfish. I'm sure if you ask in the restaurants you will find that they may have cooling systems running either in them or under them. Also depends on the volume of water. A 1000gal. or more pond is not going to get as hot as a tank or small pond.

Meenu

cooling system... ponds are SO awesome.

whisper

They are VERY expensive so they aren't used much. LOL