Curly B

Okay, so I did it... I bought a fish on impluse. Silly me, I had that misconception of the "goldfish in a small glass bowl".

I went to the Petco this past thursday, and came home with a 2.5G tank(came with filter, light, and water conditioner), and a little Celestial goldfish(those big pleading eyes won me right over!). The guy at the Petco told me some important info, but he didn't mention the nitrogen cycle at all and told me the 2.5 would be fine for one fish; I think he really just wanted his shift to be over Unfortunately, it wasn't until I got home and read the directions on setting up the tank that I started to get the notion that there was more to this than I'd thought...

I jumped online and found this forum and was overwhelmed by the information! It was too late to start a fishless nitrogen cycle; I'd already bought the fish. Now I have this little fish in a tank that I now know is too small, and many concerns about cycling while he's in the tank. Here's my stats:

2.5gal tank
ammonia: 1.0
nitrate: 0
nitrite: 0
Total hardness: 25
chlorine: 0
pH: 7.8

My question is, what can I do for my little fish to make the cycle as unstressful as possible? I've already decided to buy a new larger tank as soon as I get out of work tomorrow, but I don't have a lot of room for a big 20gal as some readings reccomend... would a 10gal be enough? Is 5gal still too small? I've read about products that you can put into the water that speed up the cycle and begin the breakdown quickly, but will that work when the fish is already in the tank? The ammonia level worries me...

Also, I put gravel and two silk plants in the tank today, but he keeps on putting the gravel in his mouth and then spitting it out. I hope it's just him exploring his new surroundings, but I worry about him accidentally choking on a piece. Should I switch to a larger size that he can't put in his mouth, just in case?

By the way, here are some photos of my fish:


I think he's so cute, and I'm really attached to him already, so I want to do everything possible to keep him healthy and happy. I greatly appreciate any and all help! Thanks so much in advance!

Lucy

Welcome to FishLore Curly B and Gorlami J. Feesch!!

Ugh, I hate that the store gave you such bad information.

You might get away with a 10 for a little while but, really, a 20g is best for a goldfish. Best to start out with the correct size tank.
Not only do goldies grow big, they produce a ton of waste, too much for a smaller tank to handle.
Goldfish

Until you can get him a bigger (20g) tank tomorrow, I'd suggest at least a 50% water change to bring the ammonia down.
It would also be a good idea to get a good liquid test kit. The strips aren't accurate. Many of us use the API Master kit.

Since your tank isn't cycled, see if you can find Prime. It's a water condition that removes chlorine etc but also detox's ammonia for 24 hours.


Here's a basic explanation of the nitrogen cycle:
First your ammonia (from fish waste and left over food) will rise.
In a few weeks bacteria will start to develop and you'll see the nitrite levels rise and the ammonia levels start to drop.
After a few more weeks a different kind of bacteria begins to develop and you'll see the nitrate levels rise and the nitrite levels drop.
Ammonia and nitrites are toxic to your fish.
So until your cycle is complete, you need to keep the levels down with 50% daily water changes.
If your pH differs greatly from tap to tank 2 25% changes a day would be safer.
Using Prime as your water conditioner will detox the ammonia for 24 hrs between water changes.
When you having readings of 0 on both ammonia and nitrites with some nitrates showing, your cycle is done.

Be patient and good luck!

bolivianbaby

Welcome to Fishlore! Your goldfish is adorable!

Excellent advice from Lucy.

catfishlover123

Welcome to Fishlore!

By the way, nice pictures !

Elvishswimmer

Welcome to Fishlore! and wow! your celestial is cuuuute!

Its a good thing you got here fast!

With him being a small guy, a 10G would be good for now. You would have to upgrade to a 20G in the future though, as they do grow and need the space to grow.
If you keep up waterchanges and testing though I think that a 10G would be a good home for a year or so.

Goldfish are diggers and love to pick at rocks. If you think the rocks are at a size that they could get stuck, then I would say definitely go with bigger rocks.
Also a lot of goldfish owners do bare bottom tanks, which have an appeal to them too. They are also really easy to clean.

Because of your fishes eyes he will have trouble seeing, so make sure not to get any hard sharp decorations that he could unknowingly bump into.

Also do not worry if he hangs out at the bottom a lot, it is common with celestial goldfish!

The only good bacteria product out there is Tetra Safestart, though fish stores will try to sell you stuff otherwise. If you want to try and speed up your cycle you can look into that.

Otherwise, what Lucy said with the waterchanges and prime is what you should be doing.

Lucy

Wouldn't you have to be very careful with the decor and shape of the eye? I can imagine the poor thing being poked.

I don't know anything about the celestial species of goldies, but just a thought, maybe others can chime in.

konstargirl

Aww!! He's a cutie!! Welcome to the forum. =D It will be great if you have sand if you are keeping a goldfish liek that and if you want substrate. :P

Meenu

you may want to check craigslist for your area to see if you can find a tank cheaper.

Hendryx

awwww, a very cute fishie indeed!..you have gotten great advice..water changes daily and Seachem Prime until your cycle is complete.

Curly B

Wow, thanks for all the great advice! You guys have really calmed my nerves! And thanks for the compliments on little Gorlami

Lucy, thanks for the concise rundown! I did a 50% water change tonight, and it brought the ammonia down from 1 to .5, thank goodness! I'm going to get up early tomorrow and do a 25% change tomorrow morning to hold him over until I can get home with the bigger tank.

My pH is high in my tap water, do you suggest I use bottled water until the cycle is complete? I bought some pH Down drops, but I'm hesitant to introduce more factors to monitor while the cycle is going. I'll look for the Prime too, thanks for that tip!

corydoraguy123, thanks! I really like photography! I will try and take some pictures with my dad's DSLR when the fish is less stressed; he doesn't seem to like the camera very much!

Elvishswimmer, I'm so glad there's such a helpful lively fish community online! Hm, I think I will definitely get larger rocks. I'm glad to hear it's normal for him to stay at the bottom. Thanks again!

Meenu, oh good idea, I forgot about craigslist!

Lucy

Most fish can adapt to different pH's. It's best to keep it stable rather than using chemicals which can cause a fluctuation.
If you still want to try and lower it, you can try a more natural way like drift wood.
Here's a little more info about Changing your pH.

gremlin

With the way the eyes are on a celestial goldfish there are several things to watch out for. The main one is anything sharp or hard in the tank that he can bump into. He cannot see anything unless it is over his head. That is why they like to hang out on the bottom of the tank. Swimming straight ahead, he won't see what is in front of him until he bumps into it. Silk plants and smooth decorations are a must. driftwood would have to be sanded smooth and rounded before it goes in the tank so there would be no sharp or angled edges that the eye could bump into or catch on. Sand as a substrate would be iffy since the small grains of sand could get caught in the eyes and scratch them. I would recommend the smooth polished river rock or glass "marbles" that are too big to go in his mouth - or go bare bottom. As for tank size, 20 gallons would be the minimum size I would suggest - just because of the waste goldies produce. He won't need as much swimming room as a common or a comet, but the larger volume of water will help to keep the ammonia down. A 10 gallon might be okay, but you would need to have so much filtration on it that it might make too strong of a current for your little goldie. Celestial goldies can be fairly weak swimmers. Anything smaller than that would not be suitable.

What food are you feeding? Another issue with the fancy goldies is swim bladder problems. That is where the goldie, while feeding, gulps air and cannot pass it. It causes the fish to float, or swim sideways or even upside down. A good way to avoid this issue is to feed a pelleted diet or other foods that will sink. You may want to feed in the same corner all the time and maybe splash the water a bit when you drop the food in. I would pick a corner and wait for your goldie to be in the right spot to see you drop the food right over his head. Splash the water just a bit to help the food sink, (you can also presoak the food) and drop it basically right on top of the goldies head. He will have a hard time finding food because of the way his eyes can only see up. If you feed in the same spot all the time, and splash the water or something, he may start coming to that corner as soon as you splash the water, or even as soon as he sees you. You could also use an algae wafer or bottom feeder tablets that are heavy enough to stay put in one corner. They would be on the bottom so you wouldn't have to worry about your fishie gulping any air. If you do that, you could look into a reptile food dish that is made out of a smooth ceramic or something that would stay put on the bottom of the tank and keep the food from floating away from the corner. That would make it easier for your fishie to find it.

Gorlami looks like a cute little fish. Congrats on your new finbaby! More pictures are always welcome!

Elvishswimmer

Goldfish actually thrive at a higher pH. They prefer it to be around 7.8 or 8, so if you have a high pH I wouldn't worry about it at all.

Curly B

Ok, I got him a 10gal tank and put him in it yesterday. I also got larger gravel, which seems to be much better for him. I also dosed the whole tank with Prime, and changed %20 of the water today which I also treated with Prime. The ammonia level is 0 or close to 0. I put a glass dish on the bottom of the tank as his feeding dish. I drop his food into the dish so its easier for him to find and eat because of his bad sight. It seems to work good, except now he keeps licking the bowl looking for more food, haha!

I am a little concerned though; he keeps swimming into the corner of the tank, and then keep pushing into the corner, as if he expects to bust through it. Also he's gulping lots of air at the surface, but the ammonia is 0. He never gulped this much air, even when the ammonia was 1. Should I be concerned? He's very active and doesn't look sick, but it worries me. Any ideas?

Red1313

Is there maybe something he can see through it?

Curly B

Red1313, that's a thought! Maybe he's seeing his reflection?

Hendryx

Sounds like you have everything under control, isn't prime awsome!? the glass feeding dish is a fantastic idea!

Curly B

Hendryx, thanks! Prime is a lifesaver(literally)!! The dish works good, but he's got my parents hooked; they see him inspecting the bowl for food and they say "aww, look he's hungry! How could you just give him 3 tiny pellets! He needs more!" His pleading eyes've got them whipped, haha! Do you think the air gulping is a problem??

Elvishswimmer

Even though the ammonia is low, and you didn't see much effects on him at that 1ppm, he may still be air gulping from the ammonia.

Reason being is that ammonia causes burns and hemorrhaging , especially on the sensitive parts like their gills. So even though you removed (or almost) the cause of the problem, his gills are still going to be hurting for a few days after.

Red1313

It will take time for ammonia burn to heal as said above. When you upgrade him to a larger tank if you made it a 20+ you could pick him up a buddy. However with enough attention from you he should be pretty content.

Curly B

Elvishswimmer, ohhh, poor little guy... He seems to be doing better today, he's gulping less air and he swam to his food dish when I approached the tank, haha!

Red1313, I plan on upgrading the tank to a 20+ when I move to a bigger place, hopefully in 6 months time. I'd really like to get him a friend. I saw a picture of a black and white telescope goldfish that took my breath away! Something like that would be amazing!

Thanks a million for all the help guys! He seems so much happier in the bigger tank! I love to see him swimming from one end to the other. I'll post more pics of him in the gallery soon

rae64

Just keep in mind adding another goldie means adding more tank space. A general rule of thumb is 20 gallons for the first goldie, and 10 gallons for each additional one... a 29 gallon would be a great size for two, and it is REALLY easy to find... very common! I know on craigslist I could snag a complete 29 gallon set for about $100, much cheaper than you could find new. Also, the larger the tank the better! Good luck! He is SUCH a cutie!

gremlin

Just remember - you would need to get a similar type of fancy goldfish. Since you currently have a googly eyed celestial goldie, you would need to get another that is a googly eyed type. That way they would be more likely to get along. If you were to get one that was not a googly eyed type, there would be a chance that the new one would out-compete for food and could bully the celestial eyed. It is always best to house similar types together. The black/white telescope should be fine since it would also be a googly eyed type.

hooxeii

Glad to hear your adorable little guy is doing better. I have to commend you for getting the correct information and doing what was good for the fish

As for the gulping, part of it may be from the ammonia. Do you have an airstone in the tank? They help with putting oxygen in the water