Any way to improve my uncle’s aquarium?

Hello, so this is my uncle’s aquarium, he has had it for a few years I think. As you can see the water quality and all is not the greatest. I don’t really blame him for this as this aquarium didn’t originally belonged to him but his ex girlfriend who left it by him when they broke u. I promised to help him, and I have. I clean his aquarium every few weeks but thanks to the goldfish it gets pretty dirty quickly and so that isn’t enough. Sadly I can’t help him more often because of school and other stuff. Now in the last few months two goldfish have passed away. So it’s not super overstocked anymore thanks to that. And my uncle has been doing a lot of water changes because I noticed his goldfish we’re showing signs of ammonia poisoning. Now I’ve just tested the water and everything seemed good. Ammonia and nitrite were 0 and nitrate was around 25. His ph was on the low side but I don’t think goldfish react to that badly (correct me if I’m wrong I myself don’t keep goldfish). But still the fish show signs of ammonia poisoning and the water looks dirty. Is there any way to improve this? Any sort of advice would be really appreciate!

 

Well , first to help clear the water you could use top fin acu-clear
Add chemical filtration. activated charcoal (for freshwater or marine tanks)
Add commercial chemicals (e.g. ammo-lock)
Add 1-2g/L salt to the water to relieve the stress on the kidneys of the fish
Decrease or stop feeding fish anamoina trouble as this will lower the amount of ammonia added to the water.

 

How big is that thank? Still looks overstocked to ne

 

As long as the ammonia and Nitrites are zero do not add anything to the water but dechlor. Keep up with bigger water changes because like you said goldfish are messy. I would change 75% water weekly in a goldie tank if it was mine.

Edit. I only use dechlor in any of my tanks. Less chemicals is always better. The cloudiness will go away. It probably popped up because you have been cleaning and messing with the substrate.

 

Well goldfish are waste machines. But they are also very healthy. Yes the tank is to small. Those 3 gold fish need at least a 75-125g tank or a outside pond. I’d guess the best you could do is up he filtration. What size is the tank and what type of filter?

 

Ammonia and nitrite were 0 and nitrate was around 25.

But still the fish show signs of ammonia poisoning

If ammonia is 0mg/L then we can rule out ammonia poisoning. I can’t see anything relating to ammonia poisoning on the fish from the picture.

What test do you use?

His ph was on the low side but I don’t think goldfish react to that badly (correct me if I’m wrong I myself don’t keep goldfish).

What is the exact reading for pH? Goldfish prefer a pH of 7.5 and above; they’re not the most suited to acidic conditions.

If the pH is lower than 7.5, try incorporating limestone into the scape, or add aragonite to the filter to raise it.

Well , first to help clear the water you could use top fin acu-clear
Add chemical filtration. activated charcoal (for freshwater or marine tanks)
Add commercial chemicals (e.g. ammo-lock)
Add 1-2g/L salt to the water to relieve the stress on the kidneys of the fish
Decrease or stop feeding fish anamoina trouble as this will lower the amount of ammonia added to the water.

None of these are good ideas, sorry.

Chemical filtration shouldn’t be permanently installed as it removes micronutrients necessary for the fish over time, ammolock simply stalls the cycle (plus ammonia isn’t even present), there is no clear diagnosis of kidney failure on the fish (plus the correct salt for treating that shouldn’t be added to the main tank anyways) and I’m not sure what you mean by your last suggestion.

Hobbyists should rely on using chemicals to solve problems as little as possible. The “commercial chemicals” often don’t work and/or are dangerous to use in an aquarium, however they’re sold as easy fixes for certain problems anyways.

 

I think your best help would be get him a good filter and fill it with something like course foam or K1 media. That water looks nasty and probably is not near filtered enough.
Preferably a right sized canister filter.

Hobbyists should rely on using chemicals to solve problems as little as possible. The “commercial chemicals” often don’t work and/or are dangerous to use in an aquarium, however they’re sold as easy fixes for certain problems anyways.

Well said! Thanks