Naive Newbie Mistakes How To Save The Situation

HI

11 days ago I bought a 25L (6.6G) tank ran it for 2 days and then put 2 goldfish in it like the store said, 3 days later 1 was dead and then I read up on goldfish care and discovered The tank is was way too small and I should have cycled!!!

I immediately started got a test kit and have been doing frequent partial changes to keep ammonia down and have been adding fluval cycle bacteria to the tank each day, while feeding lightly.

I don’t have room for a bigger tank so best solution is to take the goldfish back and get something more suitable (any suggestions?).

My question is should I do the fish swap now while tank is maybe not fully cycled yet or keep monitoring with the goldfish for a bit longer who seems to be happy enough before swapping till it’s stable.

The shop say ok to swap as tank would have cycled now. Really hard to tell with the tests. Shop says ammonia is fine, my test says there’s some but also a bit In tap water! My test says nitrates high but again so does tap reading. I did see some nitrites a few days ago but seem low now.

All a bit confusing...

Thanks

 

What are the actual ammonia nitrite and nitrate levels right now. I honestly wouldn’t listen to anything the people at the shop say. Based on the advice they gave you and lack of information I assume they either don’t care or were not trained to know about even the basics of fish keeping. If it is cycled I would switch out the gold fish and turn the tnak into either an intervert tank(shrimp and snails), or a betta tank With the option of adding ghost or amano shrimp later on. Their is honestly not much you can keep in that small a tnak and have them still thrive.

 

We all made mistakes when we first started so please don't beat yourself up. Your main mistake was listening to a store employee. For a lot of them it is just a job and they will say anything to make a sale.

If they are willing to take the goldfish back once your cycle is done you may want to go ahead and keep it until the cycle is complete. The one fish will produce enough ammonia to grow and feed the bacteria you are growing and as long as you keep up with water changes it shouldn't be in any danger.

The first thing I would do is get a bottle of SeaChem Prime. It is a water conditioner that has the added benefit of neutralizing low amounts of ammonia. The ammonia will still be there to feed the cycle but will render it safer for your little guy.

Which water testing kit did you get? I use and recommend the API Master Freshwater Test Kit. With it you will know exactly what is going on in your tank and will know when to do a water change and when your cycle is complete. As long as the ammonia plus nitrites add up to less than one just add enough Prime to the tank to treat the full 25l of water. If the ammonia plus nitrite gets up to one or above do a water change to get it back below one and then add enough Prime to treat the tank in the water you are putting back in.

If you have chlorine in your source/tap water be sure it never goes into your tank without being treated with your water conditioner first.

Unlike store employees we have nothing to gain when we recommend steps to take. We are just here to help you get it right. If I haven't been clear Please let me know and I will try again.

 

HI Amy,

You're correct - common feeder goldfish require 800-900 litres (for 2). You should probably return them (or build a pond ) and consider maybe getting a betta instead, once your tank is cycled. To cycle, you should get the following:

A water conditioner (prime works best)
Pure ammonia or fish food (pure ammonia is best)
API Master test Kit or similar (not test strips)
A bottle of bacteria (optional)

First, you'll want to add some ammonia to start the cycle. Fish food is not so ideal for this as it releases other toxins and makes a mess of the tank. If you're using tetra SafeStart don't let ammonia go above 2ppm. If not then 4ppm is safe.

Soon you'll start to see nitrite in your tank. This means youhave reached the second phase of cycling. If ammonia ever reaches 0, add more, so the bacteria doesn't starve. Eventually the nitrites should disappear and you will get nitrates. Once you have 0 NH3, 0 NO2 and more nitrates than your tap water, you're good to go, but keep dosing ammonia every 24 hours until you get fish. Once you get fish, your results should be:

0 Ammonia
0 Nitrite
<20 Nitrate

In future, do not heed pet store advice. If you have any other questions, ask away Good luck!

 

HI all

Thanks my latest readings as best I can read (have liquid NTlabs for ammonia and strips for rest)

Amonia I think close to 0.5 (my tap water shows a tinge of green too)
Nitrites 0.6
Nitrates 58 (my tap read 39)
Ph 8 (a bit high?)

So am I right in saying it’s still cycling? I have prime being delivered tomorrow (been using other dechlorinator until now) should I do another partial water change today till that comes then add prime tomorrow?

Will also continue adding the fluval bacteria as that days it eliminates the amonia/nitrates too?

Then maybe wait a bit longer to swap out?

Sorry for all the questions..

Thanks

We all made mistakes when we first started so please don't beat yourself up. Your main mistake was listening to a store employee. For a lot of them it is just a job and they will say anything to make a sale.

If they are willing to take the goldfish back once your cycle is done you may want to go ahead and keep it until the cycle is complete. The one fish will produce enough ammonia to grow and feed the bacteria you are growing and as long as you keep up with water changes it shouldn't be in any danger.

The first thing I would do is get a bottle of SeaChem Prime. It is a water conditioner that has the added benefit of neutralizing low amounts of ammonia. The ammonia will still be there to feed the cycle but will render it safer for your little guy.

Which water testing kit did you get? I use and recommend the API Master Freshwater Test Kit. With it you will know exactly what is going on in your tank and will know when to do a water change and when your cycle is complete. As long as the ammonia plus nitrites add up to less than one just add enough Prime to the tank to treat the full 25l of water. If the ammonia plus nitrite gets up to one or above do a water change to get it back below one and then add enough Prime to treat the tank in the water you are putting back in.

If you have chlorine in your source/tap water be sure it never goes into your tank without being treated with your water conditioner first.

Unlike store employees we have nothing to gain when we recommend steps to take. We are just here to help you get it right. If I haven't been clear Please let me know and I will try again.

Actually adding to my reply above on readings, maybe ammonia closer to the 1 mark looking at other interpretations so did another 30% and bacteria dose after whole waiting for prime to arrive tomorrow.

 

What you are doing may work just fine but if it were me I would not add anything other than Prime. Prime isn't a bacteria supplement so does nothing to help a cycle complete quicker.

What it will do is protect your fish from the damaging affects of the ammonia that will be present during the cycling process. I am assuming that you have been using your bacterial supplement for a week or more. Personally I wouldn't add any more. A lot of them want you to continue using it with each water change. The reason for this is because the the product doesn't contain the exact bacteria we need to keep our tanks healthy. The bacteria in it does consume ammonia and/or nitrates or nitrites but it isn't a permanent fix so you have to keep adding it from now on.

By using Prime to protect your fish your cycle will still have the food (ammonia) it needs to grow and the tank will cycle in time. .

I have never used the test strips but have seen where they really aren't very reliable. Lots of folks here have used them and get strange readings while doing so. Once someone got the liquid test kit they were surprised to find that either their tank is actually cycled or they are not as far along as the test strips said they were.

To sum it up. Water changes and Prime will both protect your remaining fish and while doing so will allow this tank to complete its cycle.

 

I do not believe you are cycled in 11 days just on that information alone regardless of what the lfs says.

And your tests prove it.

But you seem on track.

And the betta suggestions is something you should really consider.

 

Great thanks all will keep going with changes and prime and just looking into bettas now too

 

Amonia I think close to 0.5 (my tap water shows a tinge of green too)
0.6
58 (my tap read 39)
8 (a bit high?)

A ph if 8 is perfect for goldfish. They like alkaline water.

 

Oh I also I forgot to ask, I’m only feeding once a day as much as she can eat in 2 mins to keep ammonia down but can I leave any veg in there like courgette/zucchinI for her to nibble or will that also cause problems with the water parameters?

 

Great thanks all will keep going with changes and prime and just looking into bettas now too

If it were me doing it I would look into getting a Betta once the tank finishes its cycle. The goldfish you have in there right now will probably handle the cycling process better than a Betta. I know folks say they are tough little guys but the number of folks posting the health issues with theirs tells me a different story.

Once the cycle is complete you can return the goldfish and get your Betta then if that is what you decide you want.

You will know your cycle is complete when you see the nitrite rise and then fall back to zero. Once the nitrites do that you should never see them again. They will still be there but at that point you will have enough of the right kind of bacteria to process them too quickly for the tests to register them.

Sometime at that point you should be seeing 0 ammonia, 0 nitrites and some nitrates. In your case it is going to be more difficult to know since you have nitrates in your source water so you will have to just watch for 0 ammonia and 0 nitrites. Once the cycle is complete the low amount of ammonia in your source water can be neutralized with Prime and the cycle will quickly process it before it can cause harm.

Oh I also I forgot to ask, I’m only feeding once a day as much as she can eat in 2 mins to keep ammonia down but can I leave any veg in there like courgette/zucchinI for her to nibble or will that also cause problems with the water ?

Cut the feeding down to what she can clean up in 1 minute or less. Yes, you could offer her zucchinI a couple of times a week. Put it in there raw or just slightly blanched (dip it in a cup of boiling water for no more than 5 seconds). The more she eats the more she will poop thus more ammonia. The level of ammonia can be lowered with water changes as long as the ammonia in the tank is higher than the ammonia in your source water.

If at all possible you may want to consider another water source until this tank is cycled. Is it possible for you to purchase gallon jugs of regular drinking or spring water? You don't want distilled as it has none of the minerals found in tap water and necessary for both our fish and us.

 

We all made mistakes when we first started so please don't beat yourself up. Your main mistake was listening to a store employee. For a lot of them it is just a job and they will say anything to make a sale.

If they are willing to take the goldfish back once your cycle is done you may want to go ahead and keep it until the cycle is complete. The one fish will produce enough ammonia to grow and feed the bacteria you are growing and as long as you keep up with water changes it shouldn't be in any danger.

The first thing I would do is get a bottle of SeaChem Prime. It is a water conditioner that has the added benefit of neutralizing low amounts of ammonia. The ammonia will still be there to feed the cycle but will render it safer for your little guy.

Which water testing kit did you get? I use and recommend the API Master Freshwater Test Kit. With it you will know exactly what is going on in your tank and will know when to do a water change and when your cycle is complete. As long as the ammonia plus nitrites add up to less than one just add enough Prime to the tank to treat the full 25l of water. If the ammonia plus nitrite gets up to one or above do a water change to get it back below one and then add enough Prime to treat the tank in the water you are putting back in.

If you have chlorine in your source/tap water be sure it never goes into your tank without being treated with your water conditioner first.

Unlike store employees we have nothing to gain when we recommend steps to take. We are just here to help you get it right. If I haven't been clear Please let me know and I will try again.

HI I am testing daily and keeping things under control with prime I think! Should I still perform a reagular weekly water change regardless of readings. Feel like the right thing to do.

Thanks

 

HI I am testing daily and keeping things under control with prime I think! Should I still perform a reagular weekly water change regardless of readings. Feel like the right thing to do.

Thanks

In a 6 gallon tank I would recommend doing water changes at least every other day.
I currently have a common goldfish in a 15 gallon quarintine tank (she usually lives in a large pond don't worry) and I am doing 80% water changes once or twice a day.

 

HI I am testing daily and keeping things under control with prime I think! Should I still perform a reagular weekly water change regardless of readings. Feel like the right thing to do.

Thanks

Gold fish produce a lot of poop thus a lot of ammonia. I normally recommend water changes at least every other day while doing a fish in cycle but with the amount of ammonia you have in your source water let the test be your guide. If the ammonia in the tank is more than your source water go ahead and do a water change to try to keep it as low as possible. On the days you don't do a water change go ahead and add prime to the tank to neutralize the ammonia meaning you will be adding Prime daily until this tank completes its cycle.

I agree it is best not to go over a week without doing a water change.

 

HI all

I need some more advice despite my frequent water changes and use of prime my goldfish just died.

Just before it died I could see what looked like white strands on it and a white sheen which after research decided was probably a fungal issue but the fish died before my treatment was delivered to the next day.

Now I’m not sure what to do about the tank. I don’t want to start all over as was starting to see Ammonia drop so cycle was going on the right way bit worried about fungus or bacteria in the tank. Can anyone advise on how best to try and make a safe tank now for a Betta. Thanks In advance