Hello all, i'm hopin' someone can help me

[Ryukingirl]

Hello everybody, it's great to have finally found a forum where I can get some information. I know that there are others out there with a love of Ryukins and other fancy goldfish who know alot more than I do about their care, even though I've tried and searched every corner of the net to try to get some information regarding my problem, which is this. I bought a new 20 gallon aquarium for my daughter (she's 2, loves em, and so do i) I put the orandas in the tank , and my ryukin in the tank before it had cycled (i didn't know). My sister gave me my old 20gallon that i put in the living room and put my pretty fantail ryukin Hera in, along with 2 flawless Blackmoors. And they are doing great! Both tanks have whisper filters, one with bio wheels, that one is in the new tank, where the orandas died. The other is an older model whisper filter with the bio shield (a scrubby pad looking thing) it was new. Okay, my question is what do i have to do to make the empty tank safe, the one where the orandas seemed to develope a fungus that i tried to treat, then became lethargic and died. What do I do, to make that tank safe for new fish, my question mark button don't work, lol. But any suggestions would be appreciated and I thank you in advance...i have tested for the amonia, and add the bacteria wash, cant rem the name.
But my Ryukin and Blackmoors are thriving!! And I want to make the other tank safe for the next fish i get my little girl, how can i kill whats in there, that killed my other fish.

 

[MichaelsLilGray]

Most people on here will tell you to use a vinegar solution. Just spray down the tank with a bottle of vinegar and scruba dub dub... make sure to clean it out really well.. remove all sand/gravel and throw it away..boil your ornaments you have in the tank. if you are reusing the filter.. remove the media bag and dispose of it.. and give the filter a vinegar bath as well.

btw.. welcome to AA!

 

[Ryukingirl]

Hey, thanks for the info!

Thanks so much for the advice, that's all i needed to know. I'm really looking forward to putting another pair of fish in there, I'm definately no expert at sexing fish, but I'd love to get a breeding pair of Orandas. Unfortunately the closest "petsmart" is 2 hrs away. And my other option is Walmart which is 45 min away and then there's a dingy little petstore run by Ebenezer Scrooge, although we haven't been formally introduced, i'm pretty sure that's who he is. My passion is for freshwater fancy goldfish, and i have a question i'm sure you'll think is remedial. When i test my water and the ammonia levels are high, how do i correct it()(...with those water treatments that say they have bacteria in them, i can't rem their name.....but i have them, lol. Thankyou again for taking the time to reply to my kinda desperate first post, lol. I'm going to go home and get started right now. **Ryukingirl..**

~~One fantail Calico Ryukin and two velvety black Blackmoors...

 

[MichaelsLilGray]

If you show any ammonia at all in your tank.. you need to cycle it.. if you already have the fish in the tank.. and cant allow it to fishless-cycle.. you will need to keep doing water changes until your ammonia is under 2ppm.. anything else is toxic.

 

[MichaelsLilGray]

fish will live in a bag for 45 min btw.. they overnight ship them all the time.. and thats well over 12 hours lol

 

[melosu58]

I`m going to move this to the FW forums. Alot of folks dont come to the welcome wagon and will never see your question. This is basically a introduce yourself forum. Maybe you can do that for us later.

 

[Ryukingirl]

Okay, the tank the sick orandas were in is now empty, it has some pond grass and one other live plant I bought when i bought my fish and some river rocks that i cleaned in it, but no fish. So, should i still empty and wash everything with vinegar, or will it become clean on it's own, should i take out the plants(0)thanks again for posting your repies! I feel smarter already, lol.

 

[marchmaxima]

you will need to keep doing water changes until your ammonia is under 2ppm.. anything else is toxic.

I would say any ammonia reading above 0.5ppm is unsafe. Unfortunatlely until your tank has enough bacteria to deal with the ammonia on its own the only way to remove it is though water changes. Regrettably, this might mean daily changes for up to around 6 weeks.

Don't waste your hard earned on buying bacteria-in-a-bottle products. Most people will tell you that they useless. If you know someone else with a desease-free tank, ask them to squeeze out their filter pads into a bowl or bucket and put that in your tank. The filthy water will contain a good amount of bacteria which should get you off to a good start and will cut down the cycling time significantly.

If you can't do that, then I'm afraid water changes are the go for now. Make sure you test regularly and always aim to get that ammonia level down to under 0.5ppm. If you can get it to 0.25ppm, even better. As soon as it creeps up again, do another change.

You will know when your tank is cycled when ammonia and nitrITE both fall to 0ppm and stay there. At this point nitrATES are detectable. Then you can ease off the water changes to weekly or fortnightly.

However, since your tank is empty, you should cycle it without fish. Clean the tank with vinegar as suggested. While you're doing that, check out the articles section on how to perform a fishless cycle. This method is faster, less stressful on the fish and a lot less labour intensive for you.

Hope that helps. Best of luck!