One problem after another!

[jlk]

Is it the tiny calico in your pics with the big attitude? Lol!! He (and it's likely a male) will hopefully settle down as he gets alot older but there is no guarantee. Juvenile males seem to be the most boisterous although the presence of a female won't help matters even if he is too young to breed yet. Using the breeder box is a good idea as long as he can swim around some and get enough to eat. If he can't, you need something larger. I use a plastic laundry-type mesh basket from the dollar store that you can stick in top of the tank. Keep him contained for now & let him out for 'supervised' play when you have time to watch him. If he starts to act up, back in basket he goes! It may take awhile (as in mths) but goldfish are fairly intelligent creatures and he will get the idea timeouts are no fun. Or get a tank divider.

Unfortunately, goldies are like people with definite personalities. Not everyone is friendly or social. A tank divider may have to become a permanent feature or consider setting up another tank for him if he doesn't take a hint or mellow out with age. He also may not be able to resist the females...lol. Keep us posted!!

 

[GoldfishLover123]

Alright, what I am thinking of doing is getting a few larger fish (maybe an oranda or something else mellow like that) and keeping them in my quarantine tank. For as long as it takes to safely quarantine those fish I guess I'll just have to keep playing big brother and keep an eye on them. Then when the two larger ones are ready I'll put them in the tank and maybe see how the dynamics change. If nothing changes my little fish big attitudes will be moved to the quarantine tank until large and old enough to play with the adults. Anyone see a flaw in this plan or does it sound fairly fail proof?

 

[jlk]

Alright, what I am thinking of doing is getting a few larger fish (maybe an oranda or something else mellow like that) and keeping them in my quarantine tank. For as long as it takes to safely quarantine those fish I guess I'll just have to keep playing big brother and keep an eye on them. Then when the two larger ones are ready I'll put them in the tank and maybe see how the dynamics change. If nothing changes my little fish big attitudes will be moved to the quarantine tank until large and old enough to play with the adults. Anyone see a flaw in this plan or does it sound fairly fail proof?

Give it a try! Hopefully, he will mellow out as he gets older. Only add one larger fish at time (after qt)- goldies have a huge bioload and you do not want to overwhelm your good bacteria. Keep us posted!

 

[GoldfishLover123]

Things may be looking up!

Yesterday I got two adorable little oranda's! They are in the QT and I must admit I cannot wait to let them into the big tank! Also yesterday we did about a 40% water change on the 75 gallon and rearranged the decorations. It seems that may have helped ease the tension... I think locking their little butts in the breeder box helped too! I still notice them picking at Walden a little bit but it seems less frequent and now it seems that, for the most part at least, when Walden has enough she lets them know! I'm hoping she notices that when she charges them they back off a bit. I'm also hoping that the two oranda's help even stuff out so that the calico's stop thinking they own the place! I attached some pictures of the new oranda's (yet to be named) and the new arrangement of the big tank!

 

[Scottyhorse]

Pretty goldies!! I hope those little buggers quit picking on the others. Have you got the test kit yet?

 

[GoldfishLover123]

Its on its way

 

[GoldfishLover123]

Update! Bigger oranda's name is Jim Dear and the smaller on is Darling <3

 

[CoryFan]

Update! Bigger oranda's name is Jim Dear and the smaller on is Darling <3

Oh, that's awesome!!

 

[GoldfishLover123]

Alright, Just tested my fish tank with my new API test kit. My numbers look mostly good with the exception of a few being a bit high. Here are my numbers
PH:7.6
HIGH range PH: between 8.0-8.2
Ammonia: between .50 ppm-1.0 ppm
Nitrite: 0 ppm
Nitrate: 0 ppm

 

[Scottyhorse]

Well, it looks like you are at the start of your cycle with those readings... If the Ammonia ever gets higher, do a pretty large water change, and you should probably do one now. It will be higher thn other cycles since you have so many poop machines, but make sure it doesn't get above .50 ppm. Since you have goldies, it may be okay to let it get a tiny bit higher, but if I were you I would test at least once a day to make sure it (the ammonia) doesn't get too high. You have probably read this but it will damage them inside and out.

If you have any friends with a well established and cycled tank, see if you can get some substrate and/or filter media to put in your tank, and that will help a lot with the cycle, it will make it go faster.

Your PH also seems a little high.. But I don't know which test would be right... OH! Test your tap water for the PH and see what that says. That will give us a good answer.

 

[GoldfishLover123]

That's a good idea to test my tap water! I cant think of any friends of mine with fish tanks, how about the products they sell at pet stores? Any one you recommend over the other. Also I read in the paper work that came with the tests that 7.5 is and ideal PH for goldies. I just did a 40% water change yesterday. I was planning on doing that much about 3-4 times a week. Is that enough or no? Is there anything you can think of that I may have done wrong that its taking over six weeks to cycle?

 

[Kat767]

Fish in cycles take a very long time up to like 8 weeks or longer. So just hang in there

 

[jlk]

Alright, Just tested my fish tank with my new API test kit. My numbers look mostly good with the exception of a few being a bit high. Here are my numbers
PH:7.6
HIGH range PH: between 8.0-8.2
Ammonia: between .50 ppm-1.0 ppm
Nitrite: 0 ppm
Nitrate: 0 ppm

Thanks! Ok, your ph is fine for goldies. They actually do better in higher ph, harder water. No worries about this!! But, the issue here is with a ph this high this means any ammonia you have in your tank is very toxic. The higher the ph, the more toxic any ammonia present is. You need to do atleast one or two water changes right now (temperature match and condition) to get this below .25ppm and keep it there. This may mean daily or more frequent changes. This is also where a good water conditioner such as Prime or Amquel Plus will be of a BIG help because it will help keep any toxic ammonia up to 1ppm neutralized in between water changes.

Fancies actually do not do well in uncycled tanks so staying on top of your testing and water changes are a big priority here to keep your toxins under control. Getting some cycled media from a healthy tank will help speed up the process. Heres the fishin cycle link in case I didnt already post it for you! If your in the US, you can buy cycled filters from AngelsPlus ('active' filters) if you dont know anyone with a healthy cycled tank/pond.

I just learned about cycling but I already have fish. What now?! - Aquarium Advice

Aquarium Sponge Filters

 

[jlk]

Also, keep your water changes at atleast 50% or more.