Starting over

[Chillie308]

Ok since most of my fish died off in my 20 gallon i have 2 goldfish 1 glofish tetra and 6 nickle size mystery snails (yes i know its a schooling fish but the rest died) here are my tank readings
Ammonia between .25-.5ppm
Nitrite - 0
Nitrate - 5 ppm
Tank - 73 degrees

This is the results after i removed the remaining fish before a water change im about to do

These are the chemicals i have on hand
Api stress zyme
Api stress coat
Api tap water conditioner
Acurel f

Can someone explain to me in simple terms what i should do? Do i add all these conditioners? With water changes what should my levels not go over? I was doing 30% water change every 3 days but i guess the bioload was to huge but i never had an ammonia reading over .25 til now and never had nitrates over 10 max yet they all died as my previous post

 

[treemanone2003]

The readings didn't show up but the goldfish need at least a 40g and are not really compatible with tropicals.


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[BBradbury]

Ok since most of my fish died off in my 20 gallon i have 2 goldfish 1 glofish tetra (yes i know its a schooling fish but the rest died) here are my tank readings
Ammonia

Hello Chil...

I would suggest a larger tank. More water and more forgiving of mistakes in keeping the water clean.

Go with a 40 gallon breeder tank. It's short top to bottom so it's easy to light and work in a few plants. It's got enough water in it, to cover you when you miss a water change once in while. It's also small enough to fit in most places in the house.

Save the small tanks for much later, when you have more experience.

Remember, it's all about the water.

B

 

[BBradbury]

Your Tank

Hello again Chil...

Keep tank keeping simple. You'll be more successful. Save the fancy stuff for later, when you've been in hobby a few years.

Get a decent sized tank. I just answered this, but here goes. Good review. A 40 gallon breeder for the reasons I gave earlier. Use Seachem's "Safe" to treat the tap water. That's it.

Get some pea-sized gravel for the bottom. It's easy to clean. No issues with the water chemistry. Get some plants in, like Anacharis, Hornwort, Anubias and Java fern. Make good use of lava rock and local pieces of driftwood.

Set up the tank and let everything run for a few days. Have a testing kit handy and read up on the nitrogen cycle. Then, cycle the tank with some hardy fish like Danios, Platys or Guppies.

That's the short version. If I missed something, no doubt someone will be able to fill in the blanks.

Remember, keep it simple. This way, there's a lot fewer things to remember to do.

B

 

[treemanone2003]

As I mentioned in your other thread (asked mods to merge) the 2 goldies in the 20g is extremely overstocked. To keep the two together, at least a 40g and preferably a 50g as they are extreme waste makers. As well, they're a cold water fish and don't do well with tropicals.


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[Chillie308]

Well i dont have the option of upgrading at this very second so i need a solution for the immediate time being i just did a 75% water change in the 20 gallon and havent taken the fish/snails out of the holder tank yet... Thanks for the recommendations but i need advise for right this minute

 

[Chillie308]

I just tested my 75% water change and straight tap water

Tank has .25 ammonia and 5ppm nitrate
Tap has between 0-.25 ammonia and 5 nitrate also

 

[treemanone2003]

Well i dont have the option of upgrading at this very second so i need a solution for the immediate time being i just did a 75% water change in the 20 gallon and havent taken the fish/snails out of the holder tank yet... Thanks for the recommendations but i need advise for right this minute

Bring the goldfish back. It's best for them in the long run. Since your tap appears to be showing ammonia, you may need to consider RO instead.


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[Chillie308]

I swear the tap ammonia had a light green tint to it but appears yellow now so maybe it is 0 ... Whats ro?

 

[Chillie308]

Is the 5 nitrate bad? I know its needed for the cycle but its even in my tap water

 

[Fresh2o]

5 ppm nitrate is not bad. And it's not needed for cycling. It is the end product of cycling (ammonia is converted to nitrite which is converted to nitrate).
I once had 5 ppm nitrate and 1.0 ppm ammonia in my tap water. The only time I would see ammonia or nitrite show up in testing was the the day of and day after a big (75%) WC. For other water changes (30-50%) I did not detect either one (or it was a trace at best). An established filter will help deal with the ammonia and nitrite and water changes will deal with the nitrate.
RO = Reverse Osmosis. It is filtering method by which (tap) water is passed through a semi permeable membrane that only allows water to pass. Substances such as nitrate and salts are removed. Very popular with FW folks with questionable water sources or very delicate specimens. In many cases, essential for the success of a SW tank.


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[Chillie308]

At what levels do i need a water change? Im assuming some of these need to be present to keep the cycle going so i dont want to lower the level to much or go to high.... I have a small 5 gallon tank thats empty would it be ok to run a fishless cycle using pure ammonia and season a filter so i can use it later?

 

[Autumnsky]

At what levels do i need a water change? Im assuming some of these need to be present to keep the cycle going so i dont want to lower the level to much or go to high.... I have a small 5 gallon tank thats empty would it be ok to run a fishless cycle using pure ammonia and season a filter so i can use it later?

You can do a fishless cycle for your 5G. There are many articles here in the "article" section which can help you.

Sometimes tap water will be poor quality. I would get Prime water conditioner. It is useful for all issues when starting out a tank and is used for pwc (partial water changes) and normal maintenance as well.

Make sure when you use a "water treatment" for your PWC make sure it is a water dechlorinator, some will treat the water but for other things like stress and not for Chlorine, Chloramines (if you have these in your water you usually need to double the dosage as they break down less easily) and heavy metals.