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302maverick

Aquarium Advice Newbie
Joined
May 25, 2011
Messages
5
Location
Alabama
Hello all I'm new here from bama. I'm 25 and have had fish tanks for most of my life ether tropical fish or wild caught fish from lakes or streams. right now I have a 50 gallon tank set up with a tetra filter and a cascade filter and a visi-therm. submerable heater with 4 danios, 2 goldfish, 2 plecostomus, and a rainbow shark. I also have a 10 gallon tank setup that was purchased from store in a kit with the tetra filter and top and have gotten a submersible heater and it is this tank i have been having problems with. link for my thread of my problem is here > http://www.aquariumadvice.com/forums/f17/fish-keep-dying-need-help-154059.html#post1369602
 
Goldfish are a cold water fish and shouldn't be in with the Danios, Plecos or the Rainbow Shark.
What kind of Plecos do you have?
Well the cycle thing is the issue here, sorry. And the reason why it is killing the fish in the 10g and not the 50g is because the ammonia builds up faster and stronger in only 10g of water. The bigger the tank the slower the rise in ammonia.
If you can't return your fish to the LFS you can do a fish in cycle, IF YOU ARE VERY DILIGENT.
First you must get an API FW Master Test Kit. Then on the 10g tank you will need to test every 12 hours. If you have fish in the tank NEVER let the ammonia go above .25ppm. If the ammonia reads .5ppm you need to do a 50% PWC, if the ammonia is at .25ppm you need a 25% PWC. If it's at 1.0ppm then do 2 50% back to back PWC.
Same goes for when you start getting nitrIte readings. Only the nitrItes are even more toxic than the ammonia. Keep doing those PWC as often as need to keep the ammonia and the nitrites below .25ppm. Even if it doesn't kill your fish it will burn their gills and cause scaring, making breathing very difficult.
After a (what feels like an eternity)while you'll start to see nitrAtes, this is a great thing. But you can have to much of a good thing, so continue to test your water when the nitrAtes get above 20-30ppm it's time for another PWC.
Or you can do what I do, after your tank has finished it's cycle and the NitrAtes are fairly stable, just do a 20% PWC twice a week. I do my 4 tanks every Wed. and Sat morning. I have 2 55g and 2 10g tanks.
Plus you need a separate tank just for your gold fish, the 10g isn't big enough for them.
I hope this helps you and your fish.
One piece of advice, NEVER listen to the LPS they are there to make money not give advice.
There will always be exceptions to this rule, but better safe than sorry.
 
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