I inherited an old common goldfish who had been living in a 10gal ever since the owner had won him at a fair, and have since moved him to a 55gal
I can't get his ammonia or nitrite to 0... it's always a bit over - closer to 0.25 ppm... I do really frequent water changes nitrates are usually close to 0.
Is there something wrong? It bugs me that I can't get the levels to 0ppm... I know that at least one of the test tubes is a bit stained orange-ish...
Input?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Here's the tank story:
He's in his new 55gal:
Before, in his old 10gal:
After several days of the 55gal running, I made the move...
I moved all of his gravel, his plants, his few decorative stones, AND his filter to the new 55gal. I moved the pieces of BioHome from the Aqueon filter to the AquaClear in hopes of facilitating bacterial growth there...
Then I moved him. No net
used a big specimen container so he didn't even notice It was hilarious; it took him a while to realize that he didn't have to turn around after swimming forward farther than a foot!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I'm worried that maybe his tank's not cycled? And that his levels are gonna suddenly jump! I've been checking twice a day... He's never had high nitrates, even in his old tank (except when I first got him and his water was orange...) but maybe it's because I compulsively change his water? :\ should I STOP doing such frequent changes, or change smaller amounts to see where his levels go? Maybe I'm just MASKING the fact that his tank isn't cycled, and stunting the cycling by changing water too frequently...
I can't get his ammonia or nitrite to 0... it's always a bit over - closer to 0.25 ppm... I do really frequent water changes nitrates are usually close to 0.
Is there something wrong? It bugs me that I can't get the levels to 0ppm... I know that at least one of the test tubes is a bit stained orange-ish...
Input?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Here's the tank story:
He's in his new 55gal:
- Filter is an AquaClear 110, with the brand's sponge filter and (potentially pointless?) charcoal.
- For biomedia, I'm using BioHome Ultimate with bio-starter balls.
- Substrate is new, washed 30-mesh sand from Home Depot.
Before, in his old 10gal:
- I stuffed his old Aqueon QuietFlow10 with as many pieces of the BioHome that I could fit hoping maybe some bacteria would move in.
- On the regular, I do small-ish water changes nearly daily: approximately 10% a day, or at the most 50% if it's been a while.
- I condition my water with SeaChem Prime
- His water in the 10 gallon tested at 0 ammonia, 0 nitrites, and low nitrates.
- I packaged ALL his gravel into the ends of nylon stockings that had never seen detergent, cut it into two packages, and tied them off.
After several days of the 55gal running, I made the move...
I moved all of his gravel, his plants, his few decorative stones, AND his filter to the new 55gal. I moved the pieces of BioHome from the Aqueon filter to the AquaClear in hopes of facilitating bacterial growth there...
Then I moved him. No net
used a big specimen container so he didn't even notice It was hilarious; it took him a while to realize that he didn't have to turn around after swimming forward farther than a foot!~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I'm worried that maybe his tank's not cycled? And that his levels are gonna suddenly jump! I've been checking twice a day... He's never had high nitrates, even in his old tank (except when I first got him and his water was orange...) but maybe it's because I compulsively change his water? :\ should I STOP doing such frequent changes, or change smaller amounts to see where his levels go? Maybe I'm just MASKING the fact that his tank isn't cycled, and stunting the cycling by changing water too frequently...
