New to fresh water

[bixter1]

I changed my 120 reef tank over to a goldfish tank (probaly the first to do this in history) I did this for my young kids. I have a eheim professional II setup with about 10 gold fish. I put these in slowly over the last month. Ever since the tank has been setup it has been getting cloudier everyday. I tried using diatomaceous earth in my magnum and that didnt help one bit. I also tried that crystal clear stuff which didnt help. I checked my levels and my ammonia is high. I have been doing daily 10Gl water changes. To help this but havent had much luck. Today the water actually looks greenish. I guess I need to wait longer for the biological to setup in the canister filter. It does have a ton of anti ammonia (like ammochips) in it which dont seem to help. I also notcied since day one that the tank always has a fishy smell. Any ideas? I would love to be able to see through my tank!

 

[tbonem91]

did you cycle it first?

what are the readings of nh3, no2 and no3?

how long are the lights on?

how often and how much are you feeding?

 

[Devilishturtles]

Hi there, welcome to AA

Did you cycle your tank? Goldies produce ALOT of waste. More than your average fw tropical or saltwater fish. Therefore, I would have added livestock slowly, over a few weeks. This would give your tank time to catch up to itself in terms of the biological filter.

What are your other readings? You are seeing cloudy and green water because there is an abundance of nutrients in your water, and your ammonia is high. I would do more like 30-40 gallon changes daily until you get your ammonia down. Then, start doing them every other day, and gradually less frequently until your cycle is complete (0 ammonia, 0 nitrite, less than 15-20 nitrate).

Also, are you running any other filtration besides the canister filter? Try running fresh activated carbon in it to remove some of the cloudiness. What dechlorinator do you use? If any. Prime also detoxifies ammonia.

HTH.

 

[DepotFish]

You've got too many goldfish in that tank. I'd go with 15 to 20 gallons per fish, especially if they are commons or comets. You need tons of filter media to grow tons of bacteria to keep this tank cycled. I'd put an extra filter or two in there. Do you have plants? Do you have sunlight or too much tank light? If you have too much tank light or sunlight then you'll get green water which will help with the cycle. You will need to start doing bigger water changes if you plan to do the cycle with fish. I'd say 25%-50% or more daily. Even after the cycle is done you'll be doing water changes all the time. I've heard some people with oscars and dempsies do 100% daily changes, this is not a bad thought for a large goldfish tank either, especially one that's overstocked.

 

[bixter1]

I did not do a cycle. Ill do a 30gal 2nite. I used to use RO/DI for my reef but have been lazy with the goldies and been doing the old hose/aquaplus step.

I'll try a magnum 350 with carbon in it to see if it clears things up.

Whats Prime?

Thanks for all the fast reponses!

 

[tmcgee]

Prime is simply used as a de-chlorinator. It would be used in place of the aquaplus stuff you are using.

 

[tropicfishman]

Also keep imn ind that goldfish are incredibly messy fish, and your doing to small of water changes, do a couple huge 50 % water changes and suck the gravel clean too, this will help with the cloudy water but it takes time

 

[Squirt0170]

I wouldn't recommend buying any water clarifier... It sounds like it could be a waste problem.. I have also heard that goldfish produce a lot of waste.. at least way more than any other fish.

 

[bixter1]

Im using a reverse undergravel filter to try to keep dirt off of the gravel. It looks like big water changes is the way to go. I was thinking of getting another canister filter

 

[TomK2]

One canister filter on a 120 gal tank is kinda under doing it. But you have an UGF, so perhaps not. Did you change the substrate when you switched over to FW? Yep, you are in the middle of a cycle, and water changes are your only treatment until your bacteria catch up. Unless you want to try biospira, or get some colonized biomedia from someone else. I would not bother with RO water for water changes, unless you have problems with water quality from your tap. FW aquariums are just not as sensitive to the "other" elements in tap water, like phosphates and such. And, RO water, (since you don't add salt like in a SW tank) could lack some essentials. So if you do go back to RO water, perhaps you want to mix it with some tap. I bet 10 goldies in a tank that size looks rather nice, or will once your water clears.

 

[SCFatz]

Im using a reverse undergravel filter to try to keep dirt off of the gravel. It looks like big water changes is the way to go. I was thinking of getting another canister filter

.

I guess the logic here is the filter will catch it all?Or is it that the water gets filtered though the bottom of the gravel?
After all...if it not on/in the gravel its in the water...there in lies your problem in my opinion.Let the gunk settle and handle it with gravel vacs when changing water.

I'd stop the reverse UGF now and do some 50% changes...at least two I would think.Gravel vac it anyway just to be sure its clean.

Just my opinion...I haven't used a ugf in many many moons.

 

[coolchinchilla]

Welcome to the joint! That must be a beautiful tank. Are the goldies fancies or commons? I've read that for fancies you need 20 gallons for the first goldfish and 10 gallons for every fish there after. So a 30 gallon can hold 2 fancies. A 120 gallon comfortably holds 10 goldfish.

I always use tap for my goldfish and add dechlor as it goes in the tank.

 

[bixter1]

I did a 50% change and the tank so a little cleaner. The fish are happier so Im happy. I'm ordering another filter tomorrow. I'll go with the same eheim proII since it's so easy to deal with and have yet to hear anything bad. I'm going to do %50 changes until things settle. Im also running my magnum with charcoal to help.

The goldfish are mostly fancy. My son insisted on some basic $1 ones so they're in there too. It's nice to buy fish for a $1 compared to what I spent on my reef

 

[DepotFish]

Goldfish can be more challenging than given credit for. They are so common and cheap that they are the most neglected fish. Make sure you watch that the comets don't outcompete the fancies. Goldfish enthusiasts will advise you never to mix the single and double tail varieties. If you have any telescope or bubble eyed fish, make sure that there are no sharp corners in the tank and that these ones get food. The eye deformities make them nearsighted or even blind. I feed my moor by hand to be sure she gets food. There is a bill in the making right now to make it illegal to sell goldfish with such deformities. Orandas need extra care when they grow wen to make sure it does not get any debris in it. Debris stuck in the wen is very painful for the fish. If you have a gravel bottom be sure the gravel is too big for the fish to swallow because they will want to play around in it.

 

[joannde]

DepotFish - I enjoyed your post. I've never kept goldfish but I can see just by reading your post that you're right - they're challening and unappreciated.
I've always felt sad for the bubble eyed goldfish - man has played a cruel joke on them.

Bixter1 - welcome to AA !!! and welcome to freshwater !

 

[bixter1]

Well after some water changes and patience the tank is clearing up and my Ammonia is down. I suspect after another week that things should be looking better. Thanks all for your help!

 

[bixter1]

Update: The ammonia is 0 and the nitrite is still high (5.0) so the cycling is going through its motions. The problem is the tank is still cloudy as can be. Im running diatomaceous earth again and it is not helping. The food I'm using is the same from my reef tank (which was crystal clear) so I dont think it's the food. Any ideas?