inkypinkyinNC
Aquarium Advice Newbie
Hi everybody!
This is my very first post on this forum. We "inherited" some goldfish from my sister last summer. Five medium-size fishes in a 10 gallon tank--ooh! I know, it was horrible.
She wasn't even changing the water, just topping up and cleaning the filtering unit. So we got a larger tank for them (40 gallon) and I'm trying to do the right thing by these fish. They are really a lot of fun to watch. I am checking the parameters and giving it a 25-30% water change every week to ten days.
Back when they were still in the 10 gallon tank I did regular 50% water changes because I knew the system was overloaded. And I know that this tank is still too small for the long term, they need 10-20 gallons EACH to get big in (three commons and two fancies may need 3x20 + 2x10 = 80 gallons!) But we researched and discussed our choices and this 40 gallon what is working best for us right now. After they get much bigger we will probably be looking at donating them to someone with a pond and trying some other fish. Right now I am just keeping tabs on the parameters and reassuring myself that AT LEAST they are not crammed into that tiny little tank any more!!
My questions are about pH and the scale burns. For some reason even though I've got the nitrates and ammonia levels within a decent range (nitrates 5-20ppm and ammonia 0.25% and nitrites zero) the pH seems to be staying around 6.4 which is too acidic especially for goldfish. I think they like it around 7.5, right? Is there some explanation for this? There are no real plants nor driftwood nor seashells in the tank. Would you recommend simply a product to bring the pH up for them, or do I need to be doing something different in my maintenance?
Secondly, they unfortunately all have scale burns from the sky high ammonia levels in the old tank. Is there anything I can do to help promote healing? There's the water conditioner I use with the water changes which is supposed to be good for their slime coat, could I simply double the amount I use, or is it better to get a product specifically for that, or feed them a particular food, or what? I appreciate any recommendations.
We are quite fond of our fish!
This is my very first post on this forum. We "inherited" some goldfish from my sister last summer. Five medium-size fishes in a 10 gallon tank--ooh! I know, it was horrible.
She wasn't even changing the water, just topping up and cleaning the filtering unit. So we got a larger tank for them (40 gallon) and I'm trying to do the right thing by these fish. They are really a lot of fun to watch. I am checking the parameters and giving it a 25-30% water change every week to ten days. Back when they were still in the 10 gallon tank I did regular 50% water changes because I knew the system was overloaded. And I know that this tank is still too small for the long term, they need 10-20 gallons EACH to get big in (three commons and two fancies may need 3x20 + 2x10 = 80 gallons!) But we researched and discussed our choices and this 40 gallon what is working best for us right now. After they get much bigger we will probably be looking at donating them to someone with a pond and trying some other fish. Right now I am just keeping tabs on the parameters and reassuring myself that AT LEAST they are not crammed into that tiny little tank any more!!
My questions are about pH and the scale burns. For some reason even though I've got the nitrates and ammonia levels within a decent range (nitrates 5-20ppm and ammonia 0.25% and nitrites zero) the pH seems to be staying around 6.4 which is too acidic especially for goldfish. I think they like it around 7.5, right? Is there some explanation for this? There are no real plants nor driftwood nor seashells in the tank. Would you recommend simply a product to bring the pH up for them, or do I need to be doing something different in my maintenance?
Secondly, they unfortunately all have scale burns from the sky high ammonia levels in the old tank. Is there anything I can do to help promote healing? There's the water conditioner I use with the water changes which is supposed to be good for their slime coat, could I simply double the amount I use, or is it better to get a product specifically for that, or feed them a particular food, or what? I appreciate any recommendations.
We are quite fond of our fish!
I'm planning to add the smaller filter from the 10 gallon tank soon to augment the filtration, it will be on the low side with that but I'll keep checking the parameters and doing the water changes. 
