Saved goldfish :)

[Mumma.of.two]

I have been trying to convince my husbands friend to surrender his goldfish for a while now. Yesterday he finally gave in and let me take them and their tank home. My plan was to trade them in, clean up the tank and use it for my Betta. The problem is, I've fallen in love! They are beautiful! So now my goal is to try my very very hardest to convince hubby to let me have one more large tank.

From what i can gather they are in a 7ish gallon tank (cant find my tape measure!). When I picked them up I saved all their water, brought it home and used it to fill the tank. I had to top off about a gallon with fresh water. This morning I tested the water and got:
Ammonia 0
Nitrite 0
Nitrate 160+!!!
pH 7.6
I have just done a 50% PWC and plan on doing another one tonight. I haven't vacuumed the gravel yet because I don't want to clean the tank too much, too fast. Am I right in assuming that changing too much water at once can be harmful? How fast does everyone recommend cleaning up the tank. I don't want to shock the poor little guys.

If I can't convince hubby on the one more tank idea I am going to have to rehome them at my LFS. Will they be ok in the small tank for a week if I keep up the PWC? I only know the very basics about goldfish is there anything anyone can think of I might need to know? I fear I may be missing something.

Thank you.

 

[Sssea]

I would do a pwc daily and they should be fine for a week in that tank. Ideally, those two would need a 30 gal.

 

[Sssea]

Oops, didn't see the dark one on the right! Those three would need a 40 gal. They're very cute, I can totally see why you got attached. I love my goldies more than anything

 

[jlk]

Same basics as most fw fish (though no heater necessary)- 0 amm, 0 nitrites, less than 20nitrates. Lots of wcs are really needed to get those nitrates down to an acceptable levels (but im sure you know this!). If you decide to keep them, you will need 30gal for them to be comfortable & happy. They are really messy fish, so the more filtration the better. The minimum for filtration would be a 300gph filter on a 30gal. If you decide to keep them, let us know & we will help you out! Goldfish are very personable, comical creatures and are quite lovable despite their mess!!

 

[Mumma.of.two]

Oops, didn't see the dark one on the right! Those three would need a 40 gal. They're very cute, I can totally see why you got attached. I love my goldies more than anything

Thank you thats what I was thinking.

 

[jlk]

Ooops here too! I missed the dark one as well-so change the 30gal to a 40gal (minimum) with atleast a 400gph filter!!

 

[Mumma.of.two]

Same basics as most fw fish (though no heater necessary)- 0 amm, 0 nitrites, less than 20nitrates. Lots of wcs are really needed to get those nitrates down to an acceptable levels (but im sure you know this!). If you decide to keep them, you will need 30gal for them to be comfortable & happy. They are really messy fish, so the more filtration the better. The minimum for filtration would be a 300gph filter on a 30gal. If you decide to keep them, let us know & we will help you out! Goldfish are very personable, comical creatures and are quite lovable despite their mess!!

I am really hoping to keep them. There are 3 of them. Do I need a 30g or a 40g? I am working on reducing the nitrates I'm sacred of doing it too fast. Was thinking 2x 50% PWC one morning one night? Or should I do one large one and bring it as close to zero as a can? I don't want to hurt them by changing their water conditions too fast. There is something about all this making me nervous. Lol.

 

[Mumma.of.two]

Ooops here too! I missed the dark one as well-so change the 30gal to a 40gal (minimum) with atleast a 400gph filter!!

Ok that's what I thought! I'm like umm I thought they needed 40g?

 

[jlk]

I would do multiple 50% pwcs (a couple a day) until you can get a decent nitrate level. I actually do a 100% wc once a week or two with my goldies in addition to 2x wk 50-70% pwcs-they actually love the fresh water (and they are thriving!)! But, this is also necessary because my nitrate levels out of my tap have been 20-40ppm lately so its the only way to control the nitrate levels in the tanks. Many goldfish breeders actually practice 100% daily wcs to keep their fish in optimum condition but this is a bit too much work for me personally! And, yes, 40gal would be the minimum size tank for them.

 

[Mumma.of.two]

I would do multiple 50% pwcs (a couple a day) until you can get a decent nitrate level. I actually do a 100% wc once a week or two with my goldies in addition to 2x wk 50-70% pwcs-they actually love the fresh water (and they are thriving!)! But, this is also necessary because my nitrate levels out of my tap have been 20-40ppm lately so its the only way to control the nitrate levels in the tanks. Many goldfish breeders actually practice 100% daily wcs to keep their fish in optimum condition but this is a bit too much work for me personally! And, yes, 40gal would be the minimum size tank for them.

Ok thanks for confirming that for me. I will do another one tonight and one in the morning. I will test again later and post my results.

 

[jlk]

I cant tell if theres an airstone or bubbler in the tank from the pic, but if you have an extra laying around stick it in their tank as well. Goldfish have higher oxygen needs than most fw fish so any extra aeration will benefit them!

 

[Mumma.of.two]

I cant tell if theres an airstone or bubbler in the tank from the pic, but if you have an extra laying around stick it in their tank as well. Goldfish have higher oxygen needs than most fw fish so any extra aeration will benefit them!

Ok will do! Thanks.

 

[Mumma.of.two]

Ok I've just done another 50% PWC about 4-5 hours after the last one. I will wait an hour and test.

After a full 24 hours of begging and pleading my husband he has given in. He said I could buy a tank but not a stand. We have a steal framed desk that is perfect. I got a 155L (40gallon) tank from an aquarium store down the road. Yay! I've got it filled and I'm going to watch it for a day just to make sure. They are going to be outside in our outside entertainment area. The tank has lids and the whole thing is against the house under cover. It's nearly summer and we are seeing 30 degree days and 20 degree nights. Do you think they will be ok out there?

 

[Mumma.of.two]

Forgot the pics.

 

[jlk]

Goldfish can survive cooler temps (they hibernate in ponds in winter in the mud) but i suspect your guys have been in heated environment for most of their lives. For their situation in particular, i would consider using a small heater esp because 30degrees is below freezing (their tank must not freeze over). Is it possible they can stay indoors until its a bit warmer out? If not, you are going to have to spend hours acclimating them to the cold water because this will be quite a shock for them. Have to think a bit more on this!

 

[Mumma.of.two]

Goldfish can survive cooler temps (they hibernate in ponds in winter in the mud) but i suspect your guys have been in heated environment for most of their lives. For their situation in particular, i would consider using a small heater esp because 30degrees is below freezing (their tank must not freeze over). Is it possible they can stay indoors until its a bit warmer out? If not, you are going to have to spend hours acclimating them to the cold water because this will be quite a shock for them. Have to think a bit more on this!

Oh sorry I ment 20 and 30 degrees Celcius so 68f to 76f. Should have made my self clearer sorry.

 

[Sssea]

I'm assuming your degrees are in Celsius?

 

[Mumma.of.two]

I'm assuming your degrees are in Celsius?

Yes sorry brain fart I'm in Australia

 

[Sssea]

Ah, you were a minute before me! That temp range should be fine. I keep mine around that and they're doing great, but I'm sure there are plenty of people who use a heater.

 

[jlk]

68f is much better!! You had me worried there!!! Yes, they will be fine-just spend an hr (or 2) acclimating them to their temp/home-as you would spend time acclimating any new fish.