Looking for advice

[Maxi]

Hello everyone!

Just gonna tell ya my story and hopefully you guys can help me over the next few weeks


I recently set up a 25 gallon tank for 2 common goldfish. Originally I had never even thought about fish, but I wanted to get my daughter a pet of some sort. So I went to my pet store and the sold me a small plastic bowl with 2 common goldfish. Making sure to tell me that and more than 2 goldfish in a small bowl is too much! Ha!


Now I'm not gonna lie, I didn't do my research before I bought them, and because the store told me this was perfectly normal, I didn't think anything of it. So after a few days i decided to look up a bit about goldfish online, and as you can understand was a bit upset to see that fish can't live in a bowl! I honestly never even questioned it before. The whole "goldfish in a bowl" sounds normal. How do they get away with selling these tiny bowls?



Anyway, I've got quiet attached to the little guys, so I did a load of research and bought the 25 gallon tank (I know some people say they need more, and I'm not doubting they do, but with the resources I have the best I could do is 25 gallons at the moment). In the future ill hopefully upgrade.


So I set up the tank, have an eheim filter, an eheim jäger heater (I know they don't need a heater but I felt it was best to keep the water at a constant temperature). And I have an eheim 200 air pump connected to 2 air stones.


So I let the whole thing run for 2 days and then this morning I added the fish. I acclimated them by keeping them in a bag of water from the bowl, floated it in the new tank and slowly added little bits of the new tank water over an hour and then released them. I know people do this for ph differences. Was it even nessessary since the ph would have been the same in both the bowl and new tank? ( all came from the same tap). I used seachem prime to treat the water.


So it's now the first night and I tried to feed them, but they wouldn't go near it. It was moving around quite a bit because of the filter and air stones so I shut them off for a few minutes and still nothing. Is this normal in a tank change over? And also, should I be turning the filter off while feeding? I took out all the uneaten food by the way. I have flakes at the moment. Will vary the diet more soon.

Hope ya's can point out some errors on my part so far. Harsh criticism is welcome!

Edit: forgot to ask, is it ok to turn the air pump off at night? The tank is in my room and its a wee bit noisy

 

[Andrew McFadden]

It will be fine to turn it off and on or put it on a timer. I love timers loli have 5 on my one tank, they do wonders.
About the fish not eating its probably because you changed there home. Most fish will get use to it in the first few days and start. If your filters are sucking up most of the food before it gets ate then i would turn them off till they are done and you can clean it up.

 

[Kvnr14]

My mbuna cichlids didn't eat for 2-3 days after I transferred them to a new aquarium. Just give them time and they will start eating.

As for the new tank, make sure you have a test kit of some kind because your tank is not cycled yet, you can read all about the nitrogen cycle here at this very website. Just search for a fish-in cycle. You might have to be doing frequent water changes to keep ammonia and nitrites down in till you get your tank cycle for the safety of the fish.

Also you can turn off your air stones at night, to be honest you don't even need air stones if you filter is agitating the water surface for gas exchange.

 

[Convict2161]

I agree with the rest, when I first get them or change things around they won't eat for a couple of days.

 

[GBHammbone]

Fish-in Cycling: Step over into the dark side - Aquarium Advice

 

[Maxi]

Thanks for the replies Ok, thats good to hear.

Yeah I had some 6-1test strip things, but used it yesterday and its very unclear at best. Just picked up an API kit there so will use that to check during the cycle.

As for water changes, what do you recommend? I guess it depends on how high the ammonia levels are?

Edit: Just seen your link there GB, cheers.

 

[Kvnr14]

I would do try to do 50 percent water changes twice a week, and then needed water changes whenever toxins spike. And don't forget to stock lightly at the beginning, makes it a lot easier and safer for the fish.

 

[jlk]

Welcome to AA!! No harsh criticism necessary!

As you are just starting a fish-in cycle with messy fish, you will likely need to do 50% wcs daily, if not more often. Goldies have a huge bioload (produce ALOT of ammonia) and your toxin levels will spike quickly. Daily testing and water changes anytime your toxin levels hit .25ppm (or higher). Make sure you temperature match and properly condition all new water. Prime or Amquel Plus (water conditioners) will be a big help during cycling as either will help to detox ammonia and nitrite in between water changes. Once the tank is fully cycled, you will likely need to do 50% wcs atleast 1-2x a week.

In respect to feeding, yes, you can turn your filters off for mealtime. The lack of an appetite is likely from the stress of moving combined with ammonia exposure in the bowl. Lack of an appetite is a classic symptom of ammonia and/or nitrite exposure, particularly in goldfish. I would keep the lights off as much as possible while they adjust.

In respect to the 'goldfish in a bowl' notion, its a well propagated myth that stems from a distortion of ancient history. Goldfish (particularly fancies) as domesticated pets originated in China. They were revered creatures and generally only kept by the wealthy and noble. When esteemed guests visited, a prize goldfish was removed from its pond and placed on display in a bowl for the evening before being returned to its pond. Unfortunately, the idea a goldfish could actually live in a bowl stemmed from this practice. The majority of Chinese and Japanese goldfish are still bred and kept exclusively in ponds to this day and the practice of 'displaying' them in bowls is still followed. Bit of history to contemplate!


I just learned about cycling but I already have fish. What now?! - Aquarium Advice

 

[Maxi]

In regards to temperature matching. What's the best way to do that? I don't have a container large enough to hold 50% of my tank volume. The biggest container I have is 3 gallons. I was planning on doing 3 gallon changes daily, letting the water sit overnight to get to room temperature and add that (treated with prime ).

I thought 10-15% daily changes would be enough?

As for their behaviour now, they seem a lot more lively. They still won't come to the surface to eat, so I used pellets. But they miss where they go as soon as they hit the gravel. So I've had to use flakes and poke them down. And when they float near them they eat them up. They look hungry too which is good I guess. I just looks like they can't see the flakes on the surface.

I left my water kit in work today so I'll update tomorrow when I get a proper reading. I'm sure ill be lookin for tips all the way through the cycle .

Thanks again for all the tips so far !

 

[jlk]

Just use your hot and cold on your tap to match the temperature. If you have a thermometer, great! If not, just use your hand to match the bucket to your tank water. 10-15% daily will not be quite enough when your toxins spike (and they will!) especially with messy fish.

 

[Maxi]

Didn't even think of that lol.

Just looking at them now, one of them is hyper as hell. Not stop speeding around like crazy. And the other one just likes to chill out in the dark area under my filter. And the hyper one keeps chasing the quiet one around. Is this normal behaviour, or should I be worried? It's not all day every day chasing but he does it a lot!

 

[Maxi]

Ok so I used the test kit and my results were ammonia 0.25ppm, nitrite 0ppm, and nitrate 5.0 ppm. Now I'm a little confused because I thought the ammonia rises, gets changed to nitrite and then to nitrate? So how do I have a nitrate reading but no nitrite?

I just did a 30% water change. Also I've noticed dust like particles floating in the water now. I guess that's the bacterial bloom?

 

[Andrew McFadden]

Ok so I used the test kit and my results were ammonia 0.25ppm, nitrite 0ppm, and nitrate 5.0 ppm. Now I'm a little confused because I thought the ammonia rises, gets changed to nitrite and then to nitrate? So how do I have a nitrate reading but no nitrite?

I just did a 30% water change. Also I've noticed dust like particles floating in the water now. I guess that's the bacterial bloom?

Yea it sounds like a bacteria bloom. Your nitrite will turn to nitrate so that's why you won't see it. A lot of the time after a tank has cycled an ammonia reading will look like it converts to nitrate skipping the nitrite.

 

[jhawk__]

Ok so I used the test kit and my results were ammonia 0.25ppm, nitrite 0ppm, and nitrate 5.0 ppm. Now I'm a little confused because I thought the ammonia rises, gets changed to nitrite and then to nitrate? So how do I have a nitrate reading but no nitrite?

I just did a 30% water change. Also I've noticed dust like particles floating in the water now. I guess that's the bacterial bloom?

You might have nitrates already if your tap has them in it. Test your tap water parameters and see what they are

 

[Maxi]

Cool. Thanks guys. I'll update again over the next few days

 

[jlk]

You might have nitrates already if your tap has them in it. Test your tap water parameters and see what they are

I agree as well. It's likely that your tap has nitrates. I would also check for ammonia and nitrite, too.

 

[Maxi]

Ok so after a week, the fish are doing great. They're lively and eating well.

As for the cycling, I have tested the water every day and the results have not changed once. Its always;

Ammonia - 0.25ppm
Nitrites - 0ppm
Nitrates - 5ppm
Ph - 7.8

I have done a 20%ish water change every day giving the gravel a full hoover each time... Do I need to do something else to push the cycle along? Or is it normal for it to start slowly?

 

[jlk]

Perfectly normal. Cycling, whether its fish-in or fishless, takes patience.

 

[Maxi]

Here's a vid of what it looks like so far.

I went out yesterday and bought some new decorations, and I know goldfish destroy plants but i decided to get some real ones too. They seem happy . There is a lot of debris floating around, but I'm sure that's because I only recently planted it.

Other than that still being patient with the cycling... Water readings still the same as last 2 weeks.

Edit: Can't upload the video... Any tips?

 

[Maxi]

As I mentioned before about one if the fish chasing the other. Well I found white spots on his gills, but nowhere else on his body. I read that it could be breeding stars as the tank they're in now is warmer than the last one so it could have brought it on.

This was about a week ago. The chasing has stopped, but he still has the white spots. I'm worried it might be ich. If they are breeding stars will he keep them for life? How can I tell the difference between that and ich?