New tank help please

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mth97

Aquarium Advice Apprentice
Joined
Mar 27, 2017
Messages
14
Location
Australia
I'm a little new at this so please be nice [emoji23] I have a 28L tank and have been running it for a week ! All levels are perfect ph 7.5 , GH 180 , KH 120, nitrate 0 , nitrite 0 !

I currently have a pearl scale goldfish I am wanting to move into the new tank ? I know my tank might not be fully cycled yet, would it be okay to move my pearls scale into the new tank yet ?
 
Hey, welcome :)
How have you cycled it? Without the addition of ammonia your tank wouldn't of been doing anything other than sitting there unfortunately.. Also a 28L tank is way too small for any type of goldfish, let alone a pearlscale as they can get to 8 inches long!
 
A week is still early in a cycle, but as mentioned, without a source of ammonia it won't progress

What is the goldfish in now? If the 28l is bigger, and you have Prime, your goldfish may be better off....they do produce a lot of waste and more water is better than less

I would suggest a bacterial supplement if you are in a hurry to move the goldfish. Seachem Stability and Seachem Prime work great together to keep the tank safe while you establish a bacterial colony

The goldfish will get big fast mind you, so if you can save for an upgrade later, the fish will be healthier for it :)
 
Thank you all so much for your advice! Yes I am wanting to move my goldfish quickly because the tank is bigger , I have already put in QuickStart when I started the tank !

Yes the 28L tank I just bought u was told would be well big enough for a goldfish at the pet store which is very frustrating I have spent so much money trying to get things right ! And the space I have is very limited I live in a very small space [emoji23]
 
28l is about 7 1/2 gallon

It's an upgrade from a bowl, or tiny plastic tank but will get tight as your fish grows

For a baby goldfish, you are ok....

If you are stuck for space, I would suggest a bow front when you upgrade. You can get a 29gallon bow front that takes the same space as a 20gallon standard. A 38gallon takes the space of a 32inch tv

I can see that are doing your best, and if you like, I can offer some suggestions for making life comfortable for your fish until you can upgrade [emoji4]

It's so common for stores to sell goldfish in small tanks, without warning buyers of their potential size....I feel like they just don't expect them to live long enough to outgrow their tanks and it's not fair to us, the owner of the fish :/
 
Ok

There's a plant called hornwort...it requires almost no care, is one of only a few that I know that grows faster than they Munch it, and it loves cold water. If you get some of that in there, it will make use of the ammonia, excess nitrates, etc caused by goldfish being generally dirty fish

When you clean your tank, clean from the bottom first.....use a syphon to vacuum up all the mess they leave in the substrate. If you have gravel, you can push it in for a second and watch the dirt suck out through the hose :p

They don't need feeding as often as the package says....a feeding once a day is fine. You can even give them vegetables:) mine love broccoli, spinache and they ❤️ love melon! You can leave veggies in for a few hours and fruit for an hour. It's a great supplement to the diet, and fulfills their need to graze, so they don't get bored and redecorate lol

If you see air-gulping, rapid gill movement, or just sitting in the water not moving....do a water change. They produce insane amounts of ammonia and it can sneak up on us

Over-filtration is your friend:). If you have a 7gallon tank, I suggest a 20-30 gallon filter. Aqueon quiet flow 30 is an amazing budget filter for goldfish and cleared up ammonia in my tank within an hour of adding it. It's easy to maintain and has never clogged.....though I suggest a prefilter sponge on the intake tube....my goldfish killed my aquaclear by spitting sand at it [emoji13]

The best water conditioner is Prime....in fact I suggest Seachem sir all additives, though I will use API if I can't get Seachem. Prime

I'm sorry if I overwhelm you with advice...if you have any more questions please ask- I'm no stranger to overstocked goldfish . I owned two comets for years in a 29 gallon before adding them into my dads pond. Right now I am wintering all four 5-6inch goldfish in a 38 gallon
 
No problem:)

Oh...one other thing

I recommend a snail. Just a small one, a zebra nerites or assassin

They are excellent indicators of water quality.....if they don't like the water, they will head for surface or bury themselves in the sand [emoji6]
 
I currently have mussels in the tank with my goldfish at the moment! I have 2!

Is that okay ?[emoji177]
 
Mussels sound cool but I don't have experience with them

I thought about putting a couple in my 38 when the goldfish go home.....how do you like them?
 
When I started my first tank they helped with my water quality so quickly it was almost immediate! I would definitely recommend them! They are also a little bit hardier then snails ! So they will live for 6months to a year !
 
Went to a couple of pet shops today and they didn't have any hornwort [emoji24] they gave me another one which I have a photo of but this forum won't let me send !
 
I'm having trouble with photos too. Keeps telling me I went over my quota or whatever that means lol.

Any plant that you can grow is great [emoji106]

I also like Anubis, java fern and Amazon sword....bigger goldfish will eat leafy plants but a small one should be ok. I know mine haven't bothered the Anubis so I wonder if it's too tough lol
 
I can't thank you enough for your help ! Thank you so so much I will keep you updated on my progress ![emoji38]
 
Sorry another question ! How often should I clean my gravel I have the gravel cleaner ? Would once a week be enough? And I'm just doing weekly water changes at the moment ? Should that be enough ?
 
Test the water every couple of days

Weekly changes is good for any well maintained and well filtered tank:)....when you find yourself getting ammonia reading and needing to change more often than once a week, it's time for an upgrade because your baby is outgrowing his water;)


This advice is of course for after the tank is cycled and showing normal readings of 0ammonia/0nitrite/10nitrates
This is your sweet zone:)

Whilst you are cycling, you might need to water change more often because you will get spiked ammonia first....then nitrite....both are poisonous to the fish, so change 30% and add Prime daily until the spike is finished. Add bacteria supplement at this point if you have it.

As long as you watch the water while you cycle, you should be fine....goldfish are hardy fish
 
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