Stressed fish

[Llb86]

Hi,

I'm new to keeping fish and need some advice.
I have a small blackmoore goldfish in a 20litre tank with filter. I've had him for a week and all has been fine. Earlier today I checked the water with an amonia strip and realised it had amonia in it. I changed about 5 litres of water and dechlorinated it then checked the water with a tetra 6in1 strip. It showed that all the parameters are in the safe zone. I added an amonia remover too.
The fish seems a bit stressed now and is kind of darting about quite fast. Should I change more water?
Thanks

 

[LavaLamps]

First of all welcome to the hobby. It sounds like you haven't cycled your aquarium. The nitrogen cycle is a very important part of fish keeping, it's what keeps ammonia down and fish happy. I highly recommend you do some further research on it but basically, you have to cultivate beneficial bacteria that can eat ammonia and turn it into nitrite then nitrate, it usually takes about 2 weeks to cultivate enough bacteria to do this.
Right now you should keep doing 50% water changes daily being sure to add dechlorinator. I would highly recommend buying a quick cycle product like tetra safe start or API quick start. This will help your tank cycle faster.
What kind of filtration are you using? Goldfish are messy and need good filtration and aeration a hang-on back filter would be ideal and maybe add an air stone. Another thing to consider is that Blackmoore goldfish need at least a 75-liter aquarium to be happy so you will need to look into upgrading in the near future, they can grow to be quite large and live for 10-20 years with proper care.

 

[Llb86]

Thanks for your reply.
I did a 50% water change and dechlorinated it. He seems back to his normal chilled self for now. I will keep on top of water changes whilst the tank is hopefully cycling. I've bought the API master kit, Seachem prime and tetra safe start.
I feel bad that I didn't research enough about tank cycling before I got him but after days of reading about it I understand the process now. The pet shop didn't really give great advice when I bought him, I should have looked into it more though.
It's an internal filter that came with the tank so probably not ideal. I definitely plan to get a bigger tank with a better filter for him if I manage to keep him alive while cycling the tank, fingers crossed.
Thanks

 

[LavaLamps]

We all make mistakes, it's just a part of life and the hobby. But it sounds like you're taking great steps to fix things up. If you have any more questions don't hesitate to ask.