brianwestchest
Aquarium Advice Apprentice
- Joined
- Apr 19, 2012
- Messages
- 15
My girls wanted goldfish as a hobby. So, we picked up a 10 gallon tank and (3) common goldfish. We've had them for about three months and no problems so far.
About a month ago, we got a 39 gallon tank from a friend. The tank came fully stocked with fish, the filter, heater, gravel, everything. The set up is:
Everything was running fine and dandy for a couple of weeks. We didn't lose any fish. I was doing regular water changes (about weekly). And, I thought "This isn't so hard". Then, about two weeks ago, we noticed a red spot on one of the Orandas. Then another one got a red spot. We thought maybe they were brushing up against the rock in the tank because the previous owner told us one had gotten a sore like that before. After a few days we noticed the spot was growing and starting to look like an ulcer. I made a trip to the local fish store where they recommended Quick Cure and Aquarium salt. I treated for three days with Quick Cure. On the fourth day, one of the Orandas died. It was the one that had the smaller ulcer, barely noticeable. The ulcer on the other fish stopped growing and began turning white. We thought that meant it was healing. Yesterday, we found that fish dead.
I know I should have cycled the tank before adding fish. But, since we got the whole setup all at once, I didn't have much choice. Since we used the same gravel, filter media, etc and even some of the original aquarium water, we thought we'd be OK and that there'd be enough beneficial bacteria already in the tank.
Oh, I've been using StressCoat to dechlorinate the water.
One thing I found a little weird was that my understanding is goldfish are cold water fish. But, the guy who sold us the setup was keeping their tank around 76º which is where I've been keeping it.
The other fish in the tank seem to be doing fine. I'd like to replace at least one of the fancy goldfish. But, I want to make sure I'm doing everything right before I introduce any more fish into the environment.
Based on my reading of the introductory material here, I'm thinking I should buy a water test kit and start monitoring the ammonia and nitrite levels in the tank.
Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks,
Brian
About a month ago, we got a 39 gallon tank from a friend. The tank came fully stocked with fish, the filter, heater, gravel, everything. The set up is:
- 39 gallon tank
- AquaClear 50 filter with BioMax, Carbon and Sponge stages
- Heater
- (4) Oranda Goldfish (he called them Lionheads. But, they look like Orandas from the research I did on the internet)
- (7) Cory Catfish
- (1) Pleco
Everything was running fine and dandy for a couple of weeks. We didn't lose any fish. I was doing regular water changes (about weekly). And, I thought "This isn't so hard". Then, about two weeks ago, we noticed a red spot on one of the Orandas. Then another one got a red spot. We thought maybe they were brushing up against the rock in the tank because the previous owner told us one had gotten a sore like that before. After a few days we noticed the spot was growing and starting to look like an ulcer. I made a trip to the local fish store where they recommended Quick Cure and Aquarium salt. I treated for three days with Quick Cure. On the fourth day, one of the Orandas died. It was the one that had the smaller ulcer, barely noticeable. The ulcer on the other fish stopped growing and began turning white. We thought that meant it was healing. Yesterday, we found that fish dead.
I know I should have cycled the tank before adding fish. But, since we got the whole setup all at once, I didn't have much choice. Since we used the same gravel, filter media, etc and even some of the original aquarium water, we thought we'd be OK and that there'd be enough beneficial bacteria already in the tank.
Oh, I've been using StressCoat to dechlorinate the water.
One thing I found a little weird was that my understanding is goldfish are cold water fish. But, the guy who sold us the setup was keeping their tank around 76º which is where I've been keeping it.
The other fish in the tank seem to be doing fine. I'd like to replace at least one of the fancy goldfish. But, I want to make sure I'm doing everything right before I introduce any more fish into the environment.
Based on my reading of the introductory material here, I'm thinking I should buy a water test kit and start monitoring the ammonia and nitrite levels in the tank.
Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks,
Brian