worried new fish mom, help!

[Determinated]

Just an update: fish was active this morning, but all the rukus i caused in the water last night its kind of dirty, im definitely gonna get him in his new tank tonight and that will give me the space to add the caves i bought so Josh can feel more secure and have hiding places.

Also my water lilly bulb will have more room to grow.

I have treated water in a container waiting to be added but now ill just add it to the new tank along with josh. Should I add some of the existing water from his tank now in with him? orr just start fresh?

Im actually changing his rocks with this new one because the existing rocks he has are marbles and i dont like them for his tank.

 

[jlk]

His water is likely quite toxic right now so I wouldnt use it. I know you have limited testing means right now but I would atleast check the ph in the new tank vs the old tank & make sure they are pretty much the same before adding him. If they differ, you will need to take bit of time to acclimate him to his new water.

 

[Determinated]

Omg! This is bothering me!!! I wont be able to get him out of his bad tank until like 4 tonight!!!


My Ph in my current tank was actually low, the only thing was high nitrites!

Isnt moving him to a new tank going to stress him aswell?

 

[ktomminello]

He will need acclimation regardless if he has been kept in a toxic one gallon. I would add a couple cups of his old water and you're right on when it comes to double filtering. You could always try asking for a little piece of used filter media from your lfs to put in your filter or tank to help speed up the cycle a bit (only do this if the tanks there are totally pristine and the fish are all lively and healthy).

 

[jlk]

Yes, moving him will be stressful but staying in the toxic conditions is worse. I would do a 50% water change on his small tank, wait 1/2 an hour and do another. Make sure you temperature match and properly condition all new water. This should bring his tank conditions fairly close to his new tank. You then can gently move him over to the new tank. Good luck!

 

[ktomminello]

Yikes!!! Low ph and high trites... Your cycle is in play just barely here. Forget what I said about keeping the water, but do throw a few of those marbles in your 10g to promote your cycle. You are definitely gonna want a ph buffer and to gradually get him acclimated to his proper levels (I believe ph is 7.5 for pond dwellers- my moms the pond and river person in my family) and maybe try a product like seachem stability or nutrafin cycle

 

[Determinated]

I meant my ph is neutral! lol

Everything was fine but high nitrites!!!

Ill def throw some of the marbles in the new tank

You are such a great helper!!

 

[bud29]

I don't believe I saw this question answered, so I'll answer it........

The water balancer is called Tetra Easy balance.

And the dosage recommendations are 2 teaspoons for every 10 gallons so 1 gallon would require 1/2 teaspoon, but if i am changing the water every day how do i treat it? This says i am supposed to be treating weekly...

I looked up Tetra EasyBalance, and it is not a dechlorinator. It just does alot of unneeded stuff, IMO Walmart sells Tetra AquaSafe, get that. It is a dechlorinator+conditioner. It too will say "Use weekly." This is because most people do a water change once a week, and you need to treat the new water. However, since you obviously will be changing the water more than once a week, you will be using it much more often.

 

[ktomminello]

There is a super concentrated version available at any pet store, I think it's by API- with the amount of changes you'll be doing you're better off. It's only about 10 bucks for a bottle that will last you about a month. It's better than spending money hand over fist going to Walmart.

 

[ktomminello]

Oh, and you're going to need to add the easy balance once a week for fin and gill protection, that's the downside to the concentrate, there's nothing for slime/ scale coat.

 

[jlk]

Buy a bottle of Prime- it will be of the most help here especially while your cycling because it detoxes ammonia, nitrite & nitrate plus helps with slimecoat and detoxes heavy metals. A little of this stuff goes a long way especially when compared to other conditioners. Amqurel plus works in a similar fashion to detox amm/nitrite/nitrate but it does not help with slime coat or heavy metals.

 

[jlk]

Sorry, Amquel Plus! My fingers type slower than my brain thinks! lol

 

[ktomminello]

Buy a bottle of Prime- it will be of the most help here especially while your cycling because it detoxes ammonia, nitrite & nitrate plus helps with slimecoat and detoxes heavy metals. A little of this stuff goes a long way especially when compared to other conditioners. Amqurel plus works in a similar fashion to detox amm/nitrite/nitrate but it does not help with slime coat or heavy metals.

A combo of seachem prime and stability together would, IMO, be the way to go, but it gets expensive (large bottle treats 500g I think, as opposed to the same size and half priced concentrate that treats 2500g). Amquel+ and novaquel are another decent combo, however I think it would drop the oxygen level to the point of putting the fish at risk. There's a million options out there, after all, it's good to bring these suggestions to light seeing as this seems to be a beginners common nightmare.

 

[Determinated]

Thanks for all the great suggestions!!!

I have goten the 10 gallon tank, cleansed it.

Bought gravel, so sick of marbles! NEVER AGAIN!! lol

Washed gravel as best i could, added caves, and some of the rocks and marbles from his exsisting tank, took his filter and bubble system from old tank and put in new tank, filled with water, finally got filter working properly and now and just waiting for everything to settle a little bit before josh goes in his new tank!!!

Ill get pics once things settle and hes in so yall can meet my little guy

And this tank is a lot bigger that i remembered so im pretty sure its actually a 20 gal! yayy!!

Downside...a little big of dustiness from the gravel, thought i washed it good enough..guess not :/

 

[Determinated]

Josh is happily in his new tank!!!!

Very lively and exploring, he hasnt figured out you can go in the caves yet though!!!

I havent fed him today, (nitrite levels:/) he seems to be searching for food, hes goes to the tip and swims and then puts his mouth on the caves and stuff...

Is he looking for food or is this something else?

 

[ktomminello]

Goldfish can be taught to be handfed once he has gotten to know you, this can cut back on nite levels, and, as you most likely know, goldfish poo is very easy to spot, simply suck it up with a turkey baster

 

[ktomminello]

Darn phone app, lol , as I was about to say- congrats on your happy little guy, just be careful if he's searching with his mouth on anything sharp, because of bioload, infection is a very common problem, hence the suggestions on how to cut corners on bioload he's lucky to have a human friend like you. Thanks for seeking advice on proper care for this highly misunderstood common pet, they have the highest mortality rate of deaths from impulsive shopping and blissful ignorance. Awesome job and best of wishes!!

 

[Determinated]

Turkey baster!!! Hadnt even thought of that!! genius!!

Josh is very happy in his new tank so far

 

[ktomminello]

I am so truly happy for you, it's a great accomplishment!! I've had one of the worst days of my life, so I'm gonna say good night on this note- this has put a smile on my face and the warm and fuzzies inside, thanks again for helping out the Goldy, every little fish life saved counts

 

[Determinated]

Well this tank still has to cycle so we arent out of the water yet!! lol

But thanks for all of your great advice!!!

And feel free to pm me if you need to talk!