OhNeil1969
Aquarium Advice Addict
Hello Osage_Winter;
Seems like you're getting off topic a little bit with that last post. Concerning your original problem with water parameters: the one thing I'm not hearing is how often are you doing water changes. Water changes are critical in keeping your water parameters in the green. I know goldfish are messy critters, but I think you may be misunderstanding the "leedway" that gives you. In a normal community tank we're performing water changes to control nitrAtes. The ammonia and nitrItes will always be zero. Given the increased waste goldfish produce you're going to have to do more water changes to control your ammonia. I would think of 0.25 ammonia as the upper limit before a water change is mandatory. Ideally you want 0 ammonia. So if after 1 week you read 0.25 ammonia you know you need to perform an immediate water change and consider increasing the frequency of future PWC's. I'm performing bi-weekly changes in a heavily stocked community tank. I knew I was going to be doing more work when I stocked it and was prepared for the extra load. I think you need to approach your goldfish in the same way.
BTW, I know what you mean when it comes to reading nitrAtes on the color card. I think of it this way: the 3 colors that are difficult for me to read are 5, 10, and 20 ppm (5 being easier to read). My rule of thumb is therefore to treat the reading as though it's 20 ppm. It's on the high end of tolerable (some people say 40 ppm is the high end) and as a result I know it's time for a water change. Anyway, hope it works out and GOOD LUCK!
Seems like you're getting off topic a little bit with that last post. Concerning your original problem with water parameters: the one thing I'm not hearing is how often are you doing water changes. Water changes are critical in keeping your water parameters in the green. I know goldfish are messy critters, but I think you may be misunderstanding the "leedway" that gives you. In a normal community tank we're performing water changes to control nitrAtes. The ammonia and nitrItes will always be zero. Given the increased waste goldfish produce you're going to have to do more water changes to control your ammonia. I would think of 0.25 ammonia as the upper limit before a water change is mandatory. Ideally you want 0 ammonia. So if after 1 week you read 0.25 ammonia you know you need to perform an immediate water change and consider increasing the frequency of future PWC's. I'm performing bi-weekly changes in a heavily stocked community tank. I knew I was going to be doing more work when I stocked it and was prepared for the extra load. I think you need to approach your goldfish in the same way.
BTW, I know what you mean when it comes to reading nitrAtes on the color card. I think of it this way: the 3 colors that are difficult for me to read are 5, 10, and 20 ppm (5 being easier to read). My rule of thumb is therefore to treat the reading as though it's 20 ppm. It's on the high end of tolerable (some people say 40 ppm is the high end) and as a result I know it's time for a water change. Anyway, hope it works out and GOOD LUCK!