Hello! im very new to this forum thing but i am so beyond shocked i felt the need to share with someone.
I recently got back from college where i left my 4 year old carnival goldfish in the care of my parents. this fish lives in a tiny one gallon tank ( I know it's messed up but when i initially won the fish four years ago i was clearly not ready to be a fish mom and expected him to die within the first two months). when i got back, i noticed the fish's water was a disgusting orange opaque color, my parents clearly hadnt cleaned it once in the year i was gone, except for the occasional water addition. I recently bought a master testing kit for a planted aquarium i am working on and tested the water... it had an almost instant ammonia reading of 8.0 ppm, and thats just as high as the reader goes.
this fish has probably been living in 8.0 ppm+ ammonia water for months now, with no suicide attempts, no signs of sluggishness or ammonia poisoning. is my fish a monster? a mutant? i dont know but im kind of scared of it.
i bought a 5 gallon tank and plan on moving him but at this point im afraid he needs the ammonia to live. any suggestions or reactions, this cant be normal right?
I recently got back from college where i left my 4 year old carnival goldfish in the care of my parents. this fish lives in a tiny one gallon tank ( I know it's messed up but when i initially won the fish four years ago i was clearly not ready to be a fish mom and expected him to die within the first two months). when i got back, i noticed the fish's water was a disgusting orange opaque color, my parents clearly hadnt cleaned it once in the year i was gone, except for the occasional water addition. I recently bought a master testing kit for a planted aquarium i am working on and tested the water... it had an almost instant ammonia reading of 8.0 ppm, and thats just as high as the reader goes.
this fish has probably been living in 8.0 ppm+ ammonia water for months now, with no suicide attempts, no signs of sluggishness or ammonia poisoning. is my fish a monster? a mutant? i dont know but im kind of scared of it.
i bought a 5 gallon tank and plan on moving him but at this point im afraid he needs the ammonia to live. any suggestions or reactions, this cant be normal right?