New O.o

[Goldie1]

Hello. I'm normally more of a dry and fuzzy pet sort of person, but my brother showed up at my doorstep with his aquarium. He no longer wanted it because he was moving, and it was his step daughter's father's tank anyway.

So I have the aquarium, i measured about 30 gallons. I managed to figure out the filter. It only came with about 2.5 gallons of their old water. And unfortunately there are 9 single tailed goldfish!

He used to but them brand new filter inserts every other week. He never vacuumed gravel.

They've survived three days now. I think I'll rinse their filters in a bucket of their own water. I'm only feeding them once a day to keep the waste down. I don't have a water testing kit or a siphon yet. I'm hoping that since the filters were changed too often that there's plenty of bacteria in the gravel so that I don't get a huge cycle. I think once I acquire a siphon I'll only do half or third of the gravel.

So! While I'm watching for a pond for the largest of the fish, what can I do to keep things comfortable? How much water change and how often? How often should I rinse the filter things? How often should I vacuum the gravel? An I too worried because they've survived these conditions for quite some time?

I'm going to go put the tank details into my profile. Wish me luck!

 

[jlk]

Welcome to AA!!! My first suggestion would be to invest in a good liquid test kit such as the API fw master test kit (amazon has them inexpensively) and a water changer. Your going to have lots and lots of water changes ahead of you until you can figure out what to do with these guys. Looking for a happy pond home really is your best option here. Check out Craigslist or contact your local pond stores for help.

Base your water changes off your test numbers. You ideally want zero ammonia and nitrite but I suspect this is going to be quite difficult to obtain with the present amount and type of fish. A good water conditioner such as Prime or Amquel Plus will help keep toxins in a less dangerous state between water changes so they dont affect your fish. Change 50% at a time making sure you temperature match and condition all new water.

No need to change the filter media. Just rinse it once a week in some used tank water from a water change. Gravel vac once a week for now but you may find you need to do this more frequently due to the messiness of goldfish (they are piggies!). Ill post a link to fish-in cycling below just so you have a bit more info- please ask any questions!

I just learned about cycling but I already have fish. What now?! - Aquarium Advice

 

[Convict2161]

Welcome to the forum. You have gotten some great advice.

 

[Goldie1]

Thanks! Ok... Water water water... I only have a 5 gal bucket to let water cure in. But im determined to keep these buggers healthy. I dont wznt to think how many years the biggest ones have lived like this! And I'll see how soon I can get a test kit. And of course looking around for a pond.

 

[jlk]

Water doesnt need to sit as long as you are using a good water conditioner and dosing it properly. Use both hot and cold water from your tap to temperature match the new water. With a water changer, you just drain/gravel vac, dose conditioner to your tank size and refill. They save alot of time, effort and spilled water!

 

[Convict2161]

Water doesnt need to sit as long as you are using a good water conditioner and dosing it properly. Use both hot and cold water from your tap to temperature match the new water. With a water changer, you just drain/gravel vac, dose conditioner to your tank size and refill. They save alot of time, effort and spilled water!

Agreed on all ^^^^^

 

[Goldie1]

Another question already! It's about filters. I posted a picture about it. I'm wondering if adding in a second media type will help.

 

[jlk]

Did you post a new thread with pics? How can we help you with your filter?

 

[Goldie1]

Oh! Sorry. I put a pic on my profile. Didn't know I could put pics in a thread. I was wondering if I could add a sponge to my filter. I read that sponges are important for bacteria. I just put a pic showing the gap where I think I could fit one.

 

[jlk]

Ok, I'm on my cell but I will take a look tomorrow! Do you know what type of filter it is?

For posting pics, click the 'advanced reply' button below. A new page will pop up. There's a bunch of symbols on the top of the reply box. One is a 'paperclip'. Click this and you can browse your computer and pick pics to upload. From the app, click reply and new screen will pop up. There should be a '+' sign on the top of the screen. Click this and you will be able to upload pics from your cell albums or take a new pic. Hope this helps!

 

[Goldie1]

There we go! I think! Thnx again! Anyways, I know very little about filters. Mine seems to just have pouches of coal. No real brand or id i cam find easily. I read about the wonders of sponges for bacteria, so instead of fiddling with sponges around my bubblers, I want to know if I can just put one between the blue case and where it flows out. There's a good inch of space.

 

[jlk]

I don't recognize the filter but there's many brands out there! Where ever I can find room, I stuff extra media into my filters. I would definitely put some sponge (also called filter foam) into the free space. Filter floss/polyfill is another good one, too.

 

[Goldie1]

Awesome! Will do! The nine "piggies" and I really do appreciate all the advice.

 

[Goldie1]

Day 5, 9/9 fish still alive! Nitrites dropping. And seriously, what sort of test strip doesn't measure ammonia! Obviously I need to go shopping again. I assume that nitrites lowering and pH and nitrates in a normal range is a good thing. Planning to get some live plants. One fish had sore gills, but he's getting better. And best of all, my boss is building a pond, once it thaws, and will gladly take some fish!

 

[jlk]

Thats great your toxin levels are dropping! And wonderful news your boss can take some! They will be very happy!

 

[Goldie1]

My two huge guys and the one with burnt gills are acting sluggish and resting a lot on the bottom. I have some ammonia, but under .25, before a 50% water change. Nitrites have gone down steadily from 3.0 to 1.5. Nitrates sticking at 30. pH is staying neutral. So they're a little stressed still, but nothing fatal according to those numbers. It reminds me of my old roommate who had a goldfish who started staring into the corner of his tank all day for a week or so before he died. Could it be the plant I got? I sanitized it 3 min in lightly bleached water. Rinsed good in tap water. Took out some aquarium water and added extra conditioner for a final rinse. I can't remember where I found those instructions. The big guys did pick at it a lot, so I used a 2L soda bottle to protect the plant and put a natural sponge and a bubbler in the top, just to keep water moving past the plant, kinda like a do it yourself sponge filter. How can these guys not feel well while their water is steadily becoming the most balanced they've ever had?

 

[Goldie1]

I have an API ammonia kit I've been using daily. My tank has read under .25 for the last few days. Today it was right at .25. I used leftover clean conditioned water to double check, and that read .25 as well, even though it's never had fish in it. Any thoughts?

 

[jlk]

I have an API ammonia kit I've been using daily. My tank has read under .25 for the last few days. Today it was right at .25. I used leftover clean conditioned water to double check, and that read .25 as well, even though it's never had fish in it. Any thoughts?

You likely have ammonia in your tap. Although your nitrite levels are dropping, they are still quite high for your fish's health. The sluggish behavior is likely from the high nitrite exposure which impedes a fish's ability to acquire oxygen. Lots and lots of healthy water is the best medicine.

 

[Goldie1]

Nitrite has been 10 for the last three days! I know that's not healthy yet, but still improving. The bug guys aren't moping in the corner any more that I've seen. I do 50% water change twice a week. I read that resin chips lower ammonia; Could I fill a PVC pipe with resin chips and pour my tap water through that first? I can't transport 30 gallons of store bought water a week. Otherwise I read to buy a cheap filter and set it up to filter the new water for a couple days before adding it. Do you think if I did smaller water changes more frequently that the tank could handle my tap water? Or I do have ammonia cutting drops that I'm a little wary of using.

 

[abrinn23]

I've gotta say I'm very impressed with the way you've handled this situation. Your doing a great job!