New to the forum have couple ?'s

[cougargirl50]

Hi everyone. I'm new to this site. I have been reading alot of different posts on this site, and it is all very helpful. I used to have a 10 gallon tank. That was I bought fish and when they died I thought owell we will just buy more. I had no idea about all this cycling of the tank or anything. So I am learning alot. That and I am really into the fish stuff now.

I have a couple questions I hope yous can help.

I recently had a 10 gallon aquarium that had 3 goldfish in, and I'm not even sure if it was cycled or not (didn't have a test kit to test anything) so I have no idea. I had the tank with the fish in it for about 2 months. On April 18th I got a 20 gallon tank from my brother in law and moved EVERYTHING
I have 2 Whisper 10's hanging on the back and I also have a undergravel filter. So I moved them, the stones, the decor and whatever else was in there.

On April 19th we went to a pet store in the next town from us 1/2 hour drive to buy a 1 ounce packet of Bio Spira. On the drive home to keep it cold I put it in a small cooler with a cold pack. As soon as I got it home I put it in the tank.

On April 20th, I did a water test and here are my results:
PH 7.2
AMMONIA .25
NITRITE 2.0 (way to high)
NITRATES 0

People on other forum sites were telling me since my nitrites were so high to do a water change, so I took out enough water to just cover where the water goes into the tubes of the filters(so I didnt have to turn off the filters).

This morning I did a water test and my results are as follows:
PH 7.2
AMMONIA .25
NITRITE 2.0 (way to high)
NITRATES 0

I added a heater this morning because I'm taking out the goldfish and putting in some tropicals.

Is my tank starting to cycle?

Could my nitrites be high because of the 3 goldfish that are in there?

With the levels the way they are, is it safe to go ahead and put tropicals in there? Or will I lose them?

I know goldfish don't like warmer water but I put the heater in and the fish swim around really nice and I took notice the one actually now swims with his fins up. The tank is very clear and the 3 fish look very healthy. Right now the temp in the tank is about 76 degrees. )

 

[mm_simb]

to the forums
I'm not sure how to answer your questions since I don't really have tropical fish and the ones I have owned have all died
I do know that you should wait to put tropical fish in the tank so you can avoid cycling with them. I would also not put tropical fish with goldfish since they have different needs. Goldfish are also coldwater fish so I think they temperature you have them in is kind of high. Hopefully someone else can help you better on this.

 

[The-Wolf]

hi
although goldfish can tollerate higher temps than other coldwater fish, this dosn't mean they should be kept in tropical waters. doing so increases their metabolisum and therfor increase the amount of ammonia they produce.

your 20 gallon is already overstocked as goldfish need 20 gallons for the first fish and 10 for each additional one, as stated, due the the amount of ammonia they produce. additionally the slime coat on a goldfish is very toxic to most species of tropical fish.

your tank will never acheive zero amonia or nitrites because you have too many fish. Just to re-itterate 3 goldfish need 40 gallons.

oh and is case you wern't aware, goldfish can reach over 20" and live for 30+ years.

HTH

 

[john5748]

Hi and welcome first of all

I used to have goldfish also, when I decided to move onto tropical fish I made the mistake of having my goldfish in with the tropical fish, this is really not a good idea as The-Wolf previously mentioned.

I think the best idea would be to have two seperate tanks, that way you can have double the pleasure

If you do decide on that course of action, then I am sure your water chemistry will settle down and allow you to introduce tropicals into your tank.

If you are unsure of which tropicals to buy once your ready I read a post earlier today discussing that very topic.

Good luck and all the best .

 

[superjalami30]

separate tanks is ideal, however, I housed 3 3 inch goldfish alongside 3 guppies and 3 platies in a 10 gallon because, in my early days as an eager beaver, willing to try anything, I liked to try things I'm advised not to do.
(One paticular mananger at our local "superpet" told me to "try, sometimes it works, sometimes it doesnt")
Everyone else told me the tropical fish "would" die.
To my delight none of them did, in fact they're overall appearance was better then the guppies platies etc etc in my tropical tank. The males tails were large and full, no tears or rips, both sexes colors were bright and vibrant.
I did 2 very small water changes a week, and kept a very close eye on my water conditions, making adjustments when needed.
Of course, this took up a lot of time making sure things were going ok, but it was worth trying (to me anyways).
Eventually I took the tropical fish out and I have them to this day in another tank.
I wouldnt advise someone to do it, but thought it should be mentioned that it "is" possible to do.
The guppies and platies I housed with my goldfish did not reproduce though. I presume the cold water conditions affected they're "desire" to rub tails.

There are, of course, certian species of fish/Invertebrates/amphibians I wouldnt put together.
I made the mistake of putting a mystery snail in with my albino clod frog. The snail didnt last too long.
After i managed to rescue the snail I put it in a small tank alone to "hopefully" recover.
It didnt.

 

[superjalami30]

As for housing goldfish.
The general "rule" of thumb in any tank is one inch of fish per one gallon of water.
This "general" rule is just that.
Goldfish do make a tonne of waste through breathing and they're waste.
However.
Taking the necessary steps to insure proper oxygen/Co2 gas exchange, using live plants, (cold water/hard leaved plants), and "overkill" filtration are all means of housing more fish in any tank, espcially goldfish.
In my own personal experiance housing 3 goldfish, that now are about 4 inches long, in a 10 gallon tank, I have found the above requirements, along with some extra TLC, it is possible to have three healthy, vibrant looking fish.
I know eventually I will either have to go with a larger tank or give them back to the pet store.
So, I've already taken the steps to keeping them.
I bought "ANOTHER" larger tank.
**sighs**
My wife's going to leave me.

I currently have 20 gallon tank I use to breed guppies, platies and mollies, some to give to a local pet store in exchange for discounts on supplies or other fish, some to feed my clod, and a few to keep in another 40 gallon tank for my own enjoyment.
At this time I have anywhere between 150 and 200 babies on the go.

 

[sylvia]

I didn't read the other posts so sorry if someone's already answered the questions...

Firstly, if there are goldfish in your tank, yes, it is starting to cycle.

Your nitrItes are high because the tank isn't cycled yet. As soon as your tank is cycled, ammonia will be 0, ntirIte will be 0 and nitrAte should be quite high. You are supposed to keep nitrAtes under control by doing 25% (or so) water changes with DE-CHLORINATED water every week. You should aim to keep nitrAtes under 20ppm though up to 40 is ok for most tropicals.

You are lucky to have begun with goldfish as tropicals would be very unlikely to survive the over-stocking, cycling and moving the goldfish have been through. In my opinion, since you have already begun to cycle, keep the goldfish in there until ammonia/nitrite is at 0. I would suggest you do water changes every couple of days though (put de-chlorinator in the water!) so that the goldfish don't have to suffer very high ntirItes.

Then you should get rid of the goldfish like you planned and get your first few tropicals. I'd suggest either 5 zebra danios or a couple of male platies (males have a modified anal fin called a gonopodium - it's tube-like as opposed to that of the female which is fan-shaped). Make sure you return the goldfish and add your tropicals on the same day - otherwise all the good bacteria that has been colonising your filter media and gravel will die of starvation as there will be no fish waste for it to feed on.

The general guideline for stocking a tropical freshwater tank is 'one inch of fish per gallon'. The 'inch' reffers to ADULT sizes so you must know the size the fish will get to when they are fully grown. However, keep in mind that there are certain other things to consider as well - for example, zebra (or leopard) danios need to be in a 20 gallon tank minnimum and in a group of at least 5 because they are schooling fish. Even though they only get to 1.5", you cannot keep 5 danios in a 10 gallon due to their activity level. Similarly, livebearers such as platies breed like rabbits - the general rule is to have at least 2 females for every male or stick to just one sex. You need to keep in mind, however, that females can store sperm for several months so buying only females does not guarantee you won't end up with fry. The reason you keep 2 females to every male is so that the males don't constantly chase one female - which would be very stressful for her. Luckily, most fry get eaten anyway so this isn't too much of a problem most of the time. Platies also get to 1.5" and would get along fine with zebra (or leopard) danios.

Concerning goldfish, high temperatures speed up their metabolism but can also make them vulnerable to certain diseases because they are coldwater fish. Some of the fancier types have, however, been rbed for generations in warmer water and now do better in it. Regardless, the goldfish you have now should be ok in tropical temperatures for a little while until the tank is fully cycled and you are ready for the tropical fish. Make sure you don't have the tropicals in with the goldfish at the same time though - take the goldfish to your LFS or wherever and then immediately (within a few hours) replace them with 2-5 suitable tropicals (as I said, 5 zebra danios and/or 2 male platies are the best starting point). As for the stocking of your goldfish - goldfish get to 12" and are VERY messy fish. The rule for stocking them is 20 gallons for the first goldfish and 10 gallons for each additional tank-mate. That means your 3 goldfish actualy would potentialy need at least a 40 gallon tank. Replacing them with tropicals is a wise descision in that sense and will save them a lot of suffering as they would out-grow the tank and the water quality would suffer greatly.

Welcome to the forum and to tropical fish keeping, don't cut corners, be patient, research all your fish carefuly and have fun!

 

[rdd1952]

Was the tank you got from your brother already running and cycled? If so, you shouldn't have had ammonia and nitrite readings that quick unless he had almost nothing in it. Even with 3 goldfish (which I can't imagine are more that 3 or 4 inches each since they are only in a 10 gallon tank), I wouldn't think you would get readings like that in just 48 hours especially in a cycled tank.
As for the Bio Spira, I have read that it is a great product if it has been handled properly. I assume since you kept it refrigerated coming home that they were keeping it refrigerated too but you still don't know how old it was.