Goldfish To Tropical

[malloandson]

Hi to All

I used to keep goldfish but have decided to change to tropical, I need some advice regarding my existing tank, can I leave the existing water in it and add a heater or I am better emptying it and start all over again and I would appreciate any tips.

thanks to all in advance

 

[waterdrop]

If the goldfish were healthy, there is no reason you could not use the tank as is, but it sure seems like a golden (whoops) opportunity for a complete breakdown, cleaning, maintenance and then a good test of the cycling situation. In any case, be very careful to keep your media wet and preserved if it is fully cycled media.

~~waterdrop~~

 

[Colin_T]

I would simply do a massive water change and complete gravel clean. Then refill the tank with dechlorinated water and put a heater & thermometer in it. Let the tank come up to temperature and add some fish. Just monitor the ammonia & nitrite levels over the next few weeks and you should be fine. Don’t add any catfish for a month or so.

 

[malloandson]

I would simply do a massive water change and complete gravel clean. Then refill the tank with dechlorinated water and put a heater & thermometer in it. Let the tank come up to temperature and add some fish. Just monitor the ammonia & nitrite levels over the next few weeks and you should be fine. Don’t add any catfish for a month or so.

How long would you say before actually adding some fish. thanks

 

[waterdrop]

Well, certainly it would be a good idea to understand the rdd1952 fishless cycling article and how to test that the filter is fully cycled. We can help with that if there are questions. The filter may very well already be fully cycled, in which case I'd think fish could be reasonably added towards the end of a week of having it run and monitoring the test results.

~~waterdrop~~

 

[Colin_T]

How long would you say before actually adding some fish. thanks

If the tank had fish in today and you took them out and got rid of them. Then did a water change and gravel clean, you could add new fish tomorrow.
If the tank hasn't had fish in for a week or two then chances are most of the filter bacteria will have gone dormant and the tank might cycle again (develop an ammonia/ nitrite reading) when you add new fish.