I Need Help Understanding Cycling

[natty]

hello
Im hopeing someone can help me understand .
I have a 20 gallon tank that housed a approximatly 3 inch goldfish , I did have 4 but the others all died in the space of about a year, but not all at once.
the problem was the water kept getting filthy and i kept , but not regurlarly enough taking out large quantities of the water and replacing it with fresh water and i washed out the dirty filter with cold water.
I have now read this is not the way to do it
Well the remaining goldfish was looking sick, in as much as it wasnt swimming the way it used too, nothing drastic, not upside down or anything but it was wiggling side to side more, so i took him out and he is for the moment in a 5 gallon tank , where he looks much better and seems to be swimming fine . I thought maybe he had been underfed as he looks a bit thin but then i read overfeeding is more likely than underfeeding so i am now feeding a very small amount each day which he eats straight away.

i emptied the 20 gallon tank rinsed the sponges in the filter with fresh cold water and put them back in.
the castle ornament and log and gravel in the tank has not been washed.
Now i dont know what to do. i cant leave the goldfish in the small tank , but i am undecided as to weather to put him back in the big tank or to put him in the pond and start over with some guppies.

I tested the water today and no ammonia and no nitrite reading . But no fish in the tank either .
Would the original gravel and original filter sponges have enough bacteria to break down the nitrites if i put my one fish in and if i did how often and how much water do i change to keep the ammonia down to a safe level or do i test the ammonia and nitrite each day and then change when the readings get high . I also read people do 25% water change every week and then 50% at the end of each month , am i supposed to do that forever or just while the tank is new and until i get a nitrate reading and no ammonia. also how often should i rince out my filter sponges. a lot of what i am reading lately (past 2 days) is quite different than what i was advised to do when i got my tank several years ago.

thanks natty

 

[merry78]

ok, here goes....
1. you now have an uncycled tank, as i imagine that all your filter bacteria (this is in your main tank) will now be dead (they will last 1-24 hrs without food, depending on what you read).

2. If you want to put your goldy in your pond (which is generally recommended and successful), you will need to have filtration in your pond, and it must be more than three feet deep, or your goldy will freeze over winter.

3. If you put him back in your main tank, you will be cycling from the beginning again, and you will need to test daily with a liquid test kit (not test strips), until your readings are 0 ammonia, 0 nitrites, and you have some reading for nitrates.

4. Water changes will always be essential, i like to change 20% twice a week, but most people are less obsessive than me. 30% fortnightly is about the minimum you can get away with. The reason you need to keep doing the changes forever, is that you can't process nitrate out of your water, you need to remove the polluted water and replace it with clean, dechlorinated water. always. forever.

5. you can only rinse sponges in old tank water if you want to keep your tank cycled. Don't rinse them in tapwater. Don't replace them until they are literally falling apart (ignore the manufacturer's instructions to replace them every month or whatever, this is something they say to keep you buying parts, and it is harmful to your fish). You should only need to rinse them gently every month or so, and never all filter components at once- you will wash all the good bacteria out if you are too thorough. Dirty filter=good, until the flow rate decreases from the sheer volume of gunk blocking the sponges.

6. As you will be doing a fish in cycle (remember all your good bac is now dead), stick with your goldy for the meantime, as they are tougher and will cope better than guppies. However, the ideal scenario would be to rehome your goldy and do a fishless cycle- ammonia is painful for your fish (or if you are strictly scientific about it, it is detrimental to your fishes' health) and a fish in cycle hurts.

7. If you do a fish in cycle, you need to keep testing your stats daily, and doing at least 20% water changes twice a day to keep your goldy alive. This will slow down your cycle a bit, but remember, ammonia hurts your fish.

8. finally, the recommended tank size for goldys is at least 20-30 Gallons for the first, and an additional 10 gallons for each successive goldy. You need a big tank for your goldys to be happy, hence the pond recommendation.

Hope this helps, sorry to be so long-winded.
merry.

 

[natty]

Thanks for your help. Ive put the goldfish back in the tank for the time being at least . Ive been testing the water and its still at 0 ammonia and 0 nitrite will check again each day and do the water changes as you reccomended.
natty

 

[backtotropical]

Welcome to the forum Natty.

 

[natty]

hi
Its day 5 of cycling my clean tank with a goldfish in , the ammonia test was not quite as clear as it was but it was only the tiniest hint of yellow , so small i could have imagined it . I did a water change afterwards after Ive tested every day and today again there is no ammonia or nitrite. I have a web page up that details when each level of ammonia , nitrite and nitrate rises and falls. day 5 says ammonia reaches its peak and that on the third day the ammonia should have reached near dangerous levels. Neither has happened according to my test results , is this guide a very rough guide or am i doing something wrong . Should i get a nitrate test tommorow to check those ? . is it possible that my tank didnt need to cycle and that the helpfull bacteria were still in the fliter , gravel log etc. im probably just being too eager but i thought id check with you guys to make sure.
thanks
natty

 

[merry78]

hi natty, glad to hear your goldy is going well!
a nitrate test would be helpful to let you know how your cycle is going.
you may still have some good bacteria, as you said, or it may be that your frequent water changes are slowing your cycle and keeping your readings low.
also, welcome to the forum! (probably should have said that earlier..... )