Please Help, New Fresh Water Tank, No Conditioners!

[laura-j]

Please help... I started a new cold water tank up and stupidly didn't realise I had to condition the water first. The tank sat tap filled with filter running for over 24 hours then yesterday I added two goldfish; a sarasa comet and a shubunkin. Can I add a conditioner whilst the fish are in the water? It's a 54 litre tank. I want to do what I can before they get sick or die. Any advice would be hugely appreciated.

 

[CezzaXV]

Yes, you can add directly to the tank.

If you left it for 24 hours, it's likely the chlorine gassed off, though it won't have gotten rid of anything else that was in the water, so add a conditioner ASAP.

Have you read up on cycling? It's very important.

 

[laura-j]

Many thanks for the quick response CezzaXV! Is cycling the process of regular small water changes and testing? I have no intentions of adding more fish yet but was considering minnows when it's time as I'm wary of the goldfish growing an being too cramped. My local pet shop is shut today but I'll head up first thing tomorrow and buy conditioner. I can't believe it didn't occur to me as I had a large tropical tank years ago. Hope the fish are ok. They don't seem to be eating today but did yesterday so I'm hoping it's just due to re-adjustment and not ammonia or anything else nasty in there.

 

[N0body Of The Goat]

Adding dechlorinator to the tank is fine.

Did you "fishless cycle" the filter for 30+ days by adding ammonia, so that the filter was ready for these goldfish? If so and you added a lot of untreated water to the tank, you could well have killed most if not all the vital bacteria that process toxic ammonia and nitrite into nitrate.

If you literally setup the tank with a brand new filter and added the fish, your mistake will not have killed the bacteria. However, this means you are "fish in cycling," which basically means above all else you have to keep the ammonia and nitrite levels at <0.25mg/l, testing the water daily with a liquid test kit (not inaccurate test strips) if not twice daily (morning/evening) and then changing 75-95% of the water with dechlorinated similar temp water.

My advice for making "fish in cycling" less stressful on the fish is...

• Get yourself some Seachem Prime dechlorinator. It will temporarily detoxify ammonia and nitrite for upto 24 hours, plus it is far easier on your wallet because just 5ml treats 200 litres (many dechlorinators would require you to add ~10ml per 15 litres).
• Perhaps look into buying some fast growing plants that will be happy in a cooler water goldfish setup with help from our planted gurus, with some fertiliser and a carbon source like Waterlife Easycarbo. With lighting from direct sunlight or a controlled lighting period by suitable bulbs, these plants can help the fish by using ammonia and nitrate as a food source.

Good luck!

 

[laura-j]

Thanks so much for all your help; I'll follow your advice and, fingers crossed, these two will be ok! Many thanks again!

 

[CezzaXV]

N0body has given you some good advice. You should do some more reading on fish-in cycling to get more of an idea of what it is and why it's important, but in essence you need to get yourself a liquid test kit and test twice a day, and do as big a water change as possible whenever you have readable ammonia or nitrite. Eventually you'll get to a point where you never have either, then can just change the water once a week as routine maintenance.

 

[paulyoung666]

Yes, you can add directly to the tank.

If you left it for 24 hours, it's likely the chlorine gassed off, though it won't have gotten rid of anything else that was in the water, so add a conditioner ASAP.

Have you read up on cycling? It's very important.

Won't have got rid of chloramine if that is what is used though ....

 

[CezzaXV]

Yes, you can add directly to the tank.

If you left it for 24 hours, it's likely the chlorine gassed off, though it won't have gotten rid of anything else that was in the water, so add a conditioner ASAP.

Have you read up on cycling? It's very important.

Won't have got rid of chloramine if that is what is used though ....

That was my point. Any chlorine would have gassed off but everything else will still be in the water, hence why a good water conditioner is important.

 

[paulyoung666]

Yes, you can add directly to the tank.

If you left it for 24 hours, it's likely the chlorine gassed off, though it won't have gotten rid of anything else that was in the water, so add a conditioner ASAP.

Have you read up on cycling? It's very important.

Won't have got rid of chloramine if that is what is used though ....

That was my point. Any chlorine would have gassed off but everything else will still be in the water, hence why a good water conditioner is important.

apologies , mind you , the OP might be lucky like me , our water is treat with chlorine not chloramine ....

 

[ZoddyZod]

there's a bit on an 'elephant in the room' situation going on here.....nobody has mentioned the size of the tank and the inhabitants, so I guess I will be the bringer of bad tidings

Sadly a 54L tank is inadequate for the fish you have chosen. Comets grow LARGE and the shubunkin gets fat. Even on their own this size tank is not big enough. Have a search around the internet for their full adult sizes and you will see what I mean. This may not be an immediate concern but you should certainly think about your future plans for the fish.

 

[laura-j]

Zoddyzod, many thanks. I knew they could get big but I am now concerned, particularly by the fact that the staff in the pet shop said I could house ten or eleven in this tank! Sounds incredibly inhumane. We shall definitely not add anymore fish and a larger tank in the future is possible. I am pretty concerned for the longterm welfare of these fish now.

 

[ZoddyZod]

ahhhh, some truly awful advice you have received there....but you're not the first and wont be the last. You must bare in mind that shops are there for a single purpose - profit, and unfortunately that can cloud their ethics somewhat when selling fish. Either that or the shop assistant was really clueless about what he/she was selling.