Background story: I bought 3 goldfish and 1 algae eater for my 10US gallon tank. Within 1 week, 2 goldfish died and the 3rd one died within the 2nd week (algae eater survived). I went back to the store to get my tank tested, turns out my water’s nitrite level was too high (apparently having water in my tank for 2 weeks wasn’t good enough). I added some cycle fluid into the tank and got my water tested again, this time the water is acceptable for new fish.
I bought another 3 goldfish today. Do I need to do partial water changes every 2 days for the next 2 weeks (a recommendation from the tank’s starter guide but I can’t seem to find another source for such advice)?
you might want to get some Ph buffer for your tank as fish poo contains nitrates and this will alter the balance. also you will need to cycle it when you change the water, as (im guessing your filling up with the water from your tap) the new water will be unsuitable for fish.
im not 100% on my fish keeping facts but that should help.
I used to breed freshwater fish specifically bristlenose cats and cichlids.
10 gallon tank isn’t the biggest tank, I’d suggest maybe avoiding goldfish as well. For goldfish you need at least a 55 gallon tank. Also goldfish have been so inbred that it’s a crap shoot on getting one that will last longer than 6 months.
what are you using as a filter system?
also I’d suggest getting your own water testing kit, they are pretty cheap and it’s easy to do(if your not colour blind, unlike myself lol)
[quote]Skinystudent wrote:
you might want to get some Ph buffer for your tank as fish poo contains nitrates and this will alter the balance. also you will need to cycle it when you change the water, as (im guessing your filling up with the water from your tap) the new water will be unsuitable for fish.
im not 100% on my fish keeping facts but that should help.
[/quote]
For sure, I am using cycle and chlorine remover when I do partial water changes.
[quote]Skinystudent wrote:
you might want to get some Ph buffer for your tank as fish poo contains nitrates and this will alter the balance. also you will need to cycle it when you change the water, as (im guessing your filling up with the water from your tap) the new water will be unsuitable for fish.
im not 100% on my fish keeping facts but that should help.
[/quote]
For sure, I am using cycle and chlorine remover when I do partial water changes.[/quote]
how much water are you changing at a time? doing big water changes in the first week or two is probably not the best idea, maybe 10% every 3 days
[quote]Skinystudent wrote:
you might want to get some Ph buffer for your tank as fish poo contains nitrates and this will alter the balance. also you will need to cycle it when you change the water, as (im guessing your filling up with the water from your tap) the new water will be unsuitable for fish.
im not 100% on my fish keeping facts but that should help.
[/quote]
For sure, I am using cycle and chlorine remover when I do partial water changes.[/quote]
What? you dont need to cycle the tank every time you change the water. thats ridiculous. as long as you have biological filtration (nitrifying bacteria) in your filter, than the only thing you should really have to worry about is nitrate levels (the end product of the nitrogen cycle) Also, not all tap water has chlorine in it, so a chlorine remover may not be necessary depending on where you live. And as far as pH buffers go, fluctuations in pH are much more stressful than a stable pH slightly outside of the fish’s typical pH range. using a pH buffer to constantly adjust the pH to keep it at a certain point generally isn’t a great idea.
[quote]carlcarlson wrote:
how much water are you changing at a time? doing big water changes in the first week or two is probably not the best idea, maybe 10% every 3 days[/quote]
[quote]Skinystudent wrote:
you might want to get some Ph buffer for your tank as fish poo contains nitrates and this will alter the balance. also you will need to cycle it when you change the water, as (im guessing your filling up with the water from your tap) the new water will be unsuitable for fish.
im not 100% on my fish keeping facts but that should help.
[/quote]
For sure, I am using cycle and chlorine remover when I do partial water changes.[/quote]
What? you dont need to cycle the tank every time you change the water. thats ridiculous. as long as you have biological filtration (nitrifying bacteria) in your filter, than the only thing you should really have to worry about is nitrate levels (the end product of the nitrogen cycle) Also, not all tap water has chlorine in it, so a chlorine remover may not be necessary depending on where you live. And as far as pH buffers go, fluctuations in pH are much more stressful than a stable pH slightly outside of the fish’s typical pH range. using a pH buffer to constantly adjust the pH to keep it at a certain point generally isn’t a great idea.[/quote]
The fish girl said that I should at cycle every time after a water change to maintain the cycle.
I don’t have biological filtration, only mechanical (a pump that pumps water through a pad).
[quote]Skinystudent wrote:
you might want to get some Ph buffer for your tank as fish poo contains nitrates and this will alter the balance. also you will need to cycle it when you change the water, as (im guessing your filling up with the water from your tap) the new water will be unsuitable for fish.
im not 100% on my fish keeping facts but that should help.
[/quote]
For sure, I am using cycle and chlorine remover when I do partial water changes.[/quote]
What? you dont need to cycle the tank every time you change the water. thats ridiculous. as long as you have biological filtration (nitrifying bacteria) in your filter, than the only thing you should really have to worry about is nitrate levels (the end product of the nitrogen cycle) Also, not all tap water has chlorine in it, so a chlorine remover may not be necessary depending on where you live. And as far as pH buffers go, fluctuations in pH are much more stressful than a stable pH slightly outside of the fish’s typical pH range. using a pH buffer to constantly adjust the pH to keep it at a certain point generally isn’t a great idea.[/quote]
The fish girl said that I should at cycle every time after a water change to maintain the cycle.
I don’t have biological filtration, only mechanical (a pump that pumps water through a pad). [/quote]
the fish girl is just trying to make money by selling you more cycle. and just replace the mechanical filtration with a filter sponge that fits in there (you can buy one and cut it to fit your filter) so that bacteria will grow on it. biological filtration is much more important than mechanical and the biological filter will serve as mechanical as well anyway
you need a bigger tank. the larger the tank the easier it is to control the nitrates, ammonia, ph, and algae. get the biggest that you can afford or have room for. get a long tank as opposed to a tall one. fish swim side to side not up and down.
get a good filter like a Fluval or Ehime canister, Penguin or Whisper large back filter, or a mini reef. they aren’t cheap but unless you want to replace fish every week or so it’s a must. get a good Aquaclear or Rio powerhead and place it in a corner of your tank so the water moves. that will help to aerate and oxygenate the water. most powerheads have an air tube to draw air into the water stream. remember that the warmer the water the less diffused oxygen there is.
get yourself a plastic trash can of at least 30 gallons or larger. clean it by scrubbing the insides with salt. never use any kind of soap or cleanser on anything that’s going in the tank. get a plastic pitcher and do the same with it. rinse throughly. use these ONLY for the fish. you will use the pitcher for water transfer unless you spring for a Vortex Diatom filter. if you get serious about fish it is a really great investment. it not only will help in water transfer “it will filter out particles as small as 1 micron; making them a tremendous aid in the treatment and prevention of aquarium diseases caused by micro-organisms such as ick, velvet, tail and fin rot, fungus, flukes, fish lice, etc.” a quote from the manufacturer but I have had mine for over 10 years and it is great. fill the can with water and hit it with dechlorinator and ammonia remover. let it set for a couple of days. when you are trying to get a tank to cycle from dead don’t change out more than 1/2 the tank(on a large one)if the ammonia and nitrate levels up. I usually only did 1/3. if you change out too much the tank won’t get a large enough bacteria colony to cycle properly. if you know anybody with a cycled tank just get some water from them to kick start it. when a tank starts to cycle it sometimes will get murky. if it does that do a water test. you can get a good test kit that covers everything at any fish store or if the store is a good one they will do a free test for you. if the levels are o.k. it should clear up in a few days and it’s cycled. NEVER PUT A LARGE AMOUNT OF COLD WATER INTO A TANK! it can cause the fish to die from shock or to hemmorhage. I learned this the hard way years ago when I first got into fish.
forget the goldfish and get a couple of mollies to get the tank to cycle. goldfish produce a lot of waste. don’t feed them every day. missed food on the bottom of the tank will send the ammonia levels up in a hurry. bottom feeders will help clean up the food but they will not eat waste products. you have to vacuume the bottom of the tank every so often. if you have a Vortex filter you set the filter up according to directions and stir up the bottom by hand or whatever. make sure you lift up any large rocks, driftwood or ornaments to get the crap out from under them. the filter will do the rest.
research into the fish you want. some cannot live together because they require different water temps, ph levels(can be controlled without buying that shit in the store), color(large amounts of tannic acid),or hardness(same as ph). some prefer fast moving water while some like it very still. some prefer a sandy bottom. some prefer rocks. some will seek cover and you’ll never see them(coolie loaches). some will eat or dig up any plants. some will eat or kill the others. some will only do this when the lights go out. some are fin nippers or scale eaters. some are just agressive and will pick on another fish till it stresses out and dies. some(jewel cichlid) get very aggressive when it’s breeding time. some(clown knife, arowanna, hatchets) will leap out of a tank if you don’t have a good top. I had a clown knife named Pavlov that died that way. she only ate live food so I had put some feeder goldfish in the tank and left to go eat. I had some rocks on the lid because she had jumped out before. when I got back she was on the floor and the entire top, lights and all were off the tank. she wasn’t real big for her species, only 22" long, but they are a strong fish and incredibly fast. some only eat live food, or specialized frozen food like bloodworms. some need lots of green. know what you fish needs to eat to be healthy. some species can live together and make a beautiful tank and some will have to be the only thing in the tank. some will live for more than 15 years and some will grow from @2" when they are purchased to over 400lbs(nile perch sold under the trade name white datenoid)
if you have any questions on freshwater fish I’ll try to help you out.
the most tanks I’ve had going at one time: 1 x 75 gal, 2 x 55 gal, 1 x 45 gal tall, 1 x 45 gal long, 1 x 35 gal tall, 2 x 20 gal, 1 x 15 gal, 2 x 10 gal, and some betta bowls and jugs. I currently have only a few betta jugs but if I can get some stuff rearranged I’m thinking of digging out 1 of my 55’s and doing a tetra tank again
So, do I need to do partial water changes every 2 days for the next 2 weeks? I am afraid that ammonia/nitrite is/are going to skyrocket because I added 3 goldfish.
I heard somewhere not to mix cold water fish (gold fish) with tropical. Gold fish also crap a lot = more waste in your tank = more maintenance. Try to avoid overstocking your tank unless you really like cleaning. Also, be careful what kind of algae eaters you get, some can grow really big and give up being a vegetarian. It pays off well to google up anything you plan to put into your tank.
I have a really low maintenance tank with fish and plants. How do I do it? I have an oversized filter (fluval), fish and plants that are tough to kill.
For fish right now I have albino corydoras, harlquin rasporas, and for plants I have a giant bunch of crypts growing off an old piece of driftwood.
If your water isn’t crystal clear, try adding polywool to your filter.
Up until I moved I owned 2 tanks a 55 gallon with African Chiclids and a 75 with some Green Terrors and Red Devils.
I started with a 10gallon and it took me 3 months on having it to learn that at most you should only put 1 gold fish in that thing. To be honest unless your putting something really small really really small in there you should only use that 10gallon as a hospital tank.
Go up to a 20 gallon if you can if you have a whisper or one of the other pumps that hangs over the side and pumps the water thru a a sponge with carbon added pads and pours the water back over you should be safe.
When you first start out let the water go for a week or 2 before you even add a fish. Then add one fish NOTHING EXPENSIVE let the fish make waste and eat for about 2 weeks then slowly add more. Read up a bit more before you add anything like an algae eater.
[quote]Mikaj wrote:
For fish right now I have albino corydoras, harlquin rasporas, and for plants I have a giant bunch of crypts growing off an old piece of driftwood.
If your water isn’t crystal clear, try adding polywool to your filter.[/quote]
I used too keep cory’s with discus, most entertaining fish I’ve ever had. Sure discus are pretty but cory’s were great too watch, great personality.
dwarf gourami’s are another fish I enjoyed keeping, along with my oscar(lived for 8 years), my jag(only had him for 3 years, then had too sell him) and my kribensis.
I used too breed peacocks and mbuna but was too awesome at it(not really) but it ended up being too expensive too keep them cause I had too keep buying baby tanks and finding stores too offload the babies too.
my electric yellows, were the most perfect yellow I have seen on any.
[quote]that new guy wrote:
So, do I need to do partial water changes every 2 days for the next 2 weeks? I am afraid that ammonia/nitrite is/are going to skyrocket because I added 3 goldfish.[/quote]
As Carl said, get yourself a testing kit. That will give you the best indication as to when to cycle your water. (If you are really lazy you can even splurge and just by the testing strips) Frequent smaller water changes are more beneficial in the beginning than large ones.
An established tank has bacteria in it that eats the ammonia/nitrates etc. but when you are just starting out there is not much bacteria which leads to high ammonia/nitrate levels. If you take out too much water you are also removing the good bacteria which will make the break-in period even longer.
You can also try adding some Biozyme which will jump start bacteria production. Toss a pinch into the tank with a little bit of food (the decaying food will give them something to eat while they multiply) a few days before adding fish.
I also agree that goldfish are tough (and strangely suicidal from my experience, though that may be a reflection of me…which is rather depressing). Start with something easy like zebra danios. These are small fish which will slow down initial nitrate/ammonia production and are very hardy. They are also schooling fish so get at least 4; watching them school is actually pretty relaxing as well.
I have also had good results with using crayfish for keeping the tank cleaner. You have to make sure that they are not so big that they will eat your fish, but most chain stores sell small ones for cheap. Give them a place to hide and they are pretty much good to go.
One other thing, some water treatment plants have switched from chlorine to chloramine. I was told that unlike chlorine, chloramine will not break down if left out so you have to add a dechlorinator. Your local water company can tell you if they are using chloramine.
disclaimer: I am no fish expert, but have had to start a lot of tanks at my job. Just my 2 cents.
