Posted: 2005.11.16(Wed)14:19 Post subject: goldfish problem
OK, well my neice has a goldfish in a 10 gallon tank it is I believe. I also assume that they don't have a pump with biowheels, because when I asked her if it did, she didn't know what I was talking about. Well she is fixing too, because I am giving her a Penguin330 I know that they add water, but I don't think they do water changes, because her dad came over once when I was doing a water change on my 55g. He asked what the gravel vacuum was, and asked what in the world was I doing??? How sad that they don't know. OK, well I know that they have tried a plecostemus, but they said that the goldfish ate it. But she told me yesterday something about lots of ammonia? So I am wondering if it wasnt the ammonia problem that killed the sucker fish, THEN the goldfish was eating it? I know that they continuously run the air pump. She said the water never stays clear. Well I am going over there Sunday and taking my vacuum, Aquasafe, test kit, and trying to help her get this stuff straightened out. Everyone needs at least one fish tank in the household, and every fish tank needs to be a clean one, so I think. I love the hobby, and want to help them out any way I can. But since this goldfish has been swimming in ammonia for quite some time, maybe a year? Should I do a very small water change, will too big of one hurt the fish? Since it is so adapted to living in the ammonia? And how well should I vacuum the gravel? Should I add any salt? I really don't know a whole lot about goldfish. But there is only one iin the tank. Should I completely scrub the algae off the inside of the tank, or just let the pump filter everything and get "processed", and then see if they can keep a sucker fish and let it take care of it? I wish Sunday would hurry and get here, I am so anxious to help the poor fish, even if it is a goldfish!!!
I keep two comets in a 35 gallon pond/tub. No filter or pump. They survive the cold even when the surface freezes over 2" thick. Not sure a goldfish should even be kept in a 10G tank. You probably just want something sucking out the nitrates, whether it's a filter, aquatic plants, or terrestrial plants.
The 10g is not the ideal tank for a goldfish. But how big is he? If his still small he'll be fine for now, but in the future, a bigger tank will be needed.
You say you are giving her a Penguin330, that _________________ Years of fish keeping = Good advice
The reason I was asking about the water change, was because when I was at the lfs, I had asked about this goldfish thing. He said that since it has been accustomed to the ammonia, having so much clean water all of a sudden may hurt it, that he had cleaned a friends tank who had never ever done water changes, he did a large water change and a few days later all of the fish were dead. But I wanted second opinions. Sometimes I have to hear it more than once before I take it to heart. I don't know how big the goldfish is, and it may be bigger than a 10g tank, but I doubt it. I really appreciate y'alls help, I love this website. This is where I come to research fish before I buy them. About getting her a pleco, should I just take her an Apple snail instead, to start out small to make sure everything is going to be OK??
Wampuskitty, if you were to breathe air contaminated by heavy pollution for lets say a year, and suddenly you move to a rural town, away from the city. Would this affect you? Yes, it should affect you, in a good way. I mean it's not going to make you sick or any thing like that, never mind kill you. But remember fish are not the same as us; the strain from change is harder on them than us. That _________________ Years of fish keeping = Good advice
Last edited by Oscer on 2005.11.18(Fri)13:04; edited 2 times in total
PS: do remember to treat the water before adding it to the tank, or you really might have problems. _________________ Years of fish keeping = Good advice
OK!!! Well the tank was not near as bad as I had expected. There was spome algae on the glass, but came off with a swipe. It was just dotted here and there. The ammonia wasnt TOO bad, the next shade down from yellow, 0.25? Emily was actually quite a very beautiful healthy looking goldfish, looked just like a long finned rosy barb, just gold. They had a Topfin15 filter, which when I saw it, I thought, oh this Penguin 330 is sure to make a difference, as the topfin had no biowheel, no carbon media, and only one filterpad, which she said she had just put a new one in, but was alredy soooo covered in slime. So I cleaned up the entire filter and packed it up for her. I bought her an ammonia test kit, I went off and forgot my master test kit . They are using an UGF and barely had any rocks ro gravel. I didn't take it out, but I did take the 2 tubes out adn cleaned them, adn they also had none of those little cartridges, yikes. It's a no wonder goop was floating all around, that, I think was the only reason the water want clear, not because of water quailty, but because of what was IN the water. So I did about a gallon and half water change, of course added Aquasafe, which I also left with her. I told her they should rid the UGF, add tons more gravel, and check the filter pads often for slime and rinse really good when needed. That big 33o did fit a bit awkward on the 10g tank, but its on there. Had a small airstone floating, but not much surface agitation. I did not check ammonia again befire I left, I really didn't think it would have changed much. But I showed her how to use the test and to do it again maybe Sunday. Told her I would be back through town Tuesday and would take my test kit and come by, and to also bring some of the water with her when they come over for Thanksgiving, I'd check it again. Oh, and they have had the goldfish 5 years!!!! When I wa at Petsmart getting the test kit and Aquasafe, I asked about getting a snail, and she said the goldfish would eat it, that is why they had a goldfish in with the platy's, it was on "snail patrol". But I didn't get one. My sister said they had tried a snail but it "dried up", what she meant by that I don't exactly know. The same with a pleco. When I vacuumed, I didn't get near out of it what I would like to have gotten, because there was soooo much of it, so it was still floating around when I left. And before I did, I had already had to take the screen off of the intake tube and rinse it off, so much goop was already clogging it, YUCK!! So I told her to keep an eye on that too, and that it would probably be days before things started to clear up. I also put on some background paper, she was thrilled about that, but wasnt going to say anything to her daughter to see how long it would take her to notice...lol...I hope it continues to get better, I worried all night last night that I didn't do any harm..............................and that's all I got to say bout that..................................roflmao
Don't worry; you didn't do any thing bad. Just think of how happy that little goldfish is going to be
I'm glad that you didn't remove the UG filter. In a 10g, with one goldfish and a Penguin330, the UG will work at the most efficient level.
5 years in a 10g, that means the fish growth has already been stunned.
Goldfish "snail patrol", not so sure about that. I have had lots of snails in my pond and none where eaten by the Goldies. But it can probably be true, that _________________ Years of fish keeping = Good advice
I don't think that the ugf works properly. One of the tubes, where it clips onto the bottom rack, one of the clips are broke, so it leans sideways, and especially since they don't have the cartridges, it's probably not getting filtered the way it needs to be. But not take it out and add more gravel? There was hardly enough gravel to cover the bottom and gee she was wondering why she couldnt keep the plastic plants anchored so leave it in but still add more gravel??
I always remove the cartridges on my UGF, because it just gets dirty, I rather take the carbon out and us it in my other filters. You must remember the UGF works with gravel mostly and the cartridges are just an extra. That brings us to your next question
Quote:
so leave it in but still add more gravel??
yes add more gravel; the key to an UGF is the gravel.
The tubes clips which are broken, well if you can, then replace it (normally the tubes are sold separately) if not, then just remove it (only the one tube, keep the plates and the other tube/tubes running). _________________ Years of fish keeping = Good advice
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. They are using an UGF and barely had any rocks ro gravel. I didn't take it out, but I did take the 2 tubes out adn cleaned them, adn they also had none of those little cartridges, yikes. It's a no wonder goop was floating all around, that, I think was the only reason the water want clear, not because of water quailty, but because of what was IN the water. So I did about a gallon and half water change, of course added Aquasafe, which I also left with her. I told her they should rid the UGF, add tons more gravel, and check the filter pads often for slime and rinse really good when needed. That big 33o did fit a bit awkward on the 10g tank, but its on there. Had a small airstone floating, but not much surface agitation. I did not check ammonia again befire I left, I really didn't think it would have changed much. But I showed her how to use the test and to do it again maybe Sunday. Told her I would be back through town Tuesday and would take my test kit and come by, and to also bring some of the water with her when they come over for Thanksgiving, I'd check it again. Oh, and they have had the goldfish 5 years!!!! When I wa at Petsmart getting the test kit and Aquasafe, I asked about getting a snail, and she said the goldfish would eat it, that is why they had a goldfish in with the platy's, it was on "snail patrol". But I didn't get one. My sister said they had tried a snail but it "dried up", what she meant by that I don't exactly know. The same with a pleco. When I vacuumed, I didn't get near out of it what I would like to have gotten, because there was soooo much of it, so it was still floating around when I left. And before I did, I had already had to take the screen off of the intake tube and rinse it off, so much goop was already clogging it, YUCK!! So I told her to keep an eye on that too, and that it would probably be days before things started to clear up. I also put on some background paper, she was thrilled about that, but wasnt going to say anything to her daughter to see how long it would take her to notice...lol...I hope it continues to get better, I worried all night last night that I didn't do any harm..............................and that's all I got to say bout that..................................roflmao 
so leave it in but still add more gravel??