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Hmm...probably ur water is not cycled yet. U cannot just pop in gold fish immediately...
Google abt aquarium water cycling, or u can read this link
http://www.firsttankguide.net/cycle.php
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I need help, just bought a new fish tank yesterday, together with 2 goldfish. all went well throughout the first day. however, when I woke up the next morning, the water was cloudy and 2 goldish - (1) keep swimming reach for the top surface, (2) not swimming, floating sideway or backwards.
Anyone knows what went wrong? it's in a air conditioned room, could it be the issue? or water issue?
Hmm...probably ur water is not cycled yet. U cannot just pop in gold fish immediately...
Google abt aquarium water cycling, or u can read this link
http://www.firsttankguide.net/cycle.php
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Oh no. then what should I do now? The shop did not inform me anything about water cycling.
Originally Posted by kaen130
what is the setup of your fish tank?
A picture of the tank might help.
How big is your tank? Do you have filter ? did you use anti chlorine? which part of Singapore your fish tank is in? certain part of Singapore has higher chlorine level.
not a very big tank, 15 litres? yes there is a filter. I used aquaplus tap water conditioner which will removes chlorin and chloramine. I stays in Hougang area. Please advise/help me!
Yeah, 15 liters is usually too small to handle the bio-load of those goldfishes due to their high waste production... since your tank is not cycled yet, the ammonia produced by the fishes are accumulating to toxic levels quickly. The cloudy water also indicates a bacterial bloom which tend to occur in new tanks that encounter overloads in ammonia and waste.
You will need to do daily large water changes (ie. 70%-80% volume each time) to physically remove the excess ammonia until the tank cycles. It can take a few weeks for a tank to cycle fully so you will need to put in the effort.
The only way to know if a tank is cycled is to use test kits to measure the ammonia, nitrite and nitrate levels. A tank is considered cycled when ammonia and nitrite are consistently at zero, and only nitrates show readings.
If possible, get a larger tank (ie. 50-60 liters) to house the 2 goldfishes, larger water volumes will help reduce the accumulation rate of ammonia and other toxic parameters. Alternatively, switch to keeping smaller fishes which produce less waste instead to reduce the overall bio-load in the tank.
Last edited by Urban Aquaria; 14th Dec 2015 at 15:31.
how big are your goldfish?
for the time being, do 90% water change, add in some salt and anti chlorine...
your fish might be stress though...
Wouldn't 70-90% water change stress out the fish?
I thought that 50% is already quite extreme.
If you have friends who are successful in keeping fish, you might want to get some matured filter medium from them. It will help to cycle the tank quickly.
I normally do 90% water change...
sometimes top up and siphon together...
Yeah, large water changes are indeed stressful to the more sensitive fishes due to the frequent changes to parameters, but its still not as bad as elevated ammonia or nitrite levels.
If the water volume is too small and bio-load too high, which in turn cause toxic parameters to keep building up quickly, then no choice have to do large water changes to reduce the toxic effects on those fishes... its the "lesser" of 2 evils.
From what I have experienced, even a 20 litre tank has a maximum capacity of 2 Goldfish. Therefore, I'm sure 15 litre is way too little! Why don't you upgrade your tank to a bigger variant? Anyway, what is your filter? Is it just a HOB or is it a canister? I suggest you either use a double-canister setup or simply purchase a canister. Canister filters are better because Goldfish produce a lot of waste.
Does this make sense: ~Imperfect Past equals future tense~
Sorry! My error. Not a double-canister but a double-HOB.
Does this make sense: ~Imperfect Past equals future tense~
Is the "x inches of fish per liter" rule really valid? I have 1 gold fish + 4 mollies on my 9L tank for the past 1 year and they look fine. 50-70% weekly water change and no over feeding, of course.
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The "1 inch of fish per gallon" rule is more of a guide for new fish keepers, to give them some reference point when initially stocking their tanks. Its more of a conservative ratio for beginners.
That rule doesn't take into account the numbers and actual body mass of those fishes though... for example, a fat round 3 inch goldfish would consume way more food and produce much more waste than say 3 x 1 inch slim-bodied rasboras, both add up to the same length but have very different total body mass and bio-loads.
Better filtration and better tank maintenance practices (ie. regular tank cleaning, larger water changes, controlled feeding etc) can indeed allow more fishes and/or larger fishes to be kept in a given tank volume. Hardier fishes like goldfishes, bettas and livebearers do also tend to tolerate crowding and adverse tank conditions better than other more sensitive fishes (though any lapse in tank maintenance can also result in problems arising very quickly).
That being said, it still always best to go for the largest water volume possible. The larger the water volume and lower the bio-load the easier it is to maintain and keep the tank conditions stable and optimal for the tank inhabitants.
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