Osteole wrote:
I recently acquired a new 20 gal aquarium and transferred three small
goldfish and 1 male betta.

I know some of you will curse me for this combination, but I wanted to
get these fish out of their cramped old quarters and into a more
comfortable tank.

Fish are completely healthy and show no aggression towards each other.


A little about my tank, its a long 20 gal with Fluval 250. I use
Biomax media and carbon in the canister. Water is CRYSTAL clear and
the fish happily swim around. I feed once a day and only enough that
the fish eat. Hardly ANY food ever reaches the gravel.

In those 3 weeks I had changed the water once (50%) and rinsed the
components in the canister.

Using Jungle Quick Dip test strips I tested every other day or so for
three weeks
pH 6.8
KH 40
GH 150
Nitrites 0-.5
Nitrates 0


This past weekend I had to leave for 3 days. When I came back the
tests read
pH 6.8
KH 40 ppm
GH 150 ppm
Nitrites 10+ ppm
Nitrates 0 ppm

I immediately did a 50% water change and for the past week have done
50% water change very day. The Nitrites have gone down considerable
but still rest at 3.0 ppm

Is this okay? Will nitrates start kicking in soon? I am conditioning
the water with Amquel with all water changes. I added a small amount (
2 tsp) of Aquarium salt to help the fish with the Nitrite stress.

I need some comments from people who are experienced in cycling new
tanks.

First of all, get the Betta out of there NOW.
They have completly different requirements than Goldies do.
To cycle with fish (there are better ways now) you must be doing water
changes weekly.
You didn't mention the size of the Goldies.
Goldies put out a great deal more waste than most fish do, so require
more water changes, much more room (tank size) than other fish of their
size (they grow quite large), and need cooler temps than a Betta
requires.
I realize you said "3 small" Goldies, but one 20g will barely be fine
for one Goldy.
If these are Comets or common (feeder types), your looking at about 16"
long each.
The fancy ones, about 8" long each. However, Goldies have an enormous
body mass so it's not like you can house them in a tiny tank for long
at all.
Their growth will be stunted. No, this does not mean that a fish will
grow to the size of it's tank, it means it's internal organs are
stunted and the fish will die much, much sooner.
Goldies have an average lifespan of 20 yrs.
The Betta will soon be nipped to pieces by the Goldies soon enough.
You really need to get it out of there and into another tank that is
kept between 78-80*f.
No, a bowl will not do for a Betta. This is basically like keeping a
Great Dane in a closet.
Just because it will survive , doen't make it right.
Now I realize I've just tossed a ton of bricks on your head all at
once, but the sooner you remidy this situation the better it will be
for all those poor fish.
Baby Goldies will be fine in a 29g for a short time, but if you plan on
keeping them, prepare for a much, much larger tank quite soon.
There is more to keeping fish than them just getting along.
Please stick around and get the help you need.
Keep up on those water changes and rinse out the filter pad in old tank
water.
Don't forget to vacuum the gravel after a few weeks of this tank
cycling.
Don't worry about losing the nitrifying bacteria, as it's not in the
water. You're also not going to lose it by vacuuming the gravel. These
bacteria are sticky and adhere to all surfaces of the tank.