"Osteole" wrote in message
ups.com...
I recently acquired a new 20 gal aquarium and transferred three small
goldfish and 1 male betta.
This isn't a good mix. GF are not tropical fish and grow quite large.
Three are one too many for a 20g tank. You should remove the betta to a
home of his own.
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.
You don't need the carbon unless you're trying to remove medications or
something specific.
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.
Young GF need more than one feeding a day, and a varied diet unless they
have access to natural food such as insects and algae.
In those 3 weeks I had changed the water once (50%) and rinsed the
components in the canister.
small snip
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
You can try water changed more often. That's what I would do.
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 only use Sodium Thiosulfate so wont comment on Amquel.
I need some comments from people who are experienced in cycling new
tanks.
Since I have several tanks running at all times I just switch a seeded
filter from a cycled tank. If that fails - my routine is to add salt as you
did when I see nitrites. I do water changes as needed to keep the nitrites
(or ammonia) as low as possible. Meanwhile I leave the gravel and filter
alone until the cycle is complete. DO remove any food on the gravel if you
do see any there the GF missed. Unless grossly overfed, GF will go over the
gravel for every dropped morsel of food.
--
KL....
My Pond & Aquarium Pages:
http://tinyurl.com/9do58
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