"Nikki" wrote in message
. ..

"Osteole" wrote in message
ups.com...
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.


Osteole....This is long sorry....

I know with every one yelling, its unlikely you are going to get what you
wanted to know, and I think from what you said you did not intend on
keeping these fish together long term but wanted to get them out of what
ever situation they were in before (which was what? asking because of the
size of the GF), in the mean time you are worried about the cycle an
nitrites being high because you don't want the fish to die, which is good.
Getting this out of the way first, Tynk keeps betta's and cares and knows
a lot about them ... just as Koi-lo keeps goldfish (all kinds) and cares
and knows a lot about them, which is the reason you got the reaction you
did from both of them, just to let you know. If you wanted to know
anything about either of those fish they would be the two you would talk
to.........
About the carbon, there is carbon that removes ammonia, which I use when
I set up a new tank, does it help, I don't know but I use it and it don't
hurt anything, most carbon is used for taking meds out of the water after
its been treated, if you have it in leave it there, it wont hurt anything.
Do you deal with a LFS or have a friend with a fish tank that has been set
up for some time, if so ask them for some filter media (floss) rocks, that
will help if your tank is not cycled.
I don't know about amquel helping, some say yes some say no, I use it in
my fry tank w/ water changes, but none of my big tanks. Some one was
talking before about it giving false readings I think on some test brands,
if you do a search you might be able to find the info.
I have fancy goldfish and regular feeder goldfish, koi-lo is right about
the size, I have had the feeders which I think is what you got, I have had
mine for six months and mine are huge way over 1 inch, if you have any
pics see if you can post them. One thing about Goldfish they are dirty, I
do more cleaning in my GF tank then any other tank I have, and I have
plenty of tanks, water changes help a lot when anything is wrong, so keep
doing them.
As far as the betta and GF, the main problem is water quality.....as I am
sure you know GF poop a lot, the water quality is not good for the betta
who will end up, maybe not right away but will end up with fin rot.
When you do take the betta out here is a couple ideas, at my local store
they sell critter keepers they are two and half gallons, cost about 8$, I
use a sponge filter which is about 5$, that's not a bad set up for them, I
don't use a heater because with out one the tank stays over 80 degrees,
but they have little heaters that are cheap for little tanks. They have
eclipse tanks that come with everything they are not that expensive
either. If you have any community tanks, betta's get along ok with some
fish as long as they share the same conditions, and that will some times
work also. One more thing as long as you have those guys sharing a
house/tank, watch because GF tend to eat fast and bettas eat slow, well
slower then GF, just make sure the betta is getting enough of the food.
You can also give your GF some pea's, veggies, maybe koi-lo can give you
some ideas as far as what else you can give them and help figuring out why
they are not growing as fast as they should be.
Please don't stop posting, for the most part people here are nice, they
will disagree sometimes but do what to help. I understand when you post
and everyone jumps on you its hard to take anything they say into
consideration, and its easy to get defensive I have myself when it has
happened
nikki


talk about good PR.
Who trained you in dealing with the general public nikki?
nice bit of reason and patience there