EMERGENCY
1. check the water parameters: pH, ammonia, nitrite, nitrates
2. do the fish physical
3. change some or all of the water, add 1 teaspoon salt per 5 gallons water
4. from the water parameters and physical decide on a course of action
5. if there is nothing specific, do the tub to tub method

http://puregold.aquaria.net/pg/care/...htm#essentials


"cabaloz" wrote:

Hi all!
I'm fairly new to keeping goldfish, though growing up as a kid, my brother
and I bred Siamese fighting fish and Paradise fish and kept and bred all
sorts of tropicals as well, so I have a basic understanding of the
requirements.
Recently (about 16 days ago), I decided to get back into it again, but
thought that goldfish would be fairly easy to keep by comparison, and set up
a 70 litre tank(this is around 15.5 imperial gallons I believe), and let it
run for 2 days before introducing 8 goldfish, all around 2" in body length,
excluding tail fins.
At the time of filling I used a Chlorine neutraliser, the tank is landscaped
with gravel, a piece of lava rock and artificial plants (I know what
goldfish can do to live ones!).
I have since discovered that the tank is overstocked and that additionally,
I should have added "feeders" to get it "cycling" (sigh...things were so
much simpler in the old days).
Since then, I have had an outbreak of White Spot (I think it's called Ick or
Ich in the States) which appeared to affect only one of my charges. The
retailer where I purchased the fish advised me to use a product containing
Malachite Green and Acriflavin which I dutifully added to the tank and
repeated the dose after 3 days. None of the other residents at any time
exhibited any sign of the parasite. This poor little bugger struggled on
though with no sign of getting any better until I could not bare his
suffering anymore and finally euthanased him in the freezer in a tupperware
container of the tank water, letting it gradually get colder and colder
until.......
I have been doing weekly water changes of 25%. Yesterday, in an effort to
try and remove some of the white spot cure from the water, I did a 50% water
change and tested the Nitrate levels afterwards, they were around 20-50
mg/l,and from what I understand, this is acceptable. I had not checked them
at all prior to this.
I am now beginning to wonder whether the appearance of the white spot was
due to stress, perhaps brought on by overstocking. Since changing 50% of the
water yesterday, I have to admit they are all very bright eyed and bushy
tailed today.
So my question is whether it would be prudent to do water changes more
frequently and if so, how much of a change would be recommended.
Additionally, winter is slowly decending on us here in Australia, and I am
considering heating the water. The tank is set up in my living room and
during winter, we usually have the oil heater in there going full tilt, so
whilst we are in there, the fish would probably enjoy the warmth, but the
heater is then turned off over night and I am thinking that a heater would
keep the water temperature more constant.
Any help or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Mark




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http://puregold.aquaria.net/
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