Suggestions on cycling my new 20 gal aquarium

"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