Goldfish Bother

[double-trouble]

Hey I bought two fish on wednesday night one is a black moor the other a fancy chinese golfish. at the mo I have them in an 8 litre bowl while my 36" aquarium matures.
most of the time they just sit on the gravel and dont really move mush but when the lights go out and when i sit in front of the bowl they swim around more.
the fancy chinese eats whenever i feed them but the black moor hasn't eaten anything that i know of since i got him. is there any reason for them sitting on the botom of the tank??
i have done a water change everyday to stop ammonia levels getting too high while i mature my tank is this the right thing to do?
which fish that are interesting and colourful will be a good match for them when they move into their new home?
any help would be much appreciated.

 

[catxx]

you did dechlor the water right? i think the problem is the bowl size, it would be equivalent of you being in a cupboard while your nice apartment is set up. hehe! can you get them a bigger temporary home? is the bowl filtered and/or have an airstone? how big are the fish? are they showing any other signs of possible illness other than lethargy? some fish won't eat for a while when they're put in a new home.

 

[double-trouble]

i used something called tapsafe which was recommended by my lfs to dechlor the water.
the fancy is more active than the black moor. they seem to swim around for a while and then go back to the bottom.
the black moor had a slightly jagged dorsal fin when i got him so dont know if he had been bullied in the tank in the lfs. didn't take him back for this as none of us are perfect and thought they might just throw him out because of it.
they are only babies about 1 1/2 inches long including tails. not filtered as of yet still waiting for luxury home!!! they dont have an air stone but neither has been gasping for air. not sure about a biger temporary home would a big plastic box do??
what fish go well with fancies in a large tank want pretty ones

lots of info and questions i know but hope u can help!!!

 

[double-trouble]

just rang my lfs for advice and they told me to buy some disease safe and didn't mention anything about a bigger tank etc are they just trying to get me to buy more products from them dont really trust them any more!!!

 

[black angel]

How are you maturing your big tank? How long has it been going and what do you have for ammonia and nitrite?
To be honest, the goldies wont last long in that bowl. Do you ahve a large bucket or tub you can put them in with an airstone?
Depending how youa re maturing the tank and what stage you are at it may be better to put the fish in there.

 

[double-trouble]

thats the big problem its only been maturing for a day and ammonia levels are still high. nitrates or is it nitrites haven't started to increase yet!! am going to put them in a 20 litre storage box for now. they are getting more active than they were neither of them are sat on the bottom any more but still abit worried about them. cant wait for new tank to be set up it looks beautiful with all the plants and ornaments it just needs my beautiful fish in it now!!!
I'm using a method i read about using a small piece of meat and higher temps to speed up the process!!!

 

[black angel]

So what is your ammonia level?

I wouldnt have thought a piece of meat could give such a lot of ammonia in one day. How big is this meat and what are you using?

I wouldnt have said this method was good as you are just polluting the tank rather than cycling it. After the tank is cycled all you will have is one dirty smelly uninhabitable tank.

You could have cycled it carefully with the fish in it

 

[double-trouble]

Ammonia level is 2.5 nitrite/nitrate 0 dont know if this ammonia is high but know it should be 0.
using 1/2" cube of steak!! would you advise to start again and cycle with the fish in the tank or just to remove the meat. really wish i'd researched before i bought the fish would take them back but as one was abit batered when i got him dont want to take him back to get bullied just want try and keep them as happy as possible until there new home is ready!!

 

[catxx]

i cycled my tanks with small amounts of fish food, does dirty it up a bit
it's quicker to use pure ammonia from a hardware store (fishless of course)
i'm not sure fancy goldies would survive a full cycle without any after effects or illness

get your goldies in a big (food-safe) storage box for sure, make sure they have an airstone, a cycled filter if possible, and do very regular water changes.

if any fins look raggedy keep a close eye on them for infection, and invest in some Melafix.

 

[double-trouble]

i have moved them to a box about 3 times the size with much bigger surface area. the chinese is much happier in there swimming alot more. black moor still doesn't look 2 happy will get some of that stuff for him. the fins haven't got any more ragged since i've had him and when he does swim they dont seem to affect him. will buy some ammonia to get this tank cycling faster. they had both started gulping at the top of the bowl despite having a water change this morning so hopefully this larger storage will help them!!!

 

[black angel]

I would take the meat out and feed a pinch of flake into the intube each day to keep the ammonia level up. Do a water change as well each day to get rid of the decaying meat from the water. 20% will be enough to not affect the cycle too much.
Can you get aquarium salt? This willh elp if the moor has fin rot starting.
Add 1 teaspoon per gallon today or tomorrow and again the following day to get your salt level to .2% and remember when you change the water on the tub to calculate how much water goes out to put the salt back in.
On the tub you should be doing 50% water changes each day as they dont have a filter.

Keep a diary as well of your stats so you know how its doing. A cycle with cold water is much slower than a warm tank, you are looking at around 6 weeks.

 

[double-trouble]

ita amazing the difference giving them more room has made the black moor is swimming round like a maniac loving his new big home even tho temporary and the fancy is nudging around in the gravel having a right good explore. have been able to put some of their fishie toys in now as well as i couldn't put them in the first tank1 well they couldn't have even less room to swim in could they!!!