Goldfish Rescue Advice?

[Lyndyn]

Hello, all.
 
A friend of mine has a comet in a 2 gallon tank and she would like to get rid of it.  I offered to take it, but wanted some advice on moving it.  The water in the tank hasn't been changed in quite a while, but the fish seems to be healthy so evidently the beneficial bacteria are doing there thing. The tank is one of the small hex tanks from Petco.  I topped up the water (it was only about 4/5 full) but left everything else in place. The fish is approx. 2.5 inches long. It does have a bubbling filter of some sort going. (This was unplugged and I did turn this back on.)
 
It has been a long time since I kept goldfish. I came online last night to get some info about moving the fish and came across the idea of cycling a tank which was completely new to me. I stopped at Goodwill yesterday and they have several large tanks, including one that is at least 20+ gallons which I can pick up today. (Yes, I know that ideally I would have a pond or a 50 gallon tank, but this is the best that I can do on short notice.)
 
Ideally, I need to move the fish today or tomorrow. My question is - is it better to move the fish into an uncycled, but much larger tank immediately and do water swap outs or to leave the fish in the tank it is in and wait for the larger tank to cycle?
 
If I leave the fish in the extant tank, any suggestions on mediation that I can do to it?  Changing part of the water, etc?
 
Upside is, since this fish is still alive and looks healthy, the current tank must be teaming with good bacteria.
 
Thanks for any help!

 

[fluttermoth]

If you move all the filter 'media' (that's all the stuff inside the filter) into the filter of the new tank, you can move the fish right away. Move all the gravel and decorations as well., but rinse them briefly in some dechlorinated water; just to get rid of visible dirt, not so much you destroy any bacteria that are on them.
 
However, the fish might be used to the poor water quality now, and changing it too quickly could shock the fish.
 
I think you have two options, really.
 
Either keep the fish in the small tank, for the moment, and do small water changes every day, for about a week; start off with 25% ones and build up to larger ones. Then move the fish (along with the contents of the smaller tank) once the tank water is cleaner. 
 
Or, move the fish and everything from the small tank into the larger one, and gradually top up the water, over a matter of days until its full; but this might not enable you run the filter, which is essential.
 
If you can get some test kits (liquid or tablet based ones, not the paper strip kind) that would help, as it's impossible to tell how good or bad the water is just from looking. You'd need to be able to test for ammonia, nitrite, nitrate and pH. Your local fish shop (LFS) might be able to do this for you; however, you MUST get them to write down the actual numbers for you; "fine" or "a bit high" is of no use to us.
 
Hope that helps; good luck and do post back with any more questions, or if I haven't been 100% clear

 

[Lyndyn]

Thank you so much, Fluttermoth!

 

[fluttermoth]

You're very welcome

 
I do think finding a pond for the fish would be best, in the long term, but as it's only a couple of inches at the moment, a bigger tank will give you a few months to sort something else out.

 

[Lyndyn]

If there is anyone in the Akron/Medina, OH area with a spare pond - let me know!  Have fish; will deliver!