Help this idiot newbie

[badbrownbear]

Hello all,

I’ve just recently got in to hobby of fish keeping, but it’s not been the start I’d hoped for. I want to know I’m doing the best for my fish and not slowly killing them. I’ve told myself that I’ve done enough research but obviously not. I’m hoping this is a safe space where I can share my experience and hopefully get the help I need.

Ok so…….

I have a fluval Roma 200. Ill stick to Litres as US and UK gallon measurements have me confused. So the tank size is 200L. Size is 100x50x40cm

For substrate I have some black sand. I spent half a day rinsing it. I have a generous layer of it in the tank. Add to that I have some wild rhino stones about 6 small pieces and 1 medium (26kg in total). I have the fluval u4 internal filter. I also have 2 additional sponge filters capable of dealing with 60 gallons each and two air stones for that all important surface agitation etc. I’m assuming you can’t really over filter, more the merrier right? I’m also using the heater provided although the fish I have don’t require one ( medium oranda gold fish x3). And a standard LED light that came with the tank. I have no plants in the tank as of yet

So that’s set the scene for the set up.

The journey so far

Tap Water parameters before adding anything to the water.

I used the api test kit.

PH 7.0
Ammonia 0.00ppm
Nitrite 0.00ppm
Nitrate 0.00ppm


2/11/21
Tank filled up. Tap conditioner used.

3/11/21
Added Api Quick start (recommend dosage used)

4/11/21
First test
Ammonia 0.50ppm
Nitrite 0.00ppm
Nitrate 0.00ppm
PH 7.2 range

5/11/21
Ammonia 0.50ppm
Nitrite 0.00ppm
Nitrate 0.00ppm

Starter Ghost feeding, food added. (Pellets) as that’s all I have.

6/11/21
Ammonia 0.50ppm
Nitrite 0.00ppm
Nitrate 0.00ppm

More food added

7/11/21
Ammonia 0.50ppm
Nitrite 0.00ppm
Nitrate 0.00ppm
No food this time.


8/11/21
Ammonia 0.50ppm
Nitrite 0.00ppm
Nitrate 0.00ppm
No food

9/11/21
Ammonia 0.50ppm
Nitrite 0.00ppm
Nitrate 0.00ppm
Small food added like 2/3 pellets

10/11/21
Ammonia 0.50ppm
Nitrite 0.00ppm
Nitrate 0.00ppm
Temp increased to 81/27
More food added (more than any other day)

Also topped up quick start with same recommended dosage.

11/11/21
Ammonia 0.50ppm
Nitrite 0.00ppm
Nitrate 0.00ppm
No food added today


12/11/21
Ammonia 0.50ppm
Nitrite 0.00ppm
Nitrate 0.00ppm

No food added today. There’s loads still in the tank. And it’s smelling bad. I didn’t know this method would start to smell. I had the food drop into a small glass jar so it wasn’t exactly floating about. Some was but not all.

So after 10 days I was a bit worried that my cycle had either stalled or didn’t even start. I’m not sure how much fish food I needed to bump the ammonia to 2/3 ppm as the content of the food was in Japanese.

I visited the local pet store (pets at home and explained the above. I was told that the cycle wouldn’t truly start until I added fish to the tank. I enquired about the instant start method with api quick start and they said that would be fine.

13/11/21
I decided to start again. I did a 95% water change. The only water left in the tank was the water I couldn’t easily get out. I added the tap water conditioner and the quick api at the same time. Waited and tested the water in the evening.

Ammonia 0.00ppm
Nitrite 0.00ppm
Nitrate 0.00ppm

14/11/21
I waited 24hr

I introduced 3 medium sized oranda gold fish. Three fish in 200L tank sounds reasonable doesn’t it? Well that what I was told. Correct me if I’m wrong. I fed them twice. Enough so they could finish the food with in 3/4 minutes.



Based on the research Ive been doing I wanted to do a fish less cycle but as you can see I don’t think I was getting anywhere with that. At this point I’m thinking is this the right hobby for me. If I’m this hopeless without fish what am I doing to be like when I have fish. I was also reassured that adding fish would be fine.



15/11/21

I didn’t test today

But fed the fish x2 again enough for them to sweep up the food with in 3/4 minutes

16/11/21
Ammonia 0.50ppm
Nitrite 0.00ppm
Nitrate 0.00ppm
Feed x 2

17/11/21
Ammonia 1.00ppm
Nitrite 0.00ppm
Nitrate 0.00ppm
Feed x2

Ok so my understanding at this point based on all the reading and YouTube watching I’ve done is that any ammonia is bad for your fish. So at 1ppm I’m worried (wrongly or rightly so I’m hoping you can advise me) I’m not sure what my understanding of the nitrifying bacteria is and how long it should take to establish its self. I think this is where the confusion is kinda settling in.

18/11/21
Ammonia 1.00ppm
Nitrite 0.00ppm
Nitrate 0.00ppm

I did a 40/50 L water change. Added tap conditioner to the water I’ve just added. I was thinking since the api quick start shouldn’t be in the water column it wouldn’t hurt to do a partial water change. And just manage the ammonia etc.



19/11/21
Ammonia 2.00ppm
Nitrite 0.00ppm
Nitrate 0.00ppm
Fed x2

Ok so at this point I’m getting a little worried. So I introduced some api AMMO LOCK to detoxify the ammonia. I later read that bacteria don’t like ammonium and prefer ammonia etc. Was this the correct step?
Fed x2



20/11/21
Ammonia 2.00ppm
Nitrite 0.00ppm
Nitrate 0.00ppm

Water change 70L

Test again

Ammonia 1.00ppm
Nitrite 0.00ppm
Nitrate 0.00ppm
No feed

21/11/21
Ammonia 1.00ppm
Nitrite 0.00ppm
Nitrate 0.00ppm

Food added.

What am I doing wrong? Should I add more quick start and just let the bacteria do the work? Should I not do any further water changes for 2 weeks? How often should I feed the fish?

 

[CaptainBarnicles]

You need to be testing your water everyday and do a large, 70% water change every day until ammonia and nitrite are reading zero...just keep doing what you're doing but stop adding stuff to your water. Normally I'd suggest loading the tank with live plants as it will help with cycling but your goldfish will more than likely just eat them all

 

[badbrownbear]

when you mean don’t add stuff to your water does this include tap conditioner or ammo lock or both. Should I change to one feed per day? I’m assuming I’m over feeding

 

[Bettaguy08]

when you mean don’t add stuff to your water does this include tap conditioner or ammo lock or both. Should I change to one feed per day? I’m assuming I’m over feeding

keep the water conditioner but don’t use the ammo lock is what he’s saying I think. By the way how old is your aquarium?

 

[badbrownbear]

keep the water conditioner but don’t use the ammo lock is what he’s saying I think. By the way how old is your aquarium?

New new. As in I only started the process start of November

 

[CaptainBarnicles]

Used your dechlorinater, Prime if you have it. You can feed once a day

 

[badbrownbear]

Cool I’ll do close 70% as I can. I won’t be able to go to bed otherwise

 

[Colin_T]

Basically as the others have said.

Feed the fish 2-3 times a week until the tank has cycled. The less food going into the tank, the less ammonia produced. After it has cycled, you can feed every day if you like. Don't worry, the fish won't starve during this time. Unlike mammals that use most of the food they eat to keep warm, most fish take their body temperature from the surrounding water. This means any food they eat is used for moving and growth.

Do a 75% water change and gravel clean the substrate 4-8 hours after feeding. This will dilute any ammonia produced by the fish food.

You should also do a 75% water change any day you have an ammonia or nitrite reading above 0ppm, or a nitrate reading above 20ppm.

Make sure any new water is free of chlorine/ chloramine before it's added to the tank.

-------------------
Don't bother testing the water for nitrate until the tank has cycled. Nitrate test kits read nitrite as nitrate and give you a false reading.

-------------------
You can buy bottles of filter bacteria supplements from most pet shops. You add it to the tank to help speed up the cycling process. I recommend adding a double dose every day for a week, then pour the remaining contents into the tank. Try to add the bacteria near the filter intake so it gets drawn into the filter where we want it.

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You can add some live plants to the tank and these will help remove ammonia from the water. The goldfish also need plant matter in their diet and will eat some of the plants. Duckweed is a small floating plant that usually grows rapidly in aquariums and ponds and can be used to help remove ammonia and provide a plant based food for the fish.

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The 3 Oranda goldfish should be fine in your tank because they are fancy goldfish with a double tail (they have 2 tails).

Do not add single tail goldfish (common, comet or shubunkins) to the tank because they grow much bigger and swim faster and can harass the fantails.

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Filters should be cleaned at least once a month. However, do not clean the filter until 2 weeks after the tank has finished cycling. It usually takes around 4-6 weeks to cycle a filter. So wait a couple of weeks after this has finished and then clean it.

When it comes time to clean the filter, wash the filter materials/ media in a bucket of tank water and re-use the media. Tip the bucket of dirty water on the garden/ lawn. Top up the tank with some dechlorinated water.

 

[badbrownbear]

Thank you guys for the advice so far.

I’ve just done a 70ish percent water change.

Fish look happier which means I can sleep a little better at least for tonight.

bottles of filter bacteria supplements

When you say filter bacteria is this the nitrifying bacteria in api QuickStart? Or is this another bacteria?

 

[badbrownbear]

 

[Colin_T]

API Quickstart is a filter bacteria additive and is the same sort of thing I was talking about.

 

[NannaLou]

The tank looks lovely, but what’s in the glass jar..?

 

[CaptainBarnicles]

The tank looks lovely, but what’s in the glass jar..?

I think it was food that he was trying to cycle the tank with...which can now be removed by the way

 

[Deleted member 149562]

Please do not use AmmoLock as that will stall the cycle which in turn will extend the length of time that the cycle takes

To complete the cycle you need ammonia to encourage the nitrite to turn to nitrate which in turn kills the ammonia/nitrite....by using ammonia killing additives you effectively starve the good bacteria into non-existance which is trying to balance your water chemistry

This is why doing a fish less cycle is easier since the entire process generally takes weeks or even months to complete and if fish are there it can be very detrimental to their health. The average fish less cycle takes around 8 weeks, whereas one with fish will take around 12 weeks (especially with goldies since they are often very messy fish)

 

[badbrownbear]

I think it was food that he was trying to cycle the tank with...which can now be removed by the way

The tank looks lovely, but what’s in the glass jar..?

It’s a glass jar when I was attempting my fishless cycle. It’s now a glass jar with a little frog in it. my daughter insisted the fish have company