Newbie Needs Some Advice

[SimoUK]

Hi guys, this is my first time visiting a fish forum as im new to fishkeping.

My tank over the last few days has developed murky water, before it was crystal clear for a few days and then overnight turned murky iam worried as i dont want the fish getting ill, however small they may be , i now have 2 small 'fancy' goldfish in it which i got today seem to be getting along fine, it also has an oxygenaiting plant in. But i dont have a test kit as i was told it is not essential.

Im new to this and i have read about the whole cycling thing and followed those guidelines, iam going to do a 20% water change tommorrow, which i was told has to be done as my fish have just gone in.

Any answers / advice is GREATLY appreciated

Simo

 

[LucaBrasi]

water stats would help us out

pH
Nitrites and Nitrates
Ammonia

what is the temp?

how many fish?

how large is the tank?

also any decorations?

gravel sand, other plants

 

[SimoUK]

7 gallon tank, i know cannot uphold the fish size but they will be moved on when larger,

2 plastic plants
One live oxygenaiting plant
2 SMALL 'fancy' goldfish around 2-3cm of body length
and regular tank gravel which was washed before it was put in

And i unfortunately do not know thw different ammonia PH nitrates and nitrite levels as i dio not have a test kit, at the shop i was told one is not needed so i did not purchase one.

 

[CherryDanio]

I'm sorry if this is an obvious question but do you have a filter? What do you mean by 'oxygenating' plant? All plants give off o2 though probably not enough for two goldfish. Murky water could be a bacterial bloom in which case it will die down or it could just be gunk if you don't have a filter.

 

[SimoUK]

yes i got a good filter in there and the plant in the shop was just labelled 'oxygenaiting plant' unless it hadf something else, i cant remember - a quick google and i found this which is the plant i have (looks the same anyways) i know it says pond but the guy said it would be fine in my coldwater tank:

[URL="http/www.pond-products.co.uk/Bunched_Elo...ting_Plants.htm"]http/www.pond-products.co.uk/Bunched_Elo...ting_Plants.htm[/URL]

Simo

 

[silverrabbit]

Yeah Elodia is often the plant sold for goldies - mine love to much it and it grows like stink, so you'll have planty even if they do eat it. Glad to hear you'll move them to a bigger tank - they grow faster than you'd expect!

By murky do you mean cloudy? It sounds like a bacterial bloom if so, and it will go away, but as you're doing fish-in cycling (I had to with my goldies too - silly pet shop gave bad advice) you must do those water changes like crazy, and getting a test kit will really help you through this initial patch of water-madness.

Liquid kits are much better - the strips were so unreliable for me

Oooh, and I love fancies, so i'm waiting for pics!!

 

[SimoUK]

Yeah Elodia is often the plant sold for goldies - mine love to much it and it grows like stink, so you'll have planty even if they do eat it. Glad to hear you'll move them to a bigger tank - they grow faster than you'd expect!

By murky do you mean cloudy? It sounds like a bacterial bloom if so, and it will go away, but as you're doing fish-in cycling (I had to with my goldies too - silly pet shop gave bad advice) you must do those water changes like crazy, and getting a test kit will really help you through this initial patch of water-madness.

Liquid kits are much better - the strips were so unreliable for me

Oooh, and I love fancies, so i'm waiting for pics!!

Hey thanks for reply, seems to have cleared up quite considerably now, i love my fancyies too, ill move them to a bigger tank or a pond, a and yes ive been doing water changes every other day, and i got a shrimp today dont know what sort he is but they are all getting along fine, he is awesome, added some variety in the tank, cant get any pics of the shrimp at the moment as he is chillaxing in one of the decorations

My Fancies: ( they are only little dudes and sorry for the poor photo quality, taken on my phone, will do some on the digital camera tommorow)





My new shrimp is hiding in the blue deco aztec thing (as i call it)





Simo

 

[silverrabbit]

Your goldies are really cute the buggy eyes get me all the time, hehe.

Watch the shrimp - they don't tend to fair well during cycling. I love them though - sooo amusing to watch. I have a bamboo one (with fan-hands) and some plain river shrimp I think. I had some cherry shrimp but I think my fighter ate them lol.


Love the colour of your gravel too