old vet needs new tricks

[Lorelei]

Hello everyone:

I'm new to the board but not new to fish keeping. I used to have a 30, 40, 50 and 100 gal. tanks in my apartment back home in Canada. Raised my own Oscars, kept BGK, Demseys and Orandas... did the whole bit. I never ever had a problem with my tanks, (other than the usual little things that pop up) but now I am trying to get a little 10 gal. going for some ornamental goldfish that I took a liking to, and I cannot get it level.

I have lost 5 fish to date and just this morning had the latest death. I've run the gamit on testing and am finding that my nitrite levels are skyrocketting over and over. I've done the partial water changes, I've done the not so partial changes- still lost the fish after about a week.

Yesterday a girl at PetSmart recomended AmQuel plus to remove the nitrite. I came home and used it right away as my levels were quite high ( .50 ) and the fish very very stressed. Instantly, the levels came right down to 0 and one of the fish looked much better. He started swimming around within 5 min. and looked very happy. His companion however, (the one I lost this morning) never moved much from his place on the bottom.

This morning I rose and tested the water again, only to find the nitrite levels had spiked tremendously overnight (back to .50) and again my fish were on the bottom looking *very* stressed. I treated with the Amquel again (it says to treat only once in 24 hours) and the levels came right back down to normal and again my little hardy oranda started swimming around looking very happy. Unfortunately, his companion died about noon.

At 5pm. I again tested the water and the levels were again on the rise- this time up to .25 and my fish looked stressed, sitting on the bottom again, gasping. I added a quarter teaspoon of the Amquel (against the package directions) and he again immediatly started swimming and looking good.

Now in the beginning, I'll admit, I think I overfed a *little* bit so I blamed myself for the heavy nitrite problem. With this round however, I have been very careful with food and only allowed a teeny portion both today and yesterday. I mean like a n'th of what they really should be getting.

I'm at wit's end. I've never faced water problems before like this. Back home, I filled the tank, added the Start Right and went on with it, never really any problems. Now I secretly believe the problem is the tank itself, 10 gal tanks have always been a pain in the *%$@ to keep IMHO. The larger the better....

What should I do? I cannot keep just adding this chemical to the tank, it'll never -balance-. What have I done wrong? Help please ASAP because my little guy looks decidedly poor right now.

 

[tstenback]

how many fish. goldfish are tremendous polluters(is that a word) of the tank. They throw off huge amounts of ammonia. Many here feel that min for one goldfish woould be a 15 gal or larger. I dont keep them myself but my neighbor does and he has 4 large and 2 smaller ones in a 50 gal and they have been in there forever. He says he still changes the water 25% twice a month and has 2 canisters running on the tank. HTH

 

[Lorelei]

I had two, now down to one. He's about an inch and a half (maybe 2) long. I know in time I'll need a bigger tank, but this is just silly.....

Also, I did a 25% change about 3 days ago. That didn't improve conditions much so I did another change of about 75%.

 

[tstenback]

i would do 25% water changes for the next few days and see how things go. It may do nothing but it sure wont hurt and it will give you some more info as to where the nitrites are coming from and how this is happening. Also have you measured the tap water for ammonia and nitrites?

 

[Sassygrrl]

The more often you change the water right now (especially at 75%), the more time it's going to take to cycle your tank properly. I suggest waiting and hoping this fish lives. If he doesn't, don't put anymore fish in that tank till it has completely cycled (I know, it's hard NOT to buy fish). That will be in your pocket books' best interest as well as the fishes best interest.

 

[totalbolshevik]

Don't use products that supposedly lower ammonia or nitrite--it does get rid of it temporarily, but within a day or so it will be right back where it was before, like you described. In fact, it's probably worse to have the nitrite high, then get rid of it, then have it go back up than it is to just have it high. The tank will cycle itself eventually, you are doing more harm than good by adding stuff to the tank. Do small, daily water changes of about 10% until your tank cycles. It will take longer to cycle, but it will be easier on your fish.

 

[Lorelei]

Thanks everyone. I'm heartbroken, I know this other fish is going to die, he doesn't look good at all. I'd never even heard of this cycling method before. Guess I was lucky because my tanks were so big that these things never became an issue.

 

[a1wonder]

Most FS other than petland and petsmart will let you return the fish to temp keeping (maybe paying a small renters fee) and then do a fishless cycle for 2 weeks. Not only will most LFS mangers/owners (especially at smaller branches) understand but they will encourage you and help you out as they have a true passion for their lively hood.