Im a beginner!?

Question

Ok so since having my 20 gallon tank i have had 5 goldfish die on me. I am getting very frustrated because I really want to have tropical fish someday but the people at the pet store told me i need to have gold fish first to get the bacteria going in the tank, well my goldfish can even survive. i found out I had a dangerous amount of ammonia in my tank, so i cleaned me tank completly again and added water de-chlorinater and also a bacteria supplement...should i buy some new gold fish again? The water has been filtering for around 4 days now

i had like 3 feeder fish, and 2 big black ones with the big eyes and nice flowey fins i dont know what their called but i loved them..I was so sad when they died.

Answer 1

It is important for any new tank to cycle completely. Usually this takes between four and six weeks. The purpose of this is to not only allow the harmful chemicals like ammonia and nitrite to balance themselves within your tank, but to allow a healthy colony of beneficial bacteria to establish within your little ecosystem.

Once again, this is very important to do.

If you are doing a cycle that involves fish, which is what it sounds like you are doing, and its been 4 days without any fish in it, it should be ok to add more. Don't add too many! Overcrowding is one of the major causes of fish death, especially with goldfish. Many people don't realize how much waste one little goldfish produces!

Only get one or two fish to start. Don't be in a hurry to populate your tank or you -will- loose more fish. Let the tank cycle completely (I personally would recommend 6 weeks, which is how long it took for my tanks to cycle), checking the water conditions, and waiting until the ammonia and nitrite levels are at a low level before you add any more fish. Don't do any water changes at this time, or you will extend the time it takes the tank to cycle. Make sure you have a good filter, and you should be fine.

Remember, a good rule of thumb when determining how many fish to add to a tank, is 1 inch of fish per gallon of tank. Keep in mind that fish will grow, so the 1" to 1 gallon rule applies to adult size.

Be patient. It is worth it!

Answer 2

Setting a tank up is a nerve wracking experience the first time. It gets easier though.
Follow this outline and your tank will phase fine.
Don,t over stock. remember the one inch per gallon rule.
Some people like to start a tank with way to many goldfish.
Put five goldfish in the 20 gallon tank, small ones like feeders.
This will allow a slow cycling normally and keep feeding under control. don't over feed. Add one pinch of flake food in the AM and one twelve hours later.
Test the tank .
When the tank clouds up don't freak and do a water change. let it be cloudy and clear up on it's own. it will be clear in a few days.
Don,t add tap water directly to the tank. Fill a container with water and let the chlorine dissipate before adding it to the tank. Dechlorinaters are just another chemical you have to deal with.
Force cycling.
If your ammonia levels spike remove the fish and let the tank cycle. testing it again in two or three days
you can use an inexpensive Drink cooler to hold the goldfish while you "force cycle" the tank It normally takes six weeks to do a safe cycling of a tank.
I hope this helped. best of luck

Answer 3

You shouldn't have re-cleaned the tank!! Sorry, but it takes time to cycle a tank. The ammonia was the beginning of the cycle, so when you refilled, you started all over again. The ammonia turns to nitrite then to nitrates...Let the tank run for a couple of weeks then put the goldfish in there. Let it cycle for a couple more weeks, then you can look into other fish. Just be patient...

http://www.bluecrayfish.com/cycle.htm

Answer 4

Check your ammonia level in tank and if it's cool then you can get more fish...you don't have to get goldfish...in a tropical tank you should have a heater and goldfish are cold water fish.....get neon or something like that...

I would like to what kinda of goldfish you got..if you got feeder goldfish they die pretty easy...most of the time when you buy feeder goldfish half will die.

Answer 5

You can do it. We had the same goldfish for 2 years. Although it is sometimes frustrating because they do die. When you get the fish home leave them in the bag with water that they sent you home with set the bag in the fish tank so that they can get used to the water. You don't have to feed them all the time either nor a big amount of food. Make sure the pump is flowing good. If you clean your tank out with dish soap make sure you rinse the tank out real good. Good luck

Answer 6

your tank should be fine its been filtering for 4 days that is plenty of time. but if your worried about it test the water to see if the pH level is right,temp etc goldfish are pretty hard to kill damn what did you do.

Answer 7

Try it. Get one or two fish and see if they die in a couple of days. If yes, then you sholdn't buy more fish.

Answer 8

Since I couldn't send you an IM or Email... I want to put rihnstones on my daughters dress....Dose that answer your Q?

Answer 9

yes you should try it out now, if you got all that stuff done i think the goldfish should be alright in there now.

Answer 10

Instead of killing more fish you should look into doing a fishless cycle. http://badmanstropicalfish.com/articles/article14.html