What do I need to do??

Question

I have a 10 gal aquarium with 4 goldfish. I am about to get rid of the goldfish.......So what do i need to do to make my aquarium safe for sum freshwater tropical fish????I have a filter and a heater. Ooo and a thermoter

Answer 1

It should be fine as it is. Before you get new fish, do a large (50%) water change and gravel vac to ensure that the new fish have clean water; set the temperature to 78F, and add your fish.
Because you already had fish in there, the water will be safe and already cycled, so your new fish will be fine. Of course, always acclimate your new fish before adding them. That is, float the bag for 10 minutes. Then open the bag and add a half cup of aquarium water, let it sit for another 10 minutes then add another half cup. Then net the fish, release it into the tank, and throw away the bag water.
Don't add too many fish at a time. Even though your tank is already cycled, you don't want to overload it by adding too many at once. Restrict yourself to 1-2 fish a week until your tank is stocked where you want it to, and of course keep up with weekly 25-30% water changes.

Note that if your tank is going to be empty for over a week before getting the new fish, throw in a pinch of fish food. There are a good bacteria in your tank that make it safe for fish - they "eat" the ammonia that fish produce and render it harmless, so if they have nothing to eat, they'll starve.

Answer 2

well you have 2 options.

1. get rid of the goldfish, do a 60% water change, give the gravel/substrate a damn good vaccuum to get rid of goldfish poop. rinse the filter sponges well in OLD tank water. put the heater in, warm it up to around 75-80 degrees, test the water, add new fish. the reason i wouldn't do this is maybe the goldfish were carrying something they were tough to and new fish will get. that you haven't cleaned out enough poopy and ammonia is still going to peak and wipe out your new fish.

2. personally this is the one i would do, because i'm overly precautious. tear everything out, substrate, decor. either replace or rinse thoroughly and put back. replace filter sponges. give the tank a good scrub (with water and aquarium salt, no detergents or anything!), and re-cycle the tank (takes 2-4 weeks). yes this is the long way round, but i'd rather start the tank a-fresh than risk them catching something from the old occupants. this will give you time to research what kind of tropical fish are suitable for your tank. what kind of tropical fish are you going to get? anything under 15 gallons is hard to stock with regular community fish.

Answer 3

Actually just bag out the gold fish and keep your tank running. Your tank is already safe for tropical fish. If you clean it out completely, now you have to wait another 4 weeks for it to cycle.

Turn your heater on do a partial water change and start adding your fish.

Gold fish even though are pond fish they are still tropical fresh water fish. No difference.

You are good to go.

Answer 4

well goldfish and tropical fish have different PH lever i think that the tropicl fish have drops because the need some acids in there water GOLD FISH IS THE DIRTY FISH YOU CAN BY THEY S H I T WAY TOO MUCH

Answer 5

Just clean it out really good since goldfish r dirty... maybe get some rocks. Thats about all...