brittdee

I just bought a KH/GH tester kit and my tank water was only 2 drops for KH and pretty much 1-2 for GH. My tap water looked like 1 drop for both tests. So I'm guessing that is pretty low. So maybe I should hunt down some crushed coral and a good buffer

Hey Koko does the Gold Buffer replace using the crushed coral to help keep the pH stable ? Bodoba, um, I've never tried aging the water. I can give it a try tonight. By bubbler do you mean the air stone thing. Sorry I'm new at this so I'm trying to keep up with all the terms, haha.

It's just "Top Fin pH Increase" Koko

thanks for the info LovelyChaos I didn't realize the importance of kh.I could pick up a test kit for gh/kh by tomorrow and post the results.

Thanks for the video ! Oops I meant I don't have anything to test the kh. I have the drops testing kit. The PH of the tap water is 6.0, and my tank is sitting around 7.2. I've been trying to maintain it at that level with a PH increaser.

Thanks! I got the rocks from Petsmart, just regular fish tank rocks I guess. I'll hunt down some filter floss. If the Top fin filter is made to fit a cartridge style filter does that matter; I guess like you said I can just stuff it in ?

oops can't enlarge the other one, see if this works

Thanks for such quick responses I believe there is carbon in the Topfin 10 one. I just shut it off. Yup, no nitrites or nitrates, and the ammonia is now 4 ppms. I can only measure the ph of the tap water and it comes out at 6.0. I've been adding PH increaser here and there because I read that a higher PH helps the cycling process (?). And the rocks are store bought tank ones. Hopefully these pictures work [/url]

Thanks everyone for your messages, it makes me feel better. Thanks shellbell4ever for the suggestion. I've definitely had a lot of learning to do when it comes to fish and a kitty in the same house together

I just feel like I'm bumbling my way through this. My brain hurts from reading so many forum posts and articles, so help would be appreciated

Hey guys! Not to bother you with more "my tank won't cycle" crap but I've gotten myself super confused. There are so many variables that I can't figure out. Quick run down of my situation. I had two goldfish that I got before I knew about tank cycling. I was working hard to cycle the tank while keeping them healthy and happy. My sister babysat my fish for a weekend and my fish ended up dying under her care So now I'm trying to do a fishless cycle. - I have a 20 g tank with two filters running; a Topfin 10 & an Aquaclear 30. I have a mostly bare bottom with just a few larger rocks and an airstone. I use drops instead of strips to test the water parameters. - I've been trying to cycle for 4 weeks with no nitrites whatsoever - Ammonia has been consistently present but I don't know whats producing it if I'm not adding ammonia or even food product? It has been sitting at 8.0 (or higher I guess since the test kit tops out at 8.0), and I thought the higher the better and just read this week that it's better to have it sitting at 4.0- 5.0. So I did a 50 % water change with Prime and now it's at 4.0 - I also read that things happen faster at slightly higher temperatures so I've been trying to keep it at 80 F. But I also realized that it was at 88 F (gghh way to read a thermometer right :[ ) So I'm guessing that's too hot and probably wasn't helping so I got it turned back down - PH has been around 7.2 - I've been using Seachem Stability for the past 4 days out of desperation - Oh and I've got some brown particles (?) growing on things. Where is that coming from and is it bad? it tends to clump together. I guess I just want to know if I'm on the right track now. I'm just getting pretty impatient and frustrated with the process. And should I only do water changes to maintain ammonia at 4.0?

Just wanted to write a quick little paragraph or two about my goldfish that I lost about two weeks ago. They were my first goldfish and I was surprised by how interested in them I became. I tried to learn as much about them as possible and that's how I found this goldfish forum. Having never owned fish before I had no idea about tank cycling. Because I already had my fish I obsessively tried to keep the tank within safe parameters while I waited for the tank to cycle. I was doing daily water changes and using products to lower the ammonia. My goldfish seemed happy and were doing great, despite having a bout of ich that was successfully treated (another learning curve for me). Me and my boyfriend decided we needed a little vacation and went to his parents cabin for three days. My sister, who owns fish of her own, was in charge of babysitting my goldfish. She had her instructions and troubleshooting information and could text me if she needed any info. The last day of our little trip away I got a text message from my sister saying that both my fish were dead. I shocked myself by breaking into tears. I couldn't believe that I reacted that way and was sure that my boyfriend would make fun of my emotional outburst. He was actually very supportive and empathetic about the whole situation. What appeared to have happened was that our cat must have stepped on the power-off button on the power bar that all the equipment is plugged into (two filters, bubble wall, and light). I wanted to get mad at my sister for not even noticing that nothing was running and the light was out, but I knew it wouldn't help anything. I now have an empty tank that I am trying to cycle in anticipation of getting two new goldfish. I want everything to be perfect for any new little guys that will be going into that tank. I just wanted to say my last goodbyes to two wonderful goldfish that made me very happy to have known them.

flagged both

Aww what a cute little guy! I just got a baby lionhead of my own about two days ago; it took a little bit of a search. Your guy has nice colouring right now, very well defined. My guy has a little more orange than Mango.

Thanks tithra! I'll get some fishing line, that makes sense. My sister was laughing at me while I tied them up with floss