goldfishnewbie

Good! My goldfish has been put into his new tank and looks very happy!

Thanks for your help! The gallon of tap water and baking soda thing is great to know if I need to raise the pH again. It turns out that I managed to raise the pH on my own by performing a 40% water change and removing a wood decoration that may have been lowering the pH. I also was ultra careful to make sure I was using the test accurately. My tank is fully cycled now and I just today placed my fish into it. He(or she??) seems very happy, no clamped fins or signs of stress. Crossing my fingers that all goes well!

Ok, so I’m basically done cycling but my pH is still low, about 6.2. I tried to raise it using baking soda, but there’s still no change in pH. How long should it take for the pH to get higher once I add baking soda? Or is it supposed to be almost immediate, and there’s just something wrong with my water test?

Ok thanks! I’ll do that.

I’m still in the process of cycling my tank...fishless cycle by adding fish food. Yesterday the nitrites were at 0.50 ppm (api liquid test), and I added a bunch of fish food — even though I probably shouldn’t have added that much — to generate more ammonia. Today the nitrites jumped all the way up to 5 ppm! Are such big, sudden jumps like that normal for a cycling tank?Thanks, I just need to know if I did something wrong...

Thanks so much! I’ll definitely look at that

Also, don’t worry, I’m trying to make some kind of DIY cover for the tank so my fish can’t jump out out of the tank.

When I got the tank it just had the tank, no light hood. As of right now I have neither a light nor the money to buy one. That’s a good idea, though, so maybe I’ll look into that for the future. Thanks! For now the tank will just have natural lighting, as the room it’s in is well lit.

I recently acquired a 20 gallon tank from a neighbor, it looks great and it’s been running for about a week now. No leaks, everything’s good, and I’m trying to do a fishless cycle. Here’s the problem: the glass is yellowish. Now, I know this isn’t a danger to the fish and sometimes happens with an older aquarium. But I prefer the aesthetic look of a clear aquarium (and yes, I’m sure it doesn’t just look yellow because of dirty water. The water was crystal clear when I put it in a bucket). Is there anything I can do to make it look clearer? Or will I just have to live with it?

I wish I had someone to build me a big tank stand like that! I’m obviously not an adult if you look at my profile and I’m the child of a single mom (she does a great job, too!). She’s not exactly the handy type, and I really don’t have room for that kind of thing either. But your place looks great! I have a common goldfish too, he’s getting moved into a 20 gallon tank soon. Good luck to you!

If a common goldfish was previously stunted (it is 3 inches at 1.5 years old), how much bigger do you think it would grow if I place it in a sufficient tank? Will it not grow at all, grow some, or grow to its full size?