Guest scrkpr Posted September 5, 2005 Share Posted September 5, 2005 My husband got me a 55 gallon tank 3 days ago. He thought some fantail goldfish would be nice. So he added them right away...it never occured to him to let the tank cycle some first (sigh). Anyway, the first day they were happy little fish eating my plants. The second day they started gasping at the top of the tank. They don't spend all their time gasping, but probably about 50%. The rest of the time they swim and eat my plants. I checked the water conditions: pH-7.6 ammonia- .25 Nitrite and nitrate -0 The temp is currently78 but was at 82 (curse FLorida weather) I installed a fan to blow on the water temporarily.I can't figure out why me goldies are gasping. Any suggestions wopuld be appreciated. I know that a new tank is full of problems and just hope my goldies aren't victims Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member Comet Posted September 5, 2005 Regular Member Share Posted September 5, 2005 Do you have a filter for it to cycle? Also, do you have an airstone in there? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Chishower Posted September 5, 2005 Share Posted September 5, 2005 Its actually not too bad in my part of florida today...I can go outside without dying! How many fish are in the tank? Higher temp = less oxygen, so you should add an airstone as soon as you can. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest scrkpr Posted September 5, 2005 Share Posted September 5, 2005 I have only 2 (2 inch) goldies. I have a hang on filter that os providing a good bit of circulation. I just can't imagine that my filter can't handle 2 small goldies, even at the higher temp. But I may have to get an airstone and pump. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member orandas*r*my*heart Posted September 5, 2005 Regular Member Share Posted September 5, 2005 Hi and welcome to Koko's! I would definatly go with an airstone or two even. I have a 60 gallon and I have a foot one either side of my tank that has lots of bubbles. The airation is not only great for them, But it's hilarious to watch them play in their bubbles! Goldies are such suckers for Bubbles! Good Luck and keep us updated on how your little ones are doing! :listen: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member Donya Posted September 5, 2005 Regular Member Share Posted September 5, 2005 What sort of HOTB do you have? Circulation and aeration are two separate things...a submerged filter can provide a lot of circulation with little aeration. If it's outputing right at the waterline or below the waterline, you might try dropping the waterline 1/4-1/2" and get some good bubbles churning. If the water has a chance to do a "waterfall" it will for sure increase oxygenation, although it'll be more noisey. That could subsitute for an airstone if the bubbleage is enough from the HOTB. That said, goldies do like their airstone bubbles so both can't be a bad thing Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member Comet Posted September 5, 2005 Regular Member Share Posted September 5, 2005 You could also put a few ice cubes in a plastic bag, the ice themselves, or a frozen bottle of water in there to help cool the water gradually. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member Jeana727 Posted September 5, 2005 Regular Member Share Posted September 5, 2005 Hope your fish are doing better! Thankfully goldies are VERY tough! I run two HOB filters that pour into the tank AND a big bubble wand so there is lots of churning water. I was, at one time, worried that I had too much. I thought they wouldn't have anywhere to rest. But that's not the case they are fine. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest jfuruno Posted September 6, 2005 Share Posted September 6, 2005 I agree with all the post above. Increase your aeration and they should be fine. Gasping 50% of the time does seem like a lot though. Good luck and update us. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest scrkpr Posted September 10, 2005 Share Posted September 10, 2005 I just wanted to update ya'll. I got a 15 inch bubble wand this afternoon. My goldies are appreciative. They love to swim through it and play. They are still sucking at the top of the tank every few minutes but I'm no longer worried. Nemo (my 2 year old named him) was just lying around, under a plant, not moving for like 5 minutes this morning. I saw him do it twice and decided the bubbles were needed immedietly. They are much more active now too. I mean, they were active before, but now OMG! I burried the bubble wand under some gravel and now I get bubbles of all different sizes. I like the effect. I'm going out of town for a week Monday morning so a friend will be watching them, my dogs, my cat and my son. Thanks for your suggestions. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member orandas*r*my*heart Posted September 11, 2005 Regular Member Share Posted September 11, 2005 No prob, I'm glad you're fish are "feeling better"! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member JenW Posted September 11, 2005 Regular Member Share Posted September 11, 2005 Hi scrkpr - with you going out of town for a week - would your friend mind testing your tank water and doing daily waterchanges for you? Your tank is already getting toxic as you're showing ammonia - but it's only going to keep climbing every hour - and sadly a week is too long between changes... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member toothless Posted September 11, 2005 Regular Member Share Posted September 11, 2005 It hink this link will help you to understand what is going on in your tank: http://www.kokosgoldfish.com/cycle.html It seems as though you are at the very beginning of the cycling of your tank. You are going to need to do lots of watrchanges for up to a month. that is, unless you can purchase some bio-spira from a local shop. Link to bio-spira: http://www.marineland.com/products/mllabs/ML_biospira.asp If you use this stuff properly, you can have a cycled tank within 3-4 days max. But, your filtration rate must be conducive to goldfish's needs. For a 55 gallon, no matter how big the goldfish are, you shold be providing a total of 550 gallons per hour. If this rate is not achieved, ammonia and nitrIte levels can take a looooong time to level out to 0ppm. Often, nitrItes will never drop to 0ppm unless the correct level of filtration is achieved. Good luck and keep us posted..... Paul Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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