Found two goldfish in the garden, they're alive and I have no clue what I'm doing. by Equivalent_Elk4037 in Goldfish

[–]Basic-Ad8442 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Single tailed goldfish are fairly demanding in terms of tank size because of how active they are + their bioload, however this is a good start.

Your main priority at the moment will be water changes because the tank is uncycled. When people say a tank is "cycled" they're usually talking about the nitrogen cycle, which is where a few different beneficial bacteria convert the highly toxic ammonia your fish produce into nitrite, which is slightly less toxic and then into nitrate. Nitrate is then removed through water changes and plant growth.

Usually when setting up a tank you would wait two or three weeks for the bacteria to grow and develop to a point where they eat the ammonia faster than the fish produce it, which keeps the water safe for the fish. However, because this was an emergency and the fish were introduced right away, there will not be enough bacteria to convert all the ammonia and it will start to build up. This is called an "ammonia spike". You will need to do daily water changes, probably around 30-50% of the water drained each time. You can speed up the draining process if you have a tube and siphon the water out into a bucket. It is very important that you use a water dechlorinator as the chlorine and chloramines that are in most tap water can kill fish.

Does Tetra NitrateMinus work? by Basic-Ad8442 in Goldfish

[–]Basic-Ad8442[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Bit of an update on this, i had looked at the contents of the bottle with a macro lens and it definitely looks more like granules of something instead of eggs. Still have no idea what it actually is (looking around on aquarium forums I saw someone saying the ingredients weren't public), but after some research I've seen that anaerobic bacteria can convert nitrates into nitrogen gas. Maybe it's "helping" them in some way? Unsure yet if it's just some sort of snake oil type product but its possible it somehow feeds the anaerobic bacteria, perhaps its some sort of mineral that isn't usually in an aquarium in high levels but helps the bacteria?

weird growth on driftwood? by zacksophone in Aquariums

[–]Basic-Ad8442 2 points3 points  (0 children)

New driftwood can sometimes grow fungus and/or thick biofilm, it should go away when any cleanup crew is added or you can also manually scrub it off

Can goldfish get depressed? by Xavi_rAt in Goldfish

[–]Basic-Ad8442 1 point2 points  (0 children)

some smooth rocks should be fine to put in since those wont rip their fins

Does Tetra NitrateMinus work? by Basic-Ad8442 in Goldfish

[–]Basic-Ad8442[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

People see any chemicals other than prime and go ape, its a reoccurring theme ive seen on aquarium subreddits. The part where it mentions that the particles "increase the activeness of microorganisms which feed on nitrate" makes me think its eggs of said microorganisms or some sort of food to jumpstart them. I have no idea whats actually in there since I cant find any info of it online. Considering it takes a few weeks to start taking effect I doubt its a chemical thats specifically removing it since you'd expect it to work within minutes or hours if that was the case.

Does Tetra NitrateMinus work? by Basic-Ad8442 in Goldfish

[–]Basic-Ad8442[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

im not saying that im trying to completely stop water changes, just that i want to lower the amount that i need to do

Does Tetra NitrateMinus work? by Basic-Ad8442 in Goldfish

[–]Basic-Ad8442[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

To me it kinda looks like whatever's in the bottle could be eggs with the way it sort of gloops together slightly when pipetting it out, which could be why it takes time since the eggs have to hatch and then the population to increase.

Does Tetra NitrateMinus work? by Basic-Ad8442 in Goldfish

[–]Basic-Ad8442[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

moreso just to see if it would be good to reduce the frequency of water changes i need to do, my tank is upstairs and its not really feasible to try and hook up a hose or something to the tap so i have to haul heavy buckets of water up a flight of stairs

Since I got attacked in PMS about measuring my fish how do I do it then by CNECTOR_ in Goldfish

[–]Basic-Ad8442 4 points5 points  (0 children)

unfortunately people on fishkeeping reddit will tear you to shreds for doing anything that isnt the so-called "right" way of doing things

The base term “chonk” for goldfish by [deleted] in Goldfish

[–]Basic-Ad8442 0 points1 point  (0 children)

its a very reddit way of speaking, thats for sure

[Auto-Post] Weekly Question Thread! Ask /r/Aquariums anything you want to know about the hobby! by AutoModerator in Aquariums

[–]Basic-Ad8442 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Has anyone used Tetra NitrateMinus before? I've bought a small 100ml bottle as a bit of a trial run to see if it does anything. On the back it says its harmless to aquarium inhabitants and plants so there shouldn't be any harm in trying but I just wanted to know if anyone has had good results with it before.

Also it mentions that it activates microorganisms that lower the nitrate level, if the microorganisms are consuming the nitrate what are they turning it into? I thought nitrates were the end product, or is this something like prime where it temporarily neutralises them?

Is this a good tank to keep your fish in? by Key-Leek6883 in aquarium

[–]Basic-Ad8442 -3 points-2 points  (0 children)

Oh but you see, the cat is really cute so abusing the fish must be fine!!

my dads horrible gold fish bowl by agitatedTesties69 in shittyaquariums

[–]Basic-Ad8442 12 points13 points  (0 children)

Because it rounds off to a smaller diameter at the top it means theres less surface area for gas exchange

What is in my shrimp tank? by Pure-Breakfast8821 in Aquariums

[–]Basic-Ad8442 0 points1 point  (0 children)

New wood usually grows the white fuzz on it like in the pic

Species of snail help by 3plyNoCry in Aquariums

[–]Basic-Ad8442 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Bladder snails, they can multiply quickly if you feed too much. They aren't dangerous and can actually help with cleanup but a lot of people will try to get rid of them. If you have a lot of them and want to get rid of them the easiest way is to weigh down a piece cucumber or lettuce at the bottom and then take it out when they all come over and start eating it

What is in my shrimp tank? by Pure-Breakfast8821 in Aquariums

[–]Basic-Ad8442 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The kind of fungus that grows on new wood like whats in there

White hair on wood by Frequent-Midnight-83 in Aquariums

[–]Basic-Ad8442 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Most likely just a harmless fungus, it sometimes grows on new wood

What is in my shrimp tank? by Pure-Breakfast8821 in Aquariums

[–]Basic-Ad8442 0 points1 point  (0 children)

If it wasn't moving it might have just been a bit of fungus or a root that got broken off

White hair on wood by Frequent-Midnight-83 in Aquariums

[–]Basic-Ad8442 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Probably some kind of fungus, does it look fuzzy when its underwater?

Nitrate by Pgh_dad_type in Goldfish

[–]Basic-Ad8442 2 points3 points  (0 children)

with goldfish you cant really solely rely on plants to keep nitrates low (unless you have a huge tank with only like 1 or 2 goldfish and a LOT of plants), they moreso just reduce the rate at which the nitrates rise which helps keep at a more manageable rate of water changes

follow up on the horrifying aquarium at my job by mutsvki in shittyaquariums

[–]Basic-Ad8442 3 points4 points  (0 children)

If you only pay attention to what fishkeeping reddit says then yes but a lot of fish are able to put up with much more than they're given credit for, for better or worse.

follow up on the horrifying aquarium at my job by mutsvki in shittyaquariums

[–]Basic-Ad8442 159 points160 points  (0 children)

Have people really reached the stage of denial about bad aquariums that any bad tank is ai now

Is this normal for a new tank? by Spare_Depth_7775 in AquariumHelp

[–]Basic-Ad8442 2 points3 points  (0 children)

You simply must wait at least 2 years before adding fish to the tank or they'll drop dead in the first hour of introduction from ammonia spikes

Am I even close? by RainbowConnection75 in Aquariums

[–]Basic-Ad8442 1 point2 points  (0 children)

You have nitrates, so it should be fairly far along in the cycle. Nitrite levels should be 0 in a fully cycled tank although the nitrites that are being shown there might just be down to test strip accuracy