# Cycling with goldfish



## lagorda (Sep 9, 2005)

I have a 10 gallon, with a UGF, a small comet, fantail, and dojo loach. 

If it was up to me, I would have cycled the tank with some danios, then get my fish, but my husband doesnt quite grasp the concept of cycling a new tank. :chair: 

I set the tank up approximately 2 and a half weeks ago, same day put two fantails in that my husband already bought. A couple days later one is dead. So my husband gets me two small comets. Then a week later he brings home two dojo loaches. I told him everything was going to die but he didnt believe me.... As I'm adding the dojos, I noticed that all of the goldfish have ich, the fantail with the most. 

A day or two later one dojo and a comet die. I finally get the time to get some Ridich and Cycle. I have been adding the Ridich once a day for over a week, and the comet is cleared up, and the fantail is almost all cleared up. However, how the fantail has some fin rot. The fins and part of the body have also turned black. I can't remember if that is also a symptom of fin rot or not. 

The goldfish are active, swimming and searching for food, munching on anacharis. I am taking the dojo to my parents' house, I have an established aquarium there for him.

And I'm going to get the water tested as well. 

My questions are: 
Is the blackness associated with fin rot or something else?
Should I do a 10 or 20 percent water change? 
Which medication for fin rot would you suggest? 
Should I vacuum the gravel with the water change? 

Thanks!

PS: I know goldfish get a huge and are messy. I have a 30 and 55 gallon in storage for when they grow up.


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## fish_doc (Jan 31, 2005)

Is the blackness associated with fin rot or something else?
It could be due to high ammonia because of the cycling of the tank.

Should I do a 10 or 20 percent water change? 
I would be doing 20 percent water changes seeing how you have goldfish.

Which medication for fin rot would you suggest? 
Maracide by mardel if you have access to it. A LFS (Local fish store) here carries it. Im not sure if walmart would.

Should I vacuum the gravel with the water change?


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## garfieldnfish (Jan 18, 2005)

I hate to be so negative but I hope your husband reads this. LISTEN TO YOUR WIFE. A 10 gal is not large enough for one goldfish. Period. A single goldfish needs a minimum of 15 gal and 10 for each additional one. 
I started this same way now I have 11 fish tanks. I had a left over 1.5 gal triops experiment tank and my husband brought home 2 goldfish and a book called "aquariums for dummies", how fitting. LOL. It took 10 minutes and we knew we need a much bigger tank.
You already have them, set one up. The larger 55 gal would be good for the goldfish. Taking the loach to your parents is good for the time being. 
Do daily water changes of at least 25% in the 10 gal.
Use maracyn and maracyn II to treat the goldfish. They are broad spectrum antibiotics and hopefully will bring fin rot under control. If you have plants in the tank remove them and place them in the new tank since the medicine will coat and harm them. Some plants recover from maracyn others will just disintegrate.
Set up the new tank. A 55 gal is large enough to house 2 small goldfish even during the cycling phase but you are right danios or minnow would have been a better choice.
Once the 55 gal is up and running you can get the dojo loach back from your parents. It would go well with the goldfish. If you just keep one fancy and one comet they should be ok. Comets are faster then fantails so they outcompete them for food in general but with just 2 they will be fine.
Later one you could add a few fathead minnows or some small danios.


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## lagorda (Sep 9, 2005)

Haha! Thanks for the advice, I just put in the first dose of maracyn so hopefully that will help my fish. I'm already familiar with the housing and care of goldfish, I just wasn't sure what to do with the mess my man created. In all my years of fishkeeping, the worse thing that happened to my tanks was ich. I totally believe and practice preventive care, so I have never had a tank like this before. Thanks again for your advice!


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