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Fishnet

If you have a fish pond, fish tank or are seeking advice about keeping tropical fish, you can find advice on our Fish forum.

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Original poster

Cloudy tank - help!

9 replies

OhDearGodThePain · 29/12/2011 07:54

Hi, we set up a gold fish tank 4/5 days ago with a filter. A couple of days ago it started to get a bit cloudy. We put 2 fish in yesterday and this morning its very cloudy and the fish are gasping at the surface - help! I have no idea whats gone wrong and how to fix it. I'm worried it's too early to do a water change.

Anybody got any ideas on this?

Thanks

OP posts:

mrspnut · 29/12/2011 08:01

No, water change now and every day until the ammonia and nitrite levels are down to zero.
You are effectively poisoning your fish because you haven't cycled your tank.
I'd change at least half of the water and then go and get a testing kit so you can check the levels every day.

Original poster

OhDearGodThePain · 29/12/2011 08:09

but it was 'cycled' for 4 days before the (2 small gold fish) went in which is what we were told to do for the tank size and number of fish going in.

OP posts:

mrspnut · 29/12/2011 08:18

4 days is no where near long enough, my last tank took 4 weeks and that was me adding ammonia daily to build up the bacteria in the filter needed to cope with the fishes waste.
Goldfish produce a lot of waste too.
Did you buy the fish from an independent fish shop or a pet shop?

Original poster

OhDearGodThePain · 29/12/2011 08:23

It was a large pet shop chain. Got the tank and fish in there :-(

OP posts:

mrspnut · 29/12/2011 08:27

Do a big water change now and maybe tonight too. Do you have some tap safe?

Try looking on this forum for more specialised advice, you're going to have to do fish in cycling now but these guys can help you. www.fishforums.net/index.php?/forum/18-coldwater-fish-and-ponds/

hohohEauRouge · 29/12/2011 09:13

Mrspnut has given you very good advice.

Another option is to rehome the goldfish and start again with a fishless cycle. This sounds drastic but I seriously doubt that the shop in question has warned you about how big they get and how much space they need. Have a read of this and if you can't or don't want to get a tank that big then it would be best to return the fish, give the shop a colossal bollocking and choose something more suitable (after a fishless cycle).

How big is the tank anyway? There are some tiny ones on sale. Small tanks are a bugger to keep clean and keep fish healthy in. I wouldn't recommend anything smaller than around 50-60 litres.

hohohEauRouge · 29/12/2011 09:16

BTW this is a good explanation of fishless cycling.

Original poster

OhDearGodThePain · 29/12/2011 10:09

Thanks very much for all the advice, its 50 litres and we are not going to keep any more than 2 fish in it. I'm aware they can get large so I was thinking (maybe wrongly?) that once they get a bit bigger I could transfer them to my grandparents pond.

Yes I have tap water conditioner. I would rather not return the fish as they were a present for my small children.

Thanks again x

OP posts:

hohohEauRouge · 29/12/2011 10:43

50 litres is not big enough for goldfish :( Keeping fish in a tank that's too small can cause health problems and premature death. Also it will be a nightmare to keep clean because goldfish are very messy fish. You could keep a small shoal of 6 mountain minnows in a 50 litre tank quite happily.

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