GOLDFISH AMMONIA HELP!!!

[giovanni]

Is my goldfish ammonia the thing that is geting my water dirty i have 5 goldies in a 29 gl tank is it the ammonia or what ?

 

[huck]

a 29 gallon is too small to have that many goldfish in there...  how big are they?  you will eventually have to move some to another tank...  Goldfish produce a lot of waste, You cant see ammonia in the water, the ammonia comes from the waste, but the waste isn't ammonia...  do you mean the poop?  that could be making your water dirty, do you overfeed?

 

[JWright]

First things first, head to http://faq.thekrib.com/begin-cycling.html for a better understanding of exactly what ammonia is, where it comes from, and why it's bad.

How long has your tank been set up? I would reccomend you head down to your LFS and pick up at least 3 test kits: Ammonia, Nitrite, and Nitrate. As soon as you can, get those numbers posted here.

As Huck said, 29 gallons is _way_ too small for 5 goldfish. Common goldfish require at least 20 gallons a piece to do well.

Josh

 

[colesea]

Hmm...well, ammonia can definately make a tank leathal to goldfish and you want to check your water chemistries with a test kit...

...but if it -looks- dirty (brown scum on glass/gravel/decorations, brown or green cloudy water, white fuzzy stuff floating around or on the bottom, filter grimy, water smells..etc), it is usually because you need to clean it.

I have six fantail goldfish that are of a rather large (tennis ball) size in a 29 gallon tank at the moment (YES JOSH I KNOW I NEED A BIGGER TANK), but can't afford or provide space to give six fish 20 gallons each (that would be 120 gallons for those fish). So, as a compromise, I clean their tank twice a week.  I do a 5 gallon water change with siphoning on Wed, and a 10 gallon water change on Saturdays.

I also have trained my fish to be neat eaters. Since they like to eat from the bottom, I've put a plasic "dish" there and put their food on the dish (yes I put my hand in the tank to get it there). I feed soaked pellets, and only enough that each fish gets a mouthful of it. I feed twice a day.

Goldfish are one of those fish that like large and frequent water changes and lots of fresh water. A powerful filter is also the key, I have a Marineland Penguine 330 on my tank, and the biowheels do a great job at helping to reduce ammonia levels, and water changes will help remove nitrate build up.

Good luck
~~Colesea