Help!

[jesej]

Ok, here is my long story...

I had two goldfish for almost 2 years, a fantail and an oranda. I was a noob when I got them and it took ages to get the tank cycling. But I did it and my fish thrived. But they grew like crazy and my 40 gal tank was too small. So I had to do alot of watch changes to keep them happy. I went away on a trip for a week and while I was gone, they died. I suspect the person who was watching them (my ex) killed them to upset me. Which it did! I loved those fish.

I was very sad about it and couldnt bear to look at the tank. So it just sat there, empty, running for a couple weeks. I eventually drained all the water, rinsed everything (in tank water) and bought two new goldfish. I coudlnt find my testing supplies and just hoped everything would be ok. After about 2 weeks the fish looked terrible (I had vacuumed twice and did a partial water change both times). Red streaks, ragged fins, etc.

So, I started doing water changes. It didnt help. Today I was finally able to get out and get some ammo block (I live about an hour from any fish supplies) and changed about half the water and put some of that in since that seemed to be the problem. But after a few hours one of the fish was bobbing around, still breathing, but not swimming....

So I took both out and put them in a bucket with a bubbler. :{{{

Just now I checked on them and the bobber fish is dead. But hte other seems to have perked up a little. I did more searching and found my testers and heres what I got -

PH - 8
Ammo - .25-.50 (hard to tell)
Nitrite - 0
Nitrate - 20-40

What can I do to help my poor unhappy fish? I didnt have this much trouble the first time... and Ive forgotten everything I learned back then :{

I love my little new fish. I want to save him!

 

[aakaakaak]

Red streaks were ammonia poisoning. However, it looks like you have nitrates, so you're just about done with the whole cycle thing it looks like. Keep doing big water changes until the ammonia disappears. With only .25-.50 ammonia I don't think the ammo lock will be a big deal. It looks like you're out of the woods at least.

Speaking of water changes, you're using either Aquasafe or Prime with the new water, right? If you're dumping in plain water you run a very high risk of killing your fish with chlorine or chloramine.

Also, I'm sure someone will be coming along shortly to tell you that goldfish grow to big for a 40 gallon tank. Technically they're correct. They're supposed to be in a pond or gigantic tank since they can grow over a foot long. Since you're PH is so high you might want to look into getting some medium sized African cichlids. The water conditions look perfect for them once the ammonia goes down.

Edit: almost forgot. The reason you lost the cycle is because the beneficial bacteria starved to death in those two weeks the tank was fishless.