startin up a 29 gal

[Angelnstuff]

We've decided to set up our 29gal, because well waiting till after we move could be forever.. theres like nothing to rent around here that allows pets So we decided if we do move, we'll just deal with moving it..
so we did the easy part, we set it up, filled it, played with the bubbles for awhile.. now the more complicated bit.
I know i need to cycle the tank, i had a bunch of websites saved that talked about how to do it using a piece of shrimp, anyone know how to do this?
Also someone on another site told me that because i'll only be putting 2 small goldfish in the 29gal tank that i shouldnt have to cycle it, is this true? They also said goldfish dont need a heater?
i know they like cooler temps, but should they have a heater just set lower?
Im pretty sure its just going to be a gold fish tank, since were gonna end up getting fish from walmart, there fish have been looking a bit healthier lately.. except for the last week, they had Ick, but they were actually treating it and not selling them, which i thought was surprising. is there anything else that can live happily with goldfish?

Ive never really had a tank of my own, i mean we had some when we were little, but my parents took care of them, so any extra info you all would like to pass on would be great.

[sara8]

I don't know a whole lot about goldfish as i have never kept them, but I am pretty sure they don't need heat at all because they are cold water fish. I don't think you can really put anything else in there b/c they would require different temps. You could go with different variations of gold fish, like black moors, I think those are really pretty fish. I wouldn't put any more than 2 in and then you are going to have to pay close attention to your water levels b/c they are so dirty. Good luck and have fun. Fishkeeping is addictive and before you know it you will have multiple tanks

[Sasami]

No, you definately need to cycle the tank no matter what kind of fish you want. It's cruel not to, IMO.

You can use a piece of shrimp but I would just use fish food. You basically want something rotting in there so it releases ammonia and then the bacteria that eat the ammonia will start to establish themselves.

I would just do a search on Google for "fishless cycling"...you'll get plenty of great sites.

Or you could just order some Bio-Spira...it's the only product known to cycle an aquarium overnight . You'll probably need to order it online...you can get it here: http://fishstoretn.com/bio_spira.html. Don't let the people at the petstore talk you into getting anything else...there are other similar products but they don't actually cycle the aquarium but rather speed the process a bit.

You add Bio-Spira at the same time as adding fish. But because you want messy goldfish I would only add one to start with and then add the other one a week or two later. Don't just dump the Bio-Spira into the water...pour it into the filter cartridge or onto the bio-wheel. Otherwise it'll take a week to cycle.

I hope you got a good filter because goldfish are messy critters. You'll need two power filters or a canister filter. If you have a really good power filter you should be fine if you do lots of water changes. Basically, a single Whisper filter won't cut it .

Danios can live with goldfish but it would probably be better to just stick to the two goldies unless you have awesome filteration. Plus, danios and goldfish don't always get along.

You don't need a heater because goldfish are coldwater fish.

[Vanilla_Rat]

I have always had goldfish and they are really messy fish,but other then that,they are greyt fish that can live a long time...I have a sarassa comet which I have had over 3 yrs now and an oranda who I only had for a few months.

They don't need a heater.

[Angelnstuff]

Thanks for all the replies, we've decided to cycle the tank using fish food. i found a site that said to just put a pinch of food in twice a day, do you think this is enough? is more better?

Davids driving me crazy, we were at walmart the other day to get fish food, and he said he doesnt think he wants goldfish anymore.. bleh. he wants a few different types of fish.. so ive decided hes not allowed to choose fishies anymore lifes just easier that way!
im going back to my guppy idea.. any suggestions of tankmates for guppies would be helpful, weve got plenty of time to decide for sure what fish we want, the site i read said it may take 4-8 weeks to cycle so no hurry there, we got some lilly bulbs from walmart we put in there last night just to see if they'll grow, something to keep our bubbles company
Heres some pics
one with flash

a two without


as you can see we have tons of bubbles, the whole back wall is lined with them, do you think this would be too much for most fish? We can turn them down when we add fish, but for now, there mesmerizing to sit and watch.

[candyraver]

I like your fish tank a lot.It is beautiful.Bio-Spira is great! I bought some,& I got it this week!
Now I finally can get fish... more fish
I have 2 guppies in with a male betta & my betta didnt bother them...& also 2 frogs in with him.But bettas are not coldwater though! I also have 2 corydoras in with a female betta.& I changed the filtration [bettas are not messy but what I have them housed with are ] Good filter,but it was stressing the fish out because even after I put plants around it they refused to swim around,so that had to go.

"Goldfish wise" I love fantails& black moors.They can get a bit big though.But I shop at walmart & the only "big fish" I ever see are koi& comets Everything I bring home are teeny tiny things.My frogs you can barely even see So I buy small fish.But as they grow,so will their housing. I want lots of aquariums so no problem buying bigger when they need a larger habitat.Then I can buy small fish again& start all over again

[Sasami]

Adding more food will not make things go faster or anything...just a little is fine .

If you get guppies don't forget you need a heater . Guppies are peaceful (although a bit nippy) so they'll be fine with most fish. I've found platies to be the perfect tankmates because they have the same care needs. A few cory cats or other bottom-dwellers would be good, too.

[Angelnstuff]

Ok, so its been about a week since i started feeding the bubbles in out fish tank.. yep the bubbles i tried naming them but well.. theres alot of them.. anyway..

I prolly should tested the water last week before i started feeding but.. well i forgot.. so heres what the results were for today, ive been adding a pinch (or two) of food every day
Ammonia- 1.0
Nitrite- 0
Nitrate- 40 (my best guess and david guessed that too so yeah.. but the colors are really hard to tell)
PH- 8.2 the test kit said this should be alot lower what do i need to do about that?

[Sasami]

I wouldn't worry too much about the pH unless you are keeping ultra-sensitive fish. As long as it is stable, that should be fine. I wouldn't recommend trying to use products to lower it or anything.

A natural way to lower it is to add some driftwood .

I would test your tap water as well. Find out what the pH is right out of the tap as well as if your water contains ammonia or nitrates. I have a feeling yours has nitrates or ammonia which is why you are getting those readings. Normally an aquarium doesn't have nitrates until the end of the cycle and by that point there shouldn't be any ammonia. And you would've had a nitrite spike.

Either way the aquarium will take a few more weeks to cycle.

Do you have live plants? Having plants will speed up the cycle .

[Angelnstuff]

i dont think anywhere around here sells live plants.. the only live fish store here is wallmart and i dont know if there plants are for sale, but honestly ive never thought to look, we put some lil bulbs in there to see if they would grow, next time we go to walmart i'll check for live plants..

i jus checked the tap water for nitrates, cuz i thought that seemed really high, and it read the same 40ish or something, i cant really tell, they all look orange to me but either way there high. i'll go check it for ammonia and ph

[Angelnstuff]

Ph in our tap was 7.4, and no ammonia

so this is prolly a stupid question, but what causes the ph to go up?

im not too worried cuz i do plan on adding driftwood when i find some

[Sasami]

Oh, wow, that's high. You'll definately have to keep on water changes once you get the fish, then. But hey, having nitrates in the tap water is better then ammonia or something.

And I'm also surprised that your pH went up so much once the water went in the aquarium. Certain decorations and kinds of rocks can cause the pH to go up. Some aquarium chemicals can have the same kind of effect...I don't suggest using too many chemicals anyways.

[Angelnstuff]

the only chemicals we added to the tank is Aqua safe, a water conditoner by Tetra aqua, could that have done it? maybe we should be using something else?

[Sasami]

Quote: Originally Posted by Angelnstuff the only chemicals we added to the tank is Aqua safe, a water conditoner by Tetra aqua, could that have done it? maybe we should be using something else?

Nah, AquaSafe shouldn't do that. I used that brand myself for a while.

I'm thinking it's one of the decorations you have. Now the question is which one? Are any of them actual rocks? Or are they all plastic?

[Angelnstuff]

there all from walmart.. ive no clue what there made out of, ceramic maybe?