Help before I kill my fishies

[AlliE]

I am so confused. I have 5 big fat fish. They started out as *cringe* bait for my kid to fish in the pond last February. I rescued the last of them and am now at a 20 gallon tank with a penguin 350 with two bio wheels and two filters. I added an undergound filter over the weekend. How long before the natural cycle kicks in? The water is cloudy whitish. I went back to bottled spring water this time because I could not regulate the amonia levels in my tap water no matter what I did. 4 of them have black burn spots on them :( Will the scabs fall off so they look normal again. They seem ok but the water worries me.
Thanks in advance for some input.
AlliE

[lloyd berg]

i would suggest to resist anymore alterations within the tank for a good while. this will let your tank start and finish a new cycle since the underground went in. that should take about 2-3 weeks and the only maintenance i would suggest is 25% water changes and reduced feedings during this period. if you have ammonia or nitrate + results you should water change every day(10-20%) if these tests are zero or extremely low you can stretch the interval accordingly. try to 'dust' the gravel with a syphon when you water change and resist digging too deep for now.
there are meds you can buy for your fish but fresh,clean water is the #1 on the recovery demand list. fish do scar but i have always been amazed how well fish recovery from their wounds. so 'watch and see'.

[crazyred]

What kind of fish are we talking about? I'm assuming since this is posted in the goldfish forum that these are goldfish? If so, you will never get the ammonia under control with five big goldies in a 20 gallon tank. Goldfish are VERY messy and need a very large tanks with enormous filters to handle their waste. They are also not very good fish to cycle with. The best thing for you to do would be one of two things: find them a new home, or get a much bigger tank and seedit with gravel and filter media from an already established tank.

[AngelMom]

Welcome to the forum! I'm, going to take your post in pieces, so bear with me for a sec.

I have 5 big fat fish.As Red asked, what type of fish? And just how big are they right now? Most goldfish get to be between 10 and 15 inches long.

They started out as *cringe* bait for my kid to fish in the pond last February. ......... How long before the natural cycle kicks in?If the tank has been going since February, then the cycle would have completed long ago (about April)

I went back to bottled spring water this time because I could not regulate the amonia levels in my tap water no matter what I did.Does your tap water have ammonia in it? You generally won't find significant levels of ammonia in tap water. Most likely the ammonia is from fish waste and left over food decaying. As Red stated, goldies are very messy and require large tanks (at least 50 gallons) with LOTS of filtration to deal with their waste.

4 of them have black burn spots on them :( Will the scabs fall off so they look normal again.If you get them into a much larger tank, they may well recover, but if you keep them where they are, they will most likely continue to get worse and develop other illnesses.

Here is a web page that may help to answer some of your questions: http://www.peteducation.com/article.cfm?cls=16&cat=1922&articleid=2650

Please read it and let us know if you have additional questions.

[AlliE]

Ok I'll try being a little clearer. Thanks for the responses thus far!

I have had the fish (goldfish) since February.
The largest is about 7" and they range down to about 4" being the smallest
I am on my 5th tank and the 20 has only been there a week.
I have well water with a softener and it has no amonia when I tested it with no fish. A lady at the pet store recommened Kordon's NovaAqua+ and said I could use my water. That is when the amonia factor kicked in. Actually one of the five did not get burned at all. 3 got some spots and I now have one who's name is Blackie instead of Bait.
As for finding them a new home.. lol I rescued them so my bass in the pond wouldn't get to eat them. I really don't even have room for an aquarium. They are on the counter in my laundry room.
But they are so cute.
I'll try lloyd's suggestion and just see how it goes.
Thanks kids!

[lloyd berg]

hi AlliE, since you mentioned a point of trust in my first suggestion i'm going to reach out a little further. goldfish do require lots of space. i love them for ponds and plan to put one in my back yard next year. up here in the north we have to house our goldies in tanks during the winter or they freeze with the rest of us. lol. you can keep your goldfish in a 20 with constant water changes but eventually you need to move them out before the maintenance becomes a burden. if you have any questions of concern or require a 'how-to' don't hesitate to ask.

[AlliE]

Well here we go, week one and first water change. They are doing awesome! Even blackie looks better. I think I'll just continue with the water changes every week and see how big they are in the spring. If I think they can hold their own, maybe I let them go in the pond. I'll find the place where you guys uploaded pics of your tanks and put mine there too.
Thanks a ton again!