I'm a noob with lots of fish!

35 posts • Page 3 of 4

Discuss all topics related to freshwater and planted tanks.


esparzar1
 
Posts: 164
Joined: Fri Jan 30, 2009 5:31 pm

by esparzar1

Good luck with everything, a lot of the information above is good stuff. But, again, being goldfish in the tank, I really think you will be okay. I once owned goldfish before I knew about cycling or anything like that, I did complete (100%) water changes each month with no problems. That big of a water change would kill most fish....except goldfish....lol


tekneb
 
Posts: 211
Joined: Fri Apr 16, 2010 3:45 am

by tekneb

I second esparzar's sentiments. Good luck with everything, and also make sure to keep us updated, since you got pretty much every active blogger on this site intruiged lol.


Stampede
 
Posts: 20
Joined: Thu Oct 21, 2010 1:30 pm

by Stampede

I will definitely keep everyone updated. Tonight for phase one I'm going to shovel around 50 pounds of goldfish poop out of the pond. Then I'll remove the liner to inspect it and the hole itself....lord knows what I'll find down there. From there, if there is still some daylight, I might start digging. Should be fun! I'll take pics!


Stampede
 
Posts: 20
Joined: Thu Oct 21, 2010 1:30 pm

by Stampede

Phase 1 :

Completely unsuccessful! Too little daylight, and way too much poo!

Tonight the wife and I will try to tag team the effort in the little time that she has before she leaves for work. We're basically gonna grab one end of the liner and try to roll all of the poo down the hill.....lol!
91d6c-Pond Poo2.jpg
926ce-Pond Poo.jpg


Stampede
 
Posts: 20
Joined: Thu Oct 21, 2010 1:30 pm

by Stampede

Woooohooooo! I got the poo out. I basically had to use brute force to remove the liner, but I did get it done last night. The bad thing is that I'm going to have to start from scratch to rebuild this pond....after I demolish what the original owner did to put it up in the first place. At this point I'm committed, so onward and upward I shall go.
d4fc8-Pond Poo4.jpg
14bb7-Pond Poo3.jpg


Stampede
 
Posts: 20
Joined: Thu Oct 21, 2010 1:30 pm

by Stampede

As a side note:

The fish still seem to be doing well. They still haven"t acclimated to their new home, but I think it's getting better. I did about a 20% water change last night, making sure to really get down into the gravel. I still plan on the test kit, but just haven't had the time. From the looks of things it seems as if these fish are going to be in my basement for the winter at least, so it's going to be business as usual for a while. I can tell you that when this pond is finally done they're going to love it!

Then we can get on to setting up that 55 gallon to compete with some of the awesome tanks that I've seen on this site!


yasherkoach
 
Posts: 1306
Joined: Sat Jul 26, 2008 1:24 pm

by yasherkoach

hate to inform you but without liquid test kits (liquid is more accurate) you will never know how much water to change out...key to water testing is, first test the tap water, then test the tank water, if ammonia etc are high do a 50% water change, if low do a 20-25% water change, after the water change, do all the tests again for ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, ph (and if possible, for oxygen, phosphate and iron - if you have live plants); but ammonia, nitrite, nitrate and ph are requirements for a healthy tank

so far you are lucky...but sometimes luck is not on our side, then what?


natalie265
Site Admin
 
Posts: 746
Joined: Sat Nov 01, 2008 9:48 pm

by natalie265

I agree w/yasher's last remark.

It does make sense to do smaller water changes, as some have suggested, but in THIS CASE i don't think a 20% water change per week is going to be enough. We are looking at an overstocked, uncycled tank here. That is why i originally suggested the bigger water changes. But, without a test kit, we don't really know. Personally, i would err on the safe side (ie bigger water changes) until i got a kit. As long as you match the temperature with the water that you are replacing it shouldn't be terribly stressful for the fish.


dream2reef
 
Posts: 521
Joined: Sun Jun 20, 2010 4:19 am

by dream2reef

Or you could do smaller water changes more frequently? Lots of equations all the same answer. Everyone is going to freak this guy out. Not one person said anything of the backwork this guy just pulled off. I've worked on these things before not easy or fun. But wow You're already half way there or better Can't wait to see the completed project. At least the fish get a winter home which may need done every year not sure. The good thing about goldfish is they heal fast and forget even faster I'm pretty sure? All I know is IDK


christofrontosa
 
Posts: 42
Joined: Sat Apr 24, 2010 10:41 pm

by christofrontosa

Stampede I commend you for all your hard work! to do what is right for the fish. lots of people would have just flushed the fish and covered the pond. AWESOME WORK!!!

I'm a noob with lots of fish!

35 posts • Page 3 of 4

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