# cycling goldfish are dying



## jeremy66 (Feb 18, 2008)

ok so i got my tank all setup and i threw like 15 goldfish in there to help them cycle the tank faster. they were in there a week and half of them died and so i put some tetra safe start in there so it would cycle even faster. now 4 days after i put the safe start in there is only one goldfish left. is the ammonia level killing them or what? i cant test the water right now bc im at school but on sunday the ammonia levels were a bit high. the temp is at 76 so im not sure other than high ammonia levels what could be killing them.


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## Plowboy (Apr 9, 2008)

How high do you mean by high? My guess is it is the ammo, just like you thought. Remember if you have a high Ph ammo becomes even more toxic to the fish.

You can do some water changes when the tank is cycling to keep the ammo in check. At the worst, it will just slow the cycling down a bit.


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## Dr. Giggles (Oct 18, 2003)

Most likely from a combination of ammonia and nitrite poisoning. One gf isnt going to cycle a tank properly. Tetra safe start is a good product but even the bacteria in that bottle will begin to die off if there isnt enough of an ammonia source. Add more GF since that is the way you intend on cycling.


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## Guest (May 24, 2009)

Remove all the goldfish!

Start feeding the tank (even tho there are no fish) Continue to do this every few days, small amounts. Put the food in front of the filter intake so it doesn't rot under the gravel.


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## Piranha_man (Jan 29, 2005)

Personally, I think goldfish are a poor choice for cycling anyway.
They're too often stricken with disease and close to death anyway.

Giant danios work well...

(Just my opinion)


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## jman785 (May 8, 2005)

+1 Agreed

If your going to continue the cycle with fish, I recommend a hardier fish as PM has stated.

Or you could do a fishless cycle with the addition of ammonia.



Piranha_man said:


> Personally, I think goldfish are a poor choice for cycling anyway.
> They're too often stricken with disease and close to death anyway.
> 
> Giant danios work well...
> ...


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## EZmoney (May 13, 2004)

Did you add some water conditioner when you initially filled the tank? What size is the tank? If it is a smaller tank, then 15 goldfish was jsut too many to start the cycle with. However, some fish dying from ammonia and nitrite poisoning during the cycle process is not extraordinary... that's why you need to cycle the tank before adding the nice fish. Goldfish aren't bad for cycling since they are cheap to replace. I wouldn't leave them in the tank once the cycle is complete, but I would leave other fish that survived the cycle process, such as danios.


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## ChilDawg (Apr 30, 2006)

Updates? How'd you wind up cycling the tank? (It seems as though it should be cycled by this point...)


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## need_redz (May 11, 2007)

..or you can just piss in your tank, that'll speed up the cycle!


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## blbig50 (Jan 1, 2009)

ChilDawg said:


> Updates? How'd you wind up cycling the tank? (It seems as though it should be cycled by this point...)


I agree, since this thread is 3 months old :laugh:


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