New and unprepared goldfish owner with lethargic goldfish. Help!
Quick backstory:
10ish days ago the kiddo came home from a birthday party with a goldfish. Why? Good question. But it happened.
We have not been fish owners. We had no tank, much less a cycled tank, or not even knowing that cycling a tank was a thing. But it wasn’t the fish’s fault, so we tried to set up an aquarium for it. We also had to leave town for 5 days right after getting it, so a friend came and fed it once a day. It was still alive when we got back, we did our first water 25% replacement Saturday (a week after getting it) and all seemed well until this morning when the little guy who had been zipping around the tank last night didn’t want breakfast and is now resting on the bottom of the tank.
So I just measured the tank (it’s 40 gallons because that was the biggest we could fit on a few hours notice) and got the following readings:
pH = 7.4
Ammonia = 0.5 ppm
Nitrate = 0 ppm
Nitrite = 1.0 ppm
Based on my very limited knowledge I assume the nitrite and ammonia are both too high. Should I replace water again? Is there something I can get from PetSmart or Petco this afternoon? We put in Aquon balls and water condition at tank set up and water replacement.
Thabks for you help! We haven’t had him for long and we didn’t want him at first, but he’s grown on us fast! (Or she, we don’t know.)