New fish owner
My daughter won a goldfish at a carnival over 3 weeks ago. I'm honestly really proud that we've kept it alive this long. For a free fish, I've spent so much time (and more money than I was expecting) so she has her best chance.
There are a few challenges we've been battling.
I just checked on her this morning and found her resting on the bottom. I genuinely thought she was dead but I got her to move. Is there a way to tell if she was just resting or if she's sick?
Ammonia levels have never been zero. When I first tested the water, it was at 0.5. I did frequent water changes and treated with ammolock for 8 days. After that I backed off and am changing the water about every 5 days now. It has gotten down to 0.25. I've started ammolock again. One of her fins got a small black streak soon after we got her, I think from ammonia burn, but it has since gone away. I did also use stress coat for water changes. I know part of the problem may be our tank is too small, it's only 10 gallons. But for a free carnival fish I didn't expect to live more than a few days, that hit my investment limit.
Nitrate, pH, and Nitrite levels have all been normal/0.
Since she was not a planned purchase, I couldn't establish a full cycle. I added a quick start, I think from api, and crossed my fingers.
She has started gulping a lot so I added an adjustable bubbler. She seems to like it and has been playing in it, but is still doing quite a bit of gulping. Does it matter how strong I have the pump turned to?
I don't know what to do about water temp. We have a heater but I keep seeing different opinions on whether to use one with goldfish or not. I unplugged it for a few days but just plugged it back in after I found her on the bottom.
For food, I just picked up what my local store had, aqueon sinking granules. After reading up more I purchased Hikari baby pellets, but she refuses them. She will eat them then spit them back out and repeat. I even left them in so they would get soft in case they were too hard, but no dice. I know there are other types of food besides dry, but my young kids are responsible for feeding so we need to stick with dry.
How much food should she be eating? We're ending up with a lot at the bottom. It seems like she's eating less than when she first came home. We just do a pinch.
Her tank has gotten so foggy. Water changes help! But is it normal? Is this just a consequence of a small tank? We do have a magnetic scrubber we use to clean the inside glass.
That's a lot of questions 🙃 I would love any help. Please keep in mind we are casual fish owners. I'm obviously committed to do what I can, but I don't want to continue to spend hundreds of dollars every month on her.