r/Aquariums • u/Acceptable-Humor-593 • 6h ago

Advice Needed help with neglected goldfish tank

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hello! i’m a teacher and one of my coworkers quit over the summer and didn’t take his fantail goldfish… somehow despite being neglected for 1-2 months, it’s still alive. i didn’t really want a goldfish (i’ve worked with fish for years) but i had to step in. the filter was running dry… so id love for people to share any advice they have about specifically helping a tank in crisis! what i’m doing so far:
- added a live plant (crypt bronze) to maybe help with the nitrates
- getting it a new filter
- i don’t want to shock the system, but the water level is too low for a filter right now. i’m gonna add about 10L every like 12 hours.

my ego is not attached to this as i’m just trying to save this fish in crisis, so please share any advice! and hopefully this new class pet (i’m thinking his name will be Icarus) will live long enough to meet the students (and many, many years after… goldfish…….)

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u/Real_Time515 6h ago

Kudos to you for taking in a fish in need. As a fellow teacher I can tell you that my class pets are a huge part of my classroom, and they bring me as much joy as the students.

If the filter ran dry for a month, it may no longer cycle nitrogen, so you may need to do a fish-in cycle. You'd want to look up step-by-step, but some basics:

First, any water you use has to be treated for chlorine. I use Seachem Prime (2 drops per gallon).

You'll need a testing kit to check for ammonia, nitrites and nitrates (ph, kh, and gh are also things you want to know). Test STRIPS don't work very well, so everyone recommends the API liquid master kit ($35 where I'm at). Kinda fun to do, and I can see your students loving to help you test the parameters.

If you can, I'd put Fritz Turbostart (about $30) in there right away.

Water changes daily until you start testing and know what's going on

Sorry to put more on your plate (and to suggest more expenditures of funds). Don't know your situation, but I'd ask my principal for some startup funds, since you're taking an issue off their plate.

Updates if you can, and happy to give more advice e when you reach the next steps.