Hi,

Still cycling my 37 gal tank with four danios, dreaming of getting my goldies. I have been reading about UV sterlizers and have a couple of questions.

1. If I get one, will it kill any parasites the danios may be carrying (no signs of parasites at the moment, just wondering)?

2. I can't figure out the "flow" and "wattage" parameters and the thought of hooking one up to my Eheim canister and possibly slowing its already low output (I have an Eclipse 3 and Eheim 2213), worries me that I will do more harm than good. I see that Goldfish Connection sells a UV that comes with its own pump

http://www.goldfishconnection.com/shop/det...tId=40&catId=23

I don't know if that is too powerful for my 37 gal tank?

Anyone have experience with this?

Thanks,
Pushkin

Poo- I lost all that I typed!!!!

The GFC UV units work fine - but you are going to be paying a large amount of money for the convience of having it all plumbed for you. This can be a substantial amount.....

Keep in mind that a UV unit can only kill that which passes through the unit, exposing it to the UV rays. To kill bacteria, it has to only be exposed to the UV rays for a short tiem - the larger, stronger the unit, the less time needed. Larger organisms like parasites, need more dwell time in the unit, or a stronger unit or both. The UV unit cannot kill any parasites that are not free swimming in the tank's water. It will kill the free swimming life stage of flukes or ich, for example, but cannot clear the fish of the parasites, for the fish, themselves are not exposed to the UV rays. For this same reason, the UV will clear green water beautifully, but will not change the algae growth on the sides of the tank.

I have the "Clarifier" from GFC and use it on 20 and 30 gallon tanks - it works well for algae and a few things. I have a TurboTwist 6X - and like it a lot. It is plumbed into my cannister - and I am particularly pleased with the job it does and the ease of service. I like the twist design - it definately increases dwell time in a smaller container. I have a newer unit that has a submersible pump (I have no room for a cannister on that tank) and I am pleased with the unit for it has high enough rating that it will do what I want even though the dwell time is short.

Here is thread where I got informatino from some of our "brains" of the board....

http://www.kokosgoldfish.invisionzone.com/...6257&hl=UV+unit

Thanks Daryl!

Maybe I should start a new thread, but do you have any advice on the transition from the starter fish (danios I'm giving to a friend once I cycle) to the goldfish?

Suppose I get the UV filter, then I'm protected against any free-floating parasites, etc. But do parasites live gravel, filter media, etc? Should I treat the tank (with the danios in it) for parasites before getting the goldies? If I get both the goldies from the same place (mailorder), do I need to quarantee them, or just put them in the empty, cycled tank? Should I treat them with medicated food for 10 days "just in case"? or use salts in the aquarium?

Sorry there are so many questions. I just really want my fish to get off to a healthy start.

Pushkin

The danios will produce a certain amount of waste. It is almost guaranteed that the new goldies will produce far more waste than the danios did. So when you first put your goldies in the cycled tank, you will almost certainly see a bump in your cycle. The tank that was so balanced before will have a bump in ammonia and possible nitrites - or nitrites and no ammonia, or both. This should last only for a few days, though. Changing out as much water as necessary each day to keep the ammonia/nitrites below 0.50ppm will protect your fish while the cycle rebounds. It should in a matter of days. I have had a few tanks that squnch around with a trace of nitrite for a week or two - but careful management works and it soon disappears.

If you have the ability to get your goldfish one at a time, you can put in just one, let the cycle grow to it, then put in the next. But if you do that, you should quarantine the second from the first - a big problem. So, in your case, if you get your goldies from a mail order source, they can both be quarantined in the same tank.

Did you have parasites on the danios? Did you treat the parasites? What did you have and how did you deal with them? A great number of parasites cannot live without a fish host. So in a tank with no fish, there are no parasites after a short time. If you have clear ammonia available, you can remove the danios and just keep the tank cycled with a little bit of ammonia for a week or so. This will preserve the cycle, but will starve out a lot of parasites. You could even put in a bit of ammonia - just until you get a little reading still on ammonia 12 hours later. When you see this amount go to zero at 12 hour mark, add just a bit more each day. This will build your bacteria population in anticipation to the goldfish load that is coming.

When I get a new fish, I put it in the iso tank. The tank is then raised to 0.1% salt (1 T per 5 gallons), 12 hours later, it is raised to 0.2% salt (2 T per 5 gallons) and then 12 hours later it is raised to 0.3% salt (3 T per 5 gallons). This level of salt is maintained for at least 2 weeks. I generally will isolate and/or keep a fish in the salt until at least 2 weeks has past since any problems were noted. If you find a problem, resolve it and then make the 2 weeks following the qt time.

If I am getting a fish from a local source and the fish is strong and has not been stressed by shipping, etc., I will often salt dip it before placing it in the iso tank. This will strip the slime coat, shedding a large number of parasites that may be present. IF a fish has been shipped, though, it is often highly stressed and may have had a "calming agent" added to the shipping water. It is best to let a fish such as this rest, come out of the sedation of the calming meds and recouperate before salt dipping. On occasion, I have set out a very large tub of water that is clean, clear and fresh - 50 gallons or so - with just good aeration. The new fish will go in that tub for about 6 hours to recover from the sedation and stress of the trip. It is then salt dipped and placed in the iso tank.

Do not medicate with any medicated food, antibiotics or other treatments unless you see a reason for doing so. To medicate with out specific reasons has the potential to create "super bugs" - bacteria or parastites that are resistant to the drugs and treatments we have. Salt is a solid, time-honored treatment. Start with that and go to the next step only if necessary.

Feed lightly for the first few days - this will keep the waste level down - less waste means less ammonia/nitrite/nitrate. Slowing increase the food as you see your cycle respond and process the excess waste.

A UV is a wonderful thing for all tanks. I love them. They do not take care of parasites and bacteria in the gravel or on the fish, but they take care of most or all of things that are free floating in the water. By and large, the majority of bacteria and parasites have to cross through the water to travel from fish to fish. A UV will kill them in this mode. With a good UV, you prevent cross contamination between fish even in the same tank. Ich, flukes and many other parasites have a life stage where they are free swimming - and the UV will kill them at this stage. A UV can prevent a lot of problems, solve numbers of problems, and make treatment of most other problems far more effective, short, and through.

You are almost ready for your goldies, huh? Whooopeee!!!!

Daryl, you're such a font of wisdom! Thanks for the tips on the transition. I will get the salt and be ready. I asked about medicated food because one site I looked at (that sells fish) recommended it for all newly shipped arrivals. I haven't had evidence of --or treated for--parasites yet. But i'm worried because I got the danios from a LFS with dirtylooking tanks. No dead or obviously sick fish though. Just lots of algae. In my past experience as a tropical fishkeeper, most new fish I got from all but the best LFSs got ich within a matter of weeks.

Honestly, I don't want to set up a QT tank at the moment, so the idea of getting both my fish at once, from the same place, is appealing. I know I should go out and get a 10 gal, just to have on hand.

Hey, I see you live in the Chicago area. I do too, though I just moved here a couple of months ago. So far I haven't found any stores with great goldfish selections (hence looking into mailorder), can you recommend a place?

Thanks again!

http://www.livingseaaquarium.com/

This place has loads of stuff - the stuff you do not find elsewhere. They also employ people who actually really know fish and their care. It is amazing - takes up 2 city blocks..... so allow some time. It is a source of BioSpira. They have goldfish. The selection is iffy - sometimes there are some really nice ones, other times they are not so good

http://www.wetpets2.com/

This is a little tiny mom&pop type shop. The thing I like about them is, while they have no fish worth much of anything, they are willing to work one on one with you to get you just what you want in the way of gear and supplies. They will special order anything you want - so you get the same price or better that you would pay on line, but you pay no shipping. I really like the personal service

http://www.mpks.org/

This is an organization in the area that holds wonderful shows twice a year - a trade show in the spring and a fish show in the fall. Coming up at the end of this month will be the big GFSA goldfish show (koi, too). There will be the "big guns" in dealers of fish there, sellling wonderful fish. There are auctions and other souces of fish within the group throughout the year. There are many contacts.

I know of a number of other places for specific things - but no large outlet other than these. LEt me know if there is somthing specific you need or want and I can help you find it. There used to be a store called FishRac, but I think it went under during the last road construction....