Goldfish and cycling...?

[Tikibirds]

I recently had the misfortune of moving back home..Anyways, My sister, who is an adult, has these 2 goldfish in a 10 gallon tank. I have tried several times to get her to get a 20G but she flat out refuses. I am NOT buying her or giving her my 20G. I am not gonna argue with people over the 10 gallon tank. Last year there were 5 goldfish she is now down to 2

What I what I want to know is about cycling. She only changes the water "when it gets dirty" which is like once every 2 months. I have a siphon so I can at least give the poor things clean water every week. The thing is...This tank has a filter that has been running for 3 years BUT she has been doing 100% water changes. I don't do filters, even when I had my 20G and 10G's (I did alot of water changes a week), so what I want to know is, with the monthly 100% changes, is the tank cycled? And if it is, does gravel siponing suck up all the bacteria on the gravel? There are like 2 small plastic plants and that's about it for decor. The bacteria live on decor and in the filter, right?

I tested their water yesterday and the ammonia was between .25-.50
Nitrites, I dont remember the number but it was on the middle of the chart and by the time i got to nitrates, she was throwing things at me screaming get out of my room.


I dont know what kind of goldies they are. They arent feeder fish, the dont have tumors growing out of their head, nor do they have bubble or telescope eyes. They are rather round and shiny with long flowing 3 pronged tails - like a veil. They are orange and white.

EDIT:

this is them like a year ago. Now their tails are like 3 inches long

[Tikibirds]

I recently had the misfortune of moving back home..Anyways, My sister, who is an adult, has these 2 goldfish in a 10 gallon tank. I have tried several times to get her to get a 20G but she flat out refuses. I am NOT buying her or giving her my 20G. I am not gonna argue with people over the 10 gallon tank. Last year there were 5 goldfish she is now down to 2

What I what I want to know is about cycling. She only changes the water "when it gets dirty" which is like once every 2 months. I have a siphon so I can at least give the poor things clean water every week. The thing is...This tank has a filter that has been running for 3 years BUT she has been doing 100% water changes. I don't do filters, even when I had my 20G and 10G's (I did alot of water changes a week), so what I want to know is, with the monthly 100% changes, is the tank cycled? And if it is, does gravel siponing suck up all the bacteria on the gravel? There are like 2 small plastic plants and that's about it for decor. The bacteria live on decor and in the filter, right?

I tested their water yesterday and the ammonia was between .25-.50
Nitrites, I dont remember the number but it was on the middle of the chart and by the time i got to nitrates, she was throwing things at me screaming get out of my room.


I dont know what kind of goldies they are. They arent feeder fish, the dont have tumors growing out of their head, nor do they have bubble or telescope eyes. They are rather round and shiny with long flowing 3 pronged tails - like a veil. They are orange and white.

EDIT:

this is them like a year ago. Now their tails are like 3 inches long

[/quote]

this is like a week ago - same fish

[Olympia]

If she's been cleaning out the filter and gravel every time I doubt it's cycled.. Sounds like it probably gets cycled and then she cleans it.. :s If she never clean the filter there might be some BB growing in there but not enough..
Oh and also, according to what I learned in bio class siphoning gravel should have no effect on BB (considering that even after you do your dishes there's still tons of bacteria on them O__O)
Also must say, it looks like as the goldfish grew the cat shrunk haha. xD

[Bombalurina]

Whether it is cycled or not will depend on what she did with the filter media when she cleaned it. Did she throw it out/scrub it?

Those poor little fish. :( Their lack of colour says to me "very stressed". They look like fantails to me (my favourites).

It's such a shame she won't listen to you! Those poor dears need 30 gallons for the two of them. :(

[Tikibirds]

As far as I know, she has never done anything with the filter. I dont even know if she knows she is supposed to change the cartridge. I know for the last water change all she did was change out 50% of the water.

I have tried to get her to upgrade to at least the 20 gallon tall but she flat out refuses. It would fit on her desk but I am not so sure the desk would stand up to the weight. Its one of those cheap computer desks. Petco opened up here last week and they had the $1/gallon sale and she still refused I even told her I would buy it for her in exchange for her 10 gallon..nope. she wasnt interested.

The pic on the bottom was taken with a cell phone and the color is a bit washed out. The goldies are actually not as pale as they look but they probably arent too happy
I have a filter for a 20G would that help in any way? I know goldies are dirty fishies, part of the reason I never liked them. That and if I am getting a 30+ gallon tank, I want more then 2 fish in it.

Also, do they like decor and places to hide like bettas? or would that take up too much swimming space.

[Olympia]

Maybe get some live plants that take a lot of ammonia? I know a hornwort grows fast and absorbs a lot.

[makoisland]

XD Poor fishies, but those picture are rather funny, the cats watching and all.

[Bombalurina]

The higher rated the filter on the tank is, the better it will be. It's not going to make a difference the way an ideal environment would, but it will improve their quality of life in the only way that is within your capabilities, given her attititude.
As Olympia says, live plants would also be good. Lacefern, anacharis, duckweed and hornwort are all great ammonia absorbers (and part-time fish food).

I have two friends from work who both keep their goldfish in similar conditions. One girl has two black moores in a 15-ish gallon with no filter, and the other has a fantail and a comet (used to be two comets) in a 5-ish gallon. I bought the 5 gallon a filter, some Prime and some Stability, and will hopefully be taking the comet away to put in our pond when it is set up, and gave both girls a bunch of plants. I think it's all you can do in situations like these. :(

[thekoimaiden]

I actually have some good news. That tank might be cycled. Good bacteria also live in the substrate and if she hasn't been cleaning it out when she does her changes, some might be living in there.

Olympia is right. Live plants would make a huge difference. Hornwort is probably going to be your best bet as it can survive almost anywhere. I have some in a few inches of water next to a window right now. Moss balls are another good addition and they can be munched on by the goldfish.

While it's great that you want to upgrade her to a larger tank, the damage with these guys has already been done. Stunted fish usually don't grow much more once put in a larger tank. I think your best bet is to try to convince her to do more regular water changes.

[Tikibirds]

I took a better pic of them... No cats this time.

I put some prime in the day I did the water tests.

Can these plants live with gravel and do i need to add stuff to the water for the plants? I'll see what I can do about that.

I had a black moore when I was in college. he was in a 1 gallon with a huge snail