On Jan 24, 9:04*pm, "Reel McKoi" wrote:
"Stumpy" wrote in message

... If I wanted to add 5ppm ammonia. *How many mls, oz, or maybe drops would
I add of 10% ammonium hydroxide to a 5 gallon tank?
================
Hi Stumpy, if you aquarium is only 5 gallons it is much too small for a
goldfish. A small healthy well fed young goldfish will outgrow it in well
under a year. You would be much better off with a betta or a few small
tetras. Healthy GF can reach a foot in length.
--

Point taken, *this is a fluid situation. *Wife wanted a Jack Dempsey, *I
insisted we start with a goldfish to condition the tank. *She ended up
liking the goldfish as the end in itself.

Maybe there is a dwarf goldfish?

============================
Nope! If you starve it, it will take longer to outgrow the tank (if it
lives) but will be ugly stunted and eventually deformed. It will die young.
It's also cruel. If she has her heart set on a GF you really need at least a
20g tank, a 30g Long would be even better.
--

RM....
Frugal ponding since 1995.
rec.ponder since late 1996.
Zone 6. *Middle TN USA
~~~~ *}((((* *~~~ * }{{{{(ö

hmm, did I read a 5 gallon tank? Take a look at White Cloud minnows.
I think I seen a gold version of the WCM as well. Harlequin rasboras
are pretty and will tolerate a cooler tank (heating a 5g is an
entirely different story). Some non-fish choices for a 5g are an
Apple snail and an African Dwarf frog. Back to fish, a single Betta,
or similarly sized Anabantidae (ie: Paradisefish) would be ok in a 5g.

I personally don't operate small tanks much, as I find that they can
be more work than larger tanks (in terms of stability, filtering,
heating etc). When I think 5g, I think of my water change pail ;~)
but many talented folks operate gorgeous nano tanks (not with Goldfish
though!).

As for priming the cycle naturally with a step stool, I'm sure you're
not the first or last to do this. Many years ago, people would drop a
shrimp in (from your grocery store's frozen food selection), and the
decay would release enough ammonia to kick start the process, so you
see, there are many ways to approach this.

NetMax