I'm new to the fish world but fell in love with these Pearl Scale Goldfish and had to have them. They are small, about 2" head to tail. I have four. The guy at the aquarium store said a 10 gallon tank would suffice. So I bought the fish and all the accoutrements. Fours days later the water started smelling like a cat had sprayed. I did a 50% water change using water conditioner and stress zyme and it still smells, although much less. I even took out the gravel and replaced it with glass weights, the kind used for floral arrangements, because I read gravel tends to hide their poop. There's no extra food on the bottom because I make sure my goldies eat everything up, if not I take it away. They get fed once a day and I do poop patrol every morning. What's next? The guys at the aquarium store are totally useless and give a different answer everyday.

Your tank shouldn't be smelling that quickly. A 10 gallon tank is barely big enough for one goldfish once they grow up. Ideally, you'd have 10-20 gallons per goldfish even with the smaller pearl scales. But, your fish are still babies at 2" long so they should not be producing so much waste as to make the water stink already. What kind of filter do you have? Do you have cats? Cats have been known to pee in aquariums on rare occasions. The ammonia smell could come from an excess of fish waste and foods as well but so soon with such small fish would be strange. Put some fresh carbon in the filter to help remove the odors. You did the right thing by doing the 50% water change and adding the conditioner and good bacteria. What all is in the tank? Did you add live plants or driftwood or anything else organic? Where did the gravel come from? Was it fresh, from the bag in the store, or used before? There's no reason you can't have gravel, assuming it's safe and not leaching something. I use a gravel vacuum to suck up debris from the gravel when I do weekly 50% water changes on my tanks. Yes, a tank without anything on the bottom will be easier to keep clean but it's not a requirement. All my fish tanks have gravel but not my turtle tank (turtles make goldfish seem like neat freaks). Hopefully we can figure out why your tank is stinking so soon when it shouldn't.

Thanks Robyn. I went to the aquarium store to get some pH tester strips. Everything in the aquarium is new. Gravel was brand new and in a sealed bag. Nope, no cat, no catfish either! I have a small silk plant that they love. I had a sneaky suspicion that the filter that came with the tank was not up to snuff. I bought an AquaClear Filter for 20 gallons and will install it tomorrow. By the way, because the existing filter doesn't really filter diddly I put a piece of filter pad on the outside of the unit and that seems to catch a lot of the debris the inside filter missed. I love my Pearl Scales they are incredibly personable and are also quick learners!