Goldfish... 20 L... cycle tank?

Question
QUESTION: Hi!

I recently aquired a calico ryukin goldfish that is 5 inches long. Unfortunatley he is in a 5.5 tank right now (I know that is far too small for such a large fish especially a goldfish) but I'm using it as a hospital tank since he has quite a bit of fungus due to a few open cuts he had when other fish ripped off some of his scales and tail. He is currently being treated with Pimafix. I also have him on a fast and then will feed him defrosted deshelled pushed up peas because he was swimming sideways and upside down yesterday although today he is pretty much right side up.

I want to buy him a larger tank because a 5.5 is cruel to keep him in for too long and I was wondering how long could I keep him in a 20L gallon? I know a 29 has the same width and I should get that instead due to water volume however there are a lot of concerns from my family about the floor not supporting any thing over 300 lbs if that. I had to argue for a 20 L. I will be moving with in a year and I was wondering if I could keep just this ryukin in the 20L until then or if after I heal him should I just find him a new home? Which would be better for his health and mentality?

Also about the 20L (or any other tanks) when I do get it what can I use to cycle it as fast as possible? I have been hearing a lot about biospira and I wanted to know if it actually works.

Sorry for so many questions!
ANSWER: Like many other goldfish breeds, the Ryukin grows rather large, up to 8-10 inches with good care and enough water. The minimum requirement when it comes to tank size is at least 10-15 gallons for a small Ryukin, and 20 gallons and up for an adult sized fish.

I'd say it's pretty safe if it's just him in the 20 gallon he'll be more then happy and that should provide him alot more room to grow. If you can spring for a 29 gallon by all means do it, gives him even more room to grow and the ammnoia buildup wont be so much in such a short amount of time. If you can buy a canister filter then do that, it will prove to be your best investment. I can see your parents having a problem with the weight of the tank but the tanks supported on a stand that's distributes it's weigh.

Just imagine uncle ron and don come over they both weigh 200lbs each, would you let them stand beside each other without worryabout about the floor collapsing on you lol. Point taken! hehe.

I'd probably put him in a new tank asap as a 5 gallon is... WAY understized for that poor guy. Honestly if you setup a new 20 gallon it's not much more work to move it then a 5 gallon and your fish will love you more.

As far as cycling goes, just do a fish cycle takes about a month, watch ammnoia levels when they get too high that's when you do water changes... It's not as bad as people think, it does stress the fish out but it's the easiest mthod apart from biospira which does wokr awesome but it's illegal in canada. It takes about 24 hours to fully cycle i think.

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Hi again and thanks for answering! I have another problem with this guy though... I'm not sure what he actually has. At first I thought it was fungus from where his fins were ripped and where a few of his scales on his stomach were ripped. I also thought he had swim bladder disorder but I have discovered he was floating sideways NOT because of that but he is constantly scratching himself. There are no white dots all over but on the sides of his stomach he has I guess what you could say superficial ulcers? I mean it looks like he was cut and there are no scales there where it was but it isn't bleeding and is just white. He has been doing it more too.

I'm not sure if it's ich because he doesn't have very slimy skin, he has no white dots, he doesn't have labored breathing and although he does occasionally swim to the surface he isn't gasping for air. Also his eyes look fine, no cloudiness and his fins only frayed in the few areas where the other fish bit them. He takes little naps but if you walk by or a dog walks by he swims right over to check it out. He also seems to want to eat all the time (today is the end of his fast). I mean the only problem really seems to be is that he scratches himself and possible fungus... help!

Also for the tank I got him out of the 5.5 about an hour or two after I wrote to you =D I put him in a 20 gallon clear storage bin that some body recommended was safe for fish but the sides since it was long bulged out a big and I was worried about it cracking or any thing. He is now in a 16.5 gallon. I tried explaining the whole "well any two people in our house is far more then 200 lbs and the tank will only be 240!" but it's my father who really is against it. I mean at this point despite adoring this fish I am going to try and heal him and quite possibly look for a new home for him.
ANSWER: The fish sounds ilke it has a ulcer, one of my fish just recently had a ulcer.. open would, i treated with primafix but unfortunately i was too little too late, eventually he started to lose mobability. What i would suggest is isolating him to the tank and try a saltwater bath (using some aquarium salt) that may or maynot help but it's another thing you can try if the primafix isnt doing justice.

As for the tank glad to see him in a bigger tank i'm sure he much enjoys it more. Yea parents can be against that sort of thing i guess... makes sence my explination of weigh though lol. Get your dad invovled helping you with it.. if you can, then he will maybe get involved more and see why you need a bigger tank.

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Ok this isn't actually a question! I just wanted to thank you for your help! I upped the aquarium salt and the pimafix and he started to heal really nicely! I knew I couldn't give him the size tank he needs so I found him a really wonderful home with a couple that had a 75 gallon tank with two other ryukin goldfish in there and a 125 gallon. Their set up which I went to see was gorgeous and all of the fish were really healthy! They took in my goldfish (he loves to rescue sick fish apparently) and had a 20 gallon hospital tank just for my goldfish. He kept in contact and turns out the fish is 95% healed and will go in with the other ryukins with in two weeks one he is confirmed healthy!

Thank you so much for your help and I'm glad the fish turned out to be ok and now has an amazing home!

Answer
Glad everything worked out for you. I wouldnt give up on this hobby though. You had a great experience with fish and seems you really care. With more knowledge and more hands on.. i'm sure you'll be a great fishkeeper.. my only advice.. read read read read :) good luck in the future.