A Few Questions For A Newbie

[vic fish]

I have just started a 50L tank with 2 very small goldfish.

Can anyone help me with these questions?

1. I'm using an aquaone filter. It's sitting on the back of the tank about 5cm below the surface. Is this right? Should it be closed to the surface to increase oxygen levels?

2. My fish look ok but sometimes they don't do much and just stay still in the log or plants. This is normal isn't it, fish like to rest?

3. My filter came with a venturi attachment which I think is an air pump. What is this used for, to increase oxygen levels? Should I ever use this, and if yes how often? There were no instructions in the box.

4. One of my fish (shubunkin I think) has its tail pointing down slightly. I just wanted to check that this isn't a sign of anything bad? Just the shape of the fish?

Thanks in advance

 

[Colin_T]

Fish do sleep/rest but it is usually at night. They will sleep during the day.

The venturi attachment for the filter should be a bit of thin clear hose that goes on the outlet of the filter. One end of the hose goes on the filter, the other end sits outside the tank. As the water is pumped out of the filter, air is sucked in and you get an air and water mixture being blown across the tank. This will aerate the water for you and help keep the oxygen levels high. If the filter is too low under the water you won't get much or any air from the outlet and you will need to raise the filter closer to the surface.

The drooping tail is probably caused by poor water quality. I gather the tank is fairly new and as such you should keep the feeding right down. Just a little bit every couple of days and do a partial water change every couple of days as well (feed one day, water change the next). Make sure you use dechlorinated water for the water changes. In about a months time the filters shou8ld have established and you can increase the feeding and reduce the water changes to once a week.

When you clean the filter wash the sponge out in a bucket of tank water. Do not wash it out under tap water.