absolute beginner

[pas]

hi, please help, i am a new beginner mom. we bought our daughter a 5 gallon starter kit for christmas. (used) it looked great, just a cheapie, had tons of fake plants and gravel and rocks, a little castle with one air tube, and a splitter coming from the pump. i think the other tube goes in this long tube of glass thing that is the whole height of the tank and has a weighted black bottom. i tried it out in there and the water bubbles up and out of the thing and into the tank.

oh, im so new, i thought it would be easy. please dont hate me for being so stupid. we are just planning on getting a few goldfish. i know they can take the cold, so i wouldnt worry about plugging in the heater. is that cruel? i live in the frozen north here in canada and the gold fish survive the winters if our ponds are deep enough.

i have been reading on fishless cycling. my daughter has already filled the tank up with tap water. i have heard in our area that the clorine (disappears??) is gone after 24 hours and the water is then ok., there is nothing else terrible in our tap water. anyway, i thought i would start up the air pump, but it makes a terrible loud noise. it is called a hawkeye brand. so i dont want to plug it in until i know it is safe. you dont put the unit in the tank do you? see, i really need help.

i will just let everything sit there for now until i hear back on what to do. i will go and introduce myself in the introduction part now. thanks.

 

[Sasha]

Welcome to the forum! Goldfish can live without a heater because they are coldwater fish and are perfectly fine without one. Unlike freshwater fish, goldfish don't need the aquarium's temperature to be maintained within narrow limits. As long as your house doesn't get freezing, the fish would be fine. I would suggest you get a thermometer so you can look at the water temperature. The required temperature is about 68 degrees for goldfish.

Is something blocking the air pump? I just got a new tank, so I'm studing the fishless cycle myself. It sound really good because there are no fish to use as innocent creatures that might get harmed in the cycle. Good luck on your new tank!

 

[Where the river goes]

Welcome to the forums

Someone correct me if I am wrong, but not ALL of the chlorine and chloramine completely dissipates within 24 hours. Just to be on the safe side, I would add de-chlorinator to the water you're going to use.

It sounds like you've got the air pump set up right (don't put the unit in the tank!) I use to have a hawkeye air pump and found it to be on the noisy side as well. To help with that I put a wash cloth folded in half under it, it really helped diminish the pump noise.

Good luck with fishless cycling. I did that on both my tanks with success.

 

[Phantom Thief]

Hi, pas!

There is a useful pinned topic on fishless cycling in the beginners section. It provides useful information and you should check it out before you do it. I notice that you are getting a FEW goldfish for a FIVE gallon tank. I would not do it myself. Goldfish, basically, eat very messily and seem to poop more than what they eat . Also, they can grow pretty big. You might wanna check this site out for some info on goldfishes http/www.centralpets.com/pages/fish/fres...ater_fish.shtml

P.T.

 

[Lithril]

Heya Pas, welcome to the forum, fishkeeping is not as easy as a lot of fishshops make out but its definatley a very rewarding hobby. Personally I recommend you starting by reading the pinned topics in the beginner section.

The tube that runs up the height of the tank with the air tube in it, does this attach to a white plastic base (undergravel filter)??? If not is there any other filtration in their? If not you'll want to think about buying a cheaper filter of some description (sponge filter attached to the air pump would work fine). Gold fish especially are very messy fish and you'll need something in the tank to keep the water clean. If you've also put fish straight in you're going to need to keep an eye on the ammonia/nitrite levels (the pinned topic called new tank syndrome explains this), otherwise you may end up losing fish.

Have a read and if you've got more questions ask away, good luck and welcome again.

 

[pas]

thank you so much for your replies.

i have read several of the pinned topics. it is actually how i found this forum, i did a search on google and the fishless cycling topic came up, from there i clicked onto te forum.

i had no idea whatsoever about the cycling. (thought it was bicycling- you know that fish on a bicycle joke!!) anyway, i understand the concept, just not sure if i get all the right steps.

for instance, is it ok that my tank is just sitting there now with no air or anything going on? is it growing the right bacteria like this? the pump was soooo loud that i thought there must be something wrong with it. then i was thinking of my pond and the submersible pump - and that is what made me wonder about this hawkeye pump. i will go to the store and get a filter, tomorrow or the next day. (lots of company over the holidays)

yes, i was thinking of 3 gold fish. is that too many? i know every one around here has a pond with goldfish, some ponds are quite small and they have quite a few fish. would trapdoor snails eat up their poop? i have them by the 100 in my pond. i have heard that they will only grow as big as their enviroment will let them. meaning a small pond or tank and they will not grow too big???

and i thought we could put the light on a timer, so that it would be on in the day time, but go dark at night. i thought this would be good for the fish, and also for my chiild as the tank is in her room.

thanks so much.

 

[Sondan]

Pas this all sounds good. Just make sure the goldfish you buy will only grow to be an inch or two. A general rule of thumb is one inch of fish per one gallon. I say this because I know a lot of "cute" little goldfish GROW UP to be "cute" BIG goldfish . Also with my niece I bought her just a cheap little feeder gold fish to start with. She was only 8 so I didn't want to start off with much. The fish did die on her BUT it was a learning experience and it didn't cost an arm and a leg. Snails in the tank will be fine but they will multiply in that tank just like your pond. Hehehe. If you (or daughter Hint hint hint) don't mind scooping some of them out every few weeks go for it.
Signed,
Sondan
P.S. Cheapie starter set or not I would have been THRILLED to have such a cool mom when I was a kid. Heck ...a fish tank in YOUR ROOM!!! Woot Kid Heaven.

Added: Letting your water set for 24 hours to let the chlorine get out of it is called Aging your water. A good habit to get your little girl in is to keep two one gallon milk jugs. Fill one with tap water and keep the other empty. Once a week have her fill up the empty jug out of the tank and replace the water in the tank with the aged water. This will really help the fish stay a lot more healthy. As long as the tank stay reasonably clean this should be good enough for those fish to live a happy life.

 

[Phantom Thief]

Hey pas!

from what i hear...goldfish can grow up to 1 foot. They have a huge bioload (just a complicated way of saying they REALLY POOP A LOT) and, to me, arent that attractive. I mean, look, they are SO bloated up . I dont know too much about coldwater fishes, but there's a section on this forum which has tonnes of people to help you. But still, I personaly prefer tropical fish. Cycling, you will need a few things:

1. Dechlorinated water (duh!)
2. An ammonia source (fish or a product like Pure Ammonia)
3. A certain amount of aeration.

It may take a few weeks to cycle a tank, depending on whether you do a fish or fishless cycling. I think your tank, since i assume its coldwater, it should contain enough o2. Unfortunately, cold temps reduce the bacteria's growth rate. Maybe you ought to raise the temp for a while until you put the fish in. So all you really need for the cycling is ammonia. One last note, DO NOT PUT MORE THAN 1 SNAIL.
I dunno bout others, but from my experience, if you get one male and one female...need i say more?

Keep us posted!

P.T.

 

[pas]

yes, the snails, i started out with a couple in my pond, now there are 100's. i can always just return them to the pond if they multiply too much in the tank. may be a good lesson, being able to see them'in action', and little babies too. any way cant get the snails till spring, and that is a long ways off.

when you say pure amonia, do you mean the amonia that i can buy at the grocery store to clean with? how much would i use.

makes sense to turn the heater on till the bacteria grows. how long do you think it may take approx?

should i just ask the fish store for some of their 'dirty' water?

 

[Lithril]

Heya pas, could to see you're thinking of cycling fishless, the ammonia you use is clear or pure ammonia, makesure it doesn't have any surfactants or perfumes, give it a shake, if it foams up its the wrong stuff. You're only going to be adding a few drops to the tank so if you can get dropper of some sort then that would be ideal.

 

[Phantom Thief]

Hey pas,

Lith answered your question as to what ammonia to use. I'll answer the other questions. If the snails overpopulate your tank, put in a slice of cucumber overnight. The next day, all the snails will be feasting on what seems too good to be true. Thats when you show them it IS too good to be true. Grab 'em and chuck 'em. Or, if you have the stomach for it, squish them against the glass of your aquarium. Your fish will have the stomach for it.

The cycling can take from 10 to 3 weeks, i believe. But as your tank is small and you're gonna use the heater, I'm betting on 10-14 days. My advice during this period is to be PATIENT. It may take a while before the nitrites appear, and even longer for the nitrates. Here, read up http/www.tomgriffin.com/aquamag/cycling.html. Check the beginners forum for a pinned topic called 'Avoiding and Treating New Tank Syndrom'.

P.T.

 

[pas]

thanks again, i have been reading through others posts etc and found more information. in fact, after i posted my questions last nite i found tom griffins pages from someones link and got some good info there.

i will add the amonia right now, just a few drops, as i am quite sure i have some cleaning amonia in the cupboard. i will get the heater going, and now that i know the air pump is safe, abet very noisy, i will get it going too.

dd is not happy, she wants fish. she has read some of the information about causeing suffering and distress to the fish if done too soon, but is an impatient little thing!

thanks so much for your support.