Amount Of Fish

[ColdwaterJosh]

Hello there!

I have recently acquired a fish tank which holds roughly around 15 gallons of water, it's a decent size tank as I wasn't looking for anything particularly huge. The one problem I have, well that my brother pointed out, was that I may have to many fish for the size of my actual tank. I currently have 5 fish, 1 Ranchu (2"), 1 Comet(3"), 1 Loache(1"), and 2 other small fish (1") their names I am unsure about.

The life in the tank is ok so far, and i'm doing regular water changes, every 2-3 days. I just don't want my fish to get ill and end up dieing, as I enjoy tending to them and sustaining a little piece of the (Ocean) shall we say in my room.

I don't have a filter in my tank as of yet, but I plan to purchase one tomorrow as I realise my tank needs it!

Does anyone have any suggestions on perhaps ways to keep the nitrates in the water down, or just general cleanliness for my tank, like crabs or snails or formulas?

Thank you for any help you may offer!

Josh.

 

[Kitty_Nin]

Oh my.

Goldfish get huge and live a looong time. They need 15-20 gallons of water EACH.

You need to find out what kind of loach you have and what the other little fish are, as these could potentially also get too big for the 15 gallon. Or post pictures of them here for identification.

What size tank are they in just now? You need to be doing water changes at least everyday. Goldfish are very messy and the nitrites and ammonia are no doubt building up very quickly for these poor fish.

I recommend re-homing the goldfish, getting your loach and two other fish identified, and possibly re-homing them too, depending on what they are.

In the meantime, you can do this with your new tank.

Please read these as well. I know you meant well, but you have inadvertently been abusing these fish simply because you couldn't be bothered to do some reading before you bought them. Please understand that fish are living creatures that feel pain and have emotions, not decorations.

Beginners Resource Center

10 Rules for Healthy Fish Keeping

Potential Fish To Avoid For Newcomers

 

[erk628]

Well obviously your tank isn't cycled seeing how you don't have a filter and thats what your really cycling. My advise take the fish back and start over the right way. Read the links provided already and the ones in my sig below. The first thing you need to do though is take the fish back there in a death tank right now.

 

[waterdrop]

Hi Josh and Welcome to TFF!

Its great that you've done a search and stumbled on TFF and this good beginners section at about the same time as getting your little "15g patch of ocean!" Nothing can be better than having a communication channel to some experienced hobbyists who are willing to share all the info they've learned over the years!

Unfortunately, its true, you've got a bit of a mixup on what types of fish can be had together and in what types of tanks! That Ranchu needs a minimum 20 US gallons all by itself, the Comet needs 30 gallons all by itself, the Loach needs to be identified and it and the other two are probably tropicals (needing warmer water) like the loach, whereas the goldfish need cold water. Its also not clear whether you have US or UK gallons. (This forum is more or less divided between UK and US with others from all over the world.)

As above, it may be a painful decision (from the point of view of pretty goldfish to look at,) but a smart decision (from the point of view of goldfish that continue to live) to rehome them (to a friend's pond or back to the store or whatever can be figured out.) Then you can also be considering the decision of turning the 15g into a small tropical aquarium with a heater and good filter. Again, as mentioned, rehoming -all- the fish will give you the best opportunity to get a proper start in the hobby. The key piece of fishkeeping technology, the "biofilter", is something that takes as much as 2 months to "grow," before which a tank is not really ready for fish!

Anyway, dispite the bit of mixup, you may have happened on the best thing for your future hobby by finding the great members here and I hope you'll enjoy your stay!

~~waterdrop~~

 

[drobbyb]

Hi Josh, and welcome to TFF! I would have to agree with the others. Goldfish can get rather large and they are massive waste producers. You need 20 gallons for the first fancy goldfish, and 10 gallons for each additional fancy goldfish. Goldfish also require double filtration since they do create so much waste.

Ok, so the situation looks like this: Your tank is not cycled and is overstocked. What you really need to do is take the fish back to the fish store since they are too big for the tank they are in. The next step would be to buy a quality filter and perform a fishless cycle. After that, buy suitable sized fish for your tank.

I know the tank doesn't look full with so much empty space, but there is a lot going on here that you can't see with your eyes.

Waterdrop beat me to the punch I see!

 

[Assaye]

Hi Josh!

I'll echo what the others have said. The goldfish need a new home - either in a bigger tank of yours or with someone else.

The ranchu is a fancy goldfish and these "little" guys can get to 8 inches long and a good 4 deep (or more!). They have a huge boy mass and poop like mad. A single ranchu would need to start out in at least 20 UK gallons (so, 4.5 litres per gallon)for a 6 inch specimen and even then he might need a tank upgrade.

The comet is a single tailed goldfish and even worse news than the ranchu. They can hit 12 inches with ease and are very fast growers. It's not uncommon to see much larger specimens in ponds. They are all fast swimmers and need a lot of room to swim and a lot of water to dilute all the waste they produce. A small comet (so 12"/1 foot) would need a 6 foot long tank! That still only gives them a few feet of swimming room Most comets, however, need to be kept in ponds because they can get much bigger!

The loach (depending on species) could be anything between 3" as adult and 24"! So without knowing what species he is it is very, very hard to advise. He might also be a tropical fish and so would not be suitable to house with goldfish.

The other two could also grow very large, or might stay small . . . or might be tropicals. Same with the loach though - whatever they are, they shouldn't be housed with goldfish. Goldfish are, unfortunately, only really suitable to be kept with other similar goldfish.

They also definitely need a filter, so it's great you're getting one. Whatever fish you have, you'll need a filter unless you want to be doing massive water changes every day (which will stress your fish out massively). With a filter you'd still need to do about 50% a week with goldfish and 25% a week with tropicals and smaller cold/coolwater fish.

This is a brilliant resource- it covers all the essentials:

+ Setting up a new tank
+ Cycling your filter (VERY important)
+ Different fish and their needs

Etc!

Have a read and don't hesitate to ask questions! Not to scare you, but the risk of getting fishkeeping wrong is the life of the fish. Because we have to provide everything for them, from the food they eat to the very oxygen in their blood, we need to do a lot more than we would if we were keeping a gerbil, cat or even a horse!

15 gallons is a good size for a small tropical or coolwater (AKA temperate) community and you could have a lot of fun with it.

 

[ColdwaterJosh]

I appreciate everyones comments and the speed at which I recieved the replies.

I realised the difference between UK gallons and US is quite significant, I would like to point out the fish I have in my tank at the moment are very small, and do realise that they will grow much bigger very quick, and when they do I shall be re-homing them to a place with a bigger tank. For the moment i'm enjoying them and their petite size! I shall have to try and upload some photo's to show you all exactly how small they are, and the size of my tank. At the moment though I need different sand, as the particles in the sand are so small that they are causing my water to turn cloudy, which doesn't look good at all.

But bear with me and I shall upload photos for you all to see!

Josh