Goldfish Bowl - Bubbles At Surface

[swomp]

Hi All,

Firstly, apologies if this is the wrong board. I realize Goldfish aren't the most exotic of fish! I have 2 small Goldfish.

I've only had them 2 days and their water has gone a little cloudy and a lot of little bubbles have appeared on the surface, is this normal? I've read a few different things from it meaning they're pregnant to them maybe getting nitrate poisoning!

If anyone could help me understand what is going on that would be great. There are quite a lot of bubbles, mainly round the edges but some at the top too. All very small.

Thanks.

 

[Miss Wiggle]

hi there swomp,

what's most likely is a bacteria bloom in the tank because of ammonia being produced by the fish, i'm assuming you didn't cycle the tank before you got the fish, if you read the link in my signature 'whats cycling' it will explain the situation you are in and what you need to do.

 

[swomp]

Thanks, so do I need to do a cycle? I have friends that have had goldfish and have just had to change 25% of the water every week and been fine, unfortunately none of them can help me about the bubbles at the top!

 

[Miss Wiggle]

the cycle will happen regardless of you, the cycle refers to the nitrogen cycle in which bacteria grows in your filter to get rid of the toxic ammonia from the fishes waste.

the water changes are to reduce the damage to the fish from the ammonia that they produce in the time before your filter has grown enough bacteria to be able to cope with it.

once you're past the initial cycling phase a 25% weekly water change is a normal maintenance routine and should be fine, it's just at the start that you need to put a bit more work into it.

however if you have friends with goldfish then you may be able to make this a lot easier on yourself. in your friends tanks they will have already grown this much needed bacteria on the media in their filter, if you can get them to give you some of the media from their filter and put it into yours then this will kick start your cycle and hopefully save the fish from ammonia poisoning. take no more than one third of their filter media, put it into a bag or tupperware with some water from their tank to keep it moist and then put it into your filter within 12 hrs.

how big is your tank, are they fancy goldfish or normal ones and do you have a test kit?

i wouldn't worry about the bubbles, you often get it in new tanks when things are settling down. if you want to take a picture and post it up we can let you know if it's anything to worry about but it's highly unlikely to be a problem. the cycle is the most worrying situation for the moment.

 

[Davo86]

As it is a bowl i presume it has no filter and therefore cycling isn't an option?

with two goldfish in a bowl the tank is incredibly overstocked, Goldfish aren't suitable for bowls tbh, not even the one, which is why many reputable stores will not sell them as they really are death traps for fish. With two the cloudiness could well be murky water caused by fish waste,

 

[Miss Wiggle]

As it is a bowl i presume it has no filter and therefore cycling isn't an option?

with two goldfish in a bowl the tank is incredibly overstocked, Goldfish aren't suitable for bowls tbh, not even the one, which is why many reputable stores will not sell them as they really are death traps for fish. With two the cloudiness could well be murky water caused by fish waste,

clearly not disupting anything you've said as you're spot on if that is the case, but re-read the post several times now and can find no mention of a bowl..... i'm still hoping for the best of a tank with a filter and fancy goldies!

 

[Davo86]

The title of the thread is "Goldfish Bowl"

 

[swomp]

It is indeed a bowl, to be fair it is a pretty large bowl - but maybe that is irrelevant? The woman in the store recommended it

 

[Miss Wiggle]

The title of the thread is "Goldfish Bowl"

ah, silly me!!

It is indeed a bowl, to be fair it is a pretty large bowl - but maybe that is irrelevant? The woman in the store recommended it

do you have a filter?

 

[swomp]

Nope, just the bowl at the moment

 

[Miss Wiggle]

to be totally honest the best thing you can do for these fish is take them back to the store and do a little more research about setting up a fishtank before you try again.

all fish need a filter, they'll die without it from ammonia poisoning in the water, the humble common goldfish gets to around 1 foot long and 40 years old, they should be kept in a pond. the small ones you see in pet shops are not a different species, they're just babies.

the fancy varieties can be kept in tanks but require a tank of around 30/40 gallons with a strong filter as goldfish are a very messy fish and produce a lot of waste.

the woman in the store is a business woman trying to make a profit, she is not a fishkeeping specialist offering advice free of charge. fish tanks need to be cycled before adding fish, this usually takes around 6-8 weeks and includes adding chemicals to the tank and frequent water testing however most fish shops don't tell you this because most of the time their customers would decide it's too much work and walk out then go down the road to their competition who is telling them to just put fish in and it'll be fine. then when you go back a few weeks later with your fish dying and having problems she can just sell you some expensive medications or some more fish if yours have died. it's a sad but true reality of this hobby.

fishkeeping is a wonderful hobby but it does require a little time, patience and research. if you want to keep fish I'd suggest you take the ones you have back to the store then start reading up the topics in the beginners resource centre which will tell you everything you need to know about setting up a new tank and running it sensibly.

 

[Thedoctor]

all fish need a filter, they'll die without it from ammonia poisoning in the water, the humble common goldfish gets to around 1 foot long and 40 years old, they should be kept in a pond. the small ones you see in pet shops are not a different species, they're just babies.

I've kept golfish in a tank, pure tap water no treatments or filters and they lived for years. They didnt suffer one illness or disease over that time and only died after a year living in a family members pond or tank due to larger fish eating them.

 

[Ashley1991]

when i was very tiny my sister won a goldfish at a fair and it was kept in a bowl with just plain water no treatments it also lasted for years and years but if i knew what i did now (hey i was a baby i only knew how to poop, sleep and eat) i woul dhave made them get a huge tank and do everything properly

i have also seen stories of people not cleaning there fish tank out for years and you cant even see the fish because there was so much crap in there but the goldfish survived in there too

BUT

goldfish are extremly hardy fish and can pretty much survive ANYTHING just because they survived for years does not mean they had a good, happy life life and a few years is actually not very long for a goldfish to live (like stated some live 40+) at the end of the day the right thing to do is take them back or give them to someone who has a fully cycled understocked tank that will fit them in until you have a bigger cycled tank but that is also up to you at the end of the day noone is here to force you into things just give you the correct advice that shops do not give because they see like this $$££$$£$£$££$£$£$

ash

 

[waterdrop]

Yes, gave me thoughts of how the tales of prisoners coming back after having survived long years of hardship are a testament to the toughness animals can have and how it doesn't usually slow societies determination to continue to improve health conditions and attempt reforms.

One of the great things about a forum like TFF is that we get to hear bits from some of the really good fishkeepers who have experience in creating environments that captured fish can really thrive in. We know statistically that there are vast numbers of pets out there kept in poor conditions but at least forums like this provide some hope.

WD