Help Never Had A Fish Before

[ariel newbie]

I had up till yesterday 1 goldfish living in a plastic bowl which split and leaked all over my computer , not wishing for the fish to die , icidently we won it at the fair 1 year ago so felt obliged to buy it a new bowl however after mummys trip to the pet shop was convinced by the lovely shop assistant that i would do well to purchase a discontinued aqua one tank with all the trimmings inside that had been in use on display as they would cost me 20 quid or more on there own plus they would chuck in a new pump ? all for the princly sum of 40 quid including the stand apparently its a 180 quid set up so i felt quite pleased with my purchase despite the fact i was only gonna spend a fiver or its staying in my mixing bowl children are wonderful salemen green gunk on the glass and cal build up on the lid am i mad so when i got it home i proceeded to give it a jolly good clean looks as good as new now , so what next best get some fish especially as ive also been given a 5 pound voucher to spend on fish but im now baffled as they said i cant spend the voucher on fish for 7 days (i thought that was a movie ) so can anyone help me and tell me what happens in 7 days to my aqua one tank in the mean time the goldfish is sitting in the mixing bowl still ??

 

[WILDER]

The first goldfish alone needs a 20 gallon tank.
They are massive waste producers so they need double the filter to the tank, so 40 gallon filter for the tank to keep up with the waste.
How many gallons is the tank.
How many gallons does the filter turn over.

 

[iihay]

I had up till yesterday 1 goldfish living in a plastic bowl which split and leaked all over my computer , not wishing for the fish to die , icidently we won it at the fair 1 year ago so felt obliged to buy it a new bowl however after mummys trip to the pet shop was convinced by the lovely shop assistant that i would do well to purchase a discontinued aqua one tank with all the trimmings inside that had been in use on display as they would cost me 20 quid or more on there own plus they would chuck in a new pump ? all for the princly sum of 40 quid including the stand apparently its a 180 quid set up so i felt quite pleased with my purchase despite the fact i was only gonna spend a fiver or its staying in my mixing bowl children are wonderful salemen green gunk on the glass and cal build up on the lid am i mad so when i got it home i proceeded to give it a jolly good clean looks as good as new now , so what next best get some fish especially as ive also been given a 5 pound voucher to spend on fish but im now baffled as they said i cant spend the voucher on fish for 7 days (i thought that was a movie ) so can anyone help me and tell me what happens in 7 days to my aqua one tank in the mean time the goldfish is sitting in the mixing bowl still ??

Firstly what did you clean the tank with? If you've used any cleaning agents make 100% certain it is rinsed, rinsed and rinsed again. I suspect the reason that the voucher is not good until 7 days are up is to give the tank time to mature. What the fish shop would mean by this is fill it with water, add dechlorinator, turn on the heat and let it sit to "mature" it. I've not got time for a big reply but what you need to do is look at the posts on "cycling" tanks, 2 methods fish-in and fishless. Fishless is by far the best approach. They will explain more. However you have a fish in a mixing bowl so you will probably be better off, getting the tank going and sticking him in there but read up first!

Good luck, should be more replies on the way but reading the pinned posts is the first thing to do.

Iain

 

[WILDER]

Do you still have the goldfish or did it die.

 

[Miss Wiggle]

hi there, the fish shop seem to have stopped 1 step short of giving you some good advice, yes a filtered tank is much better than a bowl for your goldfish, yes you do need to wait a while before adding fish to the tank (this is because the filter needs to be ready) but they haven't told you why or what to do to the tank before adding fish

this topic should explain it a bit for you, there's a lot of info we can give you to help but i don't want to swamp you at first as it can get a bit complicated, have a read of the topic below and the pinned topics on fishless cycling, then come back to us if you've got any questions. then we can talk about what the next step is for you and your goldfish

http/www.fishforums.net/content/New-to-t...eady-have-fish/

 

[ariel newbie]

Do you still have the goldfish or did it die.

no i still have the goldfish he seems happy enough

 

[WILDER]

You would need to wait a least 3 days before adding the fish to the new tank once it been filled with water.
How many gallons is the tank?
The filter that they are giving you with the tank might not be up to the job with a goldfish waste.
You might need to add another internal filter to cope with the waste.

 

[ariel newbie]

hi there, the fish shop seem to have stopped 1 step short of giving you some good advice, yes a filtered tank is much better than a bowl for your goldfish, yes you do need to wait a while before adding fish to the tank (this is because the filter needs to be ready) but they haven't told you why or what to do to the tank before adding fish

this topic should explain it a bit for you, there's a lot of info we can give you to help but i don't want to swamp you at first as it can get a bit complicated, have a read of the topic below and the pinned topics on fishless cycling, then come back to us if you've got any questions. then we can talk about what the next step is for you and your goldfish

[URL="http/www.fishforums.net/content/New-to-t...eady-have-fish/"]http/www.fishforums.net/content/New-to-t...eady-have-fish/[/URL]

thankyou i have filled it with water from the tap and i did use washing up liquid to cleanthe tank but just sived the gravel in a colander with tap water i didnt use washing up liquid on the ornaments and plastic plants though the box says it holds 43litres of water and the pump is an elite mini underwater filter for aquariums up to 20lites on the packet

 

[WILDER]

The tank is why to small i'm afraid for a goldfish.
Never use washing up liquid, salt water or bleach, you have to rinse well, then let dry out for a day.
I would strip it down and start again, or take the tank back.
You have to steralise the gravel in boiling water.
180 pounds is a rip off for that size tank.

You have been given some terrible advice and the filter dosn't even cover that tank size either.

 

[ariel newbie]

You would need to wait a least 3 days before adding the fish to the new tank once it been filled with water.
How many gallons is the tank?
The filter that they are giving you with the tank might not be up to the job with a goldfish waste.
You might need to add another internal filter to cope with the waste.

hi thanks for helping me i have read the box what the tank was in and its 43litre s and the pump say elite mini 20 litre i have washed the tank out with washing up liquid but just rinsed the gravel with tap water only and did the same with the ornaments and plastic plants it says it has a 3 way built in filter system and has bio zorb cube and bio stars then a big sponge set in the middle all in 3 seperate sections at the back of the tank

 

[WILDER]

I would take the tank back it's to small for a goldfish.

 

[Miss Wiggle]

Wilders right i'm afraid, firstly that's a rip off, and secondly it's not big enough for a goldfish (they can get to a foot or so long so they need a tank around 4/5 times the size of the one you have, really they are best suited to ponds) and the filter won't be up to it. I know you may think plenty of people keep goldfish in bowls so surley it can't be that bad, however the ghumble godlfish is probably the most commonly mis treated animals on the planet, they should be kept in large tanks or ponds, with appropriate food and care they can live for 40 years and get quite large, sadly most die after 2/3 years because of woefully inadequate conditions.

two of your statements i disagree with though wilder

You would need to wait a least 3 days before adding the fish to the new tank once it been filled with water.

Never use washing up liquid, salt water or bleach, you have to rinse well, then let dry out for a day.

why wait 3 days? if you're going to cycle with fish you can start the same day, if you're gonna cycle fishlessly it'll be a few weeks. leaving it for 3 days will do absolutley nothing!

secondly, it's fine to use bleach, that's what's recommended, use a 20:1 solution and rinse like buggery afterwards, but it's absolutley fine to use it. likewise salt water will also rinse off, although i agree on washing up liquid.

 

[ariel newbie]

The tank is why to small i'm afraid for a goldfish.
Never use washing up liquid, salt water or bleach, you have to rinse well, then let dry out for a day.
I would strip it down and start again, or take the tank back.
You have to steralise the gravel in boiling water.
180 pounds is a rip off for that size tank.

You have been given some terrible advice and the filter dosn't even cover that tank size either.

well considering the goldfish has been living in a bowl that probably holds about a litre of water all its life for the last year i should think the goldfish thinks ( do fish think ? ) that its birthday has arrived as it has 43litres of water to swim about in now

Wilders right i'm afraid, firstly that's a rip off, and secondly it's not big enough for a goldfish (they can get to a foot or so long so they need a tank around 4/5 times the size of the one you have, really they are best suited to ponds) and the filter won't be up to it. I know you may think plenty of people keep goldfish in bowls so surley it can't be that bad, however the ghumble godlfish is probably the most commonly mis treated animals on the planet, they should be kept in large tanks or ponds, with appropriate food and care they can live for 40 years and get quite large, sadly most die after 2/3 years because of woefully inadequate conditions.

two of your statements i disagree with though wilder

You would need to wait a least 3 days before adding the fish to the new tank once it been filled with water.

Never use washing up liquid, salt water or bleach, you have to rinse well, then let dry out for a day.

why wait 3 days? if you're going to cycle with fish you can start the same day, if you're gonna cycle fishlessly it'll be a few weeks. leaving it for 3 days will do absolutley nothing!

secondly, it's fine to use bleach, that's what's recommended, use a 20:1 solution and rinse like buggery afterwards, but it's absolutley fine to use it. likewise salt water will also rinse off, although i agree on washing up liquid.

what you think i paid too much for the tank i paid 40quid thats everything gravel pump stand plants ornaments and it has a light in the top ?

 

[WILDER]

Goldfish are hardly so you can use them to cycle a tank, plus it better being in a bigger tank than a bowl.
Because of the bubbles you get in the tank for a few days when you first set the tank up, I wouldn't add the goldfish straight away.
Never used washing up liquid as it takes to long to rinse.
40 pounds about right, but when they said it was 180 new they was telling fibbies.

 

[Miss Wiggle]

while i agree that the tank is definatley an improvement on the goldies previous home, it's not really suitable for the fish long term.

It's like taking a great dane from the v small cage he'd been living in, and taking him to a 1 bedroom flat with no garden.... it may be better but that still doesn't mean it's good enough

i'm sorry if we're coming off harsh here, i really hope this doesn't discourage you from fishkeeping, however a lot of fish fanatics get quite upset about the poor deal that goldies get in life.

my personal recommendation would be to donate the goldfish to someone who has a pond so he has somewhere suitable to live out the rest of his life. do a fishless cycle on the tank to set it up properly for fish, then stock it with some fish that are suitable. There's loads of pretty tropicals that you could keep and your conscience would then be clear that all the animals in your care have a suitable home.

Because of the bubbles you get in the tank for a few days when you first set the tank up, I wouldn't add the goldfish straight away.

bubbles don't harm the fish though! it's just oxygen, the fish won't care in the slightest!