Help Never Had A Fish Before

[WILDER]

I agree with miss wiggle.
I would find a new lfs as they have suggested a tank to get rid of which is not fit for a goldfish to live in.
They need long tanks so they can grow and move about in.

 

[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.

i did say i have 1 goldfish not jaws or at least i hope its not ! that seems a mighty big tank how come i see other peoples tanks with loads of diferent fish in

 

[WILDER]

<a href="http/www.flippersandfins.net/pop-eye.htm" target="_blank">http/www.flippersandfins.net/pop-eye.htm</a>

Taken from the link.
Water in a newly filled tank will be supersaturated with gases and you will see the gas bubbles covering the inside of the tank. The more that the water is agitated as you are pouring it in for the first time, the less supersaturation you will have. Agitation of water releases gas from it. Normal aeration will speed up the time that it takes for this excess gas to leave the water. When the bubbles on the tank disappear, then it is safe to put your fish into the new water.

Read this on goldifsh.
http/www.fishforums.net/content/Coldwate...-fish-in-tanks/

 

[ariel newbie]

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!
i have a neighbour across the road and her goldfish outside in the pond are like giants so i suppose i could ask her if she wants nemo but than what fish should i get and how many also whats the diference between coldwater and tropical and what do i do then as i will have to convince my 7year old that nemos gonna be happy across the road if the neighbour agrees

 

[Miss Wiggle]

particularly as the fish is called nemo i'm sure you can convince you're son... explain it like this

when nemo was caught and put in the tank in the dentists, he wasn't really happy, he didn't have any fish of his own kind around and he felt trapped, so he escaped to go back to the see where he found his dad and was happy again.

nemo (your fish) is now trapped in a tank that's much to small and he's got no friends to play with, so if you take him to the pond over the road it's like nemo (from the movie) going back out to see. he'll have plenty of space and friends to play with so he will be much happier there.



have a look at this topic for suggestions of fish suitable for your tank, not the only options but it's a starting point http/www.fishforums.net/content/New-to-t...or-A-10-Gallon/

main difference between keeping coldwater fish and trops is you need a heater (i'm not kidding) the basic water chemistry and fish care are the same. look in the beginners resource centre for loads of helpful topics.

 

[Gazoo]

Welcome to the forum ariel newbie. I hope with the great suggestions being offered, you are able to sort out your fish and tank. My one small suggestion would be to use proper punctuation in your posts. I'm finding it difficult following what you have to say.

 

[ariel newbie]

particularly as the fish is called nemo i'm sure you can convince you're son... explain it like this

when nemo was caught and put in the tank in the dentists, he wasn't really happy, he didn't have any fish of his own kind around and he felt trapped, so he escaped to go back to the see where he found his dad and was happy again.

nemo (your fish) is now trapped in a tank that's much to small and he's got no friends to play with, so if you take him to the pond over the road it's like nemo (from the movie) going back out to see. he'll have plenty of space and friends to play with so he will be much happier there.



have a look at this topic for suggestions of fish suitable for your tank, not the only options but it's a starting point [URL="http/www.fishforums.net/content/New-to-t...or-A-10-Gallon/"]http/www.fishforums.net/content/New-to-t...or-A-10-Gallon/[/URL]

main difference between keeping coldwater fish and trops is you need a heater (i'm not kidding) the basic water chemistry and fish care are the same. look in the beginners resource centre for loads of helpful topics.

many thanks for your help i have been reading the article on cycling tanks didnt realise there was so much to do just thought buy a few fish bung them in the new pretty tank and a pot of food and away we go good job weve only got nemo to worry about but i think i could get into this but havent decided on coldwater or tropical but im not sure i could understand all the p.h ammonia and stuff does this apply to coldwater fish and are there any other fish other than goldfish that i could put in my tank if i give him to the neighbour it seems such a shame as he seems really happy bouncing through the air bubbles from the pump

 

[ariel newbie]

Welcome to the forum ariel newbie. I hope with the great suggestions being offered, you are able to sort out your fish and tank. My one small suggestion would be to use proper punctuation in your posts. I'm finding it difficult following what you have to say.

thankyou for that , I know i do tend to forget but i am lucky i can even work the computer at all , like my fish keeping bought it and set it up and hoped for the best !! but everything happens for a reason and my computer lead me to this site on fish see !!

 

[Miss Wiggle]

yeah the stuff on ph, ammonia etc applies to all fish, tropical coldwater, saltwater. everything. they all still poo and ultimatley that's what gets the whole chain reaction going!! (in fact goldfish in particular produce a lot of waste so it's even more applicable than if you had a couple of small fish)

keep reading all the articles on cycling (there's a few more in the beginners resource centre you may not have spotted). It's easy wonce you get the hang of it but just takes a little while to get your head around. don't worry though we've all been there!!

i would go and put a post in the coldwater forum (i'm not an expert on coldwater fish, just know the basics) asking them about transferring a fish from a tank to a pond, i'm sure i remember reading something about doing it in the summer so they don't have a temp shock but i'm not 100%. anyway the folks over there will pick up the topic and let you know for definate.

It may be that the best thing to do is keep him in the new tank for a short while then send him out to the pond in a few months, that would give you plenty of time for research and to decide what to do with the tank long term.

If you're not sure what to get why not go walk around a fish shop, write down the names of the one's you like, then come home and put the names of the fish into the search engine (top right hand corner) and you should get plenty of information and you can then decide what is suitable for your tank. Of course if you're not sure about anything then just stick up a post and we'll give you all the help you need.

I'm sure he is happy, comparativley, back to the example of the great dane, if you let him out of the tiny cage and gave him a whole flat to play in of course he'd be happy at first, but you can still see it's not gonna last forever!

Welcome to the forum ariel newbie. I hope with the great suggestions being offered, you are able to sort out your fish and tank. My one small suggestion would be to use proper punctuation in your posts. I'm finding it difficult following what you have to say.

thankyou for that , I know i do tend to forget but i am lucky i can even work the computer at all , like my fish keeping bought it and set it up and hoped for the best !! but everything happens for a reason and my computer lead me to this site on fish see !!

ha ha, what's important to remember is that on this forum we have members from many countries, all age ranges and so on. So it's best to try and use good spelling and grammar wherever possible to make sure that people understand you.

 

[WILDER]

Its the right time now march to transfer a goldfish to a pond.
All you do it get the temp of the pond water.
Then you can climatise him next to the pond with him in a bucket by adding the pond water gradually.

 

[Miss Wiggle]

Its the right time now march to transfer a goldfish to a pond.
All you do it get the temp of the pond water.
Then you can climatise him next to the pond with him in a bucket by adding the pond water gradually.

ah ok, at least i've not completely made it up about there being a set time of year to do it!

in that case i'd recommend you do it asap (obviously providing your neighbour agrees) then start doing a fishless cycle on your tank, it'll take roughly 4 weeks (although it varies) so you have plenty of time to choose your fish. You do need to choose if you are going with coldwater or trops first though, personally i'd recommend trops as you have significantly more choice available to you.

 

[iihay]

Good to see so many posts, whichever way you go you will find this forum a great help and trust me this hobby gets addictive very quickly!
The one major message to take from this forum is don't always trust what your fish shop says! The peeps here are fanatics and not everybody in the shops are. I am very new to this myself but have found that if the people in the shop know about and mention fishless cycling then it's a good sign that they actually know what they are
talking about!

Iain