Setting Up A New Goldfish Tank

[wwwd]

Hi there, just after some advice on new tank set-ups!

Basically, my first attempt at having fish wasn't good. I had a couple of comets and didn't have much luck - one of them attacked the other one so aggressively that it died (this was within 3 weeks), and the other one ended up dying - I think from fin rot after 2 months. After a lot of reading online I've read stuff on 'cycling the tank' and 'new tank syndrome' but would like some advice from people who have owned goldfish.

I want to do it right this time!

At the moment, I have a 14 litre tank (with gravel, fake plants and an ornament) and an air filter, exactly like this one:

Clicky

Now when I had my first fish, the pet shop owner said just put in the water, water conditioner, set-up the filter and put the fish in. Then do 25% water changes per week. Now obviously he's talking rubbish because he didn't even mention cycling the tank.

So I've been to an Aquatics Centre this afternoon and asked the guy there what he thinks.

He told me that I should set-up the tank (with the water, water conditioner and filter) and have the filter running for 10 days, THEN put in some goldfish.

Does this sound like advice I should follow, or can you guys tell me the right way to do this?

Any help would be appreciated

 

[mixmaster jay]

that wouldn't be big enough really for goldfish

 

[Ludwig Venter]

Yes... Your aquatics guy gave you sound advice, but just forgot to add that a 3 gallon tank is not suitable to keep your commets in..... These fish get quite big, & will be rather restricted in your tank.... I suggest that you get yourself a 25w heater and keep some 4 or 5 guppies in this tank.

(and by the way... Welcome to the forum)

 

[Curiosity101]

Go to the 'New To Hobby' Section --> Beginners Resource centre and then read the links on cycling.
Read ALL the threads in the 'Beginners Resource Centre' that are about cycling.

After you have read them you will understand that this second piece of advice you were given is also terrible.
Leaving a tank for 10 days does nothing to make it safe for fish.

Now some goldfish specific info.

ONLY fancy goldfish are suitable for indoor tanks to be honest.

You need to allow 20gal for the first goldfish, and 10-15gal for each additional one. They should really be kept in pairs or more so by those calculations you need a tank which is 30-35 gal to house two fancy goldfish together. (That is 120-140l ish)

Goldfish need a filter that is sized for a tank at least 1.5x (with 2x being better) the size of the actual tank.
So if you had a 120l tank, you would need a filter recommended for a tank sized 180l-240l

Goldfish should really live for at least 10 years, with 15-20years not being that unexpected.

 

[Ludwig Venter]

After you have read them you will understand that this second piece of advice you were given is also terrible.

Curiosity..... I am not in the habit of giving "terrible" advice unless I've tried and tested the means I have promoted.....

I have kept fish for a very long time, & I can truthfully say, that the common demoninator of my experiences had been goldfish in general..... (all other fish, I've kept on & off,.... but Goldfish formed part of my standard stock throughout those years)

I have bred them in ponds, and (mostly) I have bred them in my garage tanks..... When I decide that I have pairs ready for breeding, I set up a tank in the garage (fresh) and within 4 to 7 days.... I transfer the parents from an outside pond into this "newly" setup tank, & within 5 minutes of putting them in there,.... they start spawning......

Goldfish in my area, are not great sellers, (hence my restriction in breeding them).... but if I get an order tonight for 5 000 goldfish in 3 months' time.... I will set up a tank tonight and breed them within the next 3 days....

(just to re-itterate my point of do not believe everything that you read on the Internet or in books).....

 

[wwwd]

I'm confused now, so are you saying the advice I was given by the man at the Aquatics Centre was good or not?

 

[Curiosity101]

Lol, Ludwig...chill.
I was referring to the second lfs piece of advice

Which was awful, cause he didn't once mention fish-in cycling. Just said that somehow setting up a tank for 10 days was better than only setting it up for 1 day.
My point was that it makes no difference...be it 4 hours after setting up the tank or a month. Both pieces of advice are bad, and both pieces lead to fish-in cycling without informing the person of how to do it correctly.

@ Ludwig: You're more than capable of doing a fish-in cycle I'm sure. That wasn't the point I was making...it was that the fish shop worker was making random claims that weren't going to help. It's similar to when a lfs says they 'quarentine for 1 week'...to the new aquarist they go 'oo well that must mean they are a good shop' when actually we know full well you need more like a 4 week quarentine to actually say if the fish are disease free.

 

[Ludwig Venter]

Lol, Ludwig...chill.
I was referring to the second lfs piece of advice

Which was awful, cause he didn't once mention fish-in cycling. Just said that somehow setting up a tank for 10 days was better than only setting it up for 1 day.
My point was that it makes no difference...be it 4 hours after setting up the tank or a month. Both pieces of advice are bad, and both pieces lead to fish-in cycling without informing the person of how to do it correctly.

@ Ludwig: You're more than capable of doing a fish-in cycle I'm sure. That wasn't the point I was making...it was that the fish shop worker was making random claims that weren't going to help. It's similar to when a lfs says they 'quarentine for 1 week'...to the new aquarist they go 'oo well that must mean they are a good shop' when actually we know full well you need more like a 4 week quarentine to actually say if the fish are disease free.

I do appologize Curiosity .....I jumped to conclussions (being the 2nd poster & 2nd advice giver).....You are absolutely correct.

 

[aly_starh]

Hi, minimum for 1 goldfish is 60l, that tank is a no-no.

~betta_246