fish -goldies

mrose_s

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#1
i just got some goldfish, i got 3, and i'm getting one more today.

i have them a good tank with a built in light and filter. i have gravel at the bottom of their tank, an ornament with holes for them to swim through, a live plant and a fake one.
i asked the woman at the pet shop about the sort of fish food and i picked the one she puts together in her shop and the fish seem okay with it. i also figured it would be better as this was probably what they were already eating.

anythign that i should need to know about keeping them happy. or are they fine just to swim around and make my room so pretty?

i was also told that for the first few weeks to syphin a 1/3 if the water out and replace it.

my mum has always had fish so she has helped me the whole time. any other tips?
 

~Tucker&Me~

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#5
You're BARELY able to squeeze that amount of goldfish into an 8g tank.

I would HIGHLY suggest getting something in the 15 - 20g range. Goldfish are MESSY, and can grow pretty big.

Keep up on your water changes. Unfortunately, you didn't cycle your tank so you'd better be prepared to do lots of work and not be upset if you lose some or all your fish.

:(

~Tucker
 
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#6
3-4 goldfish seriously need something around 200l (a US 55g tank). Remember, goldfish can live 20+ years, and reach a FOOT EACH.

Water changes are to reduce the amount of waste built up in the aquarium. With an uncycled 8g tank, I would change at least half the water, twice a week, to keep ammonia down. Its a small enough tank that it should not be that difficult (changing 30 gallons of water does get old ;))
 

dogsarebetter

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#7
oh yeah, you need a BIG tank.
and i dont know if you can plan on them living since you are cycling with them.

good luck!
 

mrose_s

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#8
my mum has always had fish. she always has fish while the tank is cycling. we have rarley lost them.
i also asked the pet shop owner about it. just to get another opinion. she said that she always puts her fish in straight away but she changes the water regularily and builds up the amount of fish slowly.

my fish arn't big. 2 of them are maybe 3cm long, the other 2 would be lucky if they are 1 cm. i didn't pick big fish. i want to watch them grow.

they pet shop has agreed to test my water for ammonia and nitrate, i just have to bring in some water.

also, i don't know galleons. how many litres to a gallon?
 
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#9
3.78 L to a gallon.

The point is, these fish will out grow a tank that size in a matter of months. You need to consider the ADULT size of the fish when picking a tank. Sure, you can upgrade, but there is always some reason to put it off another month, or two, and so on; unless you already have a larger tank around of course.

4 Goldfish is NOT starting off slowly. They are hungry, messy, large bodied fish.

The pet shop is almost never a viable source of income. It is in their best interest if your fish die! Why? People go back and buy more, or people go back and upgrade their tanks 3 times, instead of buying the right tank from the start.
 

dogsarebetter

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#10
hm, i guess you will bring water in to the pet store twice a day.. because thats how much you should test it during cycling. once at night, once in the morning

correct, NEVER listen to anyone at the pet store.
 
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#11
Also plan to upgrade your tank as well as adding filtration, for your fish to live a long healthy life. Properly fed fish grow fast and produce alot of waste, goldfish especially. The amout of waste goldfish produce is much more than your average tropicals.

If you are gonna cycle your tank with fish spend the money and get a test kit, you will also need it for when ever you upgrade your tank and to moniter for a crash, or if you get multiple tank syndrome.

Im suprised you are putting your fish through the stress and discomfort of cycling the tank with your staunch stance against abusing animals.
 

juliefurry

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#12
I was told never to keep a goldfish in a less than 30 gallon tank. We went in to buy 2 fantail goldfish for Emily's tank she has and the store would not sell them to us because they will outgrow her 10 gallon. They DID NOT try to sell us another tank but just said that if we were not planning on upgrading her tank (which we're not) than they could not sell us the fish because they need about 30 gallons.

Our goldfish have never had a problem with just being plopped right into a tank though. Although we did not know there was such a thing as cycling a tank though until we got the 75 gallon tank. We always filled the tank, treated the water, and let it sit 2-3 days before adding fish. Now that we know we cycle the tank for atleast a month before adding fish and do water tests atleast once a day.

I would just do the water changes, check for stress in the fish and don't be surprised if they come down with Ick or something. Goldfish are really messy fish and do grow big. However we've had fantails for as long as me and Mark have been dating and they had never grown bigger than our hand.
 

mrose_s

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#13
well. they all are fantails. sorry, should have specified that. and the last lot of goldfish we had never grew to more than about 4-6cm long. and they had a massive pond all to themselves.

fish will only grow to the size of their environment right? this is just going on personal experience that i've had over my life though
 
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#14
fish will only grow to the size of their environment right?
That is false and a myth, Im suprised you havent done more research reguarding fishkeeping and their ethical treatment.

By cycling a tank with fish you are stressing them out, at worse subjecting them to very painful burns as part of the cycle.

Ive cycled 1 tank with fish, that was enough of a learning experience for me, Im suprised your mom, who has had fish, let you cycle a tank with fish.

Or are they just fish?
 

juliefurry

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#15
Goldfish can live for 20+ years and reach sizes in excess of 15"

You need 20 U.S. gallons for the first fish
and 10 U.S. gallons for each additional fish
This means that in order to keep 5 goldfish
in a tank you would require 60 U.S. gallons.

A goldfish will not grow to its enviroment.
Its' body may, however the internal organs will not.
This can lead to serious problems with deformaties and death
.

Fancy Goldfish (moores, fantails, lionheads, etc) should
not be kept with common fish (goldfish, comets, shubunkins etc.)
this is due to the slowness of the fancies when it comes to feeding
and due to the more commons nipping fins.

This information I found at fishforums.net
 
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#16
A fish the size of your hand still could't turn around easily in an 8g tank. I have several fish around that size and they are very messy.

Fish only grow to the size of their environment because they die early. Its a self perpetuating myth. Person buys a fish that grows to be 3 feet (those are sold in fish stores!) puts it in a 40l tank, and it dies in 3 months at 5 inches. It grew to the size of its tank, right? Sure it didn't get actually break the glass, but it did not live a full life. Fish actually never stop growing, they just slow down as they age.
 
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#17
A fish the size of your hand still could't turn around easily in an 8g tank. I have several fish around that size and they are very messy.

Fish only grow to the size of their environment because they die early. Its a self perpetuating myth. Person buys a fish that grows to be 3 feet (those are sold in fish stores!) puts it in a 40l tank, and it dies in 3 months at 5 inches. It grew to the size of its tank, right? Sure it didn't get actually break the glass, but it did not live a full life. Fish actually never stop growing, they just slow down as they age.
The fish are so small now how cruel can it be to keep 4 or 5 goldfish in an 8g? Im sure she is planning to uprgrade to a 100g with filtration very soon. Provided her fish survive the cycle.
 

juliefurry

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#18
I have to admit before I knew better I added fish without cycling, had too many fish in 1 tank (I started out with a 1 gallon tank with a pair of guppies, and a goldfish...how cruel is that). When I actually researched a little I found out better and now make a more conscience effort when selecting my fish.

I would really consider taking the goldfish back, letting the tank cycle, and then selecting a smaller schooling fish for your tank. Things like guppies and maybe 1 single betta or a couple female bettas would do better in the tank (with decorations for them to hide).
 
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#19
Im sure you mean to keep these fish so you need to test the water twice a day as well as doing at least a 1/3rd water change daily until the cycle is done.
 

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