Okay, I'm going to fess up . . . this is my first post and I'm needing some help, so my apologies if any of this is redundant. I'm just having difficulty finding all the answers in one area.

1 - My wife and I need some quck down and dirty advice on what's the quickest way to set up a ten gallon, filtration, tank and get the fish in it - before we lose another. Can anyone help? How soon can I move the other fish in?

2 - Also, can someone tell me what type of gold fish we have (1", slender (not round), 1-gold, 1-silver, looks like a real tiny salmon/trout)?

3 - Finally, can we safely put two of these small 1" to 1 1/2" fish in a 10 gal. acquarium?


Here's the background . . .


Last week, an acquaintance pawned off on me two small fish. At first I really didn't think it would be the greatest thing, but then I thought that my two children (Chris 8, Liz 5) would really like them. She gave them to me in one of those tiny bowls you usually see fish in, at a local fair (throw the ping-pong ball in and win a fish). My wife and I realized that the bowl was far too small, and with the fish only being 1" in length went out and bought a traditional 1 gallon goldfish bowl. In reading all of the posts we now realize that this was a tremendous mistake, but being naive - we thought we were doing right.

Fast forward one week. The fish seemed to be doing fine, the kids named them (Flounder (m) and Nemo (f)) and grew quite attached to them. Then out of nowhere my daughter's fish, Nemo, went quiet; sitting at the bottom of the bowl, breathing heavy, fins close to body, etc. Later, struggling to swim and always breathing at the surface. Even after water change, and giving meds (Quick Cure and Maracyn-Two) it wasn't enough to save her. She died in the night and my five year old daughter is completely devastated. We don't want to go through this with the other one, and want to purchase our daughter another fish.

However, we realize that we need to get a tank set up quickly.

Any immediate response, anyone can give would greatly be appreciated.

Thanks to everyone . . .

and welcome to the board.

A bowl for any goldie is a definate no no!!! they need 10gallons of water each and commons could evern do with more.

when setting up a new tank you should always cycle it before adding new fish so that the water becomes fish friendly. Also you should get test kits that test for ammonia, nitrite, nitrate and ph they do come at a price but are essitional for fish keeping. You can buy stress zyme that is full of friendly bacteria which the tank needs to be healthy (you can buy this from most places, other people might have other opionions though about the product)

Also you should wait before adding any new fish untill the water is fish friendly (the test kits for ammonia, nitrite, nitrate and ph will Rectify this for you)

Maybe someone else will be able to add to my info!

good luck.

Tanya_woz_ere

Hi there,

In response to your 3rd point many people say you need 10 gallons per fish and ideally they are right but I have two fish, 1 is 1.5" and the other 2.0" long and they are very happily swimming around in my small 12" x 8" x 8" (which is a lot less than 10 gall) tank and they have been there for over 6 months now. So in answer to your question YES you can safely put your two fish in a small glass tank but if you start to encounter problems you may need to upgrade the tank.

I hope that helps.

Hi, TJ.

It sounds like you have comet goldfish. 10 gallons isn't an ideal home for these little guys, since, if treated properly, they can easily grow to 10" or more each. If that's all you can muster for now, it's certainly better than a bowl, but ideally you would want a 30 gallon or larger tank for them. Another option would be to pick up a plastic storage container (like a rubbermaid tub) and house them in that until you can save up for a new tank, or find a good used one to upgrade them to. You can fit filters on the sides of these, and they make good temporary homes for crowded fish.

You'll also need a filter. There are many different types, and all can work comparably well. I am not personally fond of the filters that have only one filter pad, and no extra sponge, biowheel or biorings/balls. With these types of units, your biological (ammonia removal) and mechanical (debris removal) media are the same, and it makes it more difficult to clean/change your filter media because you have to be careful of disturbing the biobugs. You want the filter to cycle the gallonage of the tank at least 7-10 times per hour. More filtration is generally better. If you get a smaller tank/tub for your fish, you might want to increase the filtration even past this. Goldfish are messy critters.

It sounds like your biggest problem is probably water quality, so definitely pick up some test kits so you can monitor it. You'll want at least ammonia and nitrite test kits. You can buy "master" test kits that come with ammonia, nitrite, pH (high and low range), KH and GH test kits. You can often find these for $15-25, while the individual test kits run $5-8 a piece, so I usually suggest people go ahead and pick up the master kit. You get more tests for your money that way. The master kit does not come with a nitrate tester, which is nice to have, so you'll have to get that seperately. Like I mentioned before, you want at the very least ammonnia and nitrite test kits, since these are the most important things to check in a new tank. When you go to the pet shop, also take a sample of your tap water and ask them to test your pH and KH levels. Get actual numbers, not just whether or not it's "okay". Pet store employees often give bad advice, and it'd be a shame for you to think everything was "okay" when it actually wasn't.

If you're not familiar with cycling, now would be a good time to get familiar, since you're going to need to cycle your fish's new home once you get it set up. If you'd like to send me your email address or post it here I can send you a summary of the cycling process. My email address is happygoldfish((at))myrealbox((dot))com