i just brought a new fresh water aquarium, any tips for the first timer?

Question

i have 2 gold fish and 2 mollis. its a small one since i am having them for the first time and later plan to expandto a bigger aquarium. my main problem areas are how to clean and fish related sickness and diseases

Answer 1

Adding slat for freshwater aquariums is a good way to prevent/treat problems. Spring water is a good choice for water changes and a gravel washer will remove debris when doing your water changes. Change about 25% of your water every other week. Over feeding is the main cause of problems in the fish tank. The decomposing food pollutes the water weakening the fish and leaving them open to problems.

Answer 2

The rule for goldfish is for baby /juvenile fancy goldfish is 10 gallons PER fish (orandas, moors, fantails, ryukins) and for baby/juvenile long bodied goldfish is 20 gallons PER fish(commons, comets, shubunkins), they excrete so much ammonia they need regular partial waterchanges and alot of filtration. An adult will need atleast 50-60 gallons because they get 12-14 inches. THEY ARE NOT GOOD BEGINNER FISH. AND SHOULD NEVER BE PLACED IN A SMALL TANK. THERE IS NO LATER ABOUT IT, EITHER TAKE THEM BACK OR MOVE THEM TO A BIGGER TANK NOW!

Goldfish should not be mixed with tropicals. Goldfish require colder water then what tropicals need and the ammonia they excrete, tropicals cannot handle and diseases that may not affect goldfish can be spread to the tropicals and vice versa. Also goldfish have different dietary requirements.

All fish have a parasite called ich. It looks like salt spots on the body. It ONLY comes out when they are stressed. Like poor water quality, being housed incorrectly, being moved from the fish shop to home can cause an outbreak. There are medications you could use for it but you will also need to figure out what caused the outbreak and fix it.
Clamped fins, redness around gills and tail, losing scales, thickened slime coat, gasping at the top, sitting on the bottom of the gravel gasping, is caused by high ammonia in the water. Whenever a fish acts wierd always do an immediate partial waterchange. Make sure to never go past 50 percent and make sure the new water is dechlorinated and the same temp as the water in the tank. You will need to get a siphon that vacumes the gravel to because you need to get the food and poop out of the gravel.
Always do research before getting fish, you cant always trust the info the petstores give out since most of the time they hire dumb teenagers who dont know squat. Correct the problems i stated about you mixing goldfish with tropicals or else they will die.

Answer 3

Whatever you do, dont use dish soap to clean it. For some reason, it never rinses completely and the fish will die. I was always told to use salt to clean the tank, to get the crud off. I tried it and it seems to work. Make sure you get drops to make tap water safe and drops for ick. I now have an empty tank because I didn't treat the tank with ick med. Also be careful where you get the fish, a well known department store is very good for having diseases in their fish.....

Answer 4

well for one u cant have molly and gold fish in the same tank the molly will eat the slim of the goldfish which will kill the gold fish and as for how to clean it if you use a clean new sponge u can wipe the algae and stuff off the inside of the tank and with the Mollis watch them if one gets really fat then it might be a she and you might have baby's found that one out the hard way

Answer 5

Make sure you put in a filter, it will help save you time in the future and prevent disease in the fish. If one of your fishes becomes sick, remove it from the other fish and put it in another tank or bowl so the disease doesn't spread. Make sure you don't use regular tap water, which contains chlorine that can really harm the fish. You can buy some kind of powder at a pet store to get rid of the chemicals.

Answer 6

based on your query Freshwater is far less complicated to maintain, and if artwork is your best difficulty then that's going to be extra relaxing. although if in case you do no longer ideas the further artwork in protecting the salt water aquarium then it would desire to be the extra advantageous determination. think of roughly how in many cases you probably did water variations and annual cleanings. Now double that, is that still something you will savour? Granted the bigger the salt water tank the fewer artwork it turns into, although if that's going to be extra costly. you may desire to weigh out the ideas, to truly understand that's for you. Salt water fish are in many cases the prettier fish, yet as a prior poster spoke back there are rather FW fish besides. SW tanks in many cases boil right down to, are you able to commit the time, attempt, and care into giving the animals the regularly happening of existence they desearve?

Answer 7

ok you need to have the tank with the water and all the liquids you need to put it all in the tank and you need to wait at least 3 days do put fish in the.clean the tank about every 3 weeks to a month. but dont ake all the water out take only half and check the temperature because fast temperature change can make fish die.if one fish is sick take that one out and put it in a separte bowl or bucket or tank right away and give it medication til it is better.

Answer 8

Your set up sounds like a good beginner system, all you need to do is make sure you have water ager (chlorine removal) for your tap water. A good dose of 'stresscoat' is handy to add some bacteria until it is moving along well. Add some algae eaters, 1 or 2 for the size mentioned - they will help remove algae build ups, making it easier to keep clean. As your tank is young only feed every 3 days for the first 2 weeks to allow bacteria build up. Also make sure you have not set the tank up in a place where it is in direct sunlight (this is a commonly made mistake - as sunlight Will double your algae problems) and enjoy. ANY problems, drop me a mail and I will help out. Hope this helps.

Answer 9

i have 6 goldfish that are 12 years old i got an emperor filtraton system and its still working. i also have a automatic fish feeder that spits out just enough food twice a day. if you get a large tank you ought to consider it.

Answer 10

best advice ,from personal experience , is get cheap fish until you get it down and by the way get rid of the carp (gold fish) if you want tropical fish like mollies etc.oh yea and dont get carried away cleaning fish require a certain amount of slime to be healthy.