just brought a small fish bowl with a filter for my daughter?

Question

and i am having to clean it out every day because the water is very cloudy and smells a lot there are only 2 small goldfish in there does anybody now how i can keep the water cleaner for longer

just got a fish tank i didnt feed them for one day and the water stayed clear then next day i gave them some food only a bit of goldfish flakes and now they are starting to smell and the water going dirty again

Answer 1

Get a proper sized tank and a proper sized filter, then learn about cycling a tank. Goldfish can live for more then 20 years but they usually only live around 1-2 because people don't care for them properly. They need a minimum of 10 gallons each and a filter that pumps all the water at least 10 times an hour. So for your 2 fish they would need a tank of at least 20 gallons and a filter that does at least 200 gph. Check these links out for more information.

http://kokosgoldfish.com/care.html
http://www.kokosgoldfish.com/cycle.html

No fish should ever be in a bowl, it is just a death trap.
http://www.bellaonline.com/articles/art3503.asp

Answer 2

me and my boyfriend bought some fish and found the smae problem... get a filter and an oxygenator in there... it sound silly but you are feeding it too much... put a tiny ammount of flakes in (one flake each at first) and keep doing that till thy stop eating it...its the excess food thats causing the smell, remeber what goes in must come out so the more they eat the more they excreet! change your water too... at least 15-20% every week to keep it fresh

you must change the filter sponge regularly until the smell resides...

iv got 17 goldfish (all different types) and when i got a good filter which also had a built in oxegenator and got a bigger fish tank i noticed the smell went...

also if you go to your local pet shop which supplys fish they will tell you the same... completely empathise with you!

but it was worth the hassle... going from two to seventeen and still going!

Answer 3

Small goldfish bowls are a death sentence to the poor goldies who live in them! Getr a small tank and it will be easier to keep clean and healthier for the fish. You were right to get the filter too but it just will not cope with the load put on it in a small bowl. If you do get a tank go for as big as you can afford as larger tanks have a more stable water environment chemically. Dont overfeed the fish either. A small pinch twice a day will be enough for them. Good luck getting ot sorted.

Answer 4

A "Nemo fish" is a saltwater fish, they gained't stay long in any respect in a a million.5g freshwater mermaid tank, they % a minimum of a 20g with the full smack. Angelfish get 10" intense, they % a cycled and customary eniviroment and a healthful nutrition regimen, they should not be saved in something decrease than a 10g, yet a 10g remains too small, a 20g+ would be mandatory interior the destiny. Cycle the tank, you will ought to tell your daughter what got here approximately and attempt to make her sense extra desirable, say you will get a sparkling one quickly. Bettas do unlike filters and that i'm fantastically specific they do unlike Mermaid ( LOL ). To cycle the tank upload 2 pinchs of nutrition 2 circumstances an afternoon, verify the ammonia ranges on a daily basis, It takes an extremely long term to describe and that i've got already defined it to love 12 people interior the final 24 hrs. in basic terms seek, a thank you to fish-much less cycle an aquarium. you % a greater tank besides, a a million.5g is plenty too small even for a Betta, a Betta ought to have a minimum of a 3g tank, what you spot on the save ( 20 oscars in a 10g, 200 guppies in a 10g etc ) should not be mimicked, each inch of fish ought to have 1g of water to itself, so a Betta ought to have a minimum of a 3g. Is the tank heated? Bettas % a heated enviroment, the temperature must be saved at seventy 8-81F sturdy success!

Answer 5

cut down on the amount of food you give.

One tiny pinch a day is plenty.

We had the same problem then we asked the shop for advice. As soon as we cut down on the food it got better.

If you have a filter and gravel then you should only have to change one third of the water a week...this allows for a good Eco system...get further advice about cleaning the pump though...there is usually a thin cotton like wadding that traps dirt and should be changed weekly also.

If still no better talk to the shop where you bought the tank...explain the problem they should advice as to whether the tank is too small for two goldfish..or offer a solution...

If this continues the fish will not thrive and your daughter will lose her interest...so she has to make sure that no extra food goes in...they are tiny and have tiny tummies....so keep the tiny pinch...if then the next feed comes along and they are devouring the food as if they are starving give just that little bit more....its all about getting to know your fish..

We are now into tropical fish..but could have given up because of the smelly water syndrome but since we followed the feeding advice we have left that all behind.

Good luck

Answer 6

goldfish are very messy fish in the first place. make sure you have gravel at the bottom of the tank to collect all the dirt and food and stuff. secondly, make sure you have a filter with an air pump that sort of cycles the water and dissolves all the crap into the water. also don't put real plants in the tank because that will make the water dirty too (but fake plants are ok).

you also might want to try getting a larger tank that will dilute the crap better. they say you should have one gallon of tank for every inch of fish...so if you have 2 goldfish that are both 3 inches long, you should get at least a 6 gallon tank.

Answer 7

Upgrade to at least a 10, preferably a 20 gallon fish tank for 2 goldfish. Goldfish shouldn't be in bowls, much less 2 of them. Not enough room.

http://www.bellaonline.com/articles/art3503.asp

Answer 8

you might want to try putting some dechlorinator in there or a small plant which oxygenizes the water. cleaning it out every day is not healthy, it only stresses the fish, i think what has happened, by the sounds of things, you've put in some stones at the bottom fresh from a bag...generally you need to wait a day or two for the cloudy conditions of the water to clear up before you put the fish in there.
i take it every time you put in fresh water and stir up the gravel, the cloudyness comes back up, if this is the case (cause it happened to me) then it needs a bit of dechlorinator (about £3 / £4) at a local pet shop. Otherwise, use plain bottled water from Tesco's (the 5L bottle are about £1) leave the fish in there while the bowl is being prepared. this takes a day or two.
Make sure you have a good filter, you can get them fairly well-priced on Ebay, which is where i got my clearseal filters from.

Answer 9

i personally don't think fish should be kept in a small bowl.
i assume you are filling the bowl with tap water, if this is the case
you need to buy a chemical that gets rid of the chlorine etc that is
put in it, this can be bought from decent pet shops but don,t
exceed the specified dose most of all, buy a bigger bowl
or tank and your fish will grow bigger.

Answer 10

Get a bigger tank, i think it is 8 litres per 1 goldfish the bowl is way too small