We are are first time fish tank owners and need some recommendations.?

Question

My brother gave my 5 year old as a birthday present, a 10 gallon fish tank with a heater,thermometer,filter,cover,gravel,artificial plants and a gift certificate at a pet store. I have not set it up yet. What steps should I take first and what kind of fish are best with the above. My daughter really likes goldfish,but we are open to suggestions. Your help will be appreciated.
Thank you

Answer 1

First- Set up the tank, make sure to use a water conditioner that removes both chlorine and chloramines and neutralizes heavy metals. Have the tank up and running for atleast 2 days to make sure the heater works and the filter works. The temp recomended for most tropical fish is 78-80.

It is better for fish if you do a fishless cycle. It takes 3-6 weeks to cycle and aquarium. For a fishless cycle you can use either pure ammonia you get at a supermarket or (this sounds gross) a tablespoon of urine, or rotten fish food. The whole idea is to get the nitrifying bacteria established. Nitrifying bacteria conver the fish's waste (ammonia) into less harmful substances. During this time the water becomes a white milky cloudy. It goes away on its own. You will get a spike in ammonia then it will go down to 0ppm, then a spike in nitrites then they go down to 0ppm, then your nitrates become established and frequent partial water changes are needed to keep them below 20ppm. During these spikes in ammonia and nitrites, fish can easily die wich is why fishless cycling is alot better. It just takes patience.

Everyone lacks patience and cycles with fish unfortuneatly. Thier mistake is putting too many fish in at one time and they all die. If you are going to cycle with fish only get 2 hardy fish such as zebra danios and you will need to test the water regularly and do frequent partial waterchanges to keep the water quality good for the fish. This site probably explains it better. http://fins.actwin.com/mirror/begin-cycling.html#cycle

The tank is too small for goldfish. All goldfish get 12-14 inches and have lifespans of 20-30 yrs. They are extremely messy fish too. Your best bet is to stick with small tropicals. Always research the fish before getting them because some like the tricolor shark get 13 inches. Most petstores dont give a damn and will feed you wrong info just to make a sale.

Buy a freshwater master test kit that tests nitrates, nitrites, ph, and ammonia.

Answer 2

gold fish do not need to use the heater but tropical fish need to have the water kept at 78 deg. As far as the fish go I would not put in more than four or five fish only because smaller aquariums cant handle large bio loads (to much wast in water). gold fish are nice but I would go with tropical fish because they have nicer colours and are more "exciting" to watch. And since its a new tank you MUST let the tank cycle buy setting up the aquarium with filter and heater and you have to just Wait a week or two before you can start to add any fish to the water. The reason why you cant put any fish in the tank is because the tank must first establish a colony of beneficial bacteria that break down fish wast and ammonia. It should also be noted that gold fish will require a larger filter. As far as filter's are concerned I would go with a Aqua clear 20 or 30 for a ten gallon (30 size for gold fish and 20 size for tropical) I choose theses filter because they are cheep to maintain and they are very quiet. I have a 20 gallon in my room with a aqua clear 50 and its very quite. Its a little noisy for the first couple of days but then it gets quiet.

Answer 3

Some of the answers given are good and some not so good, but it depends on personal preferences and experiences. It's clear that a lot of first timers will go for the gold fish and their ease of care. Some will actually form a tropical fish community tank, but most new owners make the mistake of going for color and shape, rather than actual fish facts and compatibility levels, which creates chaos and a lot of unnecessary deaths. You can always go for the sure one and get a tetra community tank, or a series of gouramies, but some kinds are aggressive. In a 10-Gallon tank, it really is difficult to keep more than a few guppies, but please, do not mix the guppies with the zebra danios, or don't get bala sharks or catfish that will outgrow the tank in a matter of weeks. And most importantly, do not get an Oscar for that size tank, nor start with cichlids if you don't know how to properly handle their environments.

Answer 4

well that is a good setup!

FIrst you need to set up your taink a day or so before you get your fish!

You need a water conditioner, ( some thing like Aqua Safe)

Set the heater to about 75 degrees

make sure your filter is hooked up and is running correctly!

FIsh suggestions
Tetras are great!
You can get her gold fish! your best bet is to go to the petstore and tell them you have a ten gallon tank and see what kind of fish you can get!!! (fish differ from store to store)

I hope that helps!

Answer 5

I have raising goldfish for a VERY long time and I beg to differ with you "Jill" as I owned a wonderful goldfish named Fancy for 17 years!! One typically un-knowned fact is goldfish do not swim in water...they swim in slim which they excrete out of their own bodies. I know that may sound gross, but it is true...look it up! So when one cleans a goldfish tank and fills it with fresh, clean nice looking water then place their beloved goldfish into this nice clean tank...it is the same as dropping them into a bowl of sand!!! This is why goldfish usually die after a tank is cleaned! The best thing to do is number one, get an algae eater or "plecasimus" (mis-spelled?) otherwise known as a "sucker-face catfish" to keep the tank clean and number two, ALWAYS put in "stress coat" which puts back the "slime" that the goldfish needs to survive! Number three, NEVER over-feed your goldfish regardless how much they may appear to look hungry. They are notorious beggars...like a lot of dogs I know! lol :D The best food to feed them are the pond fish food that look like little nuggets...not the goldfish flakes! Goldfish flakes only make the aquarium filthy and NEVER give the poor fish enough of what they need to survive...called "Real Food"!!

Answer 6

I'm not a big fish person, but we got fish for my son when he was about 1 1/2. The only help that i can give you is that don't clean the tank too often. We were cleaning the tank every week to week and a half and every time we cleaned it a fish would die. So my only piece of info is don't clean the tank too often. I was told that because we changed too much of the water it killed them.

Answer 7

Freshwater is easier when you first start off. Goldfish are the dirtiest fish and they don't like heaters. They don't live very long either. You would be better off with neon tetras, zebra danios, and some other community fish. Don't forget the algae eaters!

Answer 8

for a first timer I would go with gold fish they are harder to kill than other fish all you really have to do for them is feed them every day and clean out the tank at least once a month.when you go to the pet store the clerk will be able to answer any questions that you have good luck and enjoy your new pet! :)

Answer 9

I really think you should return it all and use the money to buy a 55 gallon tank and you should fill it with an oscar your kids will love it its like having a dog

Answer 10

Set up the tank... gravel, filter etc.
goldfish needs 10gallons each. this can be broken to modern filtrationn

so maybe 5 would be fine!