I bought a bowl and two goldfish yesterday, i also bought some stones to put int he bottom, which i washed?

Question

properly, i added one of those fish plants as well. I filled the tank and also added the tap water friendly drops in. yesterday they were fine. but today most of the day the water seems to have clouded a bit and they are now spending most of their time at the top of the tank, looking like they trying to gulp air. there are also small tiny bubbles all around the tank. whats happening? why would the tank cloud up and why are they at the top all the time?

Answer 1

It is what they call new tank syndrome. This is when the ammonia spikes and the nitrates are spikeing as well. You cannot tank a tank, fill it with water an put fish into it. That would be the same as telling you you need to live in your bedroom.... all your stuff is there, your family comesin and out, all your food is there, but....where do yout go to the bathroom? How long can you live in your room with no bathroom? Your fish are living in their bathroom. Cycling the tank allows beneficial bacteria to build up to "eat" the bathroom waste and make it safe for them to survive. You need to do a 20-25% water change and chances are you will need to do it every few days until the tank cycles. (creates it's own bathroom) Also, goldfish need lots of dissolved oxygen which is replaced by water changes, fountains, waterfalls, filters, waves etc. The water is cloudy since it is not cycled and it is the waste and ammonia that you see.

Keep changing the water for now until it cycles. It will clear and be fine in no time. However I do want to state, two goldfish one bowl, no good. You will need to get a tank sooner or later since your gold fish will not stop growing and will quickly out grow the bowl. Another way since you have a bowl to replace the dissolved oxygen depletion, use a turkey baster (clean of course) and suck up some water and about 4 inches from the surface sqirt it back in. about 10 times per day. This will help with the dissolved oxygen problem until you can get them a new tank. If you have any other quesitons feel free to email me.

Also, an air pump with bubbles will do NOTHING to replace the dissolved oxygen to the tank. It is not only a waste of time but money. They don't work, Decorative purposus only. The water needs to move.

Answer 2

Aquariums look better than fish bowls because the water is pumped through a filter to keep from getting cloudy. Air is added to the water with a bubbler. A fish bowl, by definition, is a stagnant pool of water, no bubbler, no filtration. The goldfish will eat and potty and muddy the water. If the gold fish has used up a lot of the oxygen in the water, it will spend a lot of time at the surface where the oxygen is more concentrated. You can scoop the water out of your fish bowl and pour it back in at a high enough height to create bubbles and aerate the water, if oxygen is the issue. If you put some food in the bowl and they swim to the bottom to get it, then it may be they just like to hang around the surface.

Answer 3

From what I've read on various websites on keeping fish, you need to give the water in the tank at least a week to sort it's self out before sticking any fish in there (regardless of whether or not it's a Goldfish, or something more exotic), otherwise you get a few problems with things like Ammonia in there....... I believe that's also what causes Goldfish brought home from a fairground to peg it so quickly.

Answer 4

Your question appears to be a little confusion and two parts. You say that you bought a bowl and two goldfish then you bought some stones which you put them in the bottom which you washed before. Are you referring to stones as aquarium grit which should be washed in cold water several times. Then you say that you filled a tank with tap water but it started to get cloudy and made your fish sick. Get two strong polythene bags half fill them with water and put one fish in each bag then blow air into them and tie the tops with string. Empty the tank and refill with fresh water but this time you'll have to put a filter the gently put your fish in.

Answer 5

Sounds like there's no oxygen in the tank! :-O

I don't see why though? It sounds like you did all the right things but what did you wash the bowl and the stones in? Maybe you should take them out and start the process again.

What your best off doing is using a colander to wash the stones with just leave them under warm running water for a few minutes, shaking them every now and then just to dislodge any dust.

Did you let the water safe drops settle? it's best if you chuck them in and leave them for about half an hour.

See how that works. Don't put the plant in straight away put that in another glass and see what happens. You just need to take each thing apart one at a time to eliminate the problem.

By the way you chuck the fish in another bowl of fresh clean tap water until every things ready. They'll be fine.

Answer 6

Goldfish get HUGE and produce TONS of ammonia. they'll need a well filtered tank.

what kind of goldifhs are they? if you're not sure go to the site bellow and find out, this is important:
http://www.kokosgoldfish.com/ftypes.html

if you have any in the first two groups they can get up to 18" and need 40gallons for one and 20gallons for each additional one. they are meant for ponds.

if you have any after that they can get up to 10" and need 20gallons for one and 10 more gallons for each additional fish.

your goldfish will usually only grow to fit you tank, but this is cruelty. it is called stunted, and although the outside of the fish keeps growing, the inside of the fish keeps growing until until the fish dies, it is a slow and painful death. and that is if the ammonia doens't kill them first.

so if you can't get a 60 or 30gallon tank (depending on which kind you have) you really need to take them back. they only kind of fish that works OKAY (and I mean okay, a bowl is not ideal for any fish) is a betta, as MM said. make sure you keep the bowl temp at least 75°, preferably 78°F to 80°F. for a betta you'll need to clean a bowl out once a week.

Answer 7

gold fish are hard pets to take care of despite common folklore. they need more water/care/filtration than most fish. gold fish can cloud a non filtrated tank in hours and could kill them selves from the ammonia from their poop in days. I have three gold fish in a ten gal, being filtered by a 30 gal filter. The bio-wheel keeps the ammonia and nitrates in check but even with extra carbon cartridges it gets a little cloudy from time to time. when a rank is cloudy oxygen is harder to come by so fish go to the top where there is lots of oxygen when I had my fish in a 3 gal bowl i found my self changing the water every day until I couldn't take it any more. if you don't want to get a bigger tank buy a tetra whisper 1-3 gal internal filter. but eventually you will need to upgrade, if you take care of your gold fish you could end up with a 2ft long crazy fish.

Answer 8

It amazes me that people continue to buy gold fish and place them in bowls that in time will be as large as the goldfish itself.

People who claim they will live hapily in a 10gal are kidding themselfs. Gold fish should be kept in ponds or at a minimum a 50 gal tank.

In the very least a reasonable filter should be provided. perhaps a canister or hang on back filter.

In your case what has happened is that your tank is not "cycled". What is cycling? Cycling is where bacteria (good bacteria) who turn ammonia (put simply, fish poo's and wee's) into less harmfull things (nitrates) build up in your filter.

This process takes time, at least 6 weeks. During this time fish shouldn't be living in your tank.

So, what should you do? Firstly provide your fish with a large tank (i'd reccomend a 50gal). If you can't do this send the fish back. Secondly get a filter (hang on back, or canister) that will filter the water 4 times per hour (i.e. for a 50 gal the filter should pump 200 gal per hour). Lastly don't put fish in the tank for at least 3-4 weeks (6 weeks is better) with the filter running, this will give bacteria time to build up in the tank and in the filter. During this time put very small amounts of fish food in the tank daily (just a tiny pinch). This food will break down into ammonia which will feed the bacteria in your tank.

Also do not wash the rocks as some have recomended, these rocks harbour the good bacteria that will nutralize the ammonia, washing them will kill the bacteria.

Go on google and look up "cycling" to get a beter idea of how to do it.

Alternatively get a beta and put him in your bowl.

Answer 9

the water is cloudy because you have no form of filtration and most likely no oxygen supply either, your fish will be dead within a few days.
The stones are not the problem so please don;t listen to some of the people on here that don't know what they are talking about.

no goldfish will survive in a bowl for more than a week, get a proper tank if you want fish and read how to look after them before you buy them next time!.

Answer 10

when we had the all the hot weather last year we came home to find our giant goldfish laying on his side and floating on the top he is a bit of a survivor being a good 5 years old and we were quite upset we quickly changed the water and he was fine if you have a wilkinson store where you live you can buy chlorination fluid and weekly cleaner that helps to keep the tank clean that was in the summer its march now and he is still here goodluck