Is there a RIGHT way to look after Goldfish?

Question

I'm finding that having fish is like having a first child. Everyone has a different opinion on how things should be done. Is there a 'right' way to look after goldfish and where can I find that information? As previously stated in questions I've got five Comets in a 3ft tank. I've been told to change the water (1) every week (2) once a month (3) every 3-4 weeks (4) every six months....no doubt about it I'm confused. I've got an airstone almost the length of the tank pumping water into the tank, I feed the fish Flakes, Pellets, and Bloodworms, I've bought test kits and am not sure how often I should check the water, I've got four plants of different varieties in the tank for their enjoyment and a heater to keep the water a little warm because it's getting colder now. What else should I know? what's a good website? Each petstore has a different idea....argh!

The airstone pumps air into the tank and I have a cannister filter under the cabinet cleaning the water. I do intend to upgrade the tank to a 6ft down the track, but wanted to start small to begin with. I'm going to take a few photo's for those interested to see the setup and let me know what they think.

Do i have to cook the beans, peas etc before feeding them to the fish?

Answer 1

That's a very common problem in fish keeping. Mostly because there is no "right" answer. The fish need certain general things within a wide range of tolerances and different people have success anywhere within this range. Then they say that theirs is the right way and only way. I personally believe the internet has compounded this problem significantly. On pages like this anyone, myself included, can claim to be an expert on a particular subject and give very poor information. It costs nothing but a little time to have a website that says never change water and you gold fish will grow to 50 pound in a 10 gallon tank within a week, or something equally bad, but masked in an air of knowledge and respectability. Pet shops can be just as bad as the internet either because of the "this worked for me" mindset or due to a lack of knowledge or in some cases simply saying whatever it takes to make the sale.

Personally, I would recommend getting a book on the subject. Books cost a bit more to put out there and are occasionally reviewed for quality of content so they are significantly better than websites for accurate information.

As for my personal answers to your questions.

5 comets will out grow your tank in fairly short order. They can easily break a foot long each in aquariums and far larger in ponds. So be ready to thin them out as they grow.

I change water at the rate of 25% once a week for the majority of my tanks. Some are special cases and therefore get treated differently.

An airstone isn't really needed if you have a filter on the tank. If you don't have a filter, get one asap. The airstone won't hurt anything either and if you like it certainly leave it.

Flakes and or pellets are a great staple diet for your fish. Goldfish do need some vegetable matter in their diet though. Peas, green beans, spinach, lettuce, cucumber etc are all excellent for their health and you will find they really enjoy them as well. Just soften them enough for the fish to eat and place them in the tank. They can get messy, but you can clean that up after the fish eat.

Test the water. Very good idea for the first few weeks as the tank cycles. After that I generally only test if I have reason to believe something is wrong in the tank or if I have a fish with very demanding needs.

A heater shouldn't be needed in a goldfish tank. They can take the cool water very well and are quite at home in the low to mid 60's. Mid 70's is getting a bit warm for them, but they can handle that too. Anywhere from 30's through 90's is survivable for goldfish.

Just my two cents worth for what it's worth. I hope I didn't confuse the issues even worse for you.

MM

Answer 2

I test the water in my tanks every week. As long as the tank is properly cycled (ammonia 0ppm nitrites 0 ppm) when the nitrates get up to around 30ppm I change 30% of the water by siphoning the gravel. If your tank is not yet fully cycled (ammonia & nitrites present in the tank water) then weeky water changes are a must to keep your fish healthy. between 30-50% of the water. If the tank is not fully cycled I take the water off of the top instead of siphoning off of the bottom so as to not disturb the bacterial growth in the substrate. Here is good site for info on goldfish http://kokosgoldfish.com/
5 comets will quickly outgrow a three foot tank ( in about 1-3 years-or less), the population should be moved to a pond or at the very least reduced to one or two fish. You did not mention filtration. Goldfish require a good filter, at least one that filters 10x hour (400 gal an hour for a 40 gallon tank) If you dont have a filter than water changes(30-50%) need to be made every other day untill you get one. Goldfish don't need a heater unless you want them to grow faster, they thrive in cooler water. Goldfish tend to tear up live plants, they are omnivores and enjoy dark leafy greens, a thin slice of cucumber and even some of those aquatic plants, they also like thin slices of apple, grapes, even citrus.

Answer 3

Edit: I see you have a canaster filter thats great. Will make your fish happier than not having one. If your not worried about backsyphoning for some reason then I would put the outake tube closer to the bottom of the tank to create aggitation of the water near the substrate.

One thing I don't understand is how a airstone pumps water into a tank.

Walmart sells a nice hangon filter for 10bucks. Please buy this.

Water should be changed when it needs it.

First most important thing you need to do is get a journal just for your goldfish. This is the only way to keep an overcrowded tank alive.

Ok now you need a Ph, Ammonia, Nitrite, Nitrate test kit. By buying this kit you will know when to change your water and cleen your gravel. (Im not sure what kits you have but you need all these) The kits are very self explanitory and work very well to keep your fish alive. Once you find out your water readings you will probably see that your Ammonia and Ph are out of wack. If they are do a partial water change. Continue to do readings and water changes. Write the resutls down and you will begin to see a patern emerge. Once the ammonia equalizes then the nitrites will rise. Then once they go down your set.

This process will take atleast a month. Please be patiant.

You just have to watch for dangerous nitrate levels and any sign of ammonia from then on.

Once this happens keep checking for ammonia and do waterchanges if it goes above 0. Write down when your ammonia starts to go up and next time do the water change / gravel cleening a bit before it is scedualed to go up again.

Next drop the heater. Your tank is already crowded, by adding the heater your taking much needed oxygen out of the water. Air bubbles do not add oxygen in the way you would think. They add oxygen by disrupting the waters surface.

Add some ammo-chips or other ammonia absorbant pellets into your walmart filter to help with the excess ammonia your tank cant take care of itself.

Hope this helps

Answer 4

First of all, you should clean your tank way more often than six months. I always eyeball it and see when it needs it. I look and see how bad the gravel is and always make sure the water is spotless. Don't do 100% water changes though, that will majorly stress your fish.

Don't listen to the petstores, they don't know anything. Research the internet or buy a few goldfish books.

Your goldfish doesn't really need a heater unless it gets really cold, they're coldwater fish.

You might want to search on google for goldfish care or something like that.

Hope this helps. :) And good luck with your "child"

Answer 5

First off This is what is advised by everyone who knows squat about taking care of fish
1-you are supposed to change 20 percent of the water ONCE a week
2-you dont really need an air stone because the oxygen in your tank does not come from your air stone or from the waterfall from your filter, it comes from water circulating in your tank because of the waterfall.
3-you should feed your goldfish flakes, pellets, and some times algae, but i dont think they need blood worms.
4-you should test your water when you suspect something is wrong, other then that once every 2 weeks would be good unless you have a problem in your tank.
5-plants are a good idea, because they remove nitrates from your tank.
6-you dont need a lot of heat in a goldfish tank and the best temperature would be around 74
7-NEVER LISTEN TO PET STORES LIKE PETCO AND PETMSART THEY WILL SCREW YOU OVER AND MAKE YOU BUY MORE AND MORE THINGS FROM THEM

Answer 6

Five comets in a 3' tank is too many. Goldfish produce a lot of waste. You need to do a water change of 20% weekly. You should test pH, Ammonia, Nitrites and Nitrates weekly, shortly after your water changes, to see if you've done enough.
Pet store clerks tend to know nothing, or just enough to be dangerous. What else would you expect from someone making about minimum wage?

You need to read. It is not as simple as "just add water". There's many good book out there.

http://www.hagen.com/pdf/aquatic/bag.pdf
http://www2.tetra.de/tet_internet_import/import_data/The%20fascination%20of%20aquariums_GB_2006_T062048.pdf
Here two good free books.

Answer 7

test and add pH neautrals ,etc whenever changing water or adding more.don't do full water changes all the time because this can stress them.only do 3/4 changes unless you majorly need to clean all of the tank and do the changes every fortnight.you don't really need a heater because they are cold-water fish.feed the fish enough for about five mins.for more tips go to
http://www.petlibrary.com/goldfish/fishcare.htm

Answer 8

Gold fish dont take a lot of care, thankfully. id say once every 2 weeks and that also depends on how many u have in one tank. the more fish the more often u should change the water,

Answer 9

Check everything once every week, SIX MONTHS IS WAYYYYYYYYY TOO LONG. They would probably be miserable and die in their own filth, so I dont suggest it. Make sure you check up on them every day.
[x]melanieinuyasha