Chemicals in fish water?

Question

My sister just brought goldfish home from college and left them here. They are white with orange and black spots. I am actually not sure that they are goldfish, but I think they are. Anyway, we just changed the tank and put tap water in. There are 2 fish and snail. Do I need to put anything into the water, there is a bubble maker thing and little rocks, a castle, and fake plants. Do I need to put chemicals into the water? If I do, what kind? My sister says she usually doesn't put anything in the water. It is almost 9 and I don't think that a pet store is open, so if I need to put something into the water, it will have to wait. Will they live til then?

*P.S. I always do thumbs up or down and I ALWAYS pick a best answer.**********

Answer 1

The only thing you might need to put in the water is a chlorine nutralizer ( i use a product caller "Prime" in my saltwater tank) if you dont have any just let the water sit out for 24 hours the chlorine will dissipate on its own other than that just try to keep the temperatures the same.Goldfish are pretty tough little buggers and any chemicals in tap water are in weak enough concentrations not to be a problem

Answer 2

If you're on a public water supply, you do should to add a water conditioner. Drinking water (what comes from your tap) is treated to remove harmful organisms. It used to be water companies only used chlorine, which would dissipate in 24 hours, so letting the water sit for a day was enough to make it safe for your fish.

More companies are using chloramine now, because it stays in the water longer. This won't go away on its own, but must be removed chemically. Any you need to use the right conditioner - if you use something made only for chlorine, or that "breaks the chloramine bond", the chloramine will break into chlorine and ammonia, both of which are harmful to fish. Some products remove both, but the dose is different.

If you've changed more than 10% of the water the fish is in, you should add a water conditioner so the chemicals are removed. If there's a WalMart or K-Mart around you (many of these are open for 24 hrs), these should carry water conditioners in their aquarium supplies. If there's any doubt about which chemical your water company uses to treat their water, get one that treats both, and use the dose for chloramine for tonight. You can call your water company tomorrow to find out for certain which chemical they use, and use the dose for that in future water changes.

See the link below:

Answer 3

Woah! Okay slow down.

First, if they are genuine gold fish they're going to need a very LARGE tank (30 gallons and up). Goldfish have huge bio-load (They poo A LOT) and are very messy eaters.

Second, whether or not you need to put water treatment chemical depends on where you live and what type of water you have. You can get a report of your water from your local government or the local fish store. However, just to be safe I would use a chemical to treat the water. Water you get out of your tap could have harmful additives which can kill your fish.

At the pet store you'll see a section of different bottles to make your tap water safe--just pick one that looks good to you.

Third, have you cycled your tank and do you have a filter? Most fish need a tank with a filter (goldfish need a strong filter--NO exceptions). The "cycling" process is when the tank is in the process of creating good bacteria in the filter.

There are two ways to cycle a tank, one way is to do it "fishless". This way you "feed" the tank with fish food every day and let it sit. You should get testing strips to monitor your water. You should test for ammonia and nitrogen spikes in your water. After two to six WEEKS your water should stabilize to read 0 across the board. This is when it is safe to add your fish.

The second way of cycling your tank is having "suicide fish." Go to the pet store and buy hardy fish which you wont mind losing as most will not survive the ammonia spike which occurs during the cycling process. I cycled my tank with ghost shrimp and fed them algae pellets.

Yes, you must get a filter and cycle the tank if you want your goldfish to survive. After your tank is cycled do 10-50% water changes every week. Also, replace your filter pad every month or so (make sure you get a BIO-WHEEL filter).

Until you get a filter and a cycled tank, I would do 50% water changes every day in order to keep your fish alive.

To answer what you should put in your tank...Yes, an air stone or bubbler would be very helpful for you fish. Even though your fish do not breathe air, they do need oxygen in their water. Adding an air stone would be beneficial.

Since I don't know what type of goldfish you have, I'm not sure about how heavy the planting should be. However, you must put at least a bit of planting in your tank in order to let your fish feel safe. In the wild your fish would seek shelter and hide from predators--in order for them to not have stress you should give them adequate planting.

Keep in mind that you MUST clean all of the things you put in your tank and that they can collect bacteria if they don't. Purchasing easy to clean decorations is key.

If you have any more questions you can e-mail me and I'll be glad to answer them. I've sourced some links on cycling. It's very important to the heath of your fish.

Answer 4

Well, more decors means more fun. Put chemicals in the water such as water conditioners, tap water could kill the fish. Do not put so many decors as the fish will bump into it. And one more thing, it is a Shinbunkin, a type of goldfish.

CC

Answer 5

You need to add this water conditionor(not sure what its called).This will get rid of all the chemicals in the tap water.

Answer 6

u.. they make a thing called water stabilizer... and sometimes depedning on where you live there's chemical's in the tap water, so it's best to do that..

Answer 7

YOU NEED WATER CONDISTIONER TO NEUTRALIZE THE CLORINE OR ELSE YOU ARE GOING TO KILL THE FISH!!! HURRY UP BEFORE THEY DIE!!!