New fishtank... I have questions??

Question

Okay, I got my God-daughter a fish tank for Christmas, it has all the basic stuff I need, but someone told her mother that you needed to put water in it and wait 24 hours before adding fish. Is this true?? Also it's a 10 gal. tank... how many goldfish should I get?? And anymore suggestions would be appreciated!!! Thanks!!

Answer 1

The water needs to sit for MUCH longer than 24 hours. You should cycle the tank properly. There are two ways to do this; with or without fish. Here's a couple links explaining how to do it with fish:
http://fins.actwin.com/mirror/begin-cycling.html
http://www.firsttankguide.net/cycle.php
http://www.malawicichlidhomepage.com/aquainfo/cycling_your_tank1.html
Here's some links on how to it without fish:
http://www.tropicalfishcentre.co.uk/Fishlesscycle.htm
http://www.fishlesscycling.com/articles/how_to_do_a_fishless_cycle.html
http://www.aquahobby.com/articles/e_fishless.php

Do you really want to put Goldfish in a 10 gallon? Because you can only house 1 in there until it's about 6-7 inches. Fancy Goldfish grow up to a foot, and Common Goldfish grow up to 2 feet. Fancy Goldfish should be housed in a 20 gallon tank as an adult, and Comet Goldfish should be housed in a 55 gallon tank as an adult. I recommend you get a heater for the 10 gallon and stock the tank with a school of neon tetras, a school of cory cats, and maybe a German Blue Ram, depending on how many neons and cories you get. Of course, you don't HAVE to follow this stocking suggestion; you can get whatever you want as long as it doesn't grow too large and is compatible with other fish.

Aso, make sure you buy your God-Daughter a gravel siphon. They clean out the gravel as well as change the water (she should also do 25% water changes every other week). Here's a link on how to start a siphon:
http://www.fishlesscycling.com/articles/how_to_use_a_common_siphon.html

Good luck with her tank!

E-mail me for any questions!

ZTM

Answer 2

S H is 100% correct. 10 gallons is way too small for even a single goldfish. They can grow to way over 12" in length and you can look at your tank and see that it wouldn't even be able to turn around.

Do you have a filter and a heater? If you do, you have many more fish choices for a 10 gallon tank - neon tetras, danios, rasboras, a betta, cories, guppies, mollies...

Do not use distilled water. It does not contain the minerals needed for fish to thrive. RO water is fine, if the fish you choose has been adapted to RO which has a very acidic pH. What you use is plain old tap water. And then you add a chemical dechlorinator. This will remove chlorine, chloramine and other heavy metals. You can let your water sit out for a month and the chloramine will never dissipate.

I would recommend that you give your God-daughter the nice set up, but then give her a gift certificate for the fish. Tanks need to go through a nitrogen cycle - this grows beneficial bacteria that will turn the toxic ammonia and nitrites into the less harmful nitrates. You need a test kit to keep track of the cycle.

It may take 4-6 weeks or more to have a fully cycled tank. If you add fish before this period, they are subject to high levels of ammonia and stress and will most likely die.

There are ways to speed up the cycle, but no way to avoid it. It's part of the biological filter that keeps your tank and your fish healthy.

Good for you for asking for advice! You've got one lucky God-Daughter!!

Answer 3

NEVER use distilled water for a fish tank. All of the trace elements that make water healthy for fish have been removed by the distilling process. All natural water on the earth has small amounts of many minerals that fish need to stay healthy.

Once a tank is filled and the filter is running, you should add one or two small goldfish to get the nitrogen cycle started. They will provide some waste products that the beneficial bacteria need to survive. The bacteria in turn, keep the ammonia and nitrite levels from getting to a toxic level.

Your God-daughter will need to do weekly partial (30-40%) water changes to keep her goldfish healthy and happy and the water quality good so it doesn't smell bad.

Never clean out a tank totally and scrub it down once it is set up and cycled in. That will kill all the beneficial bacteria and cause the tank to start the nitrogen cycle all over again, complete with the killer ammonia spikes.

Goldfish are very dirty little guys and a 10g tank will only support 3-4 small ones. As they grow, you will need to get a larger tank for them.

Email me if you have any further questions.
8

Answer 4

I'm sorry, but she's going to have to wait a lot longer than 24 hours to add the fish. Here is a link to a good article about how to cycle a tank without harming any fish:

http://www.csupomona.edu/~jskoga/Aquariums/Ammonia.html

Goldfish aren't really appropriate for a 10 gallon tank. They need much larger tanks and are particularly demanding. It's best to stay away from them all together if this tank is for a child.

She would do better with half a dozen male guppies. They are a very good starter fish and are forgiving of most newbie mistakes. They also come in every color of the rainbow so she would be able to pick out whichever ones she likes. If the tank does not have a heater she could get half a dozen White Cloud Mountain Minnows. They are hardy fish and are suitable for room temperature water. They are also very cute. Both guppies and White clouds are inexpensive and available at most fish stores.

Answer 5

You need to get a water conditioner that removes the chlorine/chloramine that your water company adds to kill harmful organisms before youcan add fish. Call the company that provides water to her house to be sure which they add so you can add the proper conditioner: http://www.thetropicaltank.co.uk/chlor.htm

Really, a 10 gallon tank is only good for a temporary tank. Depending on the variety of goldfish you get, they can grow from 4 inches to over a foot as adults, and should be provided at least 20 gallons, with at least 10 additional gallons per each additional fish. The goldfish you see in stores are only a few months old, and have a great deal of growth ahead of them!

Rather than goldfish, consider getting your goddaughter some livebearers (guppies or platies are good first fish) and you can get all males if you and she don't want to have to find homes for fry. The males are typically the more colorful and showy of the genders. Danios and tetras are also good fish, but these are schooling fish and should be kept in groups of 5-6 of a single type. Bettas can be added as a single male, or group of 3 or more females, but not a male with females in the same tank. Corydoras catfish are another choice, and these should be kept in groups of 3+. You can find out more on these fish on this link: http://www.fishlore.com/

Before adding any fish (and while you're researching which kinds she'd like to have and how to care for them), I would suggest that you cycle your tank - this refers to establishing the bacteria necessary to convert the wastes of the fish to a less harmful compound. The ammonia the fish produce is toxic to them, and if you add too many fish at one time, this can cause ammonia poisoning, which may kill all the fish in the tank - not a good introduction to the hobby!

I'll post some additional links for you below:

http://www.fishlore.com/NitrogenCycle.htm
http://freshaquarium.about.com/cs/disease/p/ammoniapoison.htm
http://freshaquarium.about.com/cs/disease/p/nitritepoison.htm
http://www.firsttankguide.net/
http://www.firsttankguide.net/goldfish.php

Answer 6

Oh boy, in which to begin. The comets are goldfish, bloodless water, the plec is tropical, hot water, they're incompatible within the identical tank because of temperature standards. You would uncover a pleased medium at round 73F, this implies a shortened lifestyles for the comets, and the hazard of bacterial or digestive disorders for the plec. The comets gets gigantic, the plec, if a ordinary even higher. If it is likely one of the smaller species of plecs you would get through with a 30 gallon, naked minimal, a fifty five might be higher. If this is a ordinary, they have got the skills to arrive 24 inches, I've obvious lots of 18" commons. This way rehome the plec, get a higher tank for the comets, or eliminate all 3 and restock the tank with suitable fish. The approach it's stocked now, 25% two times weekly. The tank is cloudy on the grounds that you maintain exchanging the clear out media, getting rid of your whole nitrifying micro organism, forget about the ones recommendations utterly. They are there to promote you consumables, simply rinse the soiled media in a bucket of ancient tank water & placed it again within the clear out.

Answer 7

Dewalt,

Yes!! You need to wait at least 24 hrs if you use tap water which is chlorinated. Most city tap water has too much chlorine for fish. Also, make certain the temperature is right before introducing the fish to the tank.

I wouldn't use gold fish. I would go with a simple variety of tropical fish.
At the minimum you'll want two catfish and one algae eater to help keep the tank clean.
Start with a couple angel fish and a couple kissing gramis(sp), and a few guppies, and go from there. A good pet store or tropical fish store can advise you and your God-daughter.

Answer 8

With gold fish you should just buy 1 small goldfish for a small tank like that. It will grow quite a bit. If you put to many gold fish in your tank it will get dirty fast. I have well water and always dump the fish back in after I fill it. Just make sure the water is about 70-75 degrees or the fish will go in shock. Also place the tank out of sunlight if you can. Algea grows fast in the light. I have a 40 gal with three gold fish and Would not put any more in. I think im going to give them to petco this spring and but an Oscar. Gold fish are simple to take care of.

Answer 9

You can actually add...NO GOLDFISH to a ten gallon! When you use the inch per gallon rule, you use it as if you were taking into account a full sized fish! So even if you bought a one inch goldfish, you need to start with a tank that accommodates the 12 inch adult fish! Goldfish are full bodied, messy, VERY misunderstood fish. If you cram goldfish into the tank, you will just be giving your goddaughter a ticking timebomb. Do you really want her to have to deal with a tank full of dead fish because of ammonia poisoning?

For goldfish, it is recommended you start with 20 gallons for the first fancy goldfish, and then ten gallons for each thereafter. Soo, two goldfish need a 30 gallon tank. Its easy math.

Answer 10

Well if its well water or distilled water then you dont have to wait, also try a fish store they have tablets, or drops you can put in to make it ready faster.
also dont put more than maybe 1-2 goldfish in the tanks, because they can grow rather large.