Given a tank and fish for birthday - HELP!

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Andrman

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Jul 26, 2004
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Naperville, IL/Peoria, IL
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I apologize for not searching and reading up, but I was hoping a generous person would give me quick advice specific to my situation.

My little sister went to PetSmart and got me a fish and tank for my birthday. I think the fish is a telescope-eyed goldfish, it looks like a normal orange goldfish but is a little chubbier and has huge bulging eyes.

The tank is small, I am guessing one gallon. I went on petsmart's website and I think I found it. It says it has a under-gravel filter, air pump, and light. The link is below, it's a hexagon shaped tank.

http://www.petsmart.com/global/prod...>cnt_id=10134198673267337&bmUID=1090860838376

From what I've read on various websites, this is about the worst tank I could have. It's deep and too small. I also don't know about the quality of this filter, how it works, or anything. I'm hoping I can conjure up an instruction manual from my sister.

So anyway the situation as it stands is this: she filled the tank with tap water, put in the directed amount of water treatment, and put the fish in some time after that. I think she gave it about an hour or so to come to temperature. I feed it once a day, a very small pinch of flake food that she bought. The fish appears to eat it all.

I know this tank must be cycled and the water should be changed. Is that correct? I am going to buy a siphon and bucket and ph, nitrate, and ammonia testing kits. I don't know what the numbers should be, I'm guessing they're written on the kits? The unfortunate thing is that I am gone 15 hours a day 3 days of the week, and 10 hours the other 2 days. I am not the type of person that should be keeping fish, but I'm going to try to keep this poor thing alive and healthy. My first opportunity to go to the pet store will be in two days, unless it's such a dire emergency that I order online and have it sent overnight. Then I'll do whatever is required when I get home at night. But please if someone knows what I should be doing for immediate steps, please do post back. I'd be very grateful.

Thanks,

Andy
 
Thanks for stopping by. Sounds like you already know a little bit about what is going on.

The tank is far too small for any goldfish. A minimum of a 10 gallon when they are small and probably 20 gallons or more when they are bigger si better.

If there is anyway to exchange this fish I would. A better choice for your tank would be a betta. They are really the only fish suitable for such a small tank.

As for cycling. Well the tank is doing that right now. That menas the build up of ammonia and nitrite eating bacteria. Right now those bacteria will be at low levels. This means the ammonia and nitrite will be building up to leathal levels quickly. Water changes are a must at this point. A maximum of 1.0 ppm for ammonia and 0.25 ppm of nitrite are allowable. So do 50% water changes at least making sure to use water conditioner (dechlorinator) every day for now.

When the tank is fully cycled those readings will be zero. Some nitrate up to 30ppm or so is allowable for fish.
 
You just got the best advice, swap out the fish. While I like under gravel filters, I never saw one that could handle the bio load of a goldfish all by itself.
 
Do you mean .30ppm for nitrate?

I will look into exchanging the fish. This tank is obviously much too small.

So I should change 50% of the water every day. Do I need to have a fish in there? I think I do, because that's the only way the bacteria will grow, right?

So my next question is time: can this wait until 2 days from now, or even one day? I realized I can buy the supplies on my lunch and then change the water at night when I return home.
 
He should be fine for a couple of days, as long as you change the water every night.

:) welcome!

~Tara
 
Okay, assuming PetSmart will take the fish back, I will have it out of there as soon as possible. I guess I'll get a betta just so my sister's effort doesn't go completley to waste.

You'd think the people at PetSmart would have helped her with this and told her how the tank is too small!
 
Petsmart only wants to make a buck, they don't really care about what happens to the fish after they get out of the store...

The betta will do well in your little tank!!! Depending on the exact type of fish your sister got you, you may even get a good chunk of store credit ($20 or so)!!

~Tara
 
Well isn't this great... I spoke to my mother and she doesn't want me to exchange the fish. "Hank," as he is called, was what my sister wanted me to have and she would be sad if I got a different fish. It was such a nice gesture, but I'd hate for this poor fellow to choke to death on his own fesces just because we got the wrong tank. I am going to an independent pet shop between my job and summer class time, and I will buy the necessary water changing supplies then. Hopefully I can keep Hank alive for a few days while I persuade the parents that getting a different fish would be better than letting this one die..

I will also confirm with the pet shop that my tank is too small, and I may buy another tank instead of exchanging for a betta. Although I don't have the space for a 10-20 gallon tank in my dorm room. God bless my sister, she wanted to get me a cute present but didn't really think it through. And now she's gone for two weeks - I hope she can return home to find this fish alive, whether in this tank or another.
 
5 not 1

In 5 gallons with heavy (more than 50%) water changes 2 or 3 times a week, yes a goldfish could survive. But you have only 1 gallon. A goldfish ought to have 10 gallons per fish, with 30 square inches of surface area per inch of fish. so you can see where the little tank falls short.

A friend of mine keep two goldfish in a 2 gallon bowl for several years. They never grew, one died after 2 years. Not much of a life but one survived. I never said a thing, she is an adult and she didn't ask my opinion. But I was amazed the fish lived that long. One is still going as far as I know.

OTOH, that is a great tank for a betta! Once a week water change of 50%, so much easier to keep... you really ought to get one if this goldfish dies.

Go on and keep the fish, as you mom insists, it will be a learning experience for you. Dont buy medications if the fish gets sick, just change more water, daily if you have to. Learn to siphon out the tank, clean all the poop you can. Have salt on hand to treat parasites and dont use too much, add it to the makeup water so you can measure it easily. 1 teaspoon per gallon is enough unless you have trouble. Pickeling salt from the grocery store is the purest, not that expensive stuff from the pet store. Not iodized salt, not any salt with YSP anti-caking additives.

Actually no gravel is much better so you can siphon out the poop every day and the water will stay A LOT cleaner. Get some airline tubing at the pet store and tape a 6' piece of it to a chinese food chopstick or something similar to make a tiny vacuum cleaner for the bowl. Goldfish are pooping machines and you have to keep them from nosing through their own poop in the gravel.

Put the wand in the water and have a bucket ready on the floor, put the end of the tube in your mouth and give a small suck to start the water over the rim of the bowl, drop the tubing in the bucket and clean the bottom of the bowl without removing the fish. Don't suckup the fish fins! Stop when you've gotten half the water out or more. Have a 1 gallon jug of water under the table that has sat for a day or more to refill the bowl.

If you'll clean the bowl like that every day, and do a big water change of 50% every other day with aged water or water treated for chlorine, that fish has a chance.
 
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