Goldfish
- Thread starter LCPACE
- Start date
30 gallons, 60 gallons worth of filtration, 50% weekly water changes, sinking foods only to prevent swim bladder disease, a little salt, an air stone.
No salt in freshwater tanks, please. They prefer hard water, not salted water. Adding salt will only shorten its lifespan.
15 gallons per fish is the absolute bare minimum and that's with a strict regime of 50% water changes every week. You'd be better off with 20-30g per fish, double filtered.
Roan
15 gallons per fish is the absolute bare minimum and that's with a strict regime of 50% water changes every week. You'd be better off with 20-30g per fish, double filtered.
Roan
That's correct. It's way too small and goldfish stunt easily. They need to be in the proper sized tank from day one. Fantails grow from 8-10" in size and they grow pretty fast.momar said:
Adding salt does not make brackish water. Adding salt makes salted water, period. Brackish water is made with marine salt, which contains a heck of a lot more minerals than NaCl does.
Goldfish need hard water. Salt actually increases the TDS (thickness) of the water and makes it more difficult for the fish to osmoregulate (change their bodies to meet varying changes in their physical environment) their bodies. Did you ever do that science experiment in school with the salt, water and the egg? You add salt to a cup of water, fully dissolve it, then the egg will float because the density of the water has changed? You wanna float the fish?
Salt does not make the water hard at all.
Lemme put it this another way -- a water softener. The kind you stick in your house to soften your hard water, those ones, right? They work by replacing all the Mg (Magnesium) and Ca (Calcium) in your water with salt. So intead of Mg and Ca you have water full of NaCl. Bet you wouldn't drink that, eh?
Anyhow, look at what you did there. You made "soft" water by replacing Mg and Ca with salt. Eh? If Mg and Ca make water hard and Goldfish need hard water, why don't I just add more of that?
BINGO! THAT'S what you need to add to the water. Not salt. Take a good look at Rift Lake Salt mixes that they make for cichlid tanks. No salt. Lots of other stuff, mostly Mg and Ca, but no salt.
Salt is great on fries and stuff, but not in tanks unless it's for a short medicinal period (parasite treatment et al) :joke:
Roan
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I see. No salt with goldfish, then. Presumably its even worse with fancy goldfish because they have distorted swimbladders.
You really need a tank at least 36inches long for fancy goldfish (preferably longer). Generally work on the assumption that a fish needs a tank at least 6 times its length long and twice its length wide to have adequate swimming space. (This of course varies with the species - active fish like danios need more, but with inactive species like farlowellas you can probably get away with slightly less.) Fancy goldfish need less space than regular goldfish bbecause they aren't as good at swimming. However this does NOT mean they can be kept in a 20gallon tank. Fancy goldfish also prefer a tank which is quite high (15inches+)
You really need a tank at least 36inches long for fancy goldfish (preferably longer). Generally work on the assumption that a fish needs a tank at least 6 times its length long and twice its length wide to have adequate swimming space. (This of course varies with the species - active fish like danios need more, but with inactive species like farlowellas you can probably get away with slightly less.) Fancy goldfish need less space than regular goldfish bbecause they aren't as good at swimming. However this does NOT mean they can be kept in a 20gallon tank. Fancy goldfish also prefer a tank which is quite high (15inches+)
bigger tank simply equates to better growth and health overall (which can be ruined if you dont keep up with the maintenance). my 3 goldfish are in a 55. they are doing very well on the diet they have, as well as the water change schedule of 50% weekly. what would be the best supplements than to increase the hardness for them? epsom salt adds magnesium right? what would be the best way to add calcium?
I do not know if or how salt would detrimentally affect the swim bladder of a deformed fish like a fancy or Very fancy. No idea, unfortunately. Something I need to research, obviously. It's a good question.momar said:
However, I can state that IME with my oranda hardening the water did seem to help with swim bladder problems. S/he had been having problems off and on with bouyancy. The water in my area is on the soft side with little or no KH and I have very few plants in his tank. I added some crushed coral and a little of Tom Barr's GH Booster to raise the GH to 15 or so and his swim bladder problems have pretty much disappeared. Related? Possibly. Need to research that as well
Roan