My First Fish! A few questions...

C

CometLover88

Freshwater Newbie
Aug 27, 2006
6
0
0
37
North Carolina
Hello! I'm a freshman in college this year, and I just purchased my first fish a few days ago. He's a Sarasa Comet, and his name is Grievous.

I have a few questions regarding Grievous, though.

Right now he's about 2" or 3" big and he lives in a 5 gallon aquarium. Now, I understand that these fish can get up to or over a foot long? I plan on buying him a bigger aquarium as soon as he starts to grow...

I have gravel at the bottom of the tank, and I have a 3 plastic plants in there. I'm feeding him TetraFin Goldfish Flakes...is this food okay? He seems to really like it, but I don't want to feed him the wrong thing. Should I add some other things to his diet or are the flakes alone okay?

Also, I understand that Sarasa Comets are pretty hardly fish, but I worry about Grievous getting too hot. I don't have air conditioning in my dorm, and sometimes it gets a little hot in here. It hasn't seemed to bother him so far, but should I do something to keep his water cooler? I keep a fan on and leave the window open. I live in the mountains, so the hot weather won't be a problem for much longer. Also, when the weather turns cold, will he be able to handle it?

Last question: Do you think he would be happier with some other fish in the tank?

For those of you having concerns about me being able to provide him with a big enough aquarium in the dorm room, I won't be living in the dorm next year, so I'll be able to put Grievous in the biggest aquarium he needs.

Thanks for your help!
 
well the flakes should be fine and i do think you should put a heater on in the winter although they are pretty tollerant of cold weather. I have a 150 gallon pond and everywinter i ahve to cycle 2 2o gallon tanks for the 5 gold fish i have in there and i live in minnesota so beleive me it gets cold so i always have a heater on in the winter for them.
and no i dont think he would like more fish in there it would get to crowded as it is now. and goldfish do grow fast so as soon as you get the money/ time cycle a 20 gallon for him so hes got plenty of space for a while!!
 
Is he really going to grow that fast? Dang. Will a 10g be enough or will I need something even bigger than that?

Here's a lesson...never buy fish at WalMart. See, the lady at WalMart told me he wouldn't get any bigger than this. It wasn't until I got on the internet later that I found out he'd get up to 14 inches.

Oh, well. If he needs a bigger tank, then I shall get him a bigger tank.
 
you'll want to get as big a tank as you can possibly get as this little guy needs a lot of space to grow. 5 gallons just isn't going to do it for more than a few days. They're more fitting for a pond even..... Try to instead get him some sinking foods as the flakes can sometimes pose a problem for goldfish, comets as well as round bodied goldies. The problem for comets come as they gulp too much air while taking in the flakes. What you can do now is be sure to soak the flakes prior to freeding him.
Goldfish are also very messy fish and need a strict maintenance routine for them to grow healthy. What I did was I had double the filtration recommended for the tank and my water changes were done every 4-5 days as opposed to every 7.
 
Personally I would get a two more goldfish and get him a 55 gallon. The fish would love you for that. I think 55 is about bare minimum for a 14" fish. Anyways IME goldfish tend to do better in groups. Also don't bother with a heater. Your goldfish will be just fine. I have goldfish in an outdoor pond in michigan. And I haven't really seen any 14" goldfish. I know that some get that big but I think it is more common to see about 8-10".

Chad
 
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