Hello all! I'm new to this site but not to fishkeeping. I have a 10 gallon tank that I have just received and was doing research on what fish to keep when I found you're site and wanted to put in my two cents. I had a betta that I named Harvey and before I got him I did a lot of research, found out that bettas actually need room to move so I put him in a 1 1/2 gallon tank by himself which according to my research at the time was the minimum tank size for a betta. I remember browsing in petsmart and overhearing the clerk tell the lady "You can put a betta in a really small tank, they don't need a lot of room." I waited for the clerk to leave then told the woman "Actually that tank is too small, mine is a gallon and a half. They need more room than people think." She thanked me and bought a gallon tank. I was quite pleased with myself that I saved a betta from an early death. I had my betta Harvey for 2 almost 3 years before he died. I think he lived so long because I did weekly water changes. Back then I didn't know about cycling tanks, and all of the stuff I'm learning now. Thanks for such a great site!!
Read This Post Before Getting Fish
- Thread starter gsk177
- Start date
Hello. I am a newbie aquarium fish tank owner who did get an aquarium and the fish on the same day. It was a Mother's Day gift. But I've wanted the aquarium for almost ten years. I can say that it ws quite alarming getting home and getting on the internet to research aquarium upkeeping and fish care, I have a 20 gallon tank and 5 gold fish, and I wanted to make sure that I did all that I could to make sure that the fish were well kept and in good care. I learned a lot of things that will no doubt save my fishes lives. And let me tell you, I wish I had alot of before hand knowledge, like letting the tank sit 24 to 48 hours before adding fish and making sure that the water chemical levels were safe. I went out and brought all the testing supplies and other things I needed after doing my research and am glad that they have sites like this to where people like me can come and get some good information.
I am still new to this and am scared to death that now that I have this tank it might not flourish like I've always dreamed it will. Already I am questioning whether or not the tank has too many fish. I have gotten some conflicting information on the net, and at several aquarium stores I inquired in, about the sizes the fish could get, the water temperature that is most comfortable for them and about their general care. So as a pet lover in general, it is quite frustrating because I don't want my fishies to die.
Maybe anyone reading my post can help me out a little with some valid information. Like I wrote earlier, I have a 20 gallon tank with five fish. They are Tango Mango a Gold Fantail, Shaft a Black Moor, Dots a Sarassa, and Taz and Spaz two Calico Ryunkins. Right now they all "look" (and I put that in quotes because they can't tell me,) comfortable but is my tank too small, I did my water check after getting information off the net and my amonia level was harmful, I went and brought this water conditioner the name of it is Prime it is supposed to remove Chlorine, Chloramine, Amonia and detoxifies Nitrite & Nitrate. I did a 70% water change, treated the water before I added it to the tank and yes I let the water get room temperature before I added it and everything is fine but the amonia level only dropped a little. It is between stress and harmful. I added the proper amount of water conditioner, what else can I do? And finally and probably most inportantly, my water temperature is way off. I've heard that they can be in water anywhere from 50 to 70 degrees. My tank is constantly staying at 76 degrees. How can I keep my tank cool? They appear to be doing well, but from what I've found out the water is supposed to be too warm for them. Any suggestions for this newbie?
Help for this newbie
Hello. I am a newbie aquarium fish tank owner who did get an aquarium and the fish on the same day. It was a Mother's Day gift. But I've wanted the aquarium for almost ten years. I can say that it ws quite alarming getting home and getting on the internet to research aquarium upkeeping and fish care, I have a 20 gallon tank and 5 gold fish, and I wanted to make sure that I did all that I could to make sure that the fish were well kept and in good care. I learned a lot of things that will no doubt save my fishes lives. And let me tell you, I wish I had alot of before hand knowledge, like letting the tank sit 24 to 48 hours before adding fish and making sure that the water chemical levels were safe. I went out and brought all the testing supplies and other things I needed after doing my research and am glad that they have sites like this to where people like me can come and get some good information.
I am still new to this and am scared to death that now that I have this tank it might not flourish like I've always dreamed it will. Already I am questioning whether or not the tank has too many fish. I have gotten some conflicting information on the net, and at several aquarium stores I inquired in, about the sizes the fish could get, the water temperature that is most comfortable for them and about their general care. So as a pet lover in general, it is quite frustrating because I don't want my fishies to die.
Maybe anyone reading my post can help me out a little with some valid information. Like I wrote earlier, I have a 20 gallon tank with five fish. They are Tango Mango a Gold Fantail, Shaft a Black Moor, Dots a Sarassa, and Taz and Spaz two Calico Ryunkins. Right now they all "look" (and I put that in quotes because they can't tell me,) comfortable but is my tank too small, I did my water check after getting information off the net and my amonia level was harmful, I went and brought this water conditioner the name of it is Prime it is supposed to remove Chlorine, Chloramine, Amonia and detoxifies Nitrite & Nitrate. I did a 70% water change, treated the water before I added it to the tank and yes I let the water get room temperature before I added it and everything is fine but the amonia level only dropped a little. It is between stress and harmful. I added the proper amount of water conditioner, what else can I do? And finally and probably most inportantly, my water temperature is way off. I've heard that they can be in water anywhere from 50 to 70 degrees. My tank is constantly staying at 76 degrees. How can I keep my tank cool? They appear to be doing well, but from what I've found out the water is supposed to be too warm for them. Any suggestions for this newbie?
Hello. I am a newbie aquarium fish tank owner who did get an aquarium and the fish on the same day. It was a Mother's Day gift. But I've wanted the aquarium for almost ten years. I can say that it ws quite alarming getting home and getting on the internet to research aquarium upkeeping and fish care, I have a 20 gallon tank and 5 gold fish, and I wanted to make sure that I did all that I could to make sure that the fish were well kept and in good care. I learned a lot of things that will no doubt save my fishes lives. And let me tell you, I wish I had alot of before hand knowledge, like letting the tank sit 24 to 48 hours before adding fish and making sure that the water chemical levels were safe. I went out and brought all the testing supplies and other things I needed after doing my research and am glad that they have sites like this to where people like me can come and get some good information.
I am still new to this and am scared to death that now that I have this tank it might not flourish like I've always dreamed it will. Already I am questioning whether or not the tank has too many fish. I have gotten some conflicting information on the net, and at several aquarium stores I inquired in, about the sizes the fish could get, the water temperature that is most comfortable for them and about their general care. So as a pet lover in general, it is quite frustrating because I don't want my fishies to die.
Maybe anyone reading my post can help me out a little with some valid information. Like I wrote earlier, I have a 20 gallon tank with five fish. They are Tango Mango a Gold Fantail, Shaft a Black Moor, Dots a Sarassa, and Taz and Spaz two Calico Ryunkins. Right now they all "look" (and I put that in quotes because they can't tell me,) comfortable but is my tank too small, I did my water check after getting information off the net and my amonia level was harmful, I went and brought this water conditioner the name of it is Prime it is supposed to remove Chlorine, Chloramine, Amonia and detoxifies Nitrite & Nitrate. I did a 70% water change, treated the water before I added it to the tank and yes I let the water get room temperature before I added it and everything is fine but the amonia level only dropped a little. It is between stress and harmful. I added the proper amount of water conditioner, what else can I do? And finally and probably most inportantly, my water temperature is way off. I've heard that they can be in water anywhere from 50 to 70 degrees. My tank is constantly staying at 76 degrees. How can I keep my tank cool? They appear to be doing well, but from what I've found out the water is supposed to be too warm for them. Any suggestions for this newbie?
Alright, tsifuentes. Wow! You really got whisked knee-deep into this fine little hobby, didn't you? 
:
Here's my take: your tank is too small to house 5 goldfish. They get HUGE very quickly. Some might even argue that your tank is too small for just ONE goldfish! My recommendation would be, if you can bear it, to take the goldfish back to the store and start up a really nice tropical community.
Tropical communities stay at around 76-78 degrees, typically. What you'll want to do is buy a heater, though, to ensure that the tank's temperature stays constant, which might be even more important than the actual temperature itself. Without a heater, the water temperature will fluctuate with the temperature of the room where the tank sits. Constantly changing temperature can be very harmful to a tank's inhabitants.
Now, on to the ammonia. Ammonia is indeed quite harmful. You can reduce the level of ammonia by doing a large water change, meaning changing out 50-70% of the water in the tank with new water. BUT! But, when you do this water change, be sure to have your bottle of Prime handy (congratulations, you bought what most aquarists hold to be the best water conditioner!
). Prime really only takes the chlorine and chloramine out of the water. The only thing that can remove Ammonia, Nitrites and Nitrates from your water is to perform water changes. Water changes, as you'll find out, are an integral part of keeping your tank healthy along with gravel vacuuming and eradicating disease before it has a chance to establish itself in your tank.
As for what to do right now, goldfish prefer temperatures around 70 degrees. They are coldwater fish and do not do well in a tropical environment. I hate to have to tell you, but your tank is not big enough to comfortably house goldfish. If you keep them, they will be stunted and die live a short, painful, miserable life. I might recommend liveaquaria.com as a place to browse the types of tropical fish that are more suited to your tank setup. There are many gorgeous small species out there that you could successfully keep and enjoy in your 20 gallon tank!
I hope that I've helped you with your situation. If you still have questions, please feel free to private message me, or post your own thread in the newbie forum instead of staying in this particular thread. People around here love to help (usually) and would be more than willing to help you.
Good luck!
: Here's my take: your tank is too small to house 5 goldfish. They get HUGE very quickly. Some might even argue that your tank is too small for just ONE goldfish! My recommendation would be, if you can bear it, to take the goldfish back to the store and start up a really nice tropical community.
Tropical communities stay at around 76-78 degrees, typically. What you'll want to do is buy a heater, though, to ensure that the tank's temperature stays constant, which might be even more important than the actual temperature itself. Without a heater, the water temperature will fluctuate with the temperature of the room where the tank sits. Constantly changing temperature can be very harmful to a tank's inhabitants.
Now, on to the ammonia. Ammonia is indeed quite harmful. You can reduce the level of ammonia by doing a large water change, meaning changing out 50-70% of the water in the tank with new water. BUT! But, when you do this water change, be sure to have your bottle of Prime handy (congratulations, you bought what most aquarists hold to be the best water conditioner!
). Prime really only takes the chlorine and chloramine out of the water. The only thing that can remove Ammonia, Nitrites and Nitrates from your water is to perform water changes. Water changes, as you'll find out, are an integral part of keeping your tank healthy along with gravel vacuuming and eradicating disease before it has a chance to establish itself in your tank.As for what to do right now, goldfish prefer temperatures around 70 degrees. They are coldwater fish and do not do well in a tropical environment. I hate to have to tell you, but your tank is not big enough to comfortably house goldfish. If you keep them, they will be stunted and die live a short, painful, miserable life. I might recommend liveaquaria.com as a place to browse the types of tropical fish that are more suited to your tank setup. There are many gorgeous small species out there that you could successfully keep and enjoy in your 20 gallon tank!
I hope that I've helped you with your situation. If you still have questions, please feel free to private message me, or post your own thread in the newbie forum instead of staying in this particular thread.
People around here love to help (usually) and would be more than willing to help you.Good luck!
Hi tsifuentes,
I aggree with rsanz. Goldfishes would need *at least* 66 Gal, and that wouldn't be a large aquarium for them. Those fishes can grow to be over 16 in long.
The reason why you got ammonia is that there isn't enough bacteria in your tank to break down ammonia and nitrite, plus you have too many fishes in a newly set up tank. It takes a little over a month before the bacteria in your filter will be enough: http://www.bestfish.com/newtank3.html and until then you should have very few fishes.
You can read more about cycling an aquarium here: http://www.algone.com/fishless_cycling.php
What you can do now is to make water changes until ammonia levels have dropped and then start overdosing bio starter. Even better than adding bio starter is to get some dirt from a cycled filter and poor it into your own filter. You can also add a little salt (1 teaspoon per 13 Gal of water) to the water in your tank. This will bring some relief to the fishes from the toxic effects. But if you do this be sure to add salt to the new water every time you make a water change. The levels of salt should never drop abruptly. So the way to do it is to add less and less salt to the new water each time you make a water change, until you at last stop adding salt altogether.
But I would also strongly advise you to take the goldfishes back to the shop or rehome them to some one who has a tank large enough for them as well as the proper environment for coldwater fishes.
Good luck to you and the fishes!
I aggree with rsanz. Goldfishes would need *at least* 66 Gal, and that wouldn't be a large aquarium for them. Those fishes can grow to be over 16 in long.
The reason why you got ammonia is that there isn't enough bacteria in your tank to break down ammonia and nitrite, plus you have too many fishes in a newly set up tank. It takes a little over a month before the bacteria in your filter will be enough: http://www.bestfish.com/newtank3.html and until then you should have very few fishes.
You can read more about cycling an aquarium here: http://www.algone.com/fishless_cycling.php
What you can do now is to make water changes until ammonia levels have dropped and then start overdosing bio starter. Even better than adding bio starter is to get some dirt from a cycled filter and poor it into your own filter. You can also add a little salt (1 teaspoon per 13 Gal of water) to the water in your tank. This will bring some relief to the fishes from the toxic effects. But if you do this be sure to add salt to the new water every time you make a water change. The levels of salt should never drop abruptly. So the way to do it is to add less and less salt to the new water each time you make a water change, until you at last stop adding salt altogether.
But I would also strongly advise you to take the goldfishes back to the shop or rehome them to some one who has a tank large enough for them as well as the proper environment for coldwater fishes.
Good luck to you and the fishes!
I thank you both for your quick replies and now have much considering to do. I'm not sure if I can take them back, they were brought at walmart, but I am considering rehousing them. My cousin has a large enough tank. I didn't know that having an aquarium could be so complicated and heart breaking. I love my little fishies already! Well anyways thanks for the info.
tsifuentes,
Yes, it can be heartbreaking, but I also find it to be one of the most rewarding hobbies I've ever participated in. Keeping a healthy tank is a LOT of work; more work than most people think it is. But boy oh boy, when you have a nice tank, it is something to be jealous of!
Yes, it can be heartbreaking, but I also find it to be one of the most rewarding hobbies I've ever participated in. Keeping a healthy tank is a LOT of work; more work than most people think it is. But boy oh boy, when you have a nice tank, it is something to be jealous of!
Here's my flipped question. What if you buy an amount of fish that you know will one day outgrow your tank?
I ask because that's exactly what I did.
I figure it will give me an excuse to go fro a 36G to a 72G tank. (I can't justify getting the 72 right now, even though I want to)
I ask because that's exactly what I did.
I figure it will give me an excuse to go fro a 36G to a 72G tank. (I can't justify getting the 72 right now, even though I want to)
So much knowledge, I don't even know how to process it all. Well, I did do some research and found out which fish were beginner fish (I have a molly, platies, and guppies), what I needed to do to my tank and how often, how much to feed them, etc. Stupidly, I asked the guy at Petsmart how many fish would be okay for my 5 gallon corner aquarium. He said 10-12 small fish (I've now read on this site how ridiculous that is!!). I bought six, and an algae eater. The guy said I would definitely need one for my tank, and that algae eaters "don't count" because they don't move around a lot. Mine moves around plenty, and he's already getting bigger, so I'm going to have to find a larger tank for him. Then, even though I tried to plan on having NO fry by buying the right genders, I'm now on my second batch (I'd never heard of fish cross-breeding!), of which I rescued five. Again, going to have to find a larger tank. So now I have the five gallon, the two gallon I bought for the fry, and am now looking for a larger one. Pretty soon my house is going to be one big aquarium!!!! I think dogs are EASIER to keep than fish. My five year old indoor Siberian Husky isn't nearly this difficult and can give me kisses when I'm on the floor in frustration over a new fish issue!
One thing I have noticed after perusing this site for about 3 hours is that although most users will say people don't get big enough aquariums, nobody says how many fish are too many for a given size aquarium. Would it be possible to post some kind of ballpark list? For example - "10 gallon aquariums can really only sustain 10 small (guppy?) fish without overcrowding" or something like that.... I saw a grid once that looked something like this
10 gallon 10 tropical fish
20 gallon 20 tropical fish
however I wasn't sure that was really true. Any ideas?
10 gallon 10 tropical fish
20 gallon 20 tropical fish
however I wasn't sure that was really true. Any ideas?
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