Goldfish.... why did I bother!?!

bexsmum

Hi all,

My daughter (11) was desperate for a pet. Started with the dog (no), cat (no), rabbit (no), guinea pig (NO), hamster (NO), fish... hmm. OK - 2 goldfish.
Bought a bowl (from asda on special £6.93), went to the shop for the fish, yes the bowl will be fine but you need a filter. Bought the filter, set everything up as per instructions from Pets (not at their) home. Waited the 48 hours and got 2 lovely little fancy goldfish.

Problem - cloudy water and fish that spend a lot of time at the bottom of the bowl what looks like asleep. :huh: Oh and the filter - seems to be too strong for the bowl size. If they get in front of the bubbles they shoot off and practically knock themselves out on the side of the bowl:eek:

What have I done wrong?! I cleaned everything, added the chlorine drops, waited to put the fish in. The water was crystal clear and now its not. I've tried reading about it on the internet and some sites say its the natural processes but I'm still worried my fish are going to pop their clogs and DD will be devestated because she loves them already.

Is the bowl too small? Is the filter to strong for size of the bowl? I'm stressing about the poor little fishies and keep popping downstairs to check them when I'm supposed to be working!!!

Thanks you all, Bexsmum

f1re_cr4cker

when you say you bought a bowl do you mean a proper fish bowl or just a glass bowl? sounds a bit to me like you need a proper fish bowl and that maybe yes the filter isnt right for that size.

happymummy

Can you not turn the filter strength down a bit? You could with the one I had.
I had fish for a while but I found them really difficult to keep alive! I gave up after 4 as it was proving to be expensive buying all the water treatments etc.
Try googling cloudy water and fish at the bottom, it'll come up with something useful no doubt and it might be something really simple to fix.

Good luck!

tizwoz46

My kids won a goldfish from a stall at a junior rugby tournament. Took it home, put in an old-fashioned goldfish bowl with some gravel and a bit of weed. I didn't think he would last very long. I used to clean his bowl when the water started looking a bit cloudy. We had him for 14 years!

she_grinch

My DH scrubbed my acrylic tank clean with a scouring pad whilst I was at work and I have had a cloudy tank ever since!! Poor fish seem none to bothered though. I have lionhead goldfish, the biggest is about the size of an egg (excluding tail) he spends most of the day just hanging there with his nose pointing to the bottom of the tank, he soon rights himself when food is on offer!!!!

f1re_cr4cker

i wonder if its too oxygenated (is thateven a word??) for them which is why they are at the bottom

bexsmum

oh thanks people!!

Ok - here goes. It is a proper goldfish starter kit. Its on ebay http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Gussie-Goldfish-starter-kit-just-add-fish_W0QQitemZ300241850865QQcmdZViewItem?hash=item300241850865&_trksid=p3286.m14.l1318
The filter has 2 settings - strong and stronger (hahaha). Its on the lesser of the two and it still sends them off on a little wet roller coaster ride!
And I'm off to google "oxygenation" (or similar) and "fish on the bottom of the bowl whats going on" !!

Jellicat

DId you rinse the gravel before you put it in the tank? Gravel can be a bit mank sometimes.

~Chameleon~

bexsmum wrote: »

oh thanks people!!

Ok - here goes. It is a proper goldfish starter kit. Its on ebay http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Gussie-Goldfish-starter-kit-just-add-fish_W0QQitemZ300241850865QQcmdZViewItem?hash=item300241850865&_trksid=p3286.m14.l1318
The filter has 2 settings - strong and stronger (hahaha). Its on the lesser of the two and it still sends them off on a little wet roller coaster ride!
And I'm off to google "oxygenation" (or similar) and "fish on the bottom of the bowl whats going on" !!

Sorry, but the only fish I'd ever put in one of those bowls is a PLASTIC fish

I'm afraid they are completely inappropriate and far too small for goldfish. A single goldfish needs somewhere in the region of 1 gallon of water per one inch of fish, so on average you would keep a maximum of two goldfish in a 10 gallon tank (24" x 12" x 12").

Also, the water in the tank needs to "cycle" which can often take a month or more to stabilise so 48 hrs is nowhere near long enough. Your fish are currently living in toxic nitrates due to the high volume of waste (ammonia) and lack of friendly bacteria to deal with it which is probably why they are sitting at the bottom of the bowl.

Oh and one last piece of advice, never, ever, ever take advice from a certain "home petshop" on how to care for fish

Have a google for keeping coldwater fish where you'll probably find dedicated forums or good factsheets for more info.

PS this might help for starters ... http://www.bva-awf.org.uk/pet/buying/goldfish.asp

jessicamb

fish flakes tend to make the water cloudier too I've read in the past. We fed ours a pellet food but they only sell that in pet shops I think. And they really dont need much food - just what they can eat in a few minutes so check you arent overfeeding them.