Any other fishkeepers out there?

sodamnfunky

Emmabeth wrote: »

Im not making out you are cruel, sorry - unfortunately amongst dedicated aquarists its pretty well known that sadly the VAST majority of live fish shops give out utterly rubbish advice as to what fish go with which, how many in what size tank, how long a cycle takes, etc.

Not your fault at all.

I would do bigger water changes - 20% daily, and dont wait until those fish are too big for your tank, chances are they will be damaged before that happens. As soon as you can, move them out to a pond or a bigger tank and find something more appropriate for your tank.

There are loooooads of options for a small tank - mostly tropical. You could very admirably house 1 siamese fighter in there, or a small community of blue eyed rainbowfish, small danios, and some algae eating shrimps, or go brackish and have a puffer tank, there are some lovely dwarf puffers for brackish water (and 1 for fresh I think).

Have a google for 'planted nano tank' and see what can be done with the space you have.

Just remember if you keep puffers, that you wont be able to sustain them purely on flake food. They will need live food, snails, shrimps (so keep shrimps is a NO NO)

chazzybee86

Sounds like your doing well, invest in a pump for your tank, they are not very expensive and will let off loads of oxygen and you can make them pretty/fun by buying an ornament for the tank, real plants are great as well, they look good as they move naturally and the fish eat them!!! FANTASTIC!!

Also your local pet shop/aquarium should stock bloodworm and small creatures like shrimp, they are normally frozen, keep them in your own freezer and just put one in your tank when needed, you dont need to defrost them so no messy business!!!

Good luck and enjoy!!!

sodamnfunky

chazzybee86 wrote: »

Sounds like your doing well, invest in a pump for your tank, they are not very expensive and will let off loads of oxygen and you can make them pretty/fun by buying an ornament for the tank, real plants are great as well, they look good as they move naturally and the fish eat them!!! FANTASTIC!!

Also your local pet shop/aquarium should stock bloodworm and small creatures like shrimp, they are normally frozen, keep them in your own freezer and just put one in your tank when needed, you dont need to defrost them so no messy business!!!

Good luck and enjoy!!!

WHATEVER you do, do not put frozen food in the tank still frozen. You need to defrost it first, then rinse it and feed.

Also not all fish eat the plants, if a planted tank is wanted then you should really research the fish you want first.

Paparika

Well the pond was ready at the weekend, so i bought the OH some new fish for his pond, i hope is was MS 4 for a tenner rather than 3 bigger ones for a £15.

OH is now a proud owner of 4 ghost koi and the 2 remaining fish have taken to looking after them

Notsosharp

Hi,

Just a few quick questions....three weeks on and all the fish in my tank are still alive and well, the water levels are fine too, after two weeks of changing 10% of the water each day I finally got the nitrite levels down to zero. But thats the only one I have checked, the man in the fish shop said this would be the only one I really needed to check. Is he right or do I need to test other things like amonia levels etc.....also where do I get a bubble blower from (don't know the proper name sorry), are they expensive and how do they work? Or does the fact the nitrite levels are zero indicate everything else in the tank is fine.

I have been feeding them small amounts of cucumber as recommended on another site, is there anything else I can feed them. I read somewhere that goldfish are very prone to constipation.....I don't have any peas atm, would soya beans be ok?

And also I have a small ceramic fish ornament that I think would look stunning in the tank hiding amongst the plants....is it a good idea to put it in? Underneath the glaze is just plain clay.....?

Thanks for listening!

PS: And can I put anything else in there with the fish such as snails, I read that they help keep the tank clean, my Mum has snails in her pond with her fish...

Savvy_Sue

While you're waiting for someone who knows to come along and answer your questions, have you googled keeping goldfish? There appear to be some useful sites out there with information for newbies.

ailuro2

Ammonia is processed to make nitrIte, and nitrIte is processed to make nitrAte, these are all harmful to your fish, but in varying degrees.

Ammonia in small quantities will kill them, nitrIte will irritate them , make them ill and soon kill them, but it's not as bad as ammonia, nitrAte will slowly make your fish ill in higher quantities, but isn't as bad as the other two.

Did you start off with no nitrIte at all showing, then had readings before it went to zero?

The bubble blower you're asking about comes form an air pump attached to treasure chest, crocodile, submarine, airstone, or bubblewall, whatever takes your fancy. These are no essential, and can be quite noisy so it depends where your tank is situated- think about it for a bit before you shell out money on one.

As to the ornament- I don't put anything in my tank that wasn't meant for it. Some people put little terracotta plant pots in on their side and empty, with plenty holes in the bottom to let water flow through, some fish like to hide in them. Glazes can break down and contaminate the water, so maybe leave the ornament on top of the tank?

OFL

I have to agree with what's already been said, your tank is barely big enough for just one adult Oscar.

You refer to a "cleaner fish" by this I assume you are talking about a Pleco. The majority of the ones that you see in fish stores are the common type, these guys can reach 18 inches within two or three years. Some of these fish do indeed consume a lot of algae and keep the glass free from algae. However, you do pay a price for having one of these fish. Whereas it's not a phrase I have used much, I have seen these fish described as "poo machines" and if you've ever owned one of the larger species of plec, you will know that these fish do produce an enormous amount of waste.

Keeping a pleco is not going to benefit you in the slightest, all it will do is pollute your water and increase the amount of tank maintenance you need to carry out.

That are smaller species of Pleco on the market but you need to research these. A lot of them are quite expensive as well. The only Pleco I keep at the moment is called a bristlenose catfish. These guys reach a maximum size of 5 inches. You normally buy them when they are very very small so will take quite a long time before they are anywhere big enough to put in with an Oscar. These type of fish have got a good reputation to be very good tank cleaners, however, they are small so you would need more than one for a very large tank. They don't produce anywhere near the amount of waste that their big relatives do. But, at the end of the day, the best way of removing algae is with good old elbow grease. And also regular tank maintenance and keeping the lights on for sensible periods

When you get a minute, have a look at http://www.oscarfishlover.com

~Chameleon~

I think there's been some confusion here due to the thread merge as you're referring to a much older post, although I'm not sure which as you haven't quoted it. The current discussion is regarding the lady(?) with the new goldfish tank

OFL

~Chameleon~ wrote: »

The current discussion is regarding the lady(?) with the new goldfish tank

One very good reason why people should start their own thread, rather than hooking on to somebody else's thread. It saves a lot of confusion in the long run