Buying the tank

The most important piece of equiptment is the tank. So it makes sense to get a tank which is designed around the fish and not just for our pleasure.

Goldfish Bowls

• Goldfish bowls are absolute death traps for goldfish as they will slowly suffocate your fish due to lack of surface area, and thus lack of oxygenated water.
• Bowls are difficult to clean and maintain.
• Your fish will probably outgrow the tank very quickly, goldfish need approx. 8-10 gallons of water per fish.
• Your growth of your fish will be stunted and will cause problems later with internal organs bunching up and functioning incorrectly.

Fish Tanks

Vertical

• Fish prefer to swim horizontally, vertical tanks may cause stress as fish can't swim their natural way.

Horizontal

• Allows fish to swim their natural way.
• Is the most hassle free, easiest to clean tank design.
• Easy to use filters with. (works well with undergravel filters)

Buying a horizontal tank would be your best bet at starting off on the right leg with fishkeeping.

Make sure you get a sturdy tank stand and make sure the floor your tank is going to be on will support the weight of the tank with water. A few gallons of water can be quite heavy.

Make sure your tank comes with a cover, goldfish can leap out of the tank accidentally. (Although people tell stories of goldfish lying in the dust behind a tank for half a day before being found, to make a full recovery)

Filters

Biological Filters

• A biological filter uses beneficial bacteria to break down waste fish produce.
• It takes time for bacteria to grow. You should wait about a week before introducing fish into a tank using a biological filter.
• Also breaks down toxic ammonia and nitrite, converting them into the less toxic nitrate.

The most common biological filter is the Undergravel Filter. It's basically a hard perforated plastic which spreads the bottom length of the tank. It is then covered with a layer of gravel 1cm thick. Tubes coming from an airpump aerate the gravel and provide surface distortion which oxygenates the water.

Good bacteria grows within this gravel and breaks down the waste.

Other biological filters are usually seen in the 3in1 type filters, which contain an aerated maze pattern plastic in which bacteria grow in. A 3in1 type is not really necesary for goldfish care.

Mechanical Filters

• Works like a sift, a pump sucks water through a strainer and large wastes remain behind.
• Filter cartridge must be replaced aproximately every month costing money.
• Doesn't help remove/convert chemicals in the tank such as ammonia and nitrite.

If on a tight budget stay away, there may be very cheap mechanical filter boxes out there, but filter cartridges will cost you more in the long run.

However, mechanical filters really give your water the crystal clear look. Modern mechanical filters seem to be phasing out the Undergravel filter nowadays.

Chemical Filters

• Usually is made of Activated Carbon which absorbs dissolved waste and removes toxic organic substances.

Not necessary for goldfish care as it only removes dissolved wastes. It can take time for waste to dissolve and this filtration also requires the change of medium every so often.

What do I need?

Your most likely to need either a mechanical or undergravel biological filter. If you can afford a 3in1 type system go for it. Look around at your local pet/aquaria store for a filter system that is right for your fish setup.

Water

Chlorine is added to our drinking water at the treatment station to kill bacteria and virii in the water. This is good for us, but chlorine is poison to fish.

However, since goldfish are very hardy they can withstand small amounts of chlorine. It is best to ask at your pet store whether the tap water in your area is safe.

If it's not safe there are several ways to de-chlorinate water.

• Let the water stand in a bucket overnight to let the chlorine evaporate.
• Use a 'water ager' which can be bought from a local pet store.
• Use filtered tap water, if you have a filter.

See the bought goldy section for information on how to change the water.

Needed/Recomended Items for Fish Keeping

Siphon

Used for making weekly or fortnightly water changes and vacuuming out the bottom gravel removing wastes. This is a definate to buy item.

Gravel

Needed to decorate the base of the tank, and to let beneficial bactera thrive in. Also hides any goldfish waste.

Try to get rather large pebbles as goldfish tend to pick up smaller pebbles with their mouths and risk getting one stuck.

Don't overdo the gravel, 1cm of height is enough.

Goldfish Food

I reccommend getting two pet store style fish foods. One in the pellet form and one in the flake form. Goldfish like having a varied diet. Be careful with feeding little fish only pellet foods as their mouth may not be big enough to eat a pellet!

Every so often you can feed your fish some lettuce or peas for variation.

As you become a more advanced fishkeeper you can think about buying live foods such as shrimp.

Bucket

You need a good sturdy plastic bucket to carry water around in. Label it clearly with a vivid on the outside "For Goldfish Use Only".

Never use this bucket for anything else, and especially do not use detergents or soap in it. Reason being that traces of soap or detergent can remain behind on plastic surfaces and poison your fish.

Air Pump

The air pump is used to pump air through a small tube which is connected to a filter or an aerating device. An airpump is used in a biological filter to aerate the surface where bacteria grows and to displace water. The displacement of water at the surface that the bubbles cause is what allows fish to breath underwater. A common misconception is that it is the air bubbles itself which allow fish to breath.

Underwater ornaments may also be powered by air pumps.

Get an airpump that is slightly more powerful than what is reccomended for your tank size. This takes strain off the pump and allows you to add more air powered devices via a splitter valve.

Net

Used for catching your fish when shifting them from tank to tank.

Get a net which is big enough to hold your largest fish, otherwise you may end up buying more than one net.

Water Treatment Solutions

The protective slime on fish can decrease when the fish is stressed, ie. when shifting tanks. A special slime liquid can be put into the tank to help replace the coating which prevents dieseses.

Water Ager can be used to declorinate water quickly. If you'd like to save on this, you can still declorinate water 'manualy', by letting water sit still in a bucket overnight. The chlorine will evaporate.

There are also many other misc. liquids out there for fish, but I reccommend not 'spoiling' your fish. In other words don't go overboard with the treatments.

Cycle

This is prepackaged heavily concentrated dormant beneficial bacteria in a small bottle. It is used when setting up new tank systems or when tyring to maintain a healthy bacteria population.

It's not so necessary to add this in every week, but I reccomend using it when setting the biological filter up for the first time.

Tank Decorations

Used to 'pretty up' the tank. Remember less is always more. Never overdo the decorations in your tank.

I reccommend getting one big rock that allows your fish to hide. Goldfish like to hide when they're stressed or scared so the rock will be able to shelter them.

Only ever get decorations from a pet store, rocks/shells from the beach may harbour lethal parasites that can kill your fish quickly. If you simply must have that rock you found at the beach remember to boil hot water around it to kill the microbes. Do not use soaps or detergents as they will stick to the surface and poison the fish.

Setting up the Tank

So you've bought all the equipment and are ready to set the tank up.

1. Place the tank in your sturdy tank stand or a strong permanent place (you don't want to be moving the tank around once it's filled up, it's very heavy).
   
2. Put the Undergravel filter in or whatever type of filter you've bought and set up all the tubes.
   
3. Place about a centimetre of gravel on top of the Undergravel filter (if applicable) and space it evenly out. Do not use more gravel than this. If you have a bio-wheel filter or similiar gravel is not needed but it is a nice decoration and hides goldfish waste, in this case use only a very thin sheet of gravel, ie. 1cm in height or less.
   
4. Pour in your de-chlorinated water possibly using a bucket. But make sure the bucket has not been used with soap or detergents before. These tend to stick to the walls of plastic and seep out.
   
5. Turn on your filter. If it's a biological Undergravel filter you should add some cycle. If you don't have cycle you can throw in some goldfish food or peas etc.. to start beneficial bacteria populations.
   
6. Wait at least one week when using a biological undergravel filter before adding fish.
   
7. Acclimatise your fish before adding them into the aquarium. See the buying Goldy section for a chapter on 'Acclimatising' your fish.

Note: When you buy your gravel from the pet store it may be dirty with rock dust, be sure to wash out the gravel first so you don't get a cloudy tank when you add the water. You can use tap water or a hose for this, as the amount of chlorine which will remain on the gravel should be minimal.

Now have a look in the Bought Goldy section to find out how to continue looking after your goldfish well.