What do I need to start a freshwater?

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RussC

Aquarium Advice Newbie
Joined
Feb 20, 2006
Messages
2
I was an avid reef tank owner until Hurricane Katrina wiped me out. Now my daughter wants gold fish and I have a 45 hex with all kinds of equipment. What do I need to start a freshwater tank and will any of my hardware I used for a marine tank work for a freshwater tank?
 
I'm a newb here, but I can try to help you out a little bit.

The most important things I found for FW setups:

1.) A good filter - hang on back is what I use, but they all have pros and cons. My Tetra whisper filter has been working fine, and is almost completely silent.

2.) Water test kits - Very important! They sell strips and liquid versions, which I'm sure your aware of. I use the liquid version from Aquarium Pharmaceuticles because I have heard that the test strips can be very inaccurate.

3.) Gravel Vac - Goldfish from what I hear are very messy fish, so a gravel vac is important. You could go with a cheap version like I did (I only have a 10gallon tank), of you could go with the very popular Python water change kit (which I would suggest since you have a 45gallon, would make cleaning/water changes a lot more easier for you)

Because you said goldfish, I belive a heater isn't required. Someone might be able to shed a little more light on this though.
 
I don't know anything about salt water but to keep goldfish you need a good filter (HOB or canister) and you will need a heater at some point to avoid massive temperature changes.

Also, if you didn't know already, the rule for goldfish is 1 goldie per 10gal so with good filtration you could prolly house 4-5 goldfish =o)
 
I have done SW and FW. Goldies are different than tropicals. No heater, as they do better at temps below 75 degrees. Heater only if your temps will swing really low, then the heater can help keep it stable. Good filtration for goldies, HOB or CAnister, or a sump setup will all work. and a python for gravel vacs and water changes needed too. You probably have the thermometer, glass scraper, lighting (1 wpg enough for fish display). Protein skimmers do not work on FW, or at least in any manner worth bothering with them. SW test kits kinda cross over (all but the nitrate are supposed to work), but since a FW kit is about $15 online, why bother.

So essentially, the principles are basically the same, so everything you used for SW should work. If you had a live rock sump for your SW, you would need to covert it to a bioball sump for fw. But witht he exception of live rock, protein skimmers, and other funky SW things, all hardware should work.
 
In addition to the above advice, goldies are extremely messy fish. I have several of them. Be prepared for more water changes than I would imagine would be required in SW. I am not a SW person so I don't know that for sure. I prefer HOB's for goldfish as the filter maintenance is easier than cannisters. The filters can get quite dirty. Good luck with the new tank!
 
Did you lose just your fish tank inhabitants or your entire house? I'm sorry about your fish and everything else you had to go thru these last 6mths.
Take care!
 
definatly sorry to hear about you getting wiped out, I can't begin to imagine how hard that must be, anyways, gold fish can pretty much survive anything, there very hardy, at least with y experiences they are, one to watch out for though, like everyone said they are very dirty fish and opurtunistic, they eat anytime they can no matter if they are full and they makea lot of waste for even the smallest amounts of food they eat, so be sure to do alot of gravel vaccums and water changes to watch out for ammonia spikes and nitrate spikes, good luck
 
whoops forgot to tell ya something funny that happened to me years ago, I went to my local pet shop ( iwas only about 14 ) and saw this beautiful goldfish and bought it for my 10 gallon tank, well it suddenly got bigger and bigger, so i bought a 29 gallon and it got bigger and bigger, up to 14 inches actually, I apperently bought a Koi fish and the people didn't even tell me lol so be careful lol
 
Yes, TomK2 had covered all the bases. If you have a sump setup, go with that. A lot of Goldies keepers think that give the best water quality.

One thing about a hex - it has less surface area than regular tank. Goldies, being cold water fish, require high O2 content, and that low surface area will limit your bioload - unless you use a sump/wet/dry setup to ensure adaquate oxygenation. Also, suggest getting fancy (double tails) golds rather than commons or koi. The single tails will grow too big for the hex and they need lots of swimming room (at least a 4 foot tank or better a pond.)
 
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