New to Goldfish

[goldkeeper]

Hi,

I'm a new member to this forum as well as new to goldfish keeping. I've a 20 Gallon tank with Hang on Back (HOB) Filter and my regular pet store for aquatics is PETCO. I've started with some tropical fish about 8 months back and just started with goldfish few days ago after I've given all my tropical fish for adoption.

The lady at PETCO suggested that I can have a maximum of 2 gold fish for my 20 Gallon tank as the fish grow pretty big. I got 2 fantails. I've signed up for this forum as I believe I can gain knowledge from experienced tank keepers and goldfish keepers.

I've some basic questions to start with even after doing a whole lot of reading and research on goldfish keeping:

1) I've a HOB filter that continuously agitates the top layer of my water tank, do I still need an aquarium pump. I don't see my fish unhappy or looking for more oxygen now.
2) I've fish tank gravel that I've used for my tropical fish, they are a combination of these two:

Petco Dark Blue Aquarium Gravel at PETCO
Petco River Rock Shallow Creek Aquarium Gravel at PETCO

I've read that goldfish swallow anything small even the gravel\substrate. So, should I replace my gravel? (Still wondering how I would do that with my fish and water in it)

3) I stay in cold climate and it is going to be winter soon. But, I maintain my room temperature around 70F. Do, I still need to use an aquarium heater?

Thanks in advance!

 

[henningc]

Ok, first of all Petco was incorrect, imagine that, about tank size. Unlike most tropicals goldfish have a huge bioload and need a lot of room. Your fish are more appropriate for a 45-55gal. They may not look big now but one day if well maintained they will out grow a 20H or 20L-Takes longer for the 20L but they still out grow it. If you keep the tank well maintained you will buy yourself time before needing to upgrade.

Your filtration sounds good enough if it can cycle 40gal per hour or higher. Check the specs on it at PetSolutions.com or ThatFishPlace.com. If at some point you want to go with a canister make it big enough to handle 75-100gal of water so when you upgrade you don't have to buy another filter. Don't pitch the HOB filter as it is a great tool to use once or twice a month for a day or so along with a canister.

The gravel your using will work while they are small as they can't swollow it yet. Later go with some type of river pebble landscaping gravel. you can also add a sand patch, they love it and it doesn't have ill effects. I don't use gravel for the most part and you could do that as well. Make siphoning a snap.

You don't need heat and the fantails can take water that is 50 degrees if acclimated to it. Just don't raise or drop the temp rapidly or you risk swim bladder disorder or dropsy. There are no effective cures for these.

I don't know how up on gold fish food you are, but there are a lot of junk products out there. Again the two websites listed above can give you an idea what you're looking for. Make sure you get a flake food or pellet with spirulina as one of the primary ingredients. Blanched and de-seller peas cut in half work well. I would suggest going with at least one Ocean Nutrition food like Prime Reef or Cichlid Veggie. Dried or frozen aglea sheets work well, but they are a bit pricey.

Avoid that urge to add more fish. That is if you're not getting another tank any time soon. If you opt to go with a bigger set up, read up on the fish you're getting to make sure they are cold water and not territorial. Gold fish a friendly, but they are not the brightest bulb in the box. You can also post in the goldfish / pond section any questions. People out here have aton of information and can guide you along the way.

Best of luck.

 

[Krissycakes]

Welcome to Aquarium Advice! Good luck with your gold fish.

 

[Tank Girl]

Welcome to the forum! You'll definitely need a bigger tank for your goldfish. I wouldn't go less than 40 gal. Three things you don't want to skimp on with goldfish - tank size, water changes and filtration.

My two cents on substrate - I personally haven't had a fish choke on small gravel (thank God) but I've heard from a few who have and it's pretty distressing. Larger pebbles look beautiful and the fish can't swallow it but the downside is that an awful lot of food and waste gets trapped inside it. It's too heavy for the fish to sift through like they can with gravel and it all sinks deep down. Very unhealthy. Consequently, I found that I had to do a LOT more vacuuming to keep the tank clean. I recommend bare bottom or sand.

Good luck with your goldies! There's a lot to learn, but it's so much fun!

 

[jlk]

Welcome to AA!!!

Do you know what type of HOB filter you have running right now? While it may have been sufficient for a tropical tank, messy goldfish really need heavy filtration (minimum 10x the tank size). Rather than adding an airpump, I would add another hob type filter with a minimum rating of 200gph.

As others have mentioned, a 20g with two fancies will really only work very short term and you will need to follow a hefty water change schedule to keep parameters in check and toxin and hormone levels low. Expect to upgrade to a 40 or 55g in six months or less.

Although tiny gravel should be ok for now, you will want to consider switching to sand or bare bottom in the future as gravel poses a risk of being swallowed. Removing gravel from a goldfish is not fun for anybody and if it becomes impacted in the intestines, its almost always fatal.

70f is fine temperature-wise as long as its stable and not fluctuating. If you notice big swings in temperature between day and night, a heater will help. Please ask if you have any questions!