How many fish for a 50 gallon?

[rich311k]

Five fantails in a fifty gallon will make a nice tank full of fish as they grow larger. You should get a heater to maintain a stable temperature. Just remember goldies can be messy so you want to stay up on your water tests and be prepared to do some larger water changes.

 

[Daryth Darkmoon]

Five fantails in a fifty gallon will make a nice tank full of fish as they grow larger. You should get a heater to maintain a stable temperature. Just remember goldies can be messy so you want to stay up on your water tests and be prepared to do some larger water changes.

A heater won't help right now because without one the temp stays right about 78*F, but I will definately need one for the winter months.

As far as water changes, I've been changing it at a rate of 15 gallons every Sunday. Since I don't do much on Sundays I've designated that as tank maitenance day.

I really do need to get a testing kit though, I'm kind of ashamed to say it but I havn't been testing the water. Is there a kit that will test for everything? So far the only thing I've seen available locally only tests for PH.

 

[rich311k]

Here you go. This is what I use.

 

[Daryth Darkmoon]

Wow, thats much better than what I've been seeing. They want 10 bucks just for the PH kit.

Thanks a bunch rich...it's much appreciated.

Now to just get that pesky water temp down.

Oh, is there anything anyone could suggest I mix with the fantails? Like some kind of pleco or ghost shrimp type cleaning buddy?

 

[QTOFFER]

Aquarium Pharmaceuticals make fine, easy-to-use test kits. In addition to the pH, you should have ammonia and nitrate kits. Buy them online - they're ALOT cheaper. I've been very pleased with the selection, prices, and services at Bigalsonline.com .

You might as well get a heater from them too. I like the Marineland Visitherm series. In the winter, you'll want a heater to prevent the tank temp from fluctuating.

 

[Andyvette]

I think our childrens' teachers should be paid more than a football player.

Need a band-aid for that bleeding heart of yours, Ms. America?

 

[Daryth Darkmoon]

I probably should change my profile, it was in a one gallon once upon a time, and now its in a 5 gallon. My goldfish was in a 10 gallon once too. Which was ok but now she's in a 30 gallon. And I don't watch football. I think our childrens' teachers should be paid more than a football player. I feel that one person already approached with the calm informative method and that was blown off so I used a more blunt, truthful approach. When it comes to living animals I believe in telling it like it is so that they get the best of care faster.

I wasn't blowing him off, I was just stating the uneducated observations of someone who should have researched further instead of letting his inthusiasm get the best of him.

And your advice is appreciated, albiet bluntly given. You wouldn't by any chance know of a way for me to get the temperature to come down and stay down would you? That would be the biggest help I could recieve at this point.

 

[tbonem91]

one of the most common ways is to put a fan blowing across the water or simply across the ighting fixture - extra heat can be dissapated this way although if your air is hot, then this might not work. I would get a clip-on fan of some sort and blow it across the lights of the tank and see if it drops a little bit - if not, you could try having the top open and suspending the lights, with a fan blowing over the water - although you will need to top off a lot more due to evaporation.

the last method is getting a chiller typically used in SW tanks - you can get a general price looking at bigalsor drsfostersmith


edit: another idea I've seen - run a power head out of your tank with clear flexible tubing - coil it up in a 5g bucket and then run it back to the tank. fill the bucket up with cold water and ice - I'm not sure how feasable this would be, but if kept closed and in a dark place, you might just need to add some ice every day or two.

 

[joannde]

Hi Daryth,

At one time I was thinking of putting 3 fancy goldfish into my 30 gallon since I've done tropicals before. But I live in Florida and the room the tank is in is (believe it or not) not part of the home heating/cooling system (it used to be a porch until the prior owners closed it in to make an office). Soooooooooo .... high temps were a MAJOR concern if I was going to go the goldy route. I did alot of research and found a few suggestions for keeping tank temps down during summer months:

float bags filled with ice and some water on the top of the tank but be careful not to lower the temps too much since the fluctuation in temp is stressful on the fish (therefore I didn't find this "solution" very practical)

have a fan blowing over the top of the tank - this will lead to increased evaporation so you may need to watch the water levels. I read somewhere that this could actually reduce the tank temps by as much as 5 degrees (but I would guess that situation would be off a very high original temp)

you should also check the surroundings - does the tank get sunlight ? does your light give off heat ? is there a cooler section of the space / wall that would be more suitable ?

speaking of temperature fluctuations - I also read that it might make some sense to set the temperature of the heater a little higher than average so that the day / night fluctuation in temperatures is reduced (ie: you don't want the tank at 85 during the day and to suddenly go down to 78 overnight).

I have NO idea if any of this is valid, and I'm hoping some other folks with more experience will pipe in, but I noticed that your questions on how to reduce tank temps weren't addressed yet so I thought I'd chime in

You might want to post your question in the DIY forum to see if anyone has any lower cost do it yourself alternatives to a chiller

ps - I feel your pain - I'm a newbie also ! so much to learn - but it IS all very interesting

 

[Daryth Darkmoon]

I'm going to check the DYI but I may just need to get a chiller.
The tank is in a spot where it doesn't really get much sunshine, but then again being at the back of the building, we don't get much sunshine either.

Our apartment is just unaturally hot.

If chillers are going to be out of my current budget I may have to consider taking the goldies back and just going with tropicals.

At this point I need to drop the temp by 8 - 10 degrees, so a chiller is probably my only option if I want to keep the fish.

 

[joannde]

Um Ok - may sure you're sitting when you check the chiller prices !

 

[Daryth Darkmoon]

Um Ok - may sure you're sitting when you check the chiller prices !

8O 8O 8O 8O 8O 8O 8O 8O 8O 8O 8O 8O 8O

Ouch.


I need to say it again....


Ouch.

 

[DepotFish]

Do you keep a tank light on at all? I do have temp probs myself and I don't own a chiller. I suggest first to stop using the tank light altogether and see how that goes. The light in the room should be plenty for the fish unless you don't use the room at all and its got no windows.

 

[Daryth Darkmoon]

Do you keep a tank light on at all? I do have temp probs myself and I don't own a chiller. I suggest first to stop using the tank light altogether and see how that goes. The light in the room should be plenty for the fish unless you don't use the room at all and its got no windows.

I probably run the light more than I should. They get turned on at 9pm when I leave for work, and off again at 8am the next morning when I get home.

The tank is in the living room, and we tend to keep it well lit.

I'll definately leave the light off for awhile and see how that goes. Then maybe just turn the light on for about 4 hours or so a day.

 

[QTOFFER]

Please keep the discussion on topic and cease the personal attacks, or some of you will be hitting the showers early from this thread.

Daryth Darkmoon, do you run an AC in the livingroom during the summer? That should help keep the temp from getting to high.
Running the lights for more than six hours a day isn't necessary in a goldie tank, and will just raise the water temp. If you have incandescent lamps, replace them with screw-in compact fluorescents - they run a bit cooler. I also agree with the fan idea - the small clip-on models work nicely.

 

[Daryth Darkmoon]

For now I'm going to try running a fan over the lights and keeping the hoods open. If that isn't working well I'll look into suspended lighting options and see about running a fan over the water itself.

I'd love to run the AC more, but the roommate (who is looking to move out anyway) constantly comes behind me turning it off, while complaining about being cold.

Usually when she does that I'm still half naked and drenched in sweat.

But I digress, I'll be buying a clip on fan as soon as I can get to the store, and I'll see how things go.

Edit: I just found out they all have ick. Most likely due to my ignorance about temperature ranges. I'd turn up the heat, but the guy I won a heater from on ebay 2 weeks ago still hasn't mailed it yet. I treated the tank, so I'll be doing a PWC tomorrow. As soon as I've noticed the spots are gone I'll do another treatment and monitor the progress. With any luck my next treatment will kill off the spawn in the free swimming faze.

 

[DeFeKt]

edit: another idea I've seen - run a power head out of your tank with clear flexible tubing - coil it up in a 5g bucket and then run it back to the tank. fill the bucket up with cold water and ice - I'm not sure how feasable this would be, but if kept closed and in a dark place, you might just need to add some ice every day or two.

i'm really impressed with this idea, it would take a bit of playing around to get the right balance of ice cold/warmth but it would be worth experimenting with.

Essentially if your apartment is hot already a fan blowing over the top of the water will only be blowing the same temp air as what the water is situated in anyway, so i can't see it making a large difference.

and Daryth Darkmoon, don't take any offence to peoples harsh opinions.
They to had to start somewhere and shouldn't be so quick to judge someone who is prepared ask, learn and respect others experience. Much like they would have been in the beginning. Thats all i have to say about that.

Unfortunatly i would have to agree that...

If chillers are going to be out of my current budget I may have to consider taking the goldies back and just going with tropicals.

may be a better option. however i can understand how attached people can get to their fish.

Matt.

 

[mango]

Oh, is there anything anyone could suggest I mix with the fantails? Like some kind of pleco or ghost shrimp type cleaning buddy?

From what I understand, goldfish are best in a species only tank. They're kind of a special needs fish and will try to eat anything that will fit in their mouths, often to their detriment. Dissection of a dead calico I got for my boyfriend a month or so ago revealed that it had swallowed a rock. I'm also told, by people who have had pet goldfish for a long time, that they eat snails and such in the wild so the shrimp thing probably isn't such a good idea. They'll probably just be a high protien snack. They're also extremely sensitive to water conditions.

 

[tecwzrd]

i'm really impressed with this idea, it would take a bit of playing around to get the right balance of ice cold/warmth but it would be worth experimenting with.

Using a small refrigerator and making a DIY chiller would eliminate the temp fluctuations and run about $175.

 

[Daryth Darkmoon]

i'm really impressed with this idea, it would take a bit of playing around to get the right balance of ice cold/warmth but it would be worth experimenting with.

Using a small refrigerator and making a DIY chiller would eliminate the temp fluctuations and run about $175.

Seems like a very creative solution, I'll read up on it closer. Still not quite in my budget, but definately easier to work in than a comercial chiller. And I can keep my beer closer to the couch.