What does a "ripe" goldfish look like?

[elcap12]

So I've never had a pet. But I currently have a three-day old 10 gallon tank-- yes a full three days!-- set up from the Petsmart Glass Aquarium Starter Kit. It included a mechanical filter and a lighted hood, and I've laid down about a 1/2 inch of gravel and planted four live plants. I know now that it must've been wrong to do this after reading through the forums, that I should've started with one fish to cycle my tank then moved on, but I currently have three goldfish in there at 72 degrees F: one small moor, one medium-small brilliant orange character with an equally brilliant silver underbelly, and one medium black/orange spotted fellow.

They seem to be doing alright-- but how would I know? Yesterday, though it was only their second day of existence with me, the tank seemed pretty darn cloudy, so I replaced 20% of the water... I think I had overfed them. They're alright now though... keeping a close eye.

I have a number of questions and am hungry for information: what other things do I need for my tank? Do I need a "biowheel"? Should I lay down more gravel? How often should I keep my light on? What does that cloudy tank mean? There seem to be so many differing opinions on tank cleaning frequency online. Also, Petsmart had a pickle in each of their tanks. Why is this?

But most importantly-- my brilliantly colored goldfish came from the store with a HUGELY swollen belly! Is it a she? (I can't get a good view of her anus, she flutters around so much). And is she ripe? Does anybody have any pictures of what a ripe golfish looks like? Mine has her silver abdomen swelling more than twice the rest of her body towards the tail. I was worried she had dropsy, but she seems active and neither her scales or her fins stick out.

Any help with any issues would be so appreciated! Than you.

 

[Jawz]

Do I need a "biowheel"? Should I lay down more gravel? How often should I keep my light on? What does that cloudy tank mean? There seem to be so many differing opinions on tank cleaning frequency online. Also, Petsmart had a pickle in each of their tanks. Why is this?

NO you do not need a biowheel, it is jsut a feature on a line of filters made by Marineland. I would recommend putting a little more gravel in. sorta slope it upward from the front to back, helps give a nice appearance. The cloudy tank is just alot of tiny particles floating around, u might have not cleaned all the particles int he gravel or cloudy from overfeeding, no big issue. Water changes should be done once a week, 10-15%, clean the glass so it looks better, vacuum the gravel to clean debris if u wish. The pickle is really zuchini or cucumber and its mostly for bottom feeders i believe or some fish eat veges as it can be good for them. Hope this helps u

 

[elcap12]

jawz, thank you so much! i've been reading so much about nitrates and nitrites and ammonia and three week cycling, i'm so scared... even if the fish look... well, happy?

Thank you for your valuable information.

One more thing-- i uh, put a pickle-- meaning, a real pickled cucumber in my tank three days ago. The fish like to push it around and suck on it... did i uh, do something really bad as i'm assuming the zuchini or cucumber weren't treated in brine? should i take it out or let sleeping pickles lie?

 

[Electrobes]

Hi elsap,

I would suggest that you feed your fish actual processed fish food because feeding veggies can be a pain, they rot easily, and you should only leave them in the tank for about an hour or two before they start to rot, then contaminate your tank. A bio-wheel is not necessary, especially for what you have in your tank currently, but it can help... I adore them. Okay I am sure someone has mentioned this but Goldfish are the nastiest poopers ever! Basically they have a lot of nitrates in their excrement, which contaminates the water very badly. The other thing about goldfish is that they eat and eat and eat, and poop and poop and poop, they don't exactly over eat to the point of death, at least easily. Although I do have a thing against goldfish (they killed a fish of mine that was not a goldfish) I definately do not discourage so much from having one.

About the debris being in your tank, causing cloudiness -> This happens when A) there is a lot of debris just floating around, so much that the filter needs to be pressured cleaned out and resubmitted or media actually changed, or B) the gravel was disturbed and the debris hiding there must have been thrown up(meaning you need to vacuum the gravel). Also it could be algae bumming around, but thats fixable.

 

[elcap12]

Thank you electrobes