Goldfish owners -- new aquarium owner requests help !!

[Pangur Ban]

I bought some fish 2 weeks ago, for my cat to watch while I'm at work -- cat televison, FishSports Live on Aquarium channel !!

I didn't know keeping fish involved much expense [img]graemlins/cat3.gif[/img]

... Fish food, ( flaked and pelleted ) water conditioner, chlorine remover, fish poo neutraliser, algae controller, dropper bottles ..

The fish seem OK, but some of the plants in the aquarium began to go slimy, and the water started turning green. I've changed all the water, got rid of the offending plants, and cleaned everything, but would like to know what I did wrong so it doesn't happen again ...

Thanks muchly,
Pang [img]graemlins/cat3.gif[/img]

Originally posted by Pangur Ban: The fish seem OK, but some of the plants in the aquarium began to go slimy, and the water started turning green. I've changed all the water, got rid of the offending plants, and cleaned everything, but would like to know what I did wrong so it doesn't happen again ... Thanks muchly, Pang [img]graemlins/cat3.gif[/img]

I think you already answered your question. Its the real plants that caused algae. Get plastic plants and there should be less slimies. Just keep the water clean and you'll do fine.

[ 08-09-2003, 01:28 AM: Message edited by: GForce ]

[Pangur Ban]

The aquarium shop owner told me that because it was a small tank without an air filter, I would need real plants to keep the water oxygen content OK, and that they also acted as a supplementary food source for the fish.

Originally posted by Pangur Ban: The aquarium shop owner told me that because it was a small tank without an air filter, I would need real plants to keep the water oxygen content OK, and that they also acted as a supplementary food source for the fish.

Well, then maybe a larger tank with the air filters will be better ... without the slimy plants. And just feed the fishies fishfood instead of the plants. They won't survive with all that algae in there. Erm, just IMHO.

[Grendal]

How big is the tank? And yes worst comes to worse you do need air to move and oxygenate the water. Still water WILL promote algea growth!Is the tank sitting in direct sunlight? (a no no) Algae blooms are not uncommon in sunlight. Goldfish as well are dirty fish (but hardy) so you can put them thru damn near anything and they will survive. And its also not a good idea to just dump two fish into a small tank and expect no problems. When you do this the fish waste will cause a serious ammonia buildup and will peak about two weeks after initial setup. It takes about three weeks to a month for the beneficial bacteria to start doing their job of digesting the ammonia which in turn will produce nitrates and then get broken down once again into nitrites. DO NOT tear down the entire tank for cleaning as you will kill the bacteria colonies forming and will have to start the entire process over again. Change only about 25 to 30% of the water at one time. If your tank is growing algea then (if the tank is large enough) get yourself a plecostomus. Its a relatively cheap fish and thats what it eats. Initial setup of a tank is never real cheap but after you get things up and running the cost is really quite minimal for upkeep. If you are just using a bowl you would be better of getting a Beta Splendens,(siamese fighting fish) This fish belongs to the Labirynth Fish family and does not require airation of the tank. It will go to the surface of the water suck up an air bubble and breath from that till it needs a new one. Slightly long post but I hope this helps.

[johnny]

It will come back again and again, you'll have to get used to cleaning the tank on a regular basis.

Did you know that there are fish that eat the algae ? I don't know the name of the species, but they hardly swim on the surface. All they do is swim on the bottom of the tank, and up and down the glass, to eat it. I used to call them vacuumcleaners, cause it looks like they're doing that all day long. Maybe it would help a little if you add a few of those in your fishtank.

[Pangur Ban]

Thanks for the info, everyone.

I was trying to keep the setup very simple and avoid the use of anything requiring constant power, such as an air filter, as I have a phobia about going out from home and leaving electrical items in operation ( silly, I suppose, but that's the way I am ... )

I knew I needed to change 1/3 of the water each week, no great task as the the aquarium, only holds 9 litres. I didn't know I shouldn't change all the water and clean everything ... ooops!

The fish I purchased, 1 small goldfish, and 2 even smaller fish - don't know what type, but they look like tiny sardines with stripes - were sized to suit the tank, and there isn't room for any more.

If I can't can't control this algae, I will get rid of the real plants, and do the water changing every 4-5 days.

If I do need to replace "Sushi", "Sashimi" or "Mornay", I will get a surface breathing fishie.


Pang [img]graemlins/cat3.gif[/img]

[ 08-09-2003, 07:23 PM: Message edited by: Pangur Ban ]

[johnny]

You probably mean "Neon tetra's"

[Ladyzekke]

Pangur Ban - Its too bad you can't get an air pump, they really are beneficial. As for goldfish, the usually do best with a neutral PH, although they are hardy and quite possibly can live in very acid PH (which is required if you actually have neons, which Johnny showed a picture of in his post). Now if you get "Glolights" they are the same as neons, but don't require such an acid PH and can be good for a "community" tank. They are mostly grey/clear with a bright red strip down them.

The reason goldfish won't do that well in an acid PH (very low PH, like in the 5's or 6's), is that they give off ammonia, and if you don't do water changes often they will slowly lower the PH just by their presence more and more.

Also, remember, when doing water changes, only replace 1/3rd of the tank water, as fish can't take straight-up fresh water 100%, you gotta keep the "old water" even if dirty, because it contains the beneficial bacteria in it.

As for algae, it really is harmless to fish. It actually adds oxygen to the water, like plants do, and is edible by many fish besides those catfish (known by many as "sucker fish" because they mostly suck up stuff on the walls and ground). If your tank is getting sunlight then you will get more algae, but you can buy these glass cleaners that are pretty cool, they are two magnets, one has a felt bottom that you use on the outside, and the other has a scrubber bottom that goes inside the tank, and you basically just put them together, and when you move the one on the outside of the tank, it moves the scrubber one on the inside, and you can clean the glass very easily on a regular basis to keep algae off of the glass. If you see any algae that looks brown or some other color, that kind may not be healthy for the fish, but green algae is actually fine, harmless to fish, just if it sits on the glass for too long (like a year), it can be a total bitch to get off.

Sometimes the best thing to do is to get fish that can live with the PH that you have that comes out of your spigots (test it). If your PH is mostly neutral (in the 7 range), then if all goes bad I'd suggest getting a Chinese Fighting Fish, as they actually do better without an air pump. Only thing with that is you can only have the one, if you get another they will either fight, then mate, or just fight to the death (two males).

Also, re the live plants, they are good but yeah they can rot if water conditions aren't conductive, and some of course just rot because their life is over, just like any plant out of water, don't live forever. I used to use live plants all the time. My fish enjoyed them too, but I started to get SNAILS. They lay their eggs on live plants and you can't see said eggs when you buy the plants, not incase you know what to look for, they are very transparent, and once you get snails your tank is screwed and you have to use CopperSafe to kill them, then you have to clean the tank extra amounts of times to suck up all the dead snail corpses.

OK enough of my novel LOL. I could go on and on about fish and aquariums LOL, I have had 10 tanks at once before, and have had many different species (only freshwater ones though, not saltwater (wanna talk expensive!)

[img]smile.gif[/img]

[Bahamut]

how big is 9 litres in gal?
anyway the best i'd recommend that is simple is to but an air pump and have an undergravel filter... or buy an internal filter. always have a filter. why? that is because aquariums that are closest to the real thing requires a LOT of devotion and care, reason why the water turned green i think. BTW, with a filter, you needn't worry about anything else since you just buy activated carbon, which practically eradicates everything in the aquarium like ammonia, nitrate (or nitrite?) in the tank. drawback is it also sucks in medication so if your fishes are sick remove it

and yes, putting it in direct sunlight is a big nono. a little morning sun wouldn't hurt, but everything else that involves sun is bad. it overheats the tank and the hotter the tank is, the lesser the oxygen PLUS it encourages algae growth.

LadyZ, all fishes excerete ammonia... not just goldfishes LOL that's their pee! hehehe

DON'T change ALL the water at once. it will stress the fishes BIG TIME. have them acclimatize to it, remove 1/3 or 1/4 of the old water and put in the new one...

about algae removal, buy an algae remover, or have a janitor fish... the suckers that dwell in the bottom... that would be heaven for them. i swear you won't have any algae problems at all with this little critter (some grow really big). the best thing about them (some) is they are so durable. your three fishes die it's still there... LOL they aren't that attractive though... but it will remove that algae woes away. one thing i didn't like with my janitor fish was that it's crap composes of a long trail that irritates me... LOL

anyone here who has a ryukin? dang i am having a hard time here searching for that perfect species...