jessicamartin
Achatina achatina
Jessica and Drew's Wonder Zoo.
Posts: 58
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Post by jessicamartin on Mar 6, 2012 15:11:24 GMT
Hey guys, me and Drew have recently decided that we're going to start up his dad's 4ft long aquarium in his front room, the tank was set up for tropical fish, but we've decided that we are going to keep fancy goldfish first.
Do any of you keep fancy goldfish? and takes it seriously, I don't mean just a little one swimming around in an unfiltered bowl.
Do any of you have any tips for me? Or crucial things that you think I should know?
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fran
Achatina achatina
Posts: 50
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Post by fran on Mar 6, 2012 20:57:16 GMT
I don't actually keep goldfish, but i do keep tropical fish and in theory their care is the same (apart from the water temperature). You will need to cycle the tank before adding fish to it. this could take a while, but it is necessary for the welfare of the fish. the size of the tank would affect the ammount of fish you can house in it. fancy goldfish can grow huge, and a common mistake made by people starting out with fishkeeping is that they see the tiny goldfish in the pet shop and decide to buy lots to fill the tank. before they know it, they have all grown bigger and the tank is overcrowded. goldfish produce lots of waste, so regular partial water changes are nessecary as well as over filtration. ;D once you have a cycled stocked tank it is worth the effort though. Good luck with it....
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jessicamartin
Achatina achatina
Jessica and Drew's Wonder Zoo.
Posts: 58
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Post by jessicamartin on Mar 21, 2012 21:02:59 GMT
How long would you recommend that I cycle the tank for before I add fish? I have done a lot of research, but nobody has actually specified! I read that it can take up to 7 weeks for the nitrate levels to be safe and for all the bacteria to become beneficial, but then places have said that you can add fish after three days! Not sure what to do and in quite a bit of confusion!
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fran
Achatina achatina
Posts: 50
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Post by fran on Mar 21, 2012 22:31:27 GMT
when i cycled my tank i bought a liquid test kit called API freshwater master test kit. it is not the cheapest out there but the readings are accurate. it tests your water for NitrItes, NitrAtes, Ammonia, PH.. this way, you can test yourself to see when the levels are settled. what source of ammonia are you using to cycle with? it is impossible to cycle a fish tank in 3 days. mine took 6 weeks. i was so impatient and just wanted to fill it with fish, but i am so glad i waited because they are all still alive 4 years on.. ;D
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jessicamartin
Achatina achatina
Jessica and Drew's Wonder Zoo.
Posts: 58
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Post by jessicamartin on Apr 19, 2012 0:11:19 GMT
Ahhh, I completely forgot that I had made this thread, so sorry that it had been so long before there was another reply. I have all of the testing kits and everything, and my tank has been set up for roughly a month now.
Turns out that most places aren't allowed to sell ammonia anymore. Instead, I have improvised and put a lot of fish food and plants into the tank, until the ammonia reached about 7ppm naturally. Now, almost two weeks later, the tank is starting to cycle. The ammonia is dropping and the NitrIte is raising.
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Post by sarahs0snailies on Sept 11, 2012 22:00:36 GMT
How did you get on with your tank?
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bci66
Archachatina marginata
Posts: 25
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Post by bci66 on Dec 11, 2012 5:00:08 GMT
One thing i would do after a few weeks is only add one fish at a time and build up slowly to your maximum capacity im guessing you would only keep 3-4 max in a 4ft tank depending on volume one of the most important things apart from cycleing is water changes and dechlorinating the fresh water as you can kill off the good bacteria off useing fresh water straight from the tap
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bci66
Archachatina marginata
Posts: 25
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Post by bci66 on Dec 11, 2012 5:01:25 GMT
OOPS i think the answer is a bit late didnt notice the date in the op lol
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