[Wolves] Fish Tank

[Adam Sweet]

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On 15/08/12 09:49, Stephen Parkes wrote:
> 
> On 15 Aug 2012, at 09:39, Peter Cannon wrote:
> 
>> Hi All
>> 
>> Any got a fish tank lying around they don't want? My daughter has
>> just bought a couple of gold fish but the plastic thing she
>> purchased seems rather small.
>> 
>> Something in the realms of 2ft wide would be nice. :-)
> 
> I have no idea why shops sell goldfish and small tanks.  They need
> shit loads more filtration and water than people think they take
> turds bigger than many tropical fish ;)

Sparkes is bang on:

http://www.fishkeeping.co.uk/articles_74/goldfish-size-life-expectancy.htm

Also be aware of:

http://www.fishkeeping.co.uk/articles_51/fishless-cycling-article.htm

Prepare to yawn, I'm a bit of a fish nut:

Legislation is only just starting to get close to goldfish welfare
requirements and most stores give you poor advice and sell you a tiny
'starter tank' as a bare minimum legal obligation. The word starter in
this case doesn't mean basic, it means your fish will just about
survive until you can get a bigger tank. An adult goldfish should live
12-25 years, but due to living conditions most don't last more than 2
or 3 at the most. Due to most people's historical recollections of
childhood fishkeeping (ie small tanks or bowls, using tap water, no
filtration, washing the tank out completely), most fish spend their
lives suffocating in their own bodily waste, are prone to disease as a
result and become deformed due to lack of space. They do not grow to
the size of the tank, the outer skin stops growing but the organs
continue leading to a kind of sad, distended look. Eventually their
organs fail and they die:

http://www.fishkeeping.co.uk/modules/newbb/viewtopic.php?topic_id=29303&forum=1

Goldfish are very messy (tropical are much cleaner and require less
water, the only difference is that they require a heater (£10!) and it
is harder to choose fish that will be comfortable with each other but
the shop should advise you), they pollute their water and it poisons
them. Get the largest tank you can (you can get 45-60 litres for £20
on Ebay, any smaller is commonly referred to as 'My first death trap'
by fish keepers), you must have gravel, a filter and treat your tap
water with a dechlorinator that remove chlorine and chloramine.
Bacteria develops in the water which turns the fish waste (ammonia and
nitrite) into less harmful nitrate, the chlorine and chloramine in tap
water kills this bacteria. You remove the nitrate on a weekly basis by
changing 25% of the water.

http://www.fishkeeping.co.uk/ is a great resource for how to look
after fish with plenty of articles on the above. Edited highlights to
save you time:

http://www.fishkeeping.co.uk/articles_12/keeping-goldfish.htm
http://www.fishkeeping.co.uk/articles_81/tank-and-filter-beginners-guide.htm

Basically goldfish produce so much bodily waste they will die in their
own ammonia within a couple of hours in a small space. Do you know how
many litres your tank holds? You can measure the length, width and
depth in cm, there is a capacity calculator on fishkeeping.co.uk.

For reference, I have 14 fancy goldfish of different varieties (fancy
ones are the short, fat dumpy ones with twin tails) in a 450 litre
tank, which is bigger than my bath tub and I'm about 200 litres short
of their minimum requirements at full adult size, thankfully most of
them are still quite small. Common goldfish (the long thin ones with
single tails) aren't really suitable for tanks, they really need to go
in an established pond.

Without an established filter you may need to do lots of water changes
to keep the water quality up while the filter catches up, especially
in a small tank, so perhaps you can run a large container of water,
dechlorinate it, leave it to reach room temp and then begin changing
25% of the water frequently.

I don't have a spare tank atm, my nieces fish had babies, but I got a
60 litre tank from ebay for £20. I got 112 litres for £26. You need at
least 45-60 litres and a filter to keep them alive for the time being.
You'll need bigger later on.

If they look listless, are gasping for air at the top of the tank,
their top (dorsal) fin is permanently clamped down, or they develop
tiny white spots or white cotton wool like growths, they are in
serious trouble. If you need to find a home for them, I can take them
off your hands or you can get an 80 litre (or 110 litre) food safe
storage container (it must have the glass and fork food safe logo) as
an emergency tank for around £7-11 from Asda or Staples. If you need
any advice give me a call :)

Oh and please take some pics so I can see them :) Goldfish make me
giggle like a child.

Regards,

Adam Sweet

- -- 

http://blog.adamsweet.org/

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