Having Goldfish can be a fun and rewarding hobby. As with any new hobby, especially one that involves living creatures, always consider the maintenance that will be involved. If you care for your tropical fish tank correctly, you will be sure to maintain happy and healthy Goldfish for many years. Goldfish have a life expectancy of five to ten years. If you do a first-rate job Of taking care of their fish aquarium, you should have fun, beautiful fish for a long time. Be sure to feed them appropriately and keep their water fresh and clear.
You shouldn’t buy your fish until your have everything place first. If you are going to set gravel on the floor, you may want to put only a slim layer. This will make it easier to keep clean, as Goldfish tend to be messy. Make certain that you wash the gravel totally beforehand placing it in the floor of the aquarium. If you have some decorations, you should add them at this point. Make sure that you clean them well before putting them into the tropical fish tank. Also be certain that the goldfish have ample room to swim, as they are active fish. Provide them a place or two to hide, and that ought to do nicely.
Now that you have everything in place, you can add in the water. You will need to use a dechlorinator, as the chlorine in tap water is fatal to fish. When the fish aquarium is filled up, you can turn on the filter. Exchange it as often as recommended to keep your fish healthy. Goldfish live at room temperature, so you will not need a heater. They are quite comfortable in temperatures from 68 to 80 degrees. However, they should not be exposed to rapid temperature changes. You might wish to let the filter run in the new goldfish tank for a day or so to filter out any chemicals or dyes that might have been left on the gravel and decorations that you just added. Waiting to purchase new fish can be one of the hardest things about fish keeping!
You need to add fish slowly. Fish excrete ammonia. If you add too many fish at once to a new fish tank, the water will not be seasoned Sufficiently to dissipate it. As the water in your Goldfish tank ages, it builds up beneficial bacteria that turn hurtful chemicals excreted by the fish into harmless ones. However, this will take some time. Begin with a single fish. The nitrogen cycle will not begin until you add the fish, so running an empty tank for several days will not help. Since your tropical fish tank is brand new, you might want to consider making partial water changes of about 25 per cent of the total water volume every few days for the first week or so.
Gold fish food is very easy to find and is in almost every pet store. Make sure to buy some when you purchase your first fish. Feed only a small amount. Especially at first. Any uneaten food will sink to the floor and rot. Keep this to a least amount. Watch your fish the first few times that you feed them. Feed only as much as they will eat in two to three minutes twice a day, or as recommended on the Goldfish food label. Be especially cautious not to overfeed when the Goldfish aquarium is new. This will cause surplus build up of toxic chemicals and can kill your fish quickly.
As the water in your fish aquarium cycles through the nitrogen cycle, you may notice that is becomes very murky. This is a normal process and should clear up in a few days. Do not add any new fish until the water is crystal clear again. Clear water will show that the nitrogen cycle is working and that the toxic chemicals are being converted to good ones. Remember as the Goldfish grow larger they will need a bigger space. Don’t overcrowd the aquarium if you would like to keep healthy fish. If you stick to this little guideline, you will be certain to have a healthy goldfish fish tank.
