April 2012
Why shouldn't people tap on the glass of aquariums? I heard somewhere that sound or sound waves or loud noises or something to that effect has a negative effect on fish in aquariums. Is that true?
It causes vibrations and can stress them out, especially more shy fish
I forget exactly... You posted once about how to tell when a fish is really did because it's easy to make the mistake of burying a live but sick fish. Something about how much time passes after the last movement of its gills? Tell me more please?
I don’t ever remember posting something like that, I just wait to make sure if I’m not already
My black moor goldfish has developed a weird white-ish marking on his top fin. I'm not sure how long it's been there, but I don't think it's been for more than a day or two at most. Do you have any ideas of what this could be or what might have caused it? The marking doesn't look like spots, though.
If it’s fluffy or tufty then it could be fungus, I can’t think of much else it could be. If it gets worse or other symptoms occur I would look in to medication but keeping the water extra clean for awhile will help whatever it is
rumpshaker replied to your post: I have a few questions about goldfish care. I just want some light shed. Now, I know that you should have a 10 gall
I wish I could reblog this
I have a few questions about goldfish care. I just want some light shed. Now, I know that you should have a 10 gallon tank for only a single goldfish, but I never hear a full explanation on why or what could happen if you don’t. I know it could stunt their growth, but happens if that occurs? Also, what’s the best way to clean a fish tank and how often? And another also, how long should you let a tank run before filling it with fish and why do you do this?
If you keep a goldfish in an environment that is too small for them, lets take the classic bowl as an example, there will be lots of negative consequences.
1. It will stunt the growth of the goldfish.
You will often hear people say that fish adapt their growth to the size of their tanks. This is not true. The external growth may seem to stop, but that doesn’t mean their internal organs have stopped growing! Those keep expanding in size until they’re squished so closely together the goldfish dies. A goldfish with stunted growth is easy to recognize: the eyes and fins are often way too big compared to the rest of the fish and their body just doesn’t look the way it should look (fins and tails that are bent while they shouldn’t be etc.)2. Water values and water temperature will fluctuate
Because there is only a small amount of water in a bowl, a small nitrite peak could mean serious problems! Even if you happen to be lucky enough to be able to avoid such peaks, the water values and water temperature will be difficult to maintain. The fluctuation will cause lots of stress for your goldfish.
3. There will be issues with the amount of oxygen in the water
Small tanks, high tanks and especially bowls usually don’t have enough surface area. This means there might not be enough oxygen in the water for a goldfish. (Oxygen deprivation is often mistaken for begging for food - the goldfish will be ‘drinking’ air at the surface.)4. Goldfish produce too much waste to be able to live in a small tank
A bowl can become dangerous for a goldfish to live in within a few days, because they produce more waste than most other fish. The goldfish will literally be swimming in its own poop, especially in an often unfiltered environment like a bowl. Even if you get a large enough tank, overfiltration is often necessary!
The list of issues caused by bowls/small tanks goes on and on and on, but for me the most important thing is that a goldfish will simply look better in a 20 gallon tank than a 5 gallon one. It will be able to swim freely and show its full beauty!As for your second question:
Most people clean their tank with a water siphon, CLEAN buckets and an algae scraper. I personally carefully remove the fish from the aquarium and put them in a bucket that is only used for aquarium business while I clean the tank, because they’re very curious and I’m always scared they might lose an eye.
You start off by cleaning the glass with an algae scraper. How to do this depends on the kind of scraper you have, but it’s often very simple and you can usually buy them in any pet store.
The next step is siphoning the gravel to remove leftover food, goldfish poop and bits of aquarium plants.
A water change of about 30% for normal tanks should keep everything stable - you can easily do this with your clean bucket and water siphon.
I siphon the bottom of my aquarium two times a week and do an additional water change once. This keeps my water levels stable, but the amount of cleaning you should do depends on the size and filtration of your aquarium and the amount of fish in it. A smaller aquarium, more fish and less filtration all mean you’ll have to clean more frequently than usual.Why do you need to cycle an aquarium and how long should you cycle it for?
The name says it all - the water, filter and gravel of the aquarium go through a cycle together when starting an aquarium. This includes a nitrite spike (very dangerous for fish!) in the beginning, and good bacteria growing in the gravel and filter, which lowers the nitrite.
For the full explanation of this circle you could probably google around a bit because I don’t know how it works from the top of my head, but it’s very important to cycle an aquarium for at least three weeks before putting any fish in it simply because the fluctuating water values might otherwise be very harmful and possibly lethal to them.
