New to the goldfish world.... help!

[Paul Simon]

A few weeks ago, my kids got 3 goldfish at a carnival. We had a large mixing
bowl and placed them in there. We changed the water 3 times a day and fed
them 3 times a day. We decided to move on.

We purchased a 5 gal tank that came with a filter. I also bought colorful
pebbles for the bottom and a few plastic plants. I filled it and added the
water treatment chemicals and let it circulate through the filter for 2 days
prior to moving in the fish.

It has now been 24 hours and notice that the water is hazing up. It is
getting that cloudy look that the bowl had after sitting overnight. Is this
normal? The water is going through the filter as it should.

So the bottom line to my questions are:

1. Is it normal for the water to start clouding up after 24 hours? If not,
what do I do about it? Am I supposed to be doing more with the water? How
often should it be changed?

2. How often should I be feeding them? I have heard everything from 3 times
a day, to 3 times a week! We are so confused at this point.

All help would be greatly appreciated. If anyone has a great web sites to
recommend, we would appreciate them as well.

Many thanks....

[Donald K]

Paul Simon wrote:

> A few weeks ago, my kids got 3 goldfish at a carnival. We had a large
> mixing bowl and placed them in there. We changed the water 3 times a
> day and fed them 3 times a day. We decided to move on.


Sigh. Common trick to sell lots of aquarium equipment to unsuspecting
mommys and daddys...

> It has now been 24 hours and notice that the water is hazing up. It is
> getting that cloudy look that the bowl had after sitting overnight. Is
> this normal? The water is going through the filter as it should.

Yes, that is good bacteria looking for a home.

Unfortunately 3 fish in 5 gallons is courting disaster...

> So the bottom line to my questions are:
>
> 1. Is it normal for the water to start clouding up after 24 hours? If
> not, what do I do about it? Am I supposed to be doing more with the
> water? How often should it be changed?
>
> 2. How often should I be feeding them? I have heard everything from 3
> times a day, to 3 times a week! We are so confused at this point.

3x a day is too much. Might cut back to 1x a day for now or even 1x / 2
days.

> All help would be greatly appreciated. If anyone has a great web sites
> to recommend, we would appreciate them as well.

http://fins.actwin.com/mirror/begin.html
http://puregold.aquaria.net/pg/care/care1.htm#essentials

(:Late for work)

-Donald
--
"A positive attitude may not solve all your problems, but it will annoy
enough people to make it worth the effort." -Herm Albright

[GamePlayer No. 1058]

Usually cloudy water is a new tank syndrome. Because there is no biological
process being done right now, takes time to build up the beneficial bacteria
to convert amonia to nitrites to nitrates.

Best thing to do is take the fish to a local fish store and see if they will
hold them, then let the tank cure, when it's done bring them back. The
other thing is that you have 3 goldfish (very dirty fish) in too small of a
container to begin with.

Go to your local fish store and buy a product called bio spira, and put that
in the tank, that has the beneficial bacteria that you need to sustain life
in the tank, pour it in the tank and hope that the fish havnt been too
stressed out already and survive.


"Paul Simon" > wrote in message
...
> A few weeks ago, my kids got 3 goldfish at a carnival. We had a large
mixing
> bowl and placed them in there. We changed the water 3 times a day and fed
> them 3 times a day. We decided to move on.
>
> We purchased a 5 gal tank that came with a filter. I also bought colorful
> pebbles for the bottom and a few plastic plants. I filled it and added the
> water treatment chemicals and let it circulate through the filter for 2
days
> prior to moving in the fish.
>
> It has now been 24 hours and notice that the water is hazing up. It is
> getting that cloudy look that the bowl had after sitting overnight. Is
this
> normal? The water is going through the filter as it should.
>
> So the bottom line to my questions are:
>
> 1. Is it normal for the water to start clouding up after 24 hours? If not,
> what do I do about it? Am I supposed to be doing more with the water? How
> often should it be changed?
>
> 2. How often should I be feeding them? I have heard everything from 3
times
> a day, to 3 times a week! We are so confused at this point.
>
> All help would be greatly appreciated. If anyone has a great web sites to
> recommend, we would appreciate them as well.
>
> Many thanks....
>
>

[Vissy Dartae]

Wow, three times a day-- you are to be commended for putting all that
time into keeping your little fish healthy.

Your new 5-gallon will not be adequate, and most likely the filter
that came with it is not doing nearly enough. Those tanks are really
only suitable for a few very small tropicals or bettas. Goldfish need
at least 10 gallons per fish, because they grow very quickly and make
lots of mess. Also if you are feeding them 3 times a day the water
will get dirty REALLY fast. You should cut the feeding to once/daily
and only give them what they will eat in a few (1-2) minutes.

I'd do a 100% water change right away, and keep doing daily water
changes of at least 50% in that small tank. If you cut the feeding
down the water should improve. Sometimes cloudiness is good bacteria
that is trying to find a place to live, but in that small tank in 24
hours, it's more likely it's dirt/bad stuff.

Be sure to treat the water with a conditioner before you add it to the
tank, and match the temperature as closely as you can.

You should pick up some test kits for Ammonia, Nitrite, Nitrate, pH if
you wnat to be sure of the water quality, and do some reading in the
FAQs here. Meanwhile if you want to keep those three cute fish you
should go find a nice tank of at least 29 gallons. More is better.
Long is better than tall.
Don't bother with much gravel/substrate. Weekly water changes will
always be necessary. There are good inexpensive filters out there
too. Others will have more advice.

THANKS for asking-- goldfish are fun pets and deserve to be cared for
properly, and you are obviously interested in doing so.






"Paul Simon" > wrote in message >...
> A few weeks ago, my kids got 3 goldfish at a carnival. We had a large mixing
> bowl and placed them in there. We changed the water 3 times a day and fed
> them 3 times a day. We decided to move on.
>
> We purchased a 5 gal tank that came with a filter. I also bought colorful
> pebbles for the bottom and a few plastic plants. I filled it and added the
> water treatment chemicals and let it circulate through the filter for 2 days
> prior to moving in the fish.
>
> It has now been 24 hours and notice that the water is hazing up. It is
> getting that cloudy look that the bowl had after sitting overnight. Is this
> normal? The water is going through the filter as it should.
>
> So the bottom line to my questions are:
>
> 1. Is it normal for the water to start clouding up after 24 hours? If not,
> what do I do about it? Am I supposed to be doing more with the water? How
> often should it be changed?
>
> 2. How often should I be feeding them? I have heard everything from 3 times
> a day, to 3 times a week! We are so confused at this point.
>
> All help would be greatly appreciated. If anyone has a great web sites to
> recommend, we would appreciate them as well.
>
> Many thanks....

[Geezer From The Freezer]

Paul,

Goldfish are very rewarding pets indeed, but.....they are not the easist
to keep. Goldfish can grow very big, keeping them in smaller spaces stunt
their growth and shorten their life. As fish are swimming creatures they
need adequate space to swim and roam. They also need the correct water
conditions to live in (remember they give of toxic waste like us and the
more water the more diluted the waste).

Get yourself on ebay and look for a 30gallon tank and a good filter
(speak to your LFS or goto a website such as www.goldfishparadise and
ask on their message forums). You can create yourself one hell of a
piece of art for your house, with the benefit of having pets for you/your
family.

Goldfish can live upto (and sometimes surpassing) 20 years old.