Newbie to goldfish keeping

[Rick McGreal]

I have a couple of questions that so far I have had quite a few
conflicfting answers.....

I have a small coldwater tank....15"length 8"width 10"depth....
I have 2 small (1" long) fantails in it....

And I have started to get algae growing on the gravel on the bottom of the
tank and I wanted to start now to try to keep it under control...

If it makes a difference the tank has been going for just over 2 months...
The tank is not in any direct light although the light on the tank is on
for most of the day....Switched off at about 6pm....

My main question is....Is there enough space for the 2 fish?
Can I get a couple of snails to help with the algae problem?

I have a few (5) plastic plants in the tank and I was wondering if this is
enough....the tank looks to be a little bare....Although the fish
themselves seem fine...

Thanks for any help!

BTW...
Is there an FAQ available for this NG?
Or does anyone recomend a site for beginners like me?

[[email protected]]

http://users.megapathdsl.net/~solo/puregold/care/care1.htm#essentials


Rick McGreal > wrote:

>I have a couple of questions that so far I have had quite a few
>conflicfting answers.....
>
>I have a small coldwater tank....15"length 8"width 10"depth....
>I have 2 small (1" long) fantails in it....
>
>And I have started to get algae growing on the gravel on the bottom of the
>tank and I wanted to start now to try to keep it under control...
>
>If it makes a difference the tank has been going for just over 2 months...
>The tank is not in any direct light although the light on the tank is on
>for most of the day....Switched off at about 6pm....
>
>My main question is....Is there enough space for the 2 fish?
>Can I get a couple of snails to help with the algae problem?
>
>I have a few (5) plastic plants in the tank and I was wondering if this is
>enough....the tank looks to be a little bare....Although the fish
>themselves seem fine...
>
>Thanks for any help!
>
>BTW...
>Is there an FAQ available for this NG?
>Or does anyone recomend a site for beginners like me?



~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
List Manager: Puregold Goldfish List
http://puregold.aquaria.net/
www.drsolo.com
Solve the problem, dont waste energy finding who's to blame
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Unfortunately, I receive no money, gifts, discounts or other
compensation for all the damn work I do, nor for any of the
endorsements or recommendations I make.

[Rick McGreal]

wrote in
:

>>Or does anyone recomend a site for beginners like me?

> http://users.megapathdsl.net/~solo/puregold/care/care1.htm#essentials

Thank you

[Mel]

Your tank is only about 5 gallons which is a bit small for two goldfish. 10
gallons per fish is usually best.
Snails tend to create a lot of waste and breed like crazy so you might not
want to go down that route for the algae. Do you vacuum your gravel? If you
do this weekly with your water changes then it might knock off the algae on
the gravel as well as sucking up all the goldie waste.You can buy algae
scrapers from your lfs for the sides of your tank.
You might want to visit goldfishparadise.com which is a great site and will
have loads of info for you to read!
Mel.


"Rick McGreal" > wrote in message
...
> I have a couple of questions that so far I have had quite a few
> conflicfting answers.....
>
> I have a small coldwater tank....15"length 8"width 10"depth....
> I have 2 small (1" long) fantails in it....
>
> And I have started to get algae growing on the gravel on the bottom of the
> tank and I wanted to start now to try to keep it under control...
>
> If it makes a difference the tank has been going for just over 2 months...
> The tank is not in any direct light although the light on the tank is on
> for most of the day....Switched off at about 6pm....
>
> My main question is....Is there enough space for the 2 fish?
> Can I get a couple of snails to help with the algae problem?
>
> I have a few (5) plastic plants in the tank and I was wondering if this is
> enough....the tank looks to be a little bare....Although the fish
> themselves seem fine...
>
> Thanks for any help!
>
> BTW...
> Is there an FAQ available for this NG?
> Or does anyone recomend a site for beginners like me?

[Rick McGreal]

"Mel" > wrote in
:

> Your tank is only about 5 gallons which is a bit small for two
> goldfish. 10 gallons per fish is usually best.

Ah......Hmmm...Its only a small tank and I don't think I can get rid of a
fish....
Will they be OK until I can get a new tank to replace it?
(Month or so I suppose....)

> Snails tend to create a lot of waste and breed like crazy so you might
> not want to go down that route for the algae.

Ok

> Do you vacuum your gravel?

No.....

> If you do this weekly with your water changes then it might knock off the
> algae on the gravel as well as sucking up all the goldie waste.

I'll ask at my local shop.....See if they have one cheapish...

> You can buy algae scrapers from your lfs for the sides of your
> tank.

I got one of those with my tank....
But the algae is on the gravel...Not the glass

> You might want to visit goldfishparadise.com which is a great
> site and will have loads of info for you to read!

Thanks

[Mel]

They should be ok for a month or so as long as you are careful with your
maintenance schedule, but try to get a new one as soon as you can. I'd do 2
water changes of about 40% per week while they are in there to keep your
water quality good, then once in the bigger tank you will probably be ok
with a 30% change weekly. You really should be vacuuming your gravel as
loads of waste builds up in it, harbouring bacteria and causing your nitrate
levels to build up to toxic levels. They only cost a couple of pounds and
you will be amazed at the rubbish it sucks out! You should be doing this
with every water change. The algae has probably grown on the gravel because
it isn't being disturbed enough so once you start vacuuming it should
lessen. There is also the possibility that you have very high nitrate or
nitrite levels which can encourage algae to grow prolifically. You should
get your water parameters (ammonia, nitrite and nitrate) tested to make sure
they are ok. You can buy the kits, or most fish shops will test the water
for you for free or for a small charge. If you do this though, make sure you
get the actual results from them (write them down) as a lot of stores will
give out wrong information about the readings. Post them here and we can
advise once you get them.
Mel.


"Rick McGreal" > wrote in message
...
> "Mel" > wrote in
> :
>
> > Your tank is only about 5 gallons which is a bit small for two
> > goldfish. 10 gallons per fish is usually best.
>
> Ah......Hmmm...Its only a small tank and I don't think I can get rid of a
> fish....
> Will they be OK until I can get a new tank to replace it?
> (Month or so I suppose....)
>
> > Snails tend to create a lot of waste and breed like crazy so you might
> > not want to go down that route for the algae.
>
> Ok
>
> > Do you vacuum your gravel?
>
> No.....
>
> > If you do this weekly with your water changes then it might knock off
the
> > algae on the gravel as well as sucking up all the goldie waste.
>
> I'll ask at my local shop.....See if they have one cheapish...
>
> > You can buy algae scrapers from your lfs for the sides of your
> > tank.
>
> I got one of those with my tank....
> But the algae is on the gravel...Not the glass
>
> > You might want to visit goldfishparadise.com which is a great
> > site and will have loads of info for you to read!
>
> Thanks