Re: New fish problem

[Charles]

On Mon, 19 Jan 2004 18:21:39 -0500, "Tommy Vallier" >
wrote:

>Hi,
>
>I just got my very first goldfish, they're fantails. As of today they seem
>to be staying at the top of the bowl breathing in from it. What's wrong with
>my fish? I tried to feed them but that didn't help.
>
>Anybody offer some other suggestions?
>
>-- Tommy Vallier
>


How many and how big is the bowl? Each fish should have about 10
gallons of water, I've never seen bowls that big. They need a tank to
survive. Until you get it (soon) a lot of water changes might keep
your fish alive.


--

- Charles
-
-does not play well with others

[[email protected]]

http://puregold.aquaria.net/pg/care/care1.htm#essentials


"Tommy Vallier" > wrote:

>Hi,
>
>I just got my very first goldfish, they're fantails. As of today they seem
>to be staying at the top of the bowl breathing in from it. What's wrong with
>my fish? I tried to feed them but that didn't help.
>
>Anybody offer some other suggestions?
>
>-- Tommy Vallier
>



~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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
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endorsements or recommendations I make.

[GiveMeABMW]

The word 'bowl' sends off a warning signal to me - goldfish need at least 10 US
gallons per fish. Your fish are suffering because of a lack of oxygen, and most
likely a high ammonia level in the water.

Buy them a 20g tank and filter ASAP - if your budget doesn't permit that, take
the goldies back to the store and get a betta instead.

[LoaderLady]

Tommy

I get the feeling that you are fairly young, so try not to get discouraged,
here.

It isn't a good idea to keep goldfish in a bowl, especially the fancy kinds
like your fantail. For one thing, the surface of the water needs to be in
contact with as much air as possible, and when you fill the bowl, there is
very little water touching the air. Don't fill the bowl right to the top.
Also, add an airstone if you can, which makes bubbles and circulates the
water.

It is a good idea to get a bigger tank as soon as you can. Goldfish are
always shown as swimming happily around in a bowl, but they don't get enough
oxygen to survive in one for very long, as you are finding out. Good luck
with your fish, and don't hesitate to post any more questions you may have.

[Azul]

On Tue, 20 Jan 2004 01:23:43 -0500, "Tommy Vallier" >
wrote:

>Hi,
>
>Thanks for all of the help.
>
>They have been boved to a larger space and seem to be slightly happier. I'm
>going to make a trip to the pet store tomorrow to pick up a larger tank with
>a filter.
>
>Will having the filter mean the tank will stay mostly clean on it's own?
>Should I get asnail or 2, too?
>
>--Tommy
>
Unfortunately Tommy, goldfish are very dirty fish. Which means they
create lots of waste. The poo you can see, but the other, the
ammonia, is invisible to your eye. A filter will do several things,
1, it will agitate the top of the water (if you get the hang on kind)
which helps to put oxygen into it. 2. It give the bacteria that an
aquarium needs to help keep it healthy a place to live. It will help
keep it cleaner, by turning the invisible waste into something less
harmful to the fish. But you still have to vacuum and change part of
the water about once a week.

Here are a couple of good sites to read about the basic care of
goldfish. Hopefully they will help you understand what is going on
inside the aquarium

The Beginner FAQ (Basic Fishkeeping, not specific to goldies)

http://fins.actwin.com/mirror/begin.html

PureGold - Care of Goldfish

http://puregold.aquaria.net/pg/care/care.htm

Azul

[Vicky & John Taylor-Hood]

Hi Tommy,

When you get a filter, make sure to get one that is bigger than you
think you need. It should be about ten times the tanks capacity per
hour in gallons filtered. What this means is that if you get a twenty
gallon tank, you will need a filter that filters 200 gallons per hour.
It's usually written on the box.

The filter will dramatically cut down on the amount of water you need
to lug, but you will still need to change a bit of the water every
week. On a tank that's big enough with more than enough filtration,
you can get away with ten or fifteen percent per week. With a 20
gallon tank, that means two or three 1-gallon ice cream containers.
When you take the water out of the tank, it's best to "vacuum" the
gravel with a siphon - these are $5 at Walmart.

As for the snails - the bigger type will be great to help control
algae, but wait a month or so until there's something for them to eat!
If you have a new tank, there will be no algae growing on the sides,
rocks and plants. Wait until you see a green fuzzy growth and then hop
out for snails! The large, yellow ones are particularly cool.

Good luck! Keep posting questions! Don't forget to dechlorinate you
water for the new tank!
Cheers!
Vicky
_____________________
Vicky Taylor-Hood
fibre artist * quilter
St. John's, NF, Canada

http://www3.nf.sympatico.ca/vickyth/