How much water per fish?

Hi,

At the moment I've been keeping one goldfish, but I was wondering how
big a tank should be, in terms of surface area and litres, to keep more
fish.

Is there some sort of equation to go by?

Thanks!

Twinkles.

And also, if I put in some oxygen weed, how much should there be? (does
it take something away from the water?)

Twinkles wrote:

Hi,

At the moment I've been keeping one goldfish, but I was wondering how
big a tank should be, in terms of surface area and litres, to keep more
fish.

Is there some sort of equation to go by?

Thanks!

Twinkles.

And also, if I put in some oxygen weed, how much should there be? (does
it take something away from the water?)


Twinkles,

You need about 10 gallons per fish. This is about 40litres or so. The
surface area should be quite big (rather than having less surface area
and a deeper tank). As far as oxygen, I use airstones or a powerful filter
to ripple the water - this, as I am told, gives good air exchange.

http://users.megapathdsl.net/~solo/p...htm#essentials



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There is a good ready-reckoner at The Goldfish Paradise site under the
utilities section. http://www.goldfishparadise.com/utl/calculator.php

When folks tell you fish need 10 gallons each remember that they
usually mean US gallons, which are different from UK gallons. Also
remember that a lot of these equations give you the maximum number of
fish. Its a limit, not a challenge. An slightly understocked tank
gives you a lot more lee-way for when things go wrong. (And with the
best will in the world things always go wrong at some time).


In terms of "oxygen weed" I presume you mean an Elodea type thing. A
little will soon grow into a lot. So long as the tank isn't too
congested it shouldn't be a problem. The plant will put oxygen into
the water during the day but will take some out at night. So long as
you have plenty of movement on the water surface this will not be a
problem though. The other thing plants can take out are nitrates - the
end product of the tank cycle. This is no substitute for regular
partial water changes though.

Mick Manford wrote:

Thanks everybody for the advice, and thankyou for the calculator! It's
very useful, especially when I've never used measurements in gallons
before.

There is a good ready-reckoner at The Goldfish Paradise site under the
utilities section. http://www.goldfishparadise.com/utl/calculator.php

When folks tell you fish need 10 gallons each remember that they
usually mean US gallons, which are different from UK gallons. Also
remember that a lot of these equations give you the maximum number of
fish. Its a limit, not a challenge. An slightly understocked tank
gives you a lot more lee-way for when things go wrong. (And with the
best will in the world things always go wrong at some time).

Yes, I would rather give them too much room than not enough


In terms of "oxygen weed" I presume you mean an Elodea type thing. A
little will soon grow into a lot. So long as the tank isn't too
congested it shouldn't be a problem. The plant will put oxygen into
the water during the day but will take some out at night. So long as
you have plenty of movement on the water surface this will not be a
problem though. The other thing plants can take out are nitrates - the
end product of the tank cycle. This is no substitute for regular
partial water changes though.