When I was a kid, we won goldfish at the fair, took our fish home, filled up one of Mum's glass baking bowls with tap water and plopped the fish straight in...To our surprise, they often died shortly after and now we know why...
When you add fish you need to add anti-stress liquid and leave the fish in the bag in the tank for 10 minutes for the water to equalise. This fish hid behind the rocks for a whole day before she ventured out. Now she is now happy to swim anywhere!
Good luck with your fish and I hope you enjoyed reading this post!
Firstly, you need to choose your tank. When purchasing the tank, you need to be aware that each goldfish needs 10 litres of water space. Ours is a 46 litre tank and can can house 4 fish (with room for growth). You can buy a kits with tank and filter included, otherwise you need to buy a filtration unit.
Gravel, rocks plants and ornaments all need to be washed in plain tap water before adding to the aquarium. Add water and conditioner as you fill the tank, to remove any harmful substances within the water. Then leave the tank to settle for a week, to build up good bacteria, before buying any fish.
As you see, setting up the tank and adding water can make the water cloudy. Our tank took a couple of days to clear...
Here is our first fish going into the tank a week later...
You need to be patient. We were advised to buy goldfish one at a time, giving them a week to adjust before buying the next one. The fish need to settle into their new home and the tank's good-bacteria need to get established for this to be a healthy environment. Find out more in the video below.
How To Set Up Your Fish Tank
by Maidenhead Aquatics
We bought our fish from our small, local, reputable pet store. They gave us the benefit of their knowledge and advice on after-care.
Useful Links
A First Time Goldfish Tank at Desktop Goldfish is a great site for beginners. It has lots of tips beginners, from things to consider before buying your goldfish, to where to site your aquarium, when to add your fish and how to settle them in, plus after-care and tank maintenance info.
Goldfish Aquarium Setup Basics - nice clear instructions about tank setup. This site is a mine of information for all things about goldfish! Definitely one to return to...
Common Goldfish Questions at Goldfish-as-Pets. Explore other links on this site to discover more about the different varieties, history, disease and treatments of goldfish.
Good luck with your fish and I hope you enjoyed reading this post!
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