KWSN Orbiting Fortress

[mohrorless]

Today the camp my kids go to gave everyone goldfish to take home.

Naturally the kids got attached right away to their fish. They named them Nemo (my son's) and Bubbles (my daughter's).

I don't have a tank or any knowledge of how to care for them. I did some quick reading on line and figured out that they couldn't stay in the bags they came in.

I poured a bunch of water into a cooler (about 3 gallons), let it acclimate for a couple of hours before I put the fish in and that's where they are for the time being.

Any (serious) recommendations/advice on what to do now?
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[Eaving]

As fish go goldfish are pretty hardy. Having said that a small tank and a bit of a filter would still be a good idea. Let me do a quick little search....

http://www.petsmart.com/global/product_detail.jsp?PRODUCT%3C%3Eprd_id=845524441776985&FOLDER%3C%3Efolder_id=2534374302030099&ASSORTMENT%3C%3East_id=2534374302023693&bmUID=1186524531638&itemNo=10&In=Fish&N=2030099&Ne=2
Something along those lines is probably the way to go. There are a range of tanks in that size at petsmart, other options below.
http://www.petsmart.com/global/search/search_results.jsp?In=Fish&N=2030099&Ne=2

This is also not any big vote for petsmart on my part, I just figured there is decent odds that you have one in your neck of the woods. A good local pets tore will be a lot more helpful in general. The basic needs are a couple of gallons of water for the fish to live in and a filter(both to remove waste and to provide a bit of air exchange). Beyond that the store can set you up with some food and tablets that will keep the ph/amonia situation under control.

If you need anything more specific, just ask away. Ive been running a 50 gallon tank for years now.
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[mohrorless]

Thanks! I may be tapping your brain some more!

I was thinking of maybe a 10 to 15 gallon tank, filter and the required castle.

Doing a quick search I see that ther aren't any Petsmart stores conviently located to me (7 of the 10 recommended locations in the locator for my zip code were in NJ (I live in Queens, NYC))!

I do have a couple of PetlandDiscount stores nearby though.
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Keeper of the Unending keg of PGGBs
Taunter in Training
Campaign Manager for Sir Shrubbery



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[Eaving]

Like I said, I personally am not fond of Petsmart, just figured starting with a national chain to give you an idea of the prices you should be looking at

If you're going for a 10 or 15 gallon tank you can add a few more fish to it as well. They generally recommend 1 inch of fish per gallon. In a larger stable tank you can go a bit over that number safely.

I recommend a few cory's if you decide to add to the tank. They are mini-cat fish and Im betting the kids would love them. As a word of warning though aquariums can become VERY addictive, as our 50 gallon tank will testify to.
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[Dagger]

Walmart or Target might have a big enuf fish tank for ya.
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When in doubt, kick it until it works.

[mohrorless]

[mohrorless]

Ok, I did it.

I went and got a 10 gallon tank, some gravel a small castle (I have dubbed it Castle Anthrax) and 2 shrubberies.

It's all together. The fish are still alive although they did not attempt to eat when we tried to feed them.
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Keeper of the Unending keg of PGGBs
Taunter in Training
Campaign Manager for Sir Shrubbery



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[Eaving]

Whats the situation on both anti-chlorine and ph balance chemicals in there? The fish not eating could simply be due to them not being hungry, but it could be due to chemical imbalance as well.
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[Sir Cracked of the Mind]

May I suggest.

[mohrorless]

[JerWA]

[Sir Hamster of Elderberry]

I'm no expert, and it may be too late anyway, but fish can be very sensitive to sudden changes in temperature and water conditions. Suddenly putting them in new environments can be very hard on them.

The only trick I know is to put the bag in the tank (fish inside) to let the temperature equalize slowly, them poke a small hole in the bag to let the water mix gradually.

Fortunate, goldfish are very hardy.
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[mohrorless]

I had the water I put initially in the cooler in clean buckets for 24 hours to come to room temp.

When we got home with the fish I put the bags into the cooler with the water for a good 20 minutes to come to temp as well. then I cut open the bags and let them out into the cooler.

The next day, I got the tank and the rest of the stuff for the fish. I cleaned all of that up and set it up (I had more water coming to room temp for the previous 24 hours as well). I took some of the water from the cooler and put it into the tank and finally moved the fish across to the tank.


**UPDATE** They finally ate something today! I had the kids give them (a little) fish food around 5:30 PM. It took a couple of minuted for both of them to find the food, then they started gobbling it up. After a coule more minutes, I netted out the remainders. That had pretty much stopped eating by then anyway.
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Keeper of the Unending keg of PGGBs
Taunter in Training
Campaign Manager for Sir Shrubbery



Plus

[Eaving]

Feeding will take a little experience, but as an in general you want to give them enough food to cover what they would eat in say 3 minutes or so. You definitely did the right thing scooping it out afterwards as the decaying food can cause an ammonia spike which is a very bad thing. A bit of lettuce, some zuccinni or something of the sort occasionally is also a good change of pace for the fish.
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[mohrorless]

[JerWA]

The water clarity is usually related to balance issues. New tank it could be anything throwing it off, or just not established at all yet. Keep checking the pH and such and give it another day. I guess make sure the filter is working too, that it's drawing water, there's a filter in it, it's not sucking a fish through the tube, etc lol.

Oh, and after the tank is established, get a sucker fish. They're cool.
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[Sir Cracked of the Mind]

mohrorless checking his new water filter.

[mohrorless]

[Sir Cracked of the Mind]

Following the failure of the indoors unit, Mohrorless settles for a more reliable source of clean water for his fish.

[Sir Hamster of Elderberry]

So ... what are their names?

ni! i!u