HOW TO SET UP A GOLDFISH TANK

hey everyone today I'm going to give you a brief overview of all the basics of how to set up a goldfish tank so first of all you'll need some kind of tank or pond or other container that holds water for your fish a lot of times people use glass aquariums but there are also acrylic aquariums you can also use some sort of clear Sterilite brand storage tub or a preformed pond or even a stock tank to put your fish in your goldfish you want to allow at least 20 yards of space per fish and a good starting point if you want just one or two fish is a 40 gallon breeder tank because that will be really great for one or two fish probably for their entire lifetime and keep in mind that with goldfish a long and shallow tank is much better for them than a short this way and tall tank and that's because tall tanks have much less surface area compared to their volume than do shallow and longer tanks so and service area is important because that is where oxygen can enter the water and goldfish do require a lot of oxygen as do most fish and so this is really important also they tend to like to swim horizontally I find rather than up and down so that for that reason also tall tanks aren't that great for them and of course try not to place the tank in a really high traffic area where there's gonna be kids or pets running back and forth all the time especially if they're brand new fish that may be I've been living in a pond previously - you getting them that can be much stressful for them and also keep them away from windows because that can help the proliferation of green algae in your tank and you might not want that and also windows tend to be drafty so keep them away from windows for that reason as well and lids for the aquarium some say they're necessary others don't I tend to feel that lids aren't necessary and that's just because obviously I've never seen a goldfish jump out of a tank and I'm sure it's possible especially with the single tail varieties but I've never seen it and especially if you have fancy goldfish you really don't need a lid and having no lid is actually better for gas exchange between the water and the air because there's no barrier there that the gases have to go through first so for that reason also I really prefer to have no lids on my tanks lighting for your tank is not totally necessary it's more for us release so we can see the fish and enjoy them better especially if you have a well lit room already it's not totally necessary to have a light so it's one of those things that if you know funds are tight you can definitely put off until later because I mean the goldfish aren't really gonna suffer without a light although their colors do tend to be brighter under good light so that's something to consider and another point to consider if funds are tight you can always look on Craigslist or your comparable classified listing for used tanks because they tend to drop down and price quite a bit when they're being sold as used so that's definitely an option and also like I mentioned before you can use stair light brand clear storage containers those are food safe so they're safe for your fish and they're clear so you can see through them from the side of you still and that's a really good option for funds are tight but you need more space for your fish right away you can always go get a storage tub like that and put your filter on it and that'll be just as good as a tank alright so you have your tank now what do you do about filtration filtration can be a little confusing for someone who's just starting out because there are so many different options so I'm just going to give a really quick overview of the major the main types and give you what I think are pros and cons with each one some of them are not recommended at all some of them are the best in my opinion so let's get started sponge filters are great for additional biological filtration but I definitely wouldn't recommend them in most cases the only filtration for your tank just because they don't have enough mechanical filtration they're not powerful enough they're only driven by an air stone so you really they're definitely good for additional like I said biological filtration in addition to another type of filter but I would definitely not use it as the only filtration for a tank and next our canister filters these are really good they're very powerful very quiet and they're large and they hold a lot of filter media so they're a good option for goldfish the only cons really are they do tend to be a little pricey and I think some people find them difficult to clean and with canister filtration you want to aim for a flow rate of five times the gallons of the tank holds per hours so for example if you have 40 gallon tank you would want your filtration if you have canister filters to have a flow rate a combined flow rate of at least 200 gallons per hour so next our hov or hang on vac filters and I think that a good hang on back filter is the best option for a goldfish tank because they are easy to clean they're relatively inexpensive for how good they are the the better ones the better models have a lot of space inside for the filter media and they're also pretty customizable and of all the hangar bag filters the aqua clears are my absolute favorite because I think they're the most customizable they have the most space for filter media especially the models 70 and 110 and with hangar bag filters you want to aim for a flow rate of 10 times the tank volume per hour so that means if you have a 40 gallon breeder tank you want the flow rate of your filters combined to be 400 gallons per hour so next are internal power filters these usually go inside the tank and so they take up a lot of swimming room and they're not super-powerful because they have to be small cuz they go inside the tank and I just I don't really like these and I don't recommend them and then under gravel filters or ugf these used to be very very popular but they're not popular anymore especially not for goldfish and that's because they're really difficult to clean and they're just not powerful enough for goldfish at all so those are definitely not recommended and lastly a sump or wet/dry filter this is a tank that goes underneath the main tank and it usually has a trickle Tower in it where the tank water is flowing over the biological media and then it goes through some sponges and then it gets pumped back into the tank and I actually use this system on my tanks right now so I like what dry filters because they help oxygenate the water quite a bit they do have so much more room for Biological media and they also provide a place where you can hide like heaters and thermometers and stuff like that so that it's not cluttering up the main tank but some cons are they are difficult to set up they can be pricey if you because you either have to buy one that's already made and those are usually expensive or you have to find someone and pay someone to help you build it or build it for you and that can be pricey too so they're a little more expensive they're more permanent because in many cases you have to drill a hole in your tank so they're not for everyone but if it's something you're interested in I would definitely recommend them because I think they're great so the next important consideration for when you're setting up your goldfish tank is aeration so typically the filter will splash a little bit on the surface and help create some surface movement and thus aerate the water a little and certainly it's circulating the water in the tank tube but it can always be good to add extra aeration by using an air stone and an air pump so you just hook up some airline tubing to a check valve that's very important and then you hook that up to your air pump and then on the other end you hook up your air stone or you can also get a flexible bubble wand a rigid bubble wand all disks there's lots of different options for air stones and then you plug it in and this helps it just starts bubbling and then that creates more surface movement which is good because the surface is where gases enter and leave the water and so the carbon dioxide needs to leave the water and the oxygen needs to enter the water and that surface movement helps facilitate that gas exchange and air stones are also good because they help circulate the water and make sure that there's no dead spots where water is kind of statement and the check valve is really important because in the event of a power outage your tank can start to the water can search the back siphon from the air stone into the air pump and that will ruin your air pump but it also make a big puddle on your floor and that's no fun so a check valve will just help prevent that from ever happening next thing you should definitely have is a thermometer thermometer is important just so you can monitor the temperature make sure it's within an acceptable range you don't want it too high or too low 74 is usually good for goldfish but they can tolerate a wide range of temperatures in the winter you know can get down to 50 degrees and that's fine the only thing is you want to stop feeding them at 50 degrees and reduced feedings greatly if it's like sixty degrees or so and they can tolerate temperatures as high as I don't know 80 maybe 90 but not for prolonged periods of time obviously and with greater temperatures you need greater surface movement for better oxygenation because the warmer the water is the less oxygen it can hold so it's good to have thermometer just so you know what the temperature is so you can make adjustments if needed and a heater is not completely necessary for goldfish but if your house does get really really cold in the winter or something like that then you can add a heater and just set it to something low like 68 degrees Fahrenheit that'll just keep it from fluctuating down to low stressing your fish and something else to consider is a UV sterilizer this is something that's definitely not necessary and it's a little spendy so if you're on a tight budget don't worry about it whatsoever it's fine but if you want one there are some benefits the smaller ones like that your green killing machine or something like that they help remove green water algae that is suspended algae in the water that gives the water a green tint and it's not really harmful for your fish at all it's just kind of unsightly to most people and it makes it hard to actually see your fish so if you are having that problem and you cannot fix it vitamin water changes more frequently or something like that then you can consider a green killing machine and the larger models I have an emperor aquatics larger model I'm not sure what the model number is but those are much bigger UV sterilizers that actually hang on the outside of your tank and the one I have it kills bacteria parasites viruses and green water algae so those are really nice it's just an added peace of mind that your water is as pathogen free as you can make it you know it's not perfect but it helps and I think it's like a 99 percent kill rate so it's not perfect but it helped and something people are usually afraid of when it comes to UV sterilizers is that oh maybe my goldfish won't be able to use their immune system because it's too sterilized in their environment and I just really don't think that's true because like I said it's not perfect it does take out a lot of the pathogens from the water but it doesn't take out all them and it doesn't kill anything from the surfaces either of the tank only things that are free swimming free-floating the only thing that I would caution you about with a UV sterilizer is do not leave it on when if you're in the process of cycling your tank because it can mess with the back the beneficial bacteria there colonise so now we found over all the equipment that you'll need but what about more decorative elements like substrate for substrate there are quite a variety of options you can go with sand or some kind of gravel or river rocks or you can just leave your tank bare bottom there are pros and cons to all them well most of them so let's go over them right now sand can be really good as long as it's just used in a really really fine layer try to use just what you need to cover the bottom so there's no bare spots and that's it and that's because sand is really fine grains so it can compact a lot if it's not disturbed regularly and when it compacts like that it forms anaerobic pockets and anaerobic pockets make great breeding grounds for bad bacteria that produce hydrogen sulfide gas and when that when those pockets are then disturbed either by cleaning or by the goldfish coming along and pecking and disturbing the sand they the gases are released and it can harm the goldfish and maybe even kill them just depends on how bad it is so definitely trying to keep just a thin layer and you'll be fine I actually like sand a lot for substrates because I think it mimics a carp fish's natural environment really well and goldfish they really like to swim along the bottom and look for morsels of food and pick up the substrate and spit it back out and do that over and over so I think it really mimics their natural environment and once them perform some of their natural behaviors and some people are sometimes worried that the sand is gonna irritate their gills and there's really no evidence for that and there's no logical reason to believe that would be true since carp in the wild do live in sandy bottoms environments and they do just fine in those so and I've never ever come across essentially we're a goldfish had damage skills because of sand so I really don't think there's any reason to believe that so next is gravel and I really don't like gravel and I don't recommend it at all I just think it's bad for one thing I think it's kind of ugly because the the grain size is pretty large and it's pea-sized usually and I just think it creates too much visual disturbance so you can't really enjoy the fish properly but some people like the way it looks and I can understand that the only thing then is if you really must use gravel just use a super super fine layer only enough to just barely cover the bottom and that's because the grain size is quite large and poop and other uneaten food and stuff like that can get trapped in in between the spaces of the gravel really really easily and it does trust me a few years ago I was using gravel and my goldfish tanks and I was just shocked by the amount of gunk that I cleaned out of the filter earth out of the substrate every single week it was just non-stop and the other thing is that pea-sized gravel can create a real problem for the goldfish because like I said earlier they do like to pick up the substrate with your mouth and spit it back out in search of food and when they get to you know they start growing and they get to the right size they can actually get those pieces of gravel lodged in their mouths and sometimes they can die from this if you can't get it out in time with the tweezers or something like that and it's just really scary and it's not worth the risk in my opinion so I would not recommend gravel but like I said if you really must use it just there's a really fine layer and clean it every week for sure so the next one that people sometimes use is river rocks and river rocks are they're really pretty of course but they are not a good choice for an all-over substrate and that's because just like with the gravel they have large spaces in between and with River rocks it's even worse than it is with gravel because River rocks are really big and they don't fit together perfectly so are really big gaps in between each rock that poop and uneaten food and stuff can get trapped in right away and just sit there and it's just really gross so I would definitely not recommend river rocks as a substrate but I do think that a few river rocks scattered here and there on a bare bottom tank or in a tank with sand can be really pretty and there's nothing wrong with that whatsoever so lastly having a bare bottom tank and that's just means that there's nothing no substrate on the bottom whatsoever except for maybe like a river rock or two here and there or some bigger rocks or something like that but you don't have an all-over substrate like a sand or gravel and some people think it's boring and ugly but I actually think it can be really pretty it can give a really modern minimalist and kind of send look to your tanks so it's really really pretty if it's you know done right my tanks are painted black on the bottom and you can paint them any color you want on the bottom to create different looks and that eliminates some of the glare the mirror like glare that the glass bottom tends to have so that's an option for sure and the pros of this are it's way way easier to clean there's no siphoning through the gravel every week it's just a plain bare bottom and the waste and uneaten food gets sucked up by the filtration right away so you never see anything lingering on the bottom usually and so for that reason it's also a lot of people think it's healthier for your goldfish and just you know better for them there are some people who say well what if they get kind of bored being in that environment because they don't have any substrate to sift through which is their natural behavior and that's definitely something to consider I think it's debatable whether that's true or not whether they really get bored because of having no substrate but it's definitely something to consider maybe you can try having no substrate in your tank for a while and then switch to sand or something and see if there's a difference in their behavior and then decide for yourself what you prefer all right so you have all your equipment and your substrate and now you want to add some decorations decorations for goldfish tanks should always be kept to a minimum and you always have to keep in mind that goldfish are very clumsy they also are very delicate because you know there are the bubble eyes with the big bubble sacs that they have to carry around and they can get punctured on something they're also celestial to telescope eyes with the big telescopic eyes that they can poke on you know some decoration or get an abrasion or something they also have really huge fins usually goldfish too that can get ripped or torn on big plans and things like that so it's just really important to always keep in mind safety of your fish as your number one priority but with that said you can add decorations just avoid ones that are hollow because they create standard water avoid ones that are sharp or really abrasive and also avoid ones that are not meant for aquarium use because those can be toxic to your fish and keep in mind that goldfish are big and clumsy like I said before so they do need a lot of swimming space so if you add decorations just maybe a few here and there don't overcrowd your tank with decorations and live plants are great for goldfish too so that's definitely an option you just want to keep in mind that any live plant you put in there might get eaten by the goldfish because they do have a tendency to do that usually ones that they avoid are ones like your a java fern or anubius and a lot of times they also avoid eating swords crypts or valves so you could start off with those ones see how it goes and then maybe try adding some plants that they find tastier and see how that goes but just keep in mind that they might eat your plants so what about water additives what might you need to add to the water to make it safe for your fish well the only thing that you need should mean is a water dechlorinator and that's because most tap water all tap water has chlorine in it and some has chloramines in it so you want one that detoxifies chlorine and chloramine and i like to recommend and use C chem prime because it also detoxifies ammonia and nitrite for up to 48 hours and this is really handy if you have low background levels of ammonia in your tap water which I do because you can just do your water changes normal and a dose of prime like you would anyways - dechlorinate the water and that will also detoxify the ammonia for a period of time until it can be processed by your biological filtration and the only other product you might need is some kind of buffer if you have really acidic water or if your KH is really low and good ones that I recommend our buff it up from goldfish connection or seek endless gold buffer and I've never actually used these myself so I can't give any advice about how to use them or anything like that so yeah I can't be a bunch out there but I do know those two are good ones to use so now perhaps the most important consideration is the nitrogen cycle in your aquarium you can follow all the steps I outlined previously set up the tank perfectly get all the right decorations and stuff like that but if you don't cycle your tank your fish are gonna have a really really hard time and they might die and there's something called new tank syndrome that a lot of pet stores talk about and that's when you do that you know you you just set up a tank and you put fish in it well it's not ready for them because it doesn't have the beneficial bacteria colony built up in the filters to be able to turn their toxic waste products into something that's less toxic so that's what the cycle does it takes ammonia which is excreted by the fish and turns it into nitrite and it then turns that into nitrate and ammonia nitrate are very very toxic to fish they will kill a fish quickly and so those are really dangerous and then the end product though nitrate is much less dangerous and this can build up in the tank for up to like 10 or 20 ppm before it becomes a problem so you really need to make sure that your tank is cycled before you put your fish in it and that usually takes about a month and what you do is you get some while you first you need a test kit that tests for ammonia nitrate nitrate and pH and then you need pure clear ammonia and this is sometimes levels clearer ammonia at some times label is janitorial strength ammonia but basically you just want ammonia that has nothing added it's just pure ammonia so can't have any surfactants or anything like that when you shake it when you shake the bottle it should not bubble up like soap it should just you know maybe there are a couple small bubbles but it won't be foamy like a soap would so what you do is you just you set up your tank and everything ready but don't put the fish in yet and then you add about 2 ppm of the pyramid yeah and you let that sit for a long time and you wait until nitrites start to build up and then you know you keep adding the ammonia so it remains that about 2 ppm and your nitrites will continue to rise and then eventually they'll start to fall and then you'll start to see nitrate rising and then you know you keep adding ammonia to keep feeding the cycle so it continues and then eventually you should get to a point where you never see ammonia or nitrite in the tank at all when you test and you will always see nitrate and the only way to remove the nitrate is to do a big water change so when you see that when you see zero ammonia nitrite and you start to see a lot of nitrates you can do a big water change and then add your fish and of course just keep testing the water daily for the first few weeks to make sure that everything is going well and it's say for your fish but that means that you're cycled so that's one of the most important things that you need to do before you ever get your fish and I know this was just a really quick brief overview of the official cycling process but hopefully I will be making a video in the future that shows that process more in depth and I'll provide a link in the description of this video too for more information about how to do that in case you are confused or you need more information and also I have a video that explains the nitrogen cycle process in the aquarium and I'll put a link to that as well so you can learn more about it because that will help you understand the process a lot better and then lastly there is the issue of compatible tank mates for goldfish for goldfish it's really best if you keep them only with other goldfish and tank and especially try to keep them with other goldfish that have similar levels of disability like you wouldn't want to keep a bubble a goldfish with a commet goldfish because the bubble I would probably have a lot harder time getting the food and the comet would just gobble it all up right away and then the bubble I would starve and not be very healthy just to make it easier on yourself try to always set up your tank so that all the fish have the similar you know ability to find food because they'll just make it easier for you and for them so we're about other species are there any other species you can keep with your goldfish well no I mean there are but I don't recommend it I recommend keeping goldfish in species only a tank but if you want a little more variety I mean there's enough variety within the goldfish species but if you need more variety than that for some reason you can add new right snails which I actually have in my tank just to help scrape the tank sides clean of algae they do a pretty good job at that you can also add apple snails keep in mind the goldfish might nip at them so just you know watch for that you can also add bristlenose plecos they are they remain smaller as far as tacos go and they're much less aggressive also a lot of plecos can be very aggressive so don't just add any plaque oh especially not a common puck oh you want to stick with bristle nose only so those are good and also dojo or whether loaches can be a good addition so just keep in mind any additional creature that you add to the tank is gonna increase the bio load of the tank and make you need more space for those animals and they also may require special attention above and beyond with the goldfish needs some plecos for example they need some driftwood so they can rasp on it because it's part of their diet and they also might need you to feed them on veggie clips or something like that so yeah a lot of people like to get plecos because they can help with cleaning up the algae which is very true but keep in mind that they also require a little bit extra work too so it might not actually save you any work it might just make it so you're doing different work so that's about it and if you guys have any more questions you can always leave me a comment in the comment section below I always try to answer as many of those as I can so feel free to ask any questions and watch for more videos to come thanks for watching bye [Music]

Channel: Solid Gold Aquatics

Views: 1,132,004

Keywords: how, to, how-to, set, up, goldfish, fish, tank, aquarium, pond, filter, decoration, gravel, air, heater, UV, cycle, proper, right, correct, freshwater, coldwater, warm, water, fancy, single tail, double tail, carassius, auratus, flashofpink, solid gold, basic, care, guide, help, tutorial, advice, video, fishless, cycling, dechlorinator, air stone, pump, thermometer, sterilizer, need, substrate, barebottom, bare, bottom

Id: R4-oce1tVHc

Length: 29min 20sec (1760 seconds)

Published: Mon May 20 2013