So I got a little aquarium

zissou'smom

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It hasn't gotten here yet. When I was little we had a 40 gallon tank full of all kinds of fish but my mom was mainly in charge of that. I had carnival goldfish in little bowls later on, which my mom hated... and I know now why!

Anyway, I got a 4-gallon tank with a light and filter. I don't really want to get involved with the heater deal, so I am pretty much sticking to standard, hardy, goldfish. At least for now.

How many can be happy in a tank that small, just one or two? Are they school fish? I'm assuming not, anyway, I am happy either way.

I got a BiOrb from Petsmart, it hasn't gotten here yet.

Having never experienced cats and fish, what do I need to know? I can't really keep the aquarium too high off the ground, though I do have a very sturdy table for it.

What food is good for regular old goldfish? They're omnivores, right? Do you really need real plants? What kind, elodea? Snails?
 

starryeyedtiger

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www.aquaria.info - check out this site- it's SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO helpfull!!! I'm a member there (my sn's the same- i've learned a lot!) and Bryan (essay..) is a member as well and i think one of the advisors. It's like TCS but for fish- they're all very kind and helpfull!
 

arlyn

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Goldfish are too messy and grow too large for 4 gal.
4 gallons does not need to be heated for tropicals.
I keep a 5 gallon unheated that stays between 72 and 80 degrees and is just fine for small tropicals.

If you get some hardy live plants (anacharis are good and hardy) you can get away with 6 neons (or 6 white clouds) and an otocinclus.
 
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zissou'smom

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Originally Posted by Arlyn

Goldfish are too messy and grow too large for 4 gal.
4 gallons does not need to be heated for tropicals.
I keep a 5 gallon unheated that stays between 72 and 80 degrees and is just fine for small tropicals.

If you get some hardy live plants (anacharis are good and hardy) you can get away with 6 neons (or 6 white clouds) and an otocinclus.
Huh! Well I'm glad I asked then! Why doesn't it need heated if its that small?

Are neons/white clouds school fish? Do I need an otocinclus with them?


Yes i do not know anything about fish.
 
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zissou'smom

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Originally Posted by StarryEyedTiGeR

www.aquaria.info - check out this site- it's SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO helpfull!!! I'm a member there (my sn's the same- i've learned a lot!) and Bryan (essay..) is a member as well and i think one of the advisors. It's like TCS but for fish- they're all very kind and helpfull!
Woa. That site is really cool. So neons are tetras? Those are the ones I liked in the books but I didn't think I could get tropical ones
Yay!

makes new bookmark
 

sharky

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http://www.aquariumsolutions.org/

www.fishaholics.org

www.aquariumadvice.com

I would recommend white clouds ... three or five would be nice in a four gallon and no heat needed as they are considered both tropical and cold water
.... I have three and they are nt smart but nice and pretty to look at ..

neons and tetras should have heat and heaters for a 4 gallon likely will run you about the cost of the tank...
 

catsallover

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How about danios? I don't know if they need a heater or not, but they are fun to watch, stay small and come in longfinned, shortfinned, stripes and spots (yellow and black)...if they don't need a heater, they're fun
. They do need a lid, though
.
 

theimp98

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lol i had a small 2 gallon tank with 3 feeder gold fish, well they have gotten way to big for that tank, so i went and got a 10 gallon one.

i nevr thought that feeder gold fish that where like 3 for a dollar would get this big
 

oogieone

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I would put either 5 white clouds and a ghost shrimp in the tank. Or 5 zebra danios. Or a betta and a giant ramshorn snail. Any of these combos would be good for this tanl. NO GOLDFISH! The standard rule for goldfish is 1 to 10 gallons...unless you want to change the water every other day. They are so dirty...there is a reason they don't live long in a small bowl. I have had great luck with all 3 combos I mentioned. Try this website: http://www.aquariumfish.net/home.htm

<Whiteclouds
<betta
<giant ramshorn snail
<zebra danio
<ghost shrimp
 
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zissou'smom

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Since everybody and a lot of the links you've posted recommend the white clouds... I will probably get them. They're cute I am warming up to schools. Danios are a close second!

What does the little shrimpling do? Does he clean stuff or eat poop or just be ugly
 

oogieone

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He (shrimpy) cleans up the bottom of the tank...
He basically eats any little piece of food that the fish don't before it rots. And, they are interesting to watch...check 'em out on the website...it'll tell you about them...
 
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zissou'smom

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The tank comes with some weird ceramic gravelly stuff and a filter underneath will Shrimpy be happy on that?

Oh, and I do know goldfish aren't happy in fishbowls... I was like 12 and after looking even a little at this stuff before buying an aquarium I knew that wasn't okay I just didn't know 4 gallons was still too small! No wonder they never seem very happy. Mine always lived a couple years but still
 

sharky

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A giant snail would be better ... some shrimp well are fragile
 

oogieone

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Ghost shrimps are extremely easy to care for...They miight even breed in your tank....which is always fun to see. It is commonly available in most pet shops. Usually ranging in price of 20 to 59 cents. The giant ramshorn snail is actually a little harder to care for because you have to feed it a algae tablet unless you have a large amount of algae for it to eat (you won't unless you don't want to see the fish...LOL) The ghost shrimp will eat the leftovers from the other fish so no special feeding is needed. Gravelly stuff should be fine on the bottom for Shrimpy...but I would put some kind of little decoration that he can hide inside on the bottom...nothing large is needed because they are very small sized...

The giant ramshorn snail is cool to watch as well...but then you wouldn't want any plants in the tank because they will eat any in the tank and snails...well they multiply...LOL Like little aquatic rabbits...so you may have to get rid of some periodically so the tank doesn't get overstocked...although the giant ramshorn isn't as prone to that as the other types of snails...in my experience (I have kept fish for years)
 

sharky

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Originally Posted by Oogieone

Ghost shrimps are extremely easy to care for...They miight even breed in your tank....which is always fun to see. It is commonly available in most pet shops. Usually ranging in price of 20 to 59 cents. The giant ramshorn snail is actually a little harder to care for because you have to feed it a algae tablet unless you have a large amount of algae for it to eat (you won't unless you don't want to see the fish...LOL) The ghost shrimp will eat the leftovers from the other fish so no special feeding is needed. Gravelly stuff should be fine on the bottom for Shrimpy...but I would put some kind of little decoration that he can hide inside on the bottom...nothing large is needed because they are very small sized...

The giant ramshorn snail is cool to watch as well...but then you wouldn't want any plants in the tank because they will eat any in the tank and snails...well they multiply...LOL Like little aquatic rabbits...so you may have to get rid of some periodically so the tank doesn't get overstocked...although the giant ramshorn isn't as prone to that as the other types of snails...in my experience (I have kept fish for years)
true ghosts can be hardy... so far only a female betta ate them...
... Could you tell my Giant rams not to breed ???..lol.. DO if you bring outside plants( ie from the pet shop rinse them and make sure no snails enter... At one pt I had four kinds of snails in my tank....
 

oogieone

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LOL...snails...those little buggers are sneaky... I have seriously washed off plants and thought I was fine...then...about a month later...there were little baby snails... but that's okay they are fun to watch! But when they die (the big ones) they really smell horrible!

 
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zissou'smom

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It's here!

I followed all the directions and everything. I am confused about one thing though. It came with two little packets of chemicals, one to get rid of chlorine, which I just put in, and another that is supposed to help the "biological filtration"
of the special gravel stuff. It says to add the first one today (which I did) and the second one after 24 hours. Then it says to not add any fish for 24 hours.

Does that mean, add the second packet and the fish tommorrow, or add the second packet tommorrow and the fishies on Wednesday?

Also I am going to Petco today so that I can be all ready whenever I go buy my fish... (Are they okay at fish? I will have a real hard time going anywhere else) What do I need?
 

sharky

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Originally Posted by Zissou'sMom

It's here!

I followed all the directions and everything. I am confused about one thing though. It came with two little packets of chemicals, one to get rid of chlorine, which I just put in, and another that is supposed to help the "biological filtration"
of the special gravel stuff. It says to add the first one today (which I did) and the second one after 24 hours. Then it says to not add any fish for 24 hours.

Does that mean, add the second packet and the fish tommorrow, or add the second packet tommorrow and the fishies on Wednesday?

Also I am going to Petco today so that I can be all ready whenever I go buy my fish... (Are they okay at fish? I will have a real hard time going anywhere else) What do I need?
What is the name of the second packet ... there is only one that truely makes a biofilter immediately ... and you add fish when you add it
 

oogieone

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I would wait 24 hours to add the fish from the time you put the second packet in. Bascially what that does is give your aquarium a head start to build up beneficial bacterias that will "Cycle the tank". That means that you are establishing a bacteria bed in your biological filter to remove the toxins that the fish's metabolism creates. If you do not do this then there will be a toxic spike in the aquarium. Especially if you add the entire stock of fish at once. Personally, I would start with 3 small fish and then add more over time until you are up to the limit of the tank. Don't put too many fish in at once or you could end up with new tank syndrome...hopefully that helps!

Is it this stuff? >
 

sharky

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Originally Posted by Oogieone

I would wait 24 hours to add the fish from the time you put the second packet in. Bascially what that does is give your aquarium a head start to build up beneficial bacterias that will "Cycle the tank". That means that you are establishing a bacteria bed in your biological filter to remove the toxins that the fish's metabolism creates. If you do not do this then there will be a toxic spike in the aquarium. Especially if you add the entire stock of fish at once. Personally, I would start with 3 small fish and then add more over time until you are up to the limit of the tank. Don't put too many fish in at once or you could end up with new tank syndrome...hopefully that helps!

Is it this stuff? >
You have the traditional way to set up .... the other is to use a non fish cycle ... or use the immediate bio filter ... called BIO SPIREA it runs about 15 bucks a packet
 
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