Guest fishyfishyfish Posted August 28, 2008 Share Posted August 28, 2008 Hi - i'm new to the site and new to keeping goldfish or in my case 3 1&half inch black moors, - 1 2&ahalf inch oranda, - and a smaller oranda (5 fish) in my 40 gal tank. It's been set up as tropical for 5 years but only in last few weeks has it been converted to cold water so i just had a couple of questions. 1 - With this stock (2 orandas & 3 black moors) how much water should i change and how frequently? 2 - Am i at the max of my stocking with 5 fish (albeit small but they will grow) or can i fit a couple more in? heres a pic of my tank thanks Matt 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member spencervirt Posted August 28, 2008 Regular Member Share Posted August 28, 2008 Hey matt! You have the perfect amount of fish in that tank. They will grow, and when they do, you might want to get a bigger tank. At the moment, your fine. Dont worry about upgrading until they are fully grown. As for water changes, 25% a week should do fine. those little goldfish wont make that much waste. The filter if sufficient will clear out a lot of any bad things in the tank because of how little waste they make. Fish keeping is a lot more complicated than people think so id suggest visiting kokos 10 steps to a healthy goldfish page and also reading up ALOT on the board. Grab some water test drops and watch your tank cycle. if you have any questions, feel free to send me a message. I know how confusing it is starting fishkeeping. Because of me not asking any questions I lost 3 beloved fish. if you do it all right, your fish can live for 20 years! Have fun with your little fish! Your tank is very nice by the way! 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member jyoti411 Posted August 28, 2008 Regular Member Share Posted August 28, 2008 (edited) Hi Matt, I love your tank...its beautifully spooky.. ..nice rocks... It is a very good practice to follow the 10 gallon per fancy goldfish rule..But 10 gallon is the minimum you can provide, which means one goldfish can end up using more..there are members here who keep 1 goldfish in a 50 gallon...Like you say..the goldies you have are small but they will grow...and to help avoid stunted growth they need space..goldfish are very messy and so bigger space is always better...In a 40 gallon tank, I would not recommend more than 3 fancy goldfish..that way they will have enuf space to swim and grow and also there will be less mess...What kind of filtration are you using??..For goldfish it is always recommended to have a filter that is rated 10 times higher than the capacity of your tank...In your case a filter that circulates 400gph..And definitely aerate the tank with an airstone.. you could have 5 of them for now...but I would really recommend you to start looking for 65-75 gallon tank for all the 5.. ..otherwise this tank actually is overstocked which is very bad for goldfish... ..they don't stay healthy at all..the first rule to healthy goldfish is not overstocking...most of us beginners make that mistake.. but I am glad you are starting off with a 40 gallon and the tank looks awesome...Plan on less number of goldies and a possibility to go bigger even with the small number.. take care.. Edited August 28, 2008 by SunshineGurl 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member dfernandez77 Posted August 28, 2008 Regular Member Share Posted August 28, 2008 Matt, First, let me wish you a sincere welcome. You have good questions - and getting, and following up on the right answers will make your goldfish keeping experience a lot more enjoyable. And no offense to the other kind folk who provided you with answers, but I think they are trying not to scare you away from keeping goldfish. Now, you're not a kid and you're a guy - so I'll give you answers guy style. You have the perfect amount of fish in that tank. They will grow, and when they do, you might want to get a bigger tank. At the moment, your fine. Dont worry about upgrading until they are fully grown. Start looking at craigslist, Big Al's Online, or wherever. You should have at least 20 more gallons for that many fish. Upgrade, or they will never be fully grown - you don't want stunted fish.. As for water changes, 25% a week should do fine. those little goldfish wont make that much waste. The filter if sufficient will clear out a lot of any bad things in the tank because of how little waste they make. Nice tank by the way. And I don't see anything that suggests that there is enough filtration for a fully stocked (over stocked actually) 40 gallon goldfish tank. You need a minimum turnover of at least 400 gallons per hour. The tank size rating on filters is way off when it comes to keeping goldfish. Multiply the gallons in your tank by 10, check the gallon per hour flow rate of your filter (with media), and make sure the GPH meets the calculated number. You should probably be changing 60% of your water, once a week, for the waste and growth potential you've got. Plan on less number of goldies and a possibility to go bigger even with the small number.. SunshineGurl is right on this note. 5 Fancies, fully grown (assuming they would not be stunted), in a 40 gallon tank would be like shaking 5 ping-pong balls in a half gallon jug. Your little fishies could all be the size of softballs, excluding fins, given the chance and environment to grow to full potential. I just uploaded a test vid from my flip cam. It's just 2.5 fancies in a 30 gallon tank. The tiny fish is genetically predisposed to being small, a year ago they were both about 2 inches long including fins. See how now they are a little cramped for space? And they are still not fully grown. Imagine 5 goldies the size of the big ones in my tanks with only 25% more space and decorations to navagate around. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pA7PlMxc4gQ Once again - welcome, and good luck. Keep us updated, share your pictures and stories of upgrades. I hope a year from now you'll be showing off 5 huge, healthy, goldies. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member Hidr Posted August 28, 2008 Regular Member Share Posted August 28, 2008 Daniel gave you great advice. All I wanted to add was in the mean time get the filteration for that tank you have it can be used on the new tank and do lots of water testing you may need to do at least twice a week 50% water changes till you have them in a proper size tank. Anouther thought if you feel it well be a while is to move some to a rubbermaid or take them back to the pet shop. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest nimajneb Posted August 28, 2008 Share Posted August 28, 2008 Matt,so I'll give you answers guy style. Love it - Koko's is definitly oestrogen friendly.... not that I mind that of course before handbags come flying at my face! 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member Quasi Posted August 28, 2008 Regular Member Share Posted August 28, 2008 Matt,so I'll give you answers guy style. Love it - Koko's is definitly oestrogen friendly.... not that I mind that of course before handbags come flying at my face! River stones are more probable (easier to throw) 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member heidiinatree@yahoo.ca Posted August 28, 2008 Regular Member Share Posted August 28, 2008 Matt,so I'll give you answers guy style. Love it - Koko's is definitly oestrogen friendly.... not that I mind that of course before handbags come flying at my face! River stones are more probable (easier to throw) we need an emoto with a swinging hand bag just for you 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest fishyfishyfish Posted August 28, 2008 Share Posted August 28, 2008 Thanks to everyone for the answers - my filtration is 200 litre containing 1/3 carbon 1/3 cintered glass 1/3 biotube's media, & i do 50% water changes twice weekly, now i'm not stingy and i will put the goldfish's wellfare first (but i dont like spending money if i dont need to as my other hobby involves obscenely tuned jap cars cars, and i like to save all my money for that) but with this amount of water changing do i need to also upgrade my filtration?? Obviously i will if i need to. I have always had this filtration for the last few years when i had cichlids and also it used to be brackish before that, i never had a fatality but i've heard goldfish are harder to care for than tropical. (i assumed it to be the opposite when i ventured out and bought some goldfish the other day) Heres a pic of my tank as of last month when i had my green terrors, aaah it's much more relaxing watching a group of oranda's peacefully going about their business and not trying to kill each other like the cichlids!!! :-) and my lovely dovii 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest fishyfishyfish Posted August 28, 2008 Share Posted August 28, 2008 p.s. is it normal for black moors to just lay at the bottom of a tank motionless?? i've noticed this over the last couple of days when i walk in from work they are just sat at the bottom but when i put food in they spring into action, they were very lively in the fish store?? Thanks 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Admin koko Posted August 28, 2008 Admin Share Posted August 28, 2008 They might be doing that if the tank hasnt fully cycled yet. Since you just switched the tank, what is the water quality like? Amm, nitrites and nitrates? Oh and how long have they been in this new tank, they might be in shock too 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member Hidr Posted August 28, 2008 Regular Member Share Posted August 28, 2008 Yes you well still need 400 gph. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest fishyfishyfish Posted August 29, 2008 Share Posted August 29, 2008 They might be doing that if the tank hasnt fully cycled yet. Since you just switched the tank, what is the water quality like? Amm, nitrites and nitrates?Oh and how long have they been in this new tank, they might be in shock too It's been 4 weeks since i took the green terrors out and turned off the heater, i've cleaned the filter and tank out in between but only a rinse and wipe nothing major. The tanks been running as tropical for 5 years? It was a couple of weeks after that i put the goldfish in?? Does it need cycling all over again when the heat drops? 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member Hidr Posted August 29, 2008 Regular Member Share Posted August 29, 2008 Only way to really know is to test your water. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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