A Big Mistake?

[ForTheKids]

I just bought my Daughter some fish today, at Walmart.
No one there knew anything about them, of course. I decided not to use a normal fishbowl, as I have in the past, so the fish could have oxygen...

So I got a 1-gallon tank, with a light and an air filter stone and pump.
The problem is, I bought FOUR small (one inch) Fantails.

I knew NOTHING about fish, except that they always die, and the longest I've had one, was almost a year, from a carnival.

I set it all up and put the fishes in today, (I did use water dechlorinator first, it said "makes water ready immediately.)
then read the internet, to try and make the fish last a little longer this time.
But everything I'm reading says these fish grow to 6 inches or so, and it looks like I'm way way way overstocked, even for ONE fish!

I have no more money to spend on fish now. I already spend too much, and now I'm regretting it.

Are they going to die soon? Did I make a big huge mistake?

Thanks for any advice...

 

[JenCliBee]

IMO 1 gallon tank isnt big enough for any fish

also u need 2 take some of if not all these fish back save some money and get a much bigger tank

also... the tank isnt cycled so ur water stats are probably off the scale in this case yes they will die and probably sooner than l8r

sorry for the bad news

jen

oh and as far as the fish groeing 6 inches .... they could get much bigger 2

 

[Tolak]

Bring the four fish back, get a single betta. That is about all you can fit in a tank that size.

Read up on cycling; http/www.fishforums.net/content/Beginner...esource-Center/

For four fish like you have you will need a considerably larger tank.

 

[Aphotic Phoenix]

Unfortunately Goldfish are heavy waste producers, and even if the tank was large enough (which it unfortunately isn't)...the tank is also uncycled. A "cycled" tank has a colony of bacteria that has grown in the filter that helps convert toxic chemicals in fish waste into less toxic forms. Such a colony generally takes between 4-6 weeks to grow.

If possible I would recommend returning as much of the equipment you can, and consider going with a betta instead of goldfish. Please note though: Bettas should be kept in at least a 2.5 gallon, and do need a heater (they are a tropical fish). Since bettas breathe atmospheric oxygen, and are generally a bit hardy, they are probably the easiest fish to keep in a small tank. Small tanks are harder to maintain than bigger tanks because it's much harder to keep water parameters stable in small bodies of water.

 

[iankent]

sorry for the bad news! as already said though, best to do it all properly and you'll have your pets for years!

to TFF btw!

 

[ALEXF]

I would take it all back, Try to return the fish while they are still alive as well as the little tank. Explain to them that you just read up on them and saw that they would get to big and ask them if you can exchange the small 1 gallon for something bigger and come up with the difference (money from fish?) Good Luck.

 

[Aphotic Phoenix]

Just a quick note:

If you cannot return the one gallon tank, AND it already has a heater built in you can keep a betta in it, but many other people including myself would agree that they tend to be more active when kept tanks with more swim space. Keeping the betta at an appropriate tropical temp is very important because otherwise they become unhealthy, listless and depressed...their bodies aren't designed to function long term at sub-tropical temperatures.

Would recommend upgrading to a slightly larger tank 2.5 - 5 gallon if possible because that would allow addition of some other interesting inhabitants like shrimp or an apple/mystery snail.

 

[ALEXF]

if its the one gallon from walmart (there are only a few) that i think it is (sounds like it) it doesnt have a built in heater.

 

[Aphotic Phoenix]

Ah, yeah don't know anything about wal-mart kits. Admittedly when I first got my betta tank I didn't purchase a heater right away because my ambient room temp during the summer tends to hover in the high 70's, (and sometimes had to cool the tank via fan trick b/c my room gets very hot) but I purchased one as soon as temps at night started to lower. Most people however keep their homes in a much more pleasant (for humans) temperature range.

 

[ForTheKids]

Thanks everyone for your responses and suggestions!
It's what I thought you'd all say!

I have decided to get a way bigger tank, since my Daughter is already attatched to the fish. (we don't have to eat for the next week...it's ok! LOL!) And I'm going to a REAL petstore this time, so hopefully they can help me out.
They are still doing good in the 1-gal. tank yet, luckily. It got foggy yesterday, but it's clearer today.
This is more work than I thought it would be! Very technical! But we'll get the hang of it, I guess.

How many times to feed them a day, how much food to give, when and how to do the water replacement....I see different facts everywhere!

Thanks again everyone!

 

[ALEXF]

Thanks everyone for your responses and suggestions!
It's what I thought you'd all say!

I have decided to get a way bigger tank, since my Daughter is already attatched to the fish. (we don't have to eat for the next week...it's ok! LOL!) And I'm going to a REAL petstore this time, so hopefully they can help me out.
They are still doing good in the 1-gal. tank yet, luckily. It got foggy yesterday, but it's clearer today.
This is more work than I thought it would be! Very technical! But we'll get the hang of it, I guess.

How many times to feed them a day, how much food to give, when and how to do the water replacement....I see different facts everywhere!

Thanks again everyone!

Feed as much as they can consum in 3-5 minutes. I personally would sprinkle very little, then as it is all eaten a little bit more for a minutes. Fed at most once a day, You can actually feed the every other day and be ok but personally i just dont like to. With the little tank your going to want to do water changes daily, as goldfish are huge waste producers. Once you get the bigger tank you maybe able to do less frequent changes. I change about 40% of my water weekly at this point but my tank is also cycled. my ammonia levels never go above .25 ppm. how to get the water out is up to you, i personally use a gravel vac which you should be able to find at any petstore. You want to replace the water with declorinated water. The petstore also sells chemicals to declorinate it as well. I hope ive hit everything??? let us know if you have more questions or didnt understand something or yea. anything.

 

[Honeythorn]

You will need a tank at least four feet long for those goldfish. They grow to the size of a big orange. Seeing as you have four you will more than likely need a bigger tank than four feet eventually. You will also need an efficient filter to cope with the waste.. Goldfish eat a lot and crap a lot. Very messy fish. An external filter like an Eheim model would be a good idea .

 

[clos]

most fish only need to be fed once a day pick a time and stick to it and only as much that they can eat in a 2-3 minute time span what are you feeding them???

 

[OldMan47]

How to do a water change for a 1 gallon:
Use a turkey baster to remove half the water and suck up the waste from the bottom while you're at it. When the tank is half empty, treat some water with dechlorinator in any clean container and put it back in. Total time involved is maybe 5 minutes from start to finish. By doing half the water every day your fish wll survive for a few days until you can make better arrangements.