Goldfish - New Tank

[22Midnight]

Hi all.

Currently I have 3 fantail goldfish in a 65 litre (17 US gallon) tank, all very happy and healthy with upright dorsal fins etc. I realise the tank is most likely overstocked (though not yet as they are still growing ) and Im going to move them to a 240L tank (not sure what that is in gallons). So to my questions. As these are cold water fish I dont have a heater nor a thermomenter to measure water temperature is this important when doing the fishless cycle of the new tank where I will put some of the ceramic noodles from the old tank to the new tank? Also as I will be adding the used media will this shorten the cycle by much? One more question, is it safe to use sand as a substrate for goldfish as they do go along the bottom vacuuming away at bits and pieces sometimes?

Thanks to all who reply

 

[Katty]

I think they will be very comfy if you move them to the 240l (which is ~63 gallons) I'm betting you will get a debate here on whether goldies need heaters or not, but definitely get a thermometer. They can help you figure out and solve problems if something arises. Plus they're super cheap so there's no reason not to get one.

If you do the cycle in cold water without a heater, the cycle will take "longer" than usual. Not that there's really a standard out there for how long a cycle is really supposed to last. If you can afford a heater, get one for the cycling tank if you don't want to wait as long for it to cycle.

Adding mature media should shorten the cycle, but it depends on a bunch of other things too and you may not find any conclusive difference in cycling time

Long story: When I was cycling my 5.5 gallon, I tried adding old media to the filter and it really didn't seem to do anything for the first 2-3 weeks. Out of frustration from it taking so long, I cleaned my already established 10g (gravel vacuum and anything) and dumped the dirty water into the cycling 5.5 gallon. Three days later the cycle started slowly moving. Take my anecdote as you will

I dunno about the sand.

 

[22Midnight]

Thanks for the reply Katty. I hope they will be happy in the tank Typical of me I have yet another question lol! As the 240L will be under stocked (until the fishes grow up!) will the bacteria die off if there isn't enough fish waste after Ive fully cycled the tank?

 

[Essjay]

Do you intend keeping the 65 litre tank for other, new fish?

If you don't, then just put all the media from the 65 litre filter into the new tank's filter, add some of media that comes with the new filter to fill it up and move the fish over straight away. If you move all the media, you won't need to cycle the new filter. The bacteria you have in your current filter media has the amount of bacteria needed for the fish you have now. The fish will make the same amount of ammonia no matter what the size of the tank. After a couple of months, the bacteria will have spread out so there will be an even number of them in both the old and new media.
If any of the old media is sponges that are the wrong shape to fit in the new filter, just cut them up till they fit. Keep all the media wet, and don't take too long to move the media over.
Keep an eye on your ammonia and nitrite levels for a week in case any of the bacteria die off during the move.

 

[22Midnight]

Ahhh thankyou for the information! Eventually I will restock the 65L but Im not in a hurry and can always do a fishless cycle on it. Im sure the goldies will be happy to know they can move in straight away to their new home

 

[Essjay]

You could always take some of the old media back out of the goldfish filter in a few months time, if you can wait that long, to seed the filter in the 65 litre. If the old media is only a small proprtion of the media in the goldfish tank, you could even take it all back. But you'd need to bear in mind that the number of bacteria in the old media will be less than it is now. You'll have the same number of bacteria in total, but spread across the whole of the media in the goldfish tank - the old media will only hold a small portion of those bacteria.

 

[Curiosity101]

Oh and you really don't need a heater in a goldi tank. Specifically in an indoor goldi tank.

 

[22Midnight]

Excellent. I really didnt want to get a heater as they have been fine without one for a couple of years now, that and we dont get the freezing temperatures that others experience, here in Australia. It will probably be a while before I stock the 65L (Aiming for my first tropical )so I might take on the suggestion of taking some of the filter media back. Thankyou everyone for your input.

 

[dipsydoodlenoodle]

They won't need a thermometer; I'd only say get one if your tank will get realy really cold.

I was contemplating changing my gold fish tank to sand from gravel; however I read that it can damage their gills as they are always sifting through the gravel for food.

 

[JMcQueen]

I use a thermometer in my goldfish tank only so that I can keep guage accurately the temperature for water changes.

 

[Curiosity101]

I think a couple of people are using thermometer and heater interchangably.

Just so the OP is entirely clear...

Thermometer - Not a bad idea for just keeping an eye on the tank temp, JMcQueen makes a fair point for having one although equally you can match water temps by hand to within a degree or two so this is equally good.

Heater - the thing that actually produces heat and so isn't neccesary in a well heated house for coldwater fish.

 

[JMcQueen]

I have a heater spare that I used for cycling my tank. As I say, I use the thermometer to monitor the tank water for water changes then use a heater to bring the new water up to temperature quicker than leaving it standing. I know some people use the hot water tap but I have copper pipes and want to avoid this.

But, no, a heater isnt required for Goldies unless your house is in Alaska with no heating.

 

[Dinky Stig]

On a water change of 30% of the total volume of the tank or less, temperature matching isn't really necessary, in the wild the temperature of the water in which the fish live fluctuates all the time and is healthy, it stimulates breeding, and natural feeding routines etc.

And on the subject of the OP, there is no need to add a heater either, a thermometer maybe of benefit as it will give you an idea of how things are doing, but that shouldn't be a problem anyway unless you live in the arctic.

 

[22Midnight]

Thanks all for the info. I had a feeling sand may not be good for goldies. at least the change over from one tank to the next should be ok with the transferred media. I'll let you all know how it goes and post a pic when finished

 

[JMcQueen]

I use Eheim Substrat-Pro for my substrate. Its a ceramic media intended as a filter media but works equally well as a substrate. I like it as its a natural colour, rounded pellets which the fish seem to like rumaging through without harming them.

Its a bit on the expensive side though if you had a huge tank.