Goldfish Aquarium Setup
If you want upgrade your goldfish bowl into a suitable goldfish tank or you are buying your first tank setup, you are going to need to obtain the following goldfish supplies from your local pet store.
Goldfish Aquarium
Depending on how many fish you want to buy you will need 10 to 20 gallons per fish if you want them to thrive and grow to their full potential. You can get away with buying a 10 gallon aquarium and add two or three small goldfish but realize that you will eventually need a larger goldfish tank as they will out grow their tank. If this is what you choose to do, you will also need to perform water changes more often to keep ammonia level and goldfish waste to a minimum. If you want to have more fish in your 10 gallon fish tank, you should consider buying a different breed of fish that don’t produce as much waste and don’t fully grow too large.
Substrate
Goldfish love to dig around and scavenge for food at the bottom of their tank. having a substrate of rocks, gravel or sand is not mandatory but it will make the tank look nicer and make your goldfish happier. If you do buy a substrate buy small rounded gravel so your goldfish are able to move it around in their search for food. Sand is a bad idea because the constant digging will throw sand particles into the water and make your goldfish aquarium cloudy and appear dirty. Rounded rocks are ok but your goldfish won’t be able to help clean rotting food particles from the bottom of your fish tank. Always remember to rinse and clean any thing you place into your goldfish aquarium, including your fish tank gravel substrate; using warm water only, no soap or cleaners.
Dechlorinator
Most people don’t have access to water other than tap water and even if you use a water filter system, chlorine can still get through. Bottled water is usually clean of chlorine but the cost and negative environmental factors don’t make it an ideal solution. To be safe you should buy a bottle of dechlorinator and add it anytime you do a water change to your tank. If you plan in advance, you can fill a bucket with tap water, let it sit a day or two and allow the chlorine to evaporate. The bucket that you use for water changes should only be used as your fish tank water change bucket.
Goldfish Cleaning Supplies
These supplies will make your routine goldfish aquarium maintenance much easier as well as making it easier on your goldfish. What ever you choose to use to clean your tank, make sure the supplies are clean and only used for cleaning your goldfish tank. How to Clean a Goldfish Aquarium
- Water Change Bucket
- Siphon Hose
- Algae Scrubber
- Fish Tank Net or Skimmer
Decorative Aquarium Ornaments
Your goldfish like places to hide and will feel more comfortable in an aquarium that has a few of these ornaments. You should choose fake or live aquatic plants, or ornaments that you can buy at your local pet store. If you choose to add other objects, make sure they are cleaned thoroughly, don’t contain any substances that will leach into the water that will kill your goldfish, or sharp edges that your goldfish can get hurt on. If there is any doubt about what your ornament is made out of, don’t put it in your goldfish aquarium. Selecting Goldfish Decoration
Aquarium Hood Cover
Goldfish have been known to jump out of their tanks and if you are not there at the time to save them, well, they die. An aquarium hood will cover will ensure that if they jump out of the water, they will stay in the tank and very much alive. I wouldn’t be too concerned about your goldfish knocking itself out on the hood cover and then falling back into the water and drowning. I’m not a scientist but I’m not sure it works like that. For more info on Your Aquarium Hood Cover.
Aquarium Light
An aquarium light is something you should consider for several reasons. The fist reason is so you can see and display your goldfish. The other reason is if you have live aquatic plants that require light. Goldfish will nibble on live aquatic plants, making it important that the plants can grow faster than the goldfish can eat them. If light is required, buy a light otherwise the aquatic plants will never amount to much.
Aquarium Filter
If you own a smaller tank with several goldfish, a mechanical filter is almost a must unless you are okay with changing your aquarium water almost daily. To learn about mechanical filter options, read more of our articles on aquarium filtration.
Water Test Kits
You will need an ammonia test kit and pH test kit.
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First, you might not need the heater. The water should be in the low 70s. Those 4 Oranda will eventually grow large, eat a lot and produce a lot of waste, so, you are right about needing to upgrade. Right now, you should buy an ammonia test kit and test the water several times a week. if the levels are high, change the water. When you find yourself changing the water a couple times a week or always see high ammonia levels, you should get a larger tank. Another tip, don’t over feed them since that will add more waste into the water. Limit them to three or four flakes a piece a few times a day.
Did you remember to rinse the gravel first. Sometimes there is fine dust in the gravel which needs to be rinsed out. You might need to do a water change too.
My goldfish tank is claudy. I just started 3days ago. I do have filter and everything but still claudy
Correction. 10G tank. Sorry
I recently brought 4 Oranda’s goldfish, they are about 1″ right now, and I have them on 4G tank, with filter and heater, and airpump. When should I start thinking about “Tank Upgrade” ?
When you say baby goldfish, i assume you mean they are less than an inch long. While you should have 10 gallons for each full grown goldfish, these little guys don’t need that much space yet. It’s good that you plan to upgrade when they start to grow larger. For four goldfish, I recommend not getting a bowl but at least a three gallon tank but if you can, get a 10 gallon starter tank. Essentially you want something with a filter. If you get a smaller tank, just know you need to change the water often. get an ammonia test kit to help you know when you need to change some of the water. You should be fine with a small tank as long as you change the water when it needs to be. best of luck.
I’m very excited i just got 4 baby goldfish and i would like to know what size tank i should get them.. well i want a small one at least for this month untill i can get a bigger one. What size tank should i be able to get by with? Someone please help me
If your light is so strong it stresses the goldfish, try getting a lower wattage bulb from the pet store or a cheaper solution is to provide some hiding places for your goldfish so it can hang out in until it can adjust to the light changes. Depending on how warm your light gets, you could try to diffuse the light with a light blue/green/purple transparent film paper. Only do this if it won’t start a fire.
I have an aquarium light, but everytime I turn it on my goldfish starts to dart around the tank and hit the walls so I turn it off because I am afraid he’ll hurt himself. Should I leave it on so he’ll get used to it or abandon it altogether?