New fish tank, how long do i leave it before fish? Temperature? Newbie...help!?

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Tallulah

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I got a fish tank for my birthday yesterday and I have set it up with the filter and solutions included in the starter kit. Do I need to leave it a week before I add my fish? Do I need to do anything else before I put them in? The filter seems to be working ok, should I leave it running the whole time?
I am only getting two little goldfish but what temperature should the water be and should I get a thermometer?
I want to get a strip of lights for in the tank too, will that be OK for the fish? Will it make the water too hot?

How far should I fill the tank to? I have done it to two inches below the rim of the tank at the moment but it looks as if I should add a bit more so they have more room to swim!

Basically, I am a newbie and would be grateful for any tips:-D
It is a 17 litre tank and I was told to have maximum of two fish in it? I want small ones so thought goldfish would be the best option but I have heard a lot from people saying they can grow to be huge. I do have a pond in the garden with koi and other fish so if they did get too big I would move them into there.

I have put some nutrafin cycle stuff in already and some aqua plus tap water conditioner, and the filter seems to be making bubbles nicely.
It does have a lid also:-D
 
The water should be room temperature and depending on how cold the water was you put into it should take around 24 to 48 hours.

Does it come with a lid? What size tank do you have?

If I could make a suggestion as to the type of goldfish, I'd get the feeder kind, that way you will be saving a couple.

Remember, the one thing that kills fish is over feeding. Try and get a snail or a scavenger fish to help clean the tank.
 
You need to "cycle" the tank first, get some ammonia/nitrite/nitrate/pH test kits and do a fishless cycle.

1. Setup the tank, filter, bubbler decorations and so on, let it run for 3 days.

2. check ammonia/nitrite/nitrate/pH levels first and write down the results, add fish food as you would if you had fish and just leave the food to decompose, feed the "tank" every day until you have seen a spike in ammonia/nitrite/nitrate and the a dive, when it is finished you should let the tank sit for a day and then get the fish.

3. things to remember:
* this is a FISHLESS cycle, no fish are envolved.
* Leave the filter capacity at full blast,
* Do not disturb the tank except for turning on and off the lights, if some of the water evaporates it is ok to top it off.
* add food as you would in a normal tank with fish
* Only add 1-2 fish at a time, but if they are aggressive fish ( cichlids ) then add the tanks inhabitants in a few days, because the fish will start to mark their territories, don't worry, this doesn't apply to Goldfish.


If you have further questions on how to cycle the tank email me
 
Just giving you a heads up, your questions will probably get a lot of negative comments. People on here do not like the fact of keeping goldfish in tanks. First think you need to do is cycle your tank completely, this will tank some time. Usually about 4 to 6 weeks, but there are ways to decrease that time. Just look up on the internet the best way to cycle a tank. Goldfish are cold water fish. What size tank did you get? You should keep the filter running the entire time while it cycles. You can fill the tank a little more. The best advice I can say is make sure you do your research before purchasing any fish.
 
If the tank is small, it's not suitable for Goldfish. They are large growing and very messy fish needing far more tank than they're given credit for, in an ideal world a bare minimum of 20 US gallons each!

Your tank needs to go through the nitrogen cycle before it's ready for fish, this process takes 2-6 weeks or so, get a cup of tea and make yourself comfy and have a read through these:
http://www.theaquariumwiki.com/The_Nitrogen_Cycle
http://www.fishforums.net/index.php?showtopic=113861
http://www.practicalfishkeeping.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?t=5322

Fishkeeping is a huge learning curve when you first start off, and doing a ton of research BEFORE you buy ANY fish will save you a lot of heartache when you jump the gun and they get sick and die.

Trawl the web, read some books, do your research first:
http://www.theaquariumwiki.com/Beginning_Fishkeeping
http://www.theaquariumwiki.com/Stocking_a_Peaceful_Community_Tank

As for the equipment on your tank, the filter should be running 24/7 and only off during partial water changes (should be done weekly). A thermometer is essential, temperature fluctuations can kill fish. A heater is needed for tropical fish. What make of tank is it?
 
you should have had a bigger aquarium to start with, because for newer people it is easier to care for something like a 55 gallon aquarium.
But either way, good thing you got a lid, and the aquarium should cycle for quite awhile without fish
(about 1-2 weeks)
 
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