how long should i wait to put my gold fish in the new aquarium?
by Aquaboy on Tuesday, March 23rd, 2010 | 7 Comments
I just bought a new 10 gal. aquarium and i had my goldfish for about 3 mths in a fish bowl. This is my 1st aquarium and i put in the aqua safe and stress ezme in and the decorations. My goldfigh is in the fish bowl now. My tank had been running for about 3 hrs. now…How long do i wait?
you should cycle the tank first..google fishless cycling….cycling the tank with ur fish will kill it..cycling takes about 3-4 weeks minimum..this is a process which helps building useful bacteria, without which the fish will die of ammonia and nitrites…so have the fish for another month in the bowl..let your tank cycle..you can get a plant from a well established tank..tht will speed up the process..ask your pet store to suggest something..I know there is a chemical called ‘Cycle’..don’t know if it really works..best way is to wait for 3-4 weeks..while providing some source of ammonia in the tank…trust me..your fish will be a lot more happy…
honestly I would wait a whole week so all the new chemicals can evaporate and so you have good water quality!
Your tank is going through a normal maturing process usually referred to as “cycling”
You see, what keeps your tank clean are bacteria and these bacteria aren’t present yet in a new tank. What they do is “eat” ammonia and reduce it to nitrite to nitrate. It will take 2-4 weeks for your tank to fully cycle. You can probably add your fish right away, if you’ve been keeping them in a bowl they must still be small babies and won’t produce too much waste. The ammonia is what will feed the bacteria in the filter.
Once your tank is cycled ammonia will be unreadable by your test kit and nitrite will be as well. Nitrate is the end result of the “cycle” and will slowly increase with time. In low concentrations nitrate isn’t harmful to your fish but at levels above ~40ppm it will start to cause side effects such as stunting, redness or streaky fins, death of any new fish added to the tank, etc.
This is why fish hobbyists will recomend that you perform partial water changes of 10 percent weekly or 25 percent biweekly
Goldfish are large and messy fish, a ten gallon isn’t really sufficient but is a much better temporary home for your goldies than a bowl. An adult comet(2-3 year old) will reach well over a foot in length and live to be 30 years old or more. Fancy goldfish will be about 8-10 inches at adulthood and neither species belong in a tank that small long term. Comets require 50 gallons+ with a depth of more than 12″ back to front and fancy goldfish require 30 gallons+ to maintain their health.
Happy fishkeeping!
ediy: You can do something a long time without doing it well
I would let the tank run for at least 24 hrs before adding the fish
just to be one the safe side
I have been keeping fish for almost 40 yrs, I have never allowed a tank to “cycle” and the only times we ever monitored our water was for salt water tanks and for some real rare africans that my husband raised so I don’t get all this water analyzing, etc
keeping aquariums doesn’t have to be as complicated as some want to make it
good luck
well, since you have the fish already, it’s better to put him into the filtered new one then leaving him in the bowl where he would suffocate most likely anyway
here is an article on how to cycle your tank with fish in it
http://www.firsttankguide.net/cycle.php
also make sure you get in about 6-12 months a bigger tank for him, because he will outgrow the 10 gallon in no time
a 20+ gallon tank is required for 1 goldfish to start with
here is another article for you to read up on
http://www.fishlesscycling.com/articles/caring_for_your_goldfish.html
Does your bowl have gravel or any tank decorations in it? If so add them to the tank to introduce the bacteria needed. This results in a instant or very short very mild cycle. After that you can introduce the fish after the tank has been up and running for at least 24hrs. If you don’t have those its kind of a toss up. The ammonia is building up in the bowl anyway so the cycle is not likely to do the fish any more harm than being in the bowl would.
http://freshaquarium.about.com/cs/biologicalcycle/a/nitrogencycle.htm
Please before you put your fish in the tank read this site.
Your tank really needs to go thru the nitrogen cycle prior to adding your fish.
You need to wait until your water tests show 0 readings on ammonia and nitrites.