Can someone help a newbie (I'm not sure whether I trust Pets at Home's advice)

[PegPolkadot]

We have purchased a 28l tank kit today (no heater).

I have cleaned it with clean water (no detergents) and the filter is running with no fish in there. We have also put in half a small cap of Tapsafe (which didn't seem like much). I have also given the gravel a good clean before putting in but am a bit paranoid I didn't do it enough- the water isn't cloudy though.

We have been told we can put 3 tiny fish in next week. A week later I can take down a sample of water out of the tank which they will test for me. If it is ok we can have 3 more tiny fish (sorry I dont know what they were called).

I have a gravel vac which I am going to use once a week and change 1/3 of the water at the same time.

Should I get a real plant or a plastic one? Salesman put the fear of god in to me about getting a snail infestation!

Also is he right saying to just feed them goldfish food as they are not tropical?

Is there anything obvious I should know??

Hi,

from my memory of such things goldfish food is fine and we had living pondweed, which is supposed tohelp oxygenate the water and our fish ate it when they were peckish, too.

But am hoping someone else comes along so your new fish's welfare isn't just down to me! ;-)

Bad news...28 litres is way, way too small for even one goldfish. They need massive tanks and ideally ponds. If you put goldies in that you will have a constant battle trying to keep the water clean, and your fish will either outgrow it very quickly or die. The good news is you can go tropical - again, not many fish, but you will have room for a few small ones. You will need a heater but they are easy to fit, and tropical are much easier to keep than cold water.

Next week will be too soon for fish though - google "cycling a fish tank" to see what you need to be doing.

Or are you talking about white cloud mountain minnows, not goldfish? They will be fine in a tank that size - but next week is still too soon!

1st bit of advice 'don't listen to advice from pets at home'

2nd bit of advice- take the tank back to the shop as it is not big enough for gold fish.

3rd bit of advice- it can take around 4 weeks to cycle a tank before adding fish.

If the 'tiny fish' are white cloud mountain minnows, then please don't get them. They are very active and you need a much bigger tank.

Marne sums it up. Never listen to a local fish shop and especially never to P@H. Get yourself a bigger tank, this one is just about big enough for one betta fish if you add a heater. Cycling can take 4-8 weeks, so be prepared for a long wait.

Also, that advice regarding snail infestation is bollox. Live plants are always better than plastic ones. Just wash the plants beforehand, or even better, get them from reputable places and not P@H.

The fish we were looking at are tiny - not goldfish - which is fine. We were told we would be able to have 6.

Shall we leave the tank longer than a week then? I certainly don't want any to die. We were told it would be ok as long as we put them in in 2 batches so to speak.

Out of interest we were told we could put 3 goldfish in there 'at a push'

I may go elsewhere for fish.

Should I go to an independent shop to get the fish?

We ended up at Pets at Home to look at how big tanks were and because it is a 5 minute drive from our house we ended up buying one because we liked it and fits where we wanted to put it.

I would rather have a real plant, I'm glad to hear I won't be overrun with snails. Should I just wash it in tap water and it is ok to put in at the same time as the fish or before?

Also, he said not to bother getting a water testing kit as they were £30

Should I get one?

Oh dear, please don't go back to that place, the advice you were given is so wrong.

Have a read through this especially the section about fishless cycling. You need to get a source of ammonia, you can get this at homebase or Nisa stores. You basically need to build up enough good bacteria to support your fish, otherwise they will most likely suffer often fatal ammonia and nitrite poisoning. The link will explain.

Test kits are an absolute MUST. Get it on Amazon for half the price. You should never have Ammonia or Nitrite over 0.25, hence you need to test, especially in the beginning because you need to react if it goes over, as in doing huge water changes.

If you know any fishkeeper close to you, you could ask for mature media. This is the foam in the filter. If you know someone, they can safely donate you up to 1/3 of theirs to put into your filter and you are basically cycled. If you are close to me (I'm in Staffordshire), I'm happy to donate some to you if you like. Some independent fish shops are also happy to give you some of their media, so you have a massive kick start.

One goldfish needs at least 140l, depends on what kind. Common ones need 180l for one single fish, so please don't put them in a bowl. If you want to keep that small tank, please consider getting a siamese fighter fish (betta). One male will be the perfect tank inhabitant and they are beautiful with so much personality. Mine always comes to the glass to say hello to me.

Real plants can be washed under tap water. Snail eggs are in a jelly substance, so just make sure there are none. If you ever have snails, get some assassin snails and they will eat them and assassins don't breed as much as pest snails.

It might all sound daunting now, but don't be put off. Fishkeeping is so rewarding. I started off like you and had no clue, put all the fish into a small tank as P@H advised, they all died and then I realized what was going on. Read up on cycling, learnt and made it all better. I started with one tiny tank more or less exactly a year ago. I know have eight! So beware, it's addictive

I now have eight. Sorry to early in the morning to watch spelling...

Agree with others, go somewhere else! You'd need a crowbar to get 3 goldfish in a tank that size, they get massive. P@H strikes again with its rubbish advice.

It is very small, I personally would not keep fish in a tank that small but if you are going to give it a go then get a heater and a single male betta.

You will definitely need a test kit, especially for a tank that size. Water parameters can change very quickly in a small tank. You may also need to do more than one water change a week.

Thanks for the help and advice.

We will be really happy with the tiny fish. I thought they were lovely. Am I to presume when I was told I could have 3 each of 2 different breeds that was wrong and I should get 6 the same?

I don't really want a massive tank until I know what I am doing (fish keeping is clearly 99% water/bacteria keeping). I wonder what sort of fish they would recommend you keep in those awful Spongebob/Scooby Doo tanks

MammaPizza- I will order the test off Amazon thanks for the link. By coincidence I am in Stafford.

I am beginning to wonder how my poor goldfish in a bowl i had as a child ever survived poor thing.

Yes, shoaling fish should be kept in groups of 6 or more. They can get scrappy to sort out the pecking order so a larger group spreads out any aggression and prevents bullying. But shoaling fish do need lots more space than 28 litres, keeping them in cramped conditions can exacerbate aggression problems.

You could just about keep a bunch of tulips in one of those SpongeBob tanks. Sadly there are no restrictions on what can be sold as a fish tank so just because something is labelled as one, doesn't mean it is suitable for keeping fish in. Which pees me off no end because people get ripped off spending loads of money on something that is basically a fancy vase.

Just discovered there is a specialist fish and acquarium shop in town. I will go there for further advice and fish when the time comes

Good plan :) Always double-check advice from someone who is going to make money out of you though, I've heard some shockers even from specialist places.

I will go and suss them out this week. They can't actually legitimately sell me anything other than a net as I have everything else and it is too early to put fish in

How great is that, I'm in Cannock so only 10 minutes away. You are welcome to visit and I'll give you media so you are instantly cycled. Busy at the moment, but will pm you later, if you want to meet up sometime this week. I'm also in Stafford occasionally, but if you want to come round and see my tanks and I can explain everything in detail (if you wish).

I assume you are talking about Fishworld in Stafford? They are good, never had any dead fish from there. Got my betta there, dwarf rainbows, harlequins.

If you don't mind travelling a bit further Ripples is also good. They have four shops in the area and all people working there have own fish tanks and they will be very supportive. They have pictures hanging everywhere from seller's tanks. You will be in good hands with them.

Great MamaPizza!

It was Fishworld I'd managed to find.