Annadvn

Last night, whilst patrolling craigslist for the next fish tank deal, there was a fish tank with 5 goldfish free. So obviously i jump on it and send the guy an email asking if its still available and give him my phone number so he can ring it and i will come straight over and pick the tank and fish up.

So he rings back and i drive straight over the the blokes house to collect them.

I arrive and ring the door bell and the bloke answers and there on the floor is the tank, drained so there is about 2-3" of water in the bottom with the decorations and fish in the tank. So the man picks up the tank and puts it straight into the back of the truck. I don't really like moving tanks with water in and especially fish still in! So i drive home very slowly (took 15 mins to get to his house and 30mins home!)

Get back to my place and see if the tank is still in one piece, it is. I pick up the tank with the husbands help and move it into the house, whilst carrying it into the house the smell of amonia is trying to make me puke

I tested the water with test strips (not accurate but the nose was telling me the ammonia is high) 5 nitrates, 5 nitrites, no ammonia test.

So start looking more closely at the tank (the man was desperate to get it out of the house didn't even have chance to look at anything!) i see 5 common goldfish about 5" in length, loads of fake plants, some sea shells, and gravel that is red, orange, white and brown in colour. No heater (thats good) a filter that has no filter media in ( ) and a working light. I decide to tank tank measurements to see what size tank and it turns out to be a 20g high.

I set to work filling the tank up with water, dumping extra prime in cause of the ammonia and notice the bits of white gravel move around, i have a closer look and discover its uneaten food. So fill the tank up then empty it out doing a thorough gravel vac. Refill the tank and dump more prime in! Go to bed and sleep.

Sorry for the long story, if your still with me i have a few questions:

I have never had goldfish before, i know the tank they are in is too small - but they will have to suffer (with frequent water changes) until spring arrives and they can find a pond and be happy.

What should they be fed as i know surface food and flakes makes them more prone to swim bladder issues?

Is there anything else i need to know about goldfish to keep them happy other than they are little pigs and very messy?

I promise to post picture but on a lunch break right now and do not have time, i will post some this evening!

Anna

Shawnie

hmmm making them suffer? maybe thats not a good phrase of words LOL...in that size tank, with the size you mentioned they are, im sure they are stunted or internal organs are having issues with that size tank...you dont even have a spare 30g laying there? otherwise, you will be doing 2-3 water changes a week not ...maybe give them to your LFS or someone with a tank for them? thats going to be a long winter in a 20g high for 5 goldies that are 5inches in length...

all my goldies were fed floating hikari goldie pellets and chunks of fresh shrimp...

Lucy

Great rescue Anna. Not ideal, the 20g, but considering how the guy kept them, you've done very well by them.
Best of luck.

bolivianbaby

Congratulations on the rescue! Gotta love Craigslist-I bet you'll find a good deal on a bigger tank to keep them in until spring Until then, at least they'll be in safer water. Please keep us posted on their progress.

gremlin

A floating pellet would probably be best. That way, any that they don't eat right away can be fished out and dried for the next feeding. No more food floating around in the gravel. You may also want to consider removing (or reducing) the gravel to make vacuuming the bottom of the tank easier. Goldies don't really need it, and they have a bad habit of sucking on gravel to get the moss of and getting gravel stuck in their mouths. As for housing, If you don't have a larger tank, do you have one that you could divide the fish? Or maybe even use a storage tub for a while? As long as they have a filter and ample room to swim and good water, they should be ok in just about any type of container. You could even use a child's swimming pool. My sister has an inflatable pool that she has been using for her goldfish fry. If you can separate them into more than one tank it should help control the ammonia. You could probably go 2-3 in a 20 gallon as long as you keep up with the water changes. Tetra Safe Start works quite well in cycling a goldie tank. My sister used it when she borrowed my 40 gallon for her fry before she got the inflatable pool. She didn't lose any of the fry to cycling. If you have a pond (or know of someone who does who wants them), they could actually be moved out now. Put them out in the morning on a warm day so they have the whole day to adjust and they should do fine.

MissMTS

Congrats on the rescue Anna They are much better off with you than with their previous owner. Like stated above, you will probably need to do 2-3 water changes weekly through the winter because that is a tiny tank for 5 goldies. I feed mine Omega One Goldfish Pellets and Algae Wafers as treats. Good luck with them Maybe you could find a bigger tank for cheap on craigslist?

Annadvn

Thanks everyone,

I know the tank is not ideal and i wish i could shuffle some fish around to give them more space but the husband hates goldfish and wants to use them as feeders, even though they are too big for the jaguar cichlid. So upgrading them is not an option.

I figure the damage is probably already done with stunted growth and ammonia damage so all i can do is give them clean water (3 times a week water changes) and hope they make it to spring so they can go outside in a pond (I can work on the husband for a bigger tank come next winter when we have a place of our own).

Right now i can't afford another tank, we are looking for another house as the house we are renting has been put on the market. Until we move we cannot fit another tank into the house we have 22 FW and 2 SW as it is!

How many pellets should they be fed each day roughly?

Can they have live plants in the tank with them or will they eat them?

I hate keeping them in the 20g but at least they will have clean water and multiple weekly water changes. I will remove the gravel as you suggest gremlin as this will give them a tiny bit extra swim space and extra water.

Also Gremlin would you recommend keeping them in a pond over winter, you mentioned putting them outside. I live in Idaho so thought it would get too cold or the water would freeze but if i can put them outside now then could give them a bigger place! I have tons of extra filter media ready for instant cycling of other tanks.

Anna

Edit:

heres a picture of the tank, as it came from the previous owners.

gremlin

Goldfish can handle freezing temperature as long as the pond does not freeze solid and a section of the surface stays open. Usually a waterfall or fountain type feature will keep the water moving enough to prevent it from freezing over. When I was little, it still actually got cold in the winter here. Our pond (an in-ground cement pond with waterfall) would get a layer of ice about 1/2 - 1 inch thick on it. The waterfall would usually keep a space open where it fell in, but sometimes even that would freeze over and we would have to break up the ice. Us kids would take turns lifting the ice out of the pond to break it up. We had to remember to put the rope (or stick or whatever) back in the pond to use as a handle to lift the ice the next morning. Our goldies did fine all through the winter.

They will eat less (if anything) when the temperature drops close to freezing. Their most active time would be in the late afternoon to early evening once the water has reached it's peak temp for the day and before it starts to cool off for the night. This is the best time to feed them. I would feed them as much as they will eat in about a minute - for 6 6" goldies, that would probably be between 25-30 pellets (or so - I usually just toss in a handful for mine). Feeding once a day should be fine.

Plants are okay, but they may munch on them. Mine will eat at the moss that grows in the pond. They aren't as good as the plecos at cleaning it off the walls, but the keep it fairly short. They don't eat the lilies, but they have munched on all sorts of other small plants that I've tried. Mine absolutely LOVE to eat duckweed. I can't keep any in the main pond. I have some in one of my waterfalls and when it starts getting crowded I put about half of it down in the main pond. It is usually gone within an hour (or sooner).

I am definitely looking forward to pics. The common/comet goldfish are my favorites. They can be such clowns!

aquarist48

Hello Anna. Congrats on the new tank and rescue! Some great information above. Here are a couple of links on Gold fish you may find helpful:

Goldfish Caresheet
Types of Goldfish - Information on fancy goldfish and other goldfish varieties

Best of luck.
Ken

Annadvn

Thanks Gremlin, i might look at moving them outside and just see how deep the water is freezing to - if needed i can always move them back inside.

I edited my last post to include a picture of the tank and them (although they are still hiding a bit)

Thanks Ken for the links, i had read the first one but the second one was useful i think i have 4 comets and 1 common.

Anna

peacemaker92

Congrats on the rescue and such a lucky find to get a 20g free! LOL The goldfish look very cute in the photos btw. Well done!

gremlin

They look pretty good (considering what they probably went through at their prior home). They should do fine outside. They are plenty big enough to survive a winter outside.

Annadvn

Well it was water change day today. I shuffled some tanks around and moved fish around and now the goldies have a 55g to share with 2 BN's.

I think they are enjoying the new space they have!

Anna