hey everyone today I'm going to give you
a brief overview of all the basics of
how to set up a goldfish tank so first
of all you'll need some kind of tank or
pond or other container that holds water
for your fish a lot of times people use
glass aquariums but there are also
acrylic aquariums you can also use some
sort of clear Sterilite brand storage
tub or a preformed pond or even a stock
tank to put your fish in your goldfish
you want to allow at least 20 yards of
space per fish and a good starting point
if you want just one or two fish is a 40
gallon breeder tank because that will be
really great for one or two fish
probably for their entire lifetime and
keep in mind that with goldfish
a long and shallow tank is much better
for them than a short this way and tall
tank and that's because tall tanks have
much less surface area compared to their
volume than do shallow and longer tanks
so and service area is important because
that is where oxygen can enter the water
and goldfish do require a lot of oxygen
as do most fish and so this is really
important also they tend to like to swim
horizontally I find rather than up and
down so that for that reason also tall
tanks aren't that great for them and of
course
try not to place the tank in a really
high traffic area where there's gonna be
kids or pets running back and forth all
the time especially if they're brand new
fish that may be I've been living in a
pond previously - you getting them that
can be much stressful for them and also
keep them away from windows because that
can help the proliferation of green
algae in your tank and you might not
want that and also windows tend to be
drafty so keep them away from windows
for that reason as well and lids for the
aquarium some say they're necessary
others don't I tend to feel that lids
aren't necessary and that's just because
obviously I've never seen a goldfish
jump out of a tank and I'm sure it's
possible especially with the single tail
varieties but I've never seen it
and especially if you have fancy
goldfish you really don't need a lid and
having no lid is actually better for gas
exchange between the water and the air
because there's no barrier there that
the gases have to go through first so
for that reason also I really prefer to
have no lids on my tanks lighting for
your tank is not totally necessary it's
more for us release so we can see the
fish and enjoy them better especially if
you have a well lit room already it's
not totally necessary to have a light so
it's one of those things that if you
know funds are tight you can definitely
put off until later because I mean the
goldfish aren't really gonna suffer
without a light although their colors do
tend to be brighter under good light so
that's something to consider and another
point to consider if funds are tight you
can always look on Craigslist or your
comparable classified listing for used
tanks because they tend to drop down and
price quite a bit when they're being
sold as used so that's definitely an
option and also like I mentioned before
you can use stair light brand clear
storage containers those are food safe
so they're safe for your fish and
they're clear so you can see through
them from the side of you still and
that's a really good option for funds
are tight but you need more space for
your fish right away you can always go
get a storage tub like that and put your
filter on it and that'll be just as good
as a tank alright so you have your tank
now what do you do about filtration
filtration can be a little confusing for
someone who's just starting out because
there are so many different options so
I'm just going to give a really quick
overview of the major the main types and
give you what I think are pros and cons
with each one some of them are not
recommended at all some of them are the
best in my opinion so let's get started
sponge filters are great for additional
biological filtration but I definitely
wouldn't recommend them in most cases
the only filtration for your tank just
because they don't have enough
mechanical filtration they're not
powerful enough they're only driven by
an air stone so you really they're
definitely good for additional like I
said biological filtration in addition
to another type of filter but I would
definitely not use it as the only
filtration for a tank and next our
canister filters these are really good
they're very powerful very quiet and
they're large and they hold a lot of
filter media so they're a good option
for goldfish the only cons really are
they do tend to be a little pricey and I
think some people find them difficult to
clean and with canister filtration you
want to aim for a flow rate of five
times the gallons of the tank holds per
hours so for example if you have 40
gallon tank you would want your
filtration if you have canister filters
to have a flow rate a combined flow rate
of at least 200 gallons per hour
so next our hov or hang on vac filters
and I think that a good hang on back
filter is the best option for a goldfish
tank because they are easy to clean
they're relatively inexpensive for how
good they are the the better ones the
better models have a lot of space inside
for the filter media and they're also
pretty customizable and of all the
hangar bag filters the aqua clears are
my absolute favorite because I think
they're the most customizable they have
the most space for filter media
especially the models 70 and 110 and
with hangar bag filters you want to aim
for a flow rate of 10 times the tank
volume per hour so that means if you
have a 40 gallon breeder tank you want
the flow rate of your filters combined
to be 400 gallons per hour so next are
internal power filters these usually go
inside the tank and so they take up a
lot of swimming room and they're not
super-powerful because they have to be
small cuz they go inside the tank and I
just I don't really like these and I
don't recommend them and then under
gravel filters or ugf these used to be
very very popular but they're not
popular anymore especially not for
goldfish and that's because they're
really difficult to clean and they're
just not powerful enough for goldfish at
all so those are definitely not
recommended and lastly a sump or wet/dry
filter this is a tank that goes
underneath the main tank and it usually
has a trickle Tower in it where the tank
water is flowing over the biological
media and then it goes through some
sponges and then it gets pumped back
into the tank and I actually use this
system on my tanks right now so I like
what dry filters because they help
oxygenate the water quite a bit they do
have so much more room for Biological
media and they also provide a place
where you can hide like heaters and
thermometers and stuff like that so that
it's not cluttering up the main tank but
some cons are they are difficult to set
up they can be pricey if you because you
either have to buy one that's already
made and those are usually expensive or
you have to find someone and pay someone
to help you build it or build it for you
and that can be pricey too so they're a
little more expensive they're more
permanent because in many cases you have
to drill a hole in your tank so they're
not for everyone but if it's something
you're interested in I would definitely
recommend them because I think they're
great so the next important
consideration for when you're setting up
your goldfish tank is aeration so
typically the filter will splash a
little bit on the surface and help
create some surface movement and thus
aerate the water a little and certainly
it's circulating the water in the tank
tube but it can always be good to add
extra aeration by using an air stone and
an air pump so you just hook up some
airline tubing to a check valve that's
very important and then you hook that up
to your air pump and then on the other
end you hook up your air stone or you
can also get a flexible bubble wand a
rigid bubble wand
all disks there's lots of different
options for air stones and then you plug
it in and this helps it just starts
bubbling and then that creates more
surface movement which is good because
the surface is where gases enter and
leave the water and so the carbon
dioxide needs to leave the water and the
oxygen needs to enter the water and that
surface movement helps facilitate that
gas exchange and air stones are also
good because they help circulate the
water and make sure that there's no dead
spots where water is kind of statement
and the check valve is really important
because in the event of a power outage
your tank can start to the water can
search the back siphon from the air
stone into the air pump and that will
ruin your air pump but it also make a
big puddle on your floor and that's no
fun so a check valve will just help
prevent that from ever happening next
thing you should definitely have is a
thermometer thermometer is important
just so you can monitor the temperature
make sure it's within an acceptable
range you don't want it too high or too
low 74 is usually good for goldfish but
they can tolerate a wide range of
temperatures in the winter you know can
get down to 50 degrees and that's fine
the only thing is you want to stop
feeding them at 50 degrees and reduced
feedings greatly if it's like sixty
degrees or so and they can tolerate
temperatures as high as I don't know 80
maybe 90 but not for prolonged periods
of time obviously and with greater
temperatures you need greater surface
movement for better oxygenation because
the warmer the water is the less oxygen
it can hold so it's good to have
thermometer just so you know what the
temperature is so you can make
adjustments if needed and a heater is
not completely necessary for goldfish
but if your house does get really really
cold in the winter or something like
that then you can add a heater and just
set it to something low like 68 degrees
Fahrenheit that'll just keep it from
fluctuating down to low stressing your
fish
and something else to consider is a UV
sterilizer this is something that's
definitely not necessary and it's a
little spendy so if you're on a tight
budget don't worry about it whatsoever
it's fine
but if you want one there are some
benefits the smaller ones like that your
green killing machine or something like
that they help remove green water algae
that is suspended algae in the water
that gives the water a green tint and
it's not really harmful for your fish at
all it's just kind of unsightly to most
people and it makes it hard to actually
see your fish so if you are having that
problem and you cannot fix it vitamin
water changes more frequently or
something like that then you can
consider a green killing machine and the
larger models I have an emperor aquatics
larger model I'm not sure what the model
number is but those are much bigger UV
sterilizers that actually hang on the
outside of your tank and the one I have
it kills bacteria parasites viruses and
green water algae so those are really
nice it's just an added peace of mind
that your water is as pathogen free as
you can make it you know it's not
perfect but it helps and I think it's
like a 99 percent kill rate so it's not
perfect but it helped and something
people are usually afraid of when it
comes to UV sterilizers is that oh maybe
my goldfish won't be able to use their
immune system because it's too
sterilized in their environment and I
just really don't think that's true
because like I said it's not perfect it
does take out a lot of the pathogens
from the water but it doesn't take out
all them and it doesn't kill anything
from the surfaces either of the tank
only things that are free swimming
free-floating the only thing that I
would caution you about with a UV
sterilizer is do not leave it on when if
you're in the process of cycling your
tank because it can mess with the back
the beneficial bacteria there
colonise so now we found over all the
equipment that you'll need but what
about more decorative elements like
substrate for substrate there are quite
a variety of options you can go with
sand or some kind of gravel or river
rocks or you can just leave your tank
bare bottom there are pros and cons to
all them well most of them so let's go
over them right now sand can be really
good as long as it's just used in a
really really fine layer try to use just
what you need to cover the bottom so
there's no bare spots and that's it and
that's because sand is really fine
grains so it can compact a lot if it's
not disturbed regularly and when it
compacts like that it forms anaerobic
pockets and anaerobic pockets make great
breeding grounds for bad bacteria that
produce hydrogen sulfide gas and when
that when those pockets are then
disturbed either by cleaning or by the
goldfish coming along and pecking and
disturbing the sand they the gases are
released and it can harm the goldfish
and maybe even kill them just depends on
how bad it is
so definitely trying to keep just a thin
layer and you'll be fine I actually like
sand a lot for substrates because I
think it mimics a carp fish's natural
environment really well and goldfish
they really like to swim along the
bottom and look for morsels of food and
pick up the substrate and spit it back
out and do that over and over so I think
it really mimics their natural
environment and once them perform some
of their natural behaviors and some
people are sometimes worried that the
sand is gonna irritate their gills and
there's really no evidence for that and
there's no logical reason to believe
that would be true since carp in the
wild do live in sandy bottoms
environments and they do just fine in
those so and I've never ever come across
essentially
we're a goldfish had damage skills
because of sand so I really don't think
there's any reason to believe that so
next is gravel and I really don't like
gravel and I don't recommend it at all I
just think it's bad for one thing I
think it's kind of ugly because the the
grain size is pretty large and it's
pea-sized usually and I just think it
creates too much visual disturbance so
you can't really enjoy the fish properly
but some people like the way it looks
and I can understand that
the only thing then is if you really
must use gravel just use a super super
fine layer only enough to just barely
cover the bottom and that's because the
grain size is quite large and poop and
other uneaten food and stuff like that
can get trapped in in between the spaces
of the gravel really really easily and
it does trust me a few years ago I was
using gravel and my goldfish tanks and I
was just shocked by the amount of gunk
that I cleaned out of the filter earth
out of the substrate every single week
it was just non-stop
and the other thing is that pea-sized
gravel can create a real problem for the
goldfish because like I said earlier
they do like to pick up the substrate
with your mouth and spit it back out in
search of food and when they get to you
know they start growing and they get to
the right size they can actually get
those pieces of gravel lodged in their
mouths and sometimes they can die from
this if you can't get it out in time
with the tweezers or something like that
and it's just really scary and it's not
worth the risk in my opinion so I would
not recommend gravel but like I said if
you really must use it just there's a
really fine layer and clean it every
week for sure so the next one that
people sometimes use is river rocks and
river rocks are they're really pretty of
course but they are not a good choice
for an all-over substrate and that's
because just like with the gravel they
have large spaces in between and with
River rocks it's even worse than it is
with gravel because River rocks are
really big and they don't fit together
perfectly so
are really big gaps in between each rock
that poop and uneaten food and stuff can
get trapped in right away and just sit
there and it's just really gross so I
would definitely not recommend river
rocks as a substrate but I do think that
a few river rocks scattered here and
there on a bare bottom tank or in a tank
with sand can be really pretty and
there's nothing wrong with that
whatsoever so lastly having a bare
bottom tank and that's just means that
there's nothing no substrate on the
bottom whatsoever except for maybe like
a river rock or two here and there or
some bigger rocks or something like that
but you don't have an all-over substrate
like a sand or gravel and some people
think it's boring and ugly but I
actually think it can be really pretty
it can give a really modern minimalist
and kind of send look to your tanks so
it's really really pretty if it's you
know done right my tanks are painted
black on the bottom and you can paint
them any color you want on the bottom to
create different looks and that
eliminates some of the glare the mirror
like glare that the glass bottom tends
to have so that's an option for sure and
the pros of this are it's way way easier
to clean there's no siphoning through
the gravel every week it's just a plain
bare bottom and the waste and uneaten
food gets sucked up by the filtration
right away so you never see anything
lingering on the bottom usually and so
for that reason it's also a lot of
people think it's healthier for your
goldfish and just you know better for
them there are some people who say well
what if they get kind of bored being in
that environment because they don't have
any substrate to sift through which is
their natural behavior and that's
definitely something to consider I think
it's debatable whether that's true or
not whether they really get bored
because of having no substrate but it's
definitely something to consider maybe
you can try having no substrate in your
tank for a while and then switch to sand
or something and see if there's a
difference in their behavior
and then decide for yourself what you
prefer all right so you have all your
equipment and your substrate and now you
want to add some decorations decorations
for goldfish tanks should always be kept
to a minimum and you always have to keep
in mind that goldfish are very clumsy
they also are very delicate because you
know there are the bubble eyes with the
big bubble sacs that they have to carry
around and they can get punctured on
something they're also celestial to
telescope eyes with the big telescopic
eyes that they can poke on you know some
decoration or get an abrasion or
something they also have really huge
fins usually goldfish too that can get
ripped or torn on big plans and things
like that so it's just really important
to always keep in mind safety of your
fish as your number one priority but
with that said you can add decorations
just avoid ones that are hollow because
they create standard water avoid ones
that are sharp or really abrasive and
also avoid ones that are not meant for
aquarium use because those can be toxic
to your fish and keep in mind that
goldfish are big and clumsy like I said
before so they do need a lot of swimming
space so if you add decorations just
maybe a few here and there don't
overcrowd your tank with decorations and
live plants are great for goldfish too
so that's definitely an option you just
want to keep in mind that any live plant
you put in there might get eaten by the
goldfish because they do have a tendency
to do that usually ones that they avoid
are ones like your a java fern or
anubius and a lot of times they also
avoid eating swords crypts or valves so
you could start off with those ones see
how it goes and then maybe try adding
some plants that they find tastier and
see how that goes but just keep in mind
that they might eat your plants so what
about water additives what might you
need to add to the water to make it safe
for your fish well the only thing that
you need
should mean is a water dechlorinator and
that's because most tap water all tap
water has chlorine in it and some has
chloramines in it so you want one that
detoxifies chlorine and chloramine and i
like to recommend and use C chem prime
because it also detoxifies ammonia and
nitrite for up to 48 hours and this is
really handy if you have low background
levels of ammonia in your tap water
which I do because you can just do your
water changes normal and a dose of prime
like you would anyways - dechlorinate
the water and that will also detoxify
the ammonia for a period of time until
it can be processed by your biological
filtration and the only other product
you might need is some kind of buffer if
you have really acidic water or if your
KH is really low and good ones that I
recommend our buff it up from goldfish
connection or seek endless gold buffer
and I've never actually used these
myself so I can't give any advice about
how to use them or anything like that so
yeah I can't be a bunch out there but I
do know those two are good ones to use
so now perhaps the most important
consideration is the nitrogen cycle in
your aquarium you can follow all the
steps I outlined previously set up the
tank perfectly get all the right
decorations and stuff like that
but if you don't cycle your tank your
fish are gonna have a really really hard
time and they might die and there's
something called new tank syndrome that
a lot of pet stores talk about and
that's when you do that you know you you
just set up a tank and you put fish in
it
well it's not ready for them because it
doesn't have the beneficial bacteria
colony built up in the filters to be
able to turn their toxic waste products
into something that's less toxic so
that's what the
cycle does it takes ammonia which is
excreted by the fish and turns it into
nitrite and it then turns that into
nitrate and ammonia nitrate are very
very toxic to fish they will kill a fish
quickly and so those are really
dangerous and then the end product
though nitrate is much less dangerous
and this can build up in the tank for up
to like 10 or 20 ppm before it becomes a
problem so you really need to make sure
that your tank is cycled before you put
your fish in it and that usually takes
about a month and what you do is you get
some while you first you need a test kit
that tests for ammonia nitrate nitrate
and pH and then you need pure clear
ammonia and this is sometimes levels
clearer ammonia at some times label is
janitorial strength ammonia but
basically you just want ammonia that has
nothing added it's just pure ammonia so
can't have any surfactants or anything
like that when you shake it when you
shake the bottle it should not bubble up
like soap it should just you know maybe
there are a couple small bubbles but it
won't be foamy like a soap would so what
you do is you just you set up your tank
and everything ready but don't put the
fish in yet
and then you add about 2 ppm of the
pyramid yeah and you let that sit for a
long time and you wait until nitrites
start to build up and then you know you
keep adding the ammonia so it remains
that about 2 ppm and your nitrites will
continue to rise and then eventually
they'll start to fall and then you'll
start to see nitrate rising and then you
know you keep adding ammonia to keep
feeding the cycle so it continues and
then eventually you should get to a
point where you never see ammonia or
nitrite in the tank at all when you test
and you will always see nitrate and the
only way to remove the nitrate is to do
a big water change so when you see that
when you see zero ammonia nitrite and
you start to see a lot of nitrates you
can do a big water change and then add
your fish and of course just keep
testing the water daily for the first
few weeks to make sure that everything
is going well and it's
say for your fish but that means that
you're cycled so that's one of the most
important things that you need to do
before you ever get your fish and I know
this was just a really quick brief
overview of the official cycling process
but hopefully I will be making a video
in the future that shows that process
more in depth and I'll provide a link in
the description of this video too for
more information about how to do that in
case you are confused or you need more
information and also I have a video that
explains the nitrogen cycle process in
the aquarium and I'll put a link to that
as well so you can learn more about it
because that will help you understand
the process a lot better and then lastly
there is the issue of compatible tank
mates for goldfish for goldfish it's
really best if you keep them only with
other goldfish and tank and especially
try to keep them with other goldfish
that have similar levels of disability
like you wouldn't want to keep a bubble
a goldfish with a commet goldfish
because the bubble I would probably have
a lot harder time getting the food and
the comet would just gobble it all up
right away and then the bubble I would
starve and not be very healthy just to
make it easier on yourself try to always
set up your tank so that all the fish
have the similar you know ability to
find food because they'll just make it
easier for you and for them so we're
about other species are there any other
species you can keep with your goldfish
well no I mean there are but I don't
recommend it I recommend keeping
goldfish in species only a tank but if
you want a little more variety I mean
there's enough variety within the
goldfish species but if you need more
variety than that for some reason you
can add new right snails which I
actually have in my tank
just to help scrape the tank sides clean
of algae they do a pretty good job at
that you can also add apple snails keep
in mind the goldfish might nip at them
so just you know watch for that you can
also add bristlenose plecos they are
they remain smaller
as far as tacos go and they're much less
aggressive also a lot of plecos can be
very aggressive so don't just add any
plaque oh especially not a common puck
oh you want to stick with bristle nose
only so those are good and also dojo or
whether loaches can be a good addition
so just keep in mind any additional
creature that you add to the tank is
gonna increase the bio load of the tank
and make you need more space for those
animals and they also may require
special attention above and beyond with
the goldfish needs some plecos for
example they need some driftwood so they
can rasp on it because it's part of
their diet and they also might need you
to feed them on veggie clips or
something like that
so yeah a lot of people like to get
plecos because they can help with
cleaning up the algae which is very true
but keep in mind that they also require
a little bit extra work too so it might
not actually save you any work it might
just make it so you're doing different
work so that's about it and if you guys
have any more questions you can always
leave me a comment in the comment
section below I always try to answer as
many of those as I can so feel free to
ask any questions and watch for more
videos to come thanks for watching bye
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