# First ever tank! A few questions...



## dudeman (Sep 11, 2010)

Hey guys! I just came back from the local fair with two goldfish in hand, and was inspired to make them last. Quick trip out to petco, and I'm the proud owner of a 10 gallon tank, a few plastic plants, some gravel, a bunch of flake food and a cheap power filter (profin 10). But I do have a few questions.

First of all, I keep hearing so much on the forums about cycling. I get the basic idea, but I'm not sure how it's gonna work with my filter. The profin 10 I bought uses carbon filters which get replaced about every month, so I'd imagine I would be tossing away good bacteria every month and restarting the process. Any input?

Secondly, I'm a little curious about what I could be missing. I see bubble rocks, ammonia tests and little rock structures for fish to hide in all over the store, and I want to know what else I could possibly need. Keep in mind, though, that these fish came from the fair, so I don't want to spend too much on 'em! 

Thanks!


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## emc7 (Jul 23, 2005)

It only has a single cartridge? Not even a thin piece of foam? You are right that if you toss that cartridge, you toss out your filter bacteria with it. I'd suggest a second filter. But you can rinse and reuse the cartridge until it starts to fall apart. Without fresh carbon the tank may get an oily film or be more cloudy, but carbon isn't actually essential. Or you could replace the carbon and keep the sleeve thing. I'm not familiar with that exact filter.

Common goldfish are the most expensive "free fish" you'll ever get. To house them properly, sink twenty grand into a pond, lol. But the 10 should be fine for maybe a year, depending on how fast they grow. Change a large % of the water whenever the fish or water look less than perfect (cloudy, smelly, sitting at the top, sitting at the bottom, etc.). Use a dechlorinating product and get the temperature of the new water pretty close to what's in the tank.


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## Tallonebball (Apr 6, 2009)

Well you were inspired to make them last but you didnt do it right lol
-10 gallons is too small for 2 goldfish. Normally its 30 gallons per goldfish.
-You bought a cheap filter which was a bad idea, should have gotten a nice filter because goldfish are the dirtiest fish out there. Your going to need to do large (30%) water changes at least once a week.
-You should pick up a heater to keep the temp constant
-I'd get rid of the carbon and put a foam filter in there so you don't have to always throw it away. You can always add a bag of carbon directly into the tank.
You want to make them last but you don't care about them enough to spend a decent amount of money on them? haha a little redundant....


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## Revolution1221 (Apr 20, 2010)

i have to say goldfish at fairs is one of the worste things to ever happen to the fish hobby. it had created this sense of keeping a fish like that acceptable. IMO goldish belong in ponds like stated by emc7 they are one of the highest waste producing fish out there, they constantly urinate ammonia non-stop. they also get about 16 inches if properly cared for and can typically live 20-30 years! also they cost 15 cents here where i work so soon as u paid the guy to throw the ball in the cup you extremely overpaid for the fish. people see whats going on there and get the false sense that it is ok to keep a goldfish in a bowl. truth is goldfish need high filtration, high oxygen flow, frequint water changes, and very large tanks. we could take a person throw them in a tiny prison cell only feed them when and what we want only allow them to shower when we want and allow them to flush the toilet only when it stinks or starts to overflow. would they survive probably but would they be happy or even healthy probably not just something to concider. IMO a common goldfish should have no less than 75 gallons and that is even on the small side concidering the tank is only 2 inches wider than the size the fish can reach. my advice to you is either get rid of it and invest in small tropical community fish or buy another filter to use along with the one you have and an instant cycling product like stability or safe start and help your tank cycle as fast as possible. do frequent water changes to keep the ammonia/nitrite/nitrate at lower safer levels also use prime to help dechlorinate and detoxify the water. then plan on spending lots of money in the future to provide the proper home for the fish. basically the way cycling works is fish produce ammonia same with leftover food the good bacteria breaks it down and converts it to nitrites both of which are deadly to fish. the bacteria then breaks down the nitrites and converts it to less harmful nitrates which is acceptable up to certain ammounts about 40 ppm while u never want to ammonia and nitrites any higher than 0. cycling a tank can tank anywhere from a couple hours if using pre used filter media to a couple days using instant cycling products all the way up to a couple weeks to a month when letting it cycle on its own. all of which work better fishless and isnt as cruel. have ur water tested every few days (i recommend doing it yourself and getting liquid test kit like api freshwater master test kit) to see where your nitrogen cycle is at. first the ammonia will spike to deadly levels then the nitrites and ammonia will start going down then the nitrates will spike will the ammonia zeros out and the nitrites start to go down then nitrites will zero out and your nitrates will slowly drop to safe levels and hopefully zero out. try to keep your water no less than 65 F and no higher than 75 F. there are also great stickies in the beginner freshwater section to help cycle a tank. just know this that i am not attacking you or trying to put u down. i see you have fallin victim to the the evil ways of these people. and u have already taken a step in the right direction by not throwing it in a bowl and by comming here for advice (even if the advice may be nothing that you want to hear). hope all works out for you. almost forgot as for throwing out the old filter like emc7 said u dont have to change them as often as u are told just every few weeks rinse the gunk off but use old tank water to do it like when u do a water change. otherwise there is almost always enough space to fit a second filter cartridge in with it. then every few weeks you can alternate changing out filters. if you get a second filter like i suggested then you can alternate that way to.


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## dudeman (Sep 11, 2010)

It's a really funny story actually, I was just hanging out with some friends by the fish game. One kid hit like five throws in a row, and had no idea what to do with the fish. He just ran up to me and gave them to me, free! As to the filter issue, I read somewhere that charcoal filters leak garbage back into the tank if you leave them in too long. Any input?


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## Revolution1221 (Apr 20, 2010)

idk what kind of garbage they would be talking about i have never heard or experienced this but i could be wrong.


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## Tallonebball (Apr 6, 2009)

Carbon will leech out the same "garbage" its been removing after about a month. Thats why it has to be replaced, it helps for a while but once it is "full" it will start to actually hurt your tank by putting the impurities back onto the water.


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## Revolution1221 (Apr 20, 2010)

Tallonebball said:


> Carbon will leech out the same "garbage" its been removing after about a month. Thats why it has to be replaced, it helps for a while but once it is "full" it will start to actually hurt your tank by putting the impurities back onto the water.


best thing i guess then would be to cut open the filter bag and just dump the carbon out after a month keeping your good bacteria on the filter bag then u can just clean that every once in a while. you will need carbon to remove chemicals from the water if you have to treat any diseases. but IMO its nice not to have that carbon in there until you need it so that you dont have to worry about taking your filter bag out if u have to treat your tank. in that case you just by some draw string filter bags and some carbon that comes in containers and fill the bags up and drop them in your filter and when you are done you throw the carbon out and save the bag.


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## Tallonebball (Apr 6, 2009)

Yeah that was my solution, switch the carbon filter with a floss filter and just put a bag of carbon in when you need it.


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## dudeman (Sep 11, 2010)

That sounds good. One more thing, the water is getting a little cloudy after just a day. I'm gonna assume that's just part of the cycle, and will do a 25%+ water replacement tomorrow. It's probably from a combination of overfeeding (I'm learning) and small tank. That should clear up soon though, right?


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## emc7 (Jul 23, 2005)

It should clear up in about a week. There are 2 cases where it won't. One is the filter is too small for the amount of food you feed. The other is you have a nasty water-clouding food or water additive. 

Take good care of the goldies for a few months, then give them to someone with a pond in the spring (start asking around now) and you'll be set to pick your own fish.


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## dudeman (Sep 11, 2010)

emc7 said:


> Take good care of the goldies for a few months, then give them to someone with a pond in the spring (start asking around now) and you'll be set to pick your own fish.


Definitely will do. Thanks for the help everyone!


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## Betta man (Mar 25, 2011)

I kept one goldfish in a 5 gal with a good filter. The tank was filthy within 2 weeks lol! You might not want a heater because it could make the fish grow faster...


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