Anyone know anything about fish and/or works at a pet store-?

Question

My boyfriend and I just went to get my birthday gift, 3 goldfish. We bought a 3 gallon tank and as we went to get the goldfish, the lady said we needed to wait 48 hours until we can buy the fish and put them in the tank, so the water can filter. My water has been filtering for about 5 hours now, is it okay if I go pick my fish up now and put them in? Help! =0

Answer 1

first of all your tank is to small

comet.common or shibunkin goldfish need

50 gallons for the first one and 10 for every additional fish

fancy goldfish (any other breed) need

20 gallons for the first one and 10 for every additional fish

allot of petshop staff just want to sell you things

secondly you need to run your tank (all fish need filters) for 1-2  months to build up good ammonia detoxifying bacteria.

in a 3 gallon tank you could keep 3 male guppies or a betta (both these fish need a heater.

also small goldfish grow up into big goldfish and when kept in a small tank they body grows to the size of the tank and the organs dont stop growing so they burst and your fish dyes a horrible slow and painfully death

please do whats best for your fish

need any help

read my profile

Answer 2

Hi,

The petshop people told you wrong you have to leave the tank for a week after it is setup. As otherwise the chemicals in the water will just kill the fish so within a week the chemicals break down and aren't harmful.

So you must leave it at least 3-4 days but the longer the better, but definitely after a week you are fine to add the fish.

If you want it quicker then if you have a water butt or know someone with one then half fill the tank with that and then the rest of the way with tap water, make sure theres no leaves etc in the water or bugs.

Answer 3

Goldfish need 20 gallons for the first fish and 10 more gallons for every other fish, the biggest misconception is that gold fish can live in a bowl, that is false, goldfish get very big and are very messy and need super adequate filtration,  in a tank that small you may think you did good if you get them to live a year or two but the reality is a goldfish should live 15-30 years with proper care and facilitation.  That being said, they say you should wait a few days to allow chlorine to evaporate from the water because chlorine is toxic to fish.....yo can add those fish to your tank, but it will be a death sentence to them.  try 3 male guppies and an African dwarf frog.  aside from what i said, Fish Man went into more detail...and its true.

Answer 4

48 hours!  LOL!  You not only need to get a tank about 50 times that size (yes, I said it), but you should wait upwards of a month while adding some source of ammonia (from decaying material) if you want any real chance of the fish surviving.  Those Goldfish you purchased (which do not sound like the fancy variety) will get more than a foot long, each and should live more than 15 years-- in a 3 gallon tank, you'd be lucky if they make it 15 months.  Please reconsider, and choose a Betta instead, as this would be a MUCH better choice for a 3 gallon tank (make sure it has a small heater).

EDIT: It is FAR easier to sell you a 13 cent fish and a $20 tank than a 13 cent fish and a $200 tank.  Petsmart employees, as with most other chain stores and some privately owned stores, are not only extremely ignorant regarding fishkeeping, but out to make an easy sale.  The fish may be small now, but like all things, they GROW.  I already mentioned the severe life shortening, and if you really don't care about that, I suggest you not keep fish at all.  Try potting a plant in it instead.

Answer 5

Stick with the advice from Soop.  Goldfish can grow to over 12" long.  Doesn't matter what size they are now, you need a tank that gives them enough room to grow.  Having too many fish or a too small tank will cause growth stunting. Stunting is stressful and kills fish.

Goldfish live 15-20 years and longer. Sure, you can keep 2 goldfish in a 3 gallon tank. for a couple months, but then you need to move them into a larger home, and eventually a pond.

Fish keeping takes patience, if you wish to provide the best home possible for your pets.

The lady at the pet store did not give you very good advice at all.  Tanks need to be cycled (an ammonia cycle), which takes upwards of 6 weeks, and safest when done without fish. So you actually need to run your tank for at least 6 weeks, providing it with an ammonia source, before you put in the first fish.  Patience.

Research fishless cycling, get test kits so you can keep tabs on the cycle and then when your cycle is complete (0 ammonia, 0 nitrites and less than 20ppm nitrates), you are ready for fish.

Answer 6

if u just set up your tank, and added the approriate chemicals, and your tank has been running for Atleast 24 hours (with this 24 hours having the filter on) , you can introduce a fish, i wouldnt get all 3 goldfish (which are going to be to big for that tank anyway), i would start with 1 so you dont have an amonia spike which can kill your fish. Goldfish are really messy, and produce a lot of waste, so i would just get one for your tank.good luck with it

and by the way, not to shoot you down or anything, one goldfish is probably not gonna be happy in there anyway aswell

Answer 7

PLEASE LISTEN UP!!!

it is actually extremelyu common for petstores to give the wrong information. Goldfish need a 20gal tank for 1 and 10gal for each additinal one so for 2 you would need a 30gal tank (for fancy goldfish).Goldfish are supposed to grow ALLOT! and they only reason they dont grow too much in small tanks is because their growth gets stunted (which means that they stop growing while their internal organis keep growing). Do some google research, listen to the people who actually know about fish.

goldfish are supposed to live 20+yrs and they usually dont because of being put in small tanks. If your goldfish dont die from stunt growth (which usually takes a couple of years) they are most likely to die soon from ammonia poisoning in that small tank. goldfish need big tanks and extremely good filtration (no crappy undergravel filter or underpowered filter for a 3gal). PLEASE DONT SUBJECT THE GOLDFISH TO THIS!

and you are supposed to cycle the tank before you put fish in (maybe that is what the lady had to say) and that takes a little more than 2 days it can take up to a week, it is the nitrogen cycle ill give you alink on how to cycle a fish tank in a second.

please dont get goldfish if you cannot properly care for them, look inot haveing a betta fish instead.

here are some good websites on bettas which might be the right fish for you, they are tropical fish and produce less waste than goldfish and they dont get big so they dont get stunted growth.

http://www.bettatalk.com

http://www.bettysplendes.com

Answer 8

http://www.wikihow.com/Set-up-a-Tropical...

This website has explanations on everything you would want to know about keeping a fish tank.

It explains...

Why you need to wait 48 hours before putting in fish.

Why you can't keep a goldfish in there (let alone 2-3).

What to do before you put fish in.

How to introduce fish into the tank (how many at a time, etc).

And also has great general fish keeping tips.

I'm surprised the lady at the pet store told you that you have to wait 48 hours, but didn't tell you that you shouldn't get goldfish for that small of a tank.

Answer 9

I always wait a week at least when i have my tank set up, just to be sure. 3 goldfish in a 3 gallon tank! NO WAY! 1 Gold fish needs at least 10 gallons. therefore a 30 gallon tank would be acceptable. Maybe go get a betta( siamese fighting fish) or something like that.

Answer 10

I would wait a week to be sure, so if you have a filter system it can establsih? Make sure the tempature is at the correct level for your fish. Get a small water test kit for nitrates and amonia, ph etc. Make sure you do water changes to keep the nitrites at o ppm. To many fish in a small tank, over feeding and fish waist can increase the nitrates. Hope this helps

Answer 11

3 gallons is no good for 3 fish, infact, 1 goldfish wouldn't be good for it. 10gallons is needed per fish, so 30 gallons if you want 3 fish. And no, filtering for 5 hours will not due, you tank will have to cycle for weeks before fish are added.