Hey guys, help me please

[m4tt]

Hi I am new here, so hello to you all, and a nice site too.

I have just purchased a lovely but very large fish tank about 50ish litre's i think. i have 2 lovely Goldfish in it and a smallish filter i will find out what one later, the thing is the tank looks a bit bare with just a few ornaments and a little fake plant. My questions are: -

1. Do i need an air pump?
2. WOuld I need to buy any other stuff if i wanted real plants in there?
3. Do I need a light in there?
4. ANd maybe a bigger air filter.

Sorry for all the questions i've been up for hours looking for stuff but i wanna know exactly what to get before i spend.

Cheers again

[Damon]

Ok 50 litres is ~ 13 gallons. Not a large fish tank....

The tank is too small for any goldfish to grow and live in.

[m4tt]

ok, how can i tell how many gallons\litre's it is as i bought it second hand, how can it be too small for 2 small goldfish to live in?? it's bloody huge compaired to the small one i did have and i had the two in there and they seemed fine for around 2 years!!!

[JustOneMore20]

Can you measure the tanks length, width, and height and post the measurements? Then we can help you figure out how many gallons it is.

Goldfish need 20 (US) gallons each as they produce alot of waste and get large. They don't stay as small as you buy them.

An airpump is not necessary, if you have a filter that causes enough agitation of the water to oxygenate it. Most hang on back (HOB) filters are enough.

Most live plants need a fair amount of light. Once we figure out how many gallons the tank is, then we can figure out how many watts of light are over the tank. There are some plants that can live in low/stock light.

Its good to give fish a sleep/wake cycle by providing them with some light. Without live plants, if you have a room light or if the room gets a fair amount of sunlight, then a tank light isn't necessary. If you want live plants, then you'll need a tank light.

How big is the filter you have on the tank now?

[Scuba Kid]

Well, fancy goldfish need about 20 US gallons each. Comet goldfish, the more common species usually sold as feeders get wuite large, up to 12 inches. IMO comets should be allowed the space of a pond as they are very active. If one cannot provide them a pond, you'll need a very large tank. I have a few comets in my 1800 gallon pond, 21 feet at its longest length. They swim around it constantly, never stop swimming. They are incredibly active. And I do have a couple nearing the 12 inch mark, so they can and will get that big given the proper space.

[m4tt]

There is my fish tank as you can see it isn't exactly small!!

And it does look very bare, The room it is in does get quite a bit of light mid day, And i hope you can see from the pic the size of the pump too

hope this helps guys.

Cheers for your help.

[Apotheosis]

It's so small that I can't see it.

Just take measurements - width, height, length.

[m4tt]

http://s4.photobucket.com/albums/y15...t=DSC00158.jpg

as soon as i get the size's i'll post them

[Damon]

There is nothing to reference the size by in the pic but it is not very large......

Stocking will also be limited due to the unique shape of the tank (taller vs longer).

What types of fish do you like?

[Willow]

Well, it's good that you have a "fancy" breed of goldfish--they don't get as large. About 8 inches at full size. They'll need at least a 30 gallon (about 120 liters) tank when they're grown. It's not all about swimming room, it's also about waste in the water. Goldfish make a lot of waste, which makes a lot of ammonia. That tank should be OK for them for a little while, just be sure to do frequent water changes to keep the water quality in the proper ranges.