Hello-
I have had fish before, but just one or two of those 15 cent goldfish at a time. I am getting 4 or 5 larger goldfish, and I want them to stay alive for the longest as possible. Can someone please give me a starters guide to a: Good fishtank home, cleaning your fishtank, feeding, and how to make your fish last the longest in life.
PLEASE HELP ME!

you shouldn't be worried about them "lasting" the longest, goldfish can live lives upwards of 20 years if kept well. they need about 10-20 gallons of water each (5 goldfish need 50-100 gallons) because they are very messy fish (lots of excrement and food waste). They get to be pretty large: about the size of a baseball.

you can go to petco/petsmart and get an all-in-one 20 gallon tank and a stand for not too much. Pick up a testing kit too, that tests ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate. Find a place where it wont come into contact with too much sunlight (will cause algae problems down the road). Make sure the tank is level and let the tap water just run through the filter for a day.

Don't add too many chemicals, you don't need them. The only chemicals needed on a regular basis are a dechlorinator.

You need to learn about the nitrate cycle before you get any fish. Fish waste turns into ammonia which turns into nitrITE by means of beneficial bacteria. Both ammonia and nitrite are harmful to fish. Luckily there is another beneficial bacteria that turns the nitrITE into nitrATE. This nitrate is much less harmful than the other two but must be removed from the tank by means of weekly or biweekly 25% water changes (it's not too hard once you get the hang of it).

To get the cycle started, you need a source of ammonia. You can buy pure ammonia (make sure it's PURE, no scents or anything) and just put some drops in the tank everyday. Keep doing it and testing the water until the ammonia and nitrITE show up ZERO. Then you can add a goldfish.

If you follow these directions, you won't have to worry about the goldfish dying, and cleaning wont be too hard, if there's algae just rub it off with your hand or something. oh, and never use soap, it's toxic to fish.

Here are some links (these sites also have links to other useful sites):
Badmans Tropical Fish This site is for tropical fish, but the same concepts apply... and there are links here.

My Fish Tank go into the beginner forums and read the stickies. There are links here as well.

i would never ever go to petsmart. It is ok to buy supplies there, but it is generally much more expensive than if you went to a local petstore. But, if you must buy your supplies there, never buy your fish there!!! They are usually always sick, and dont last very long. petsmart also tends to carry low quality fish (in terms of genes). Their employees tend to know nothing useful, but will act as if they do, if you are starting out and need good advice I would stay away from chain petstores, they dont hire anyone with enough education to effectivly help you.

Find a local pet store, and the more fish-oriented the place the better chances you have that they can help you the best.

Good luck.

p.s- when you do get your fish, be sure to only add one fish at a time.. meaning.. only 1 fish per week until you have no more than 1 fish per 10-15 gallons. if you add more than one, you can throw off your chemical balance in the water and your tank will get cloudy and green, and it will be very hard to get it back to the clear water it was before.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: sullybaby27,