How can I make my 10 gallon tank suitable for my two red cap goldfish?
I got them both for my ten gallon tank because in the future I am buying a bigger one. I have a filter (the kind where you use cotton and carbon) and a few plants. I don;t have a heater because I live in the Caribbean, but would I still need one?
Tags: caribbean, Gallon Tank, plants
February 9th, 2010 at 00:30
Goldfish prefer colder water so a heater shouldnt be necessary. Also, your filter will be just fine for the goldfish.
Mostly goldfish tanks are easy to set up:
1.Make sure to get a bigger tank soon.
2.Make sure your tank has a lid as goldfish like to jump.
3.If your goldfish are fancy like the bubble eyes or the celestial you dont want to have too many decorations or plants as they may bump into them and injur themselves (I am not sure how delicate the red caps are)
4. about 1/8 inch substrate (like gravel you’d buy at the pet store, but make sure it is clean, dont just shovel sand out fromt he beach)
5. Add any decorations you want - they wont kill you for bad interior decor.
other than that I think you can do pretty much anything you want with the tank. Keep in mind that goldfish emit a lot of waste so i suggest you buy a small, maybe one inch bottom feeder like a plecostomus (sucker fish) to clean up their waste.
February 9th, 2010 at 00:30
Goldfish are cold water fish. You won’t need a heater no matter where you live. Yes, you need a larger tank and a more suitable filtration system. I happen to like the AquaClear filters.
February 9th, 2010 at 00:30
Put it inside of a50 gallon tank.
February 9th, 2010 at 00:30
You could use a heater to maintain the tanks temperature. gold fish can stand of about 82 to about below frezzing. but lknowing that they are mor eof a cold water fish i wouldnt put a heater in it enless there are other tropical fish in the tank. And dont worry about the tank size they will stay the size they need to be. i have a red cap and three other gold fish in my tank and they havent really grown sense i got them a year ago.and they wont really grow. like i said ihave three gold fish that have been living in it for a year. and the other one has been living in it for over to years. (not even a ten gallon aquarium)
February 9th, 2010 at 00:30
You will stunt their growth and probably kill them if you leave them in a 10 for more than a few weeks. They need at least a 30 gallon tank but a 40 is alot better. They need a bubbler to oxygenate the water and a filter made for a tank twice the size of their final tank (so if you plan on buying a 30 gallon tank for them buy a 60 gallon filter)
Until you can get them that bigger tank feed them less which will help slow growth but remember every day they spend in there will shorten their life span.
February 9th, 2010 at 00:30
I’m glad you plan on buying a bigger tank, but I hope you plan to buy it in the very near future. Otherwise the small tank will quickly stunt their growth, making them unhealthy.
A single goldfish needs a 20 gallon tank to itself, and for 2 goldfish, at the absolute bare minimum, you need a 30 gallon… However, since red caps get slightly larger, I wouldn’t put two of them in anything less than a 40 gallon.
You should get this upgrade soon.
And you need pretty much double the filtration for a tank with goldfish. For instance, they are currently in a 10 gallon tank, then you need a filter for a 20 gallon tank. When they are moved to (hopefully) the 40 gallon, you will need a filter that is double that.
Heater isn’t important since goldfish are coldwater fish.