Maintaining Your Goldfish Aquarium
Once your aquarium has gone through the new tank cycle you still need to perform weekly maintenance in order to provide a healthy environment for you goldfish.
Weekly testing of the ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, and PH is important so that you can be sure that the water quality is good for your fish. Also, keep an eye on water temperature. Fancy goldfish do well in the temperature range of 72-75 F. A heater in the tank will help control temperature fluctuations. During the summer your goldfish tank may warm up with the warm summer temps. Goldfish can tolerate a fairly warm temp (up to 85 F) if there is enough aeration in the tank. The warmer the water the less oxygen it can absorb. So be prepared to add additional air stones during the summer months.
The established biological filter oxidizes the ammonia produced by the fish into nitrite. This nitrite is then oxidized into nitrates. Nitrates are not harmful to goldfish unless they are allowed to build above 25 ppm. Nitrates can be consumed by algae, plants, or anaerobic bacteria. Anaerobic bacteria is not good in a goldfish tank. It can lead to production of sulfide gas which is toxic to fish. That leaves algae and plants to consume the nitrates. Since goldfish love to eat both algae and plants it is difficult to keep enough alive to convert the nitrates. So in order to keep the nitrate level in a safe range weekly 50% water changes are required.
When doing the water changes be sure to vacuum up any detritus and uneaten food. If you have gravel in the tank get a gravel vacuum and be sure to siphon through all the gravel. This is especially important if you are using an undergravel filter.
When doing your weekly maintenance only wipe the algae off of the sides of the tank you view the fish from. Leave the rest of the algae grow as an alternate food source for your goldfish and some consumption of nitrate.
Usually the filter media in your power filter will need to be changed once a week. Don't change water and filter media the same day. You may remove too many established nitrifying bacteria and cause an ammonia or nitrite spike. Do your water changes one day; then filter maintenance three days later.
When replacing the water in your tank be sure to add a dechlorinating water treatment to remove chlorine. If you have chloramine, dissolved heavy metals, or low PH in your tap water you may need to pre-treat the water in a separate vat prior to adding it to the aquarium. Brand new plastic garbage cans work well for this. A call to your local water utility should give you the info you need on the water in your area.
Copyright 2002 Rick G. Copeland