Buying a goldfish tank is the first step in goldfish care.
You know this will be the home of your fish and it is best to get it right the first time.
Once you know the correct size and type of your aquarium, the next step is setting it up.
After you set up the aquarium and everything is OK you need to let it settle a week.
That way the Nitrogen Cycle gets going.
Only then you can add the goldfish to the tank.
Choosing the right tank size Goldfish are very dirty fish.
They can grow up to 10-12 inches and in the right conditions can live up to 10 years.
There is never a problem when you buy goldfish tanks that are too big.
The problem is if they are too small.
The right tank size for one goldfish is at least 15 gallons.
If you love goldfish very much, you might want to keep two goldfish.
For that, the right tank size would be 25 gallons.
For three fish, 35 gallons.
So you add 10 more gallons for every fish.
Keeping two fish in a 40 gallon tank will not hurt them.
But keeping them in a 5 or 10 gallon tank will only make them sick, because the water becomes toxic.
You see, goldfish always keep growing.
In many cases, if you keep a fish in a small tank or worse, a bowl, their skin stops growing, but the internal organs do not.
The organs keep growing and can kill your fish.
Surface area is also important for the water quality.
This is because of the gas exchange.
An ideal surface are will be if the aquarium is 18 inches high, 18 inches wide and 36 inches long.
This way, the surface area is twice as big if the aquarium would be 36 inches high, 18 inches wide and 18 inches long.
This will have as result a noneffective gas exchange.
Glass tanks vs Acrylic tanks Acrylic tanks are the new and glass tank are the old.
These days more and more people buy acrylic tanks in favor of the glass ones.
Remember, Acrylic is not plastic.
It does not get yellowish after a long period of time.
You have to know acrylic is flammable.
Advantages of Acrylic tanks: - it is 50% less in weight - insulates 20% better than glass - 17X stronger than glass - if you scratch it, you can easily buff the area If you still have not decided what type and size of tank you want to buy do not worry.
Take your time and choose the one that feels more comfortable for you.