Small Aquarium Maintenance
Author: Richard Guest of Pets Parade Team
Goldfish bowl and small aquarium maintenance
We will take a look in this article at how to look after goldfish in a bowl or a fish tank of around
4 - 8 gallons (18 - 36 L) without a filter. In an unfiltered bowl or aquarium of this size it is very
important to keep the number of fish and the amount of food they are given to a minimum. I strongly suggest that you keep no more than two small goldfish of whatever variety you like and feed them only one small pinch of food every two days. Use a high quality flake food that will provide a good balanced diet and once a week substitute a small amount of frozen or live food such as bloodworm or Daphnia to provide a little variety. The flake food should all be eaten before it sinks to the bottom of the tank, if food is making it down to the gravel you are feeding too much!
It is important to strictly ration the food in order to limit the amount of waste produced by the fish. As soon as you introduce your fish they will start to pollute the water with their own waste products as they are in effect living in their own toilet bowl! The principle waste product produced is ammonia, which is highly poisonous to fish. High levels will either directly kill your fish or run down their immune system to such a level that they rapidly become diseased. By limiting the amount of food and the number of fish, you will keep the production of ammonia to a low level.
The other important requirement is regular water changes to dilute the waste. In the absence of a filter to help keep the water clean, the usual method is to change half the water every week. Make sure the replacement water is of a similar temperature, either by leaving it to stand overnight in a clean bucket or by mixing some warm and cold water until the desired temperature is reached. Whichever method you use, be sure to add the correct amount of water conditioner to neutralise the chlorine in the fresh tap water. When changing the water it is best to use a small gravel cleaner to syphon debris from the bottom of the bowl at the same time. This ensures the gravel remains clean and is less stressful for the fish than catching and
removing them each time you clean the bowl.
To reduce the amount of tank cleaning and enable you to keep more fish and maintain better water quality
consider buying a filter that will break down most of the fish waste. For further information on how biological filters work and the advantages of using a filter see the article Why do I need an aquarium filter?
Gravel cleaners are in the Cleaning Equipment section under the Aquarium heading and the recommended model
for bowls and small aquariums is the "Easy clean Gravel Cleaner small". Water conditioners can be found
in the Disease/ Water treatments section.
Other articles by Richard Guest
- Coldwater Fish Questions and Answers
- Corydoras, The Long and the Short
- Golden rules of fishkeeping
- Goldfish Pond Filters and Koi Pond Filters
- Koi Myths
- Koi Questions & Answers
- Pond Questions and Answers
- Reptiles Question and Answers
- Transporting Koi
- Treat me right, treat me good
- Tropical Fish Questions and Answers