Filters and air stones.

Question
Hi, I have a 2 gallon hexagon tank which I have had a couple of goldfish in, all of which died the same way. The tank has now been empty for several months and I am thinking of getting a new fish. I'm not sure if the first fish I had in there was diseased, is it possible that the disease could somehow have soaked into the airstone and be refiltering around the water everytime I put in new water?

Is the airstone the same as a filter? It is fitted to a tube with in a pipe, which is connected to an under gravel base plate and an air pump.

Thanks

Karen  

Answer
Hi Karen,

Your problem is not the fish, it's the tank size.  Nothing can survive safely, not even a betta, in a 2 gallon tank.  5 gallons is the minimum for even a betta fish.

The biggest misconception about goldfish is that they are somehow easy, or starter fish, and this is simply not the case.  They are harder to take care of and more expensive, and require a much bigger tank.  A goldfish, when properly cared for, will live 20 years.  The average lifespan of a goldfish in the US is 3 weeks because they are mishandled.

One goldfish REQUIRES 20 gallons of water, for one, with 10 gallons for each additional.  They also need double filtration.  So, 2 goldfish would need a 30 gallon tank, bare bones minimum, with a 60+ gallon filter.  Anything else simply is not enough to support the bioload that these heavy bodied fish create and they end up burning and suffocating to death from the ammonia build up in the water - and this is something that you cannot see, unless it's extremely excessive, and then it can be cloudy or cause yellowish water.  They will act freakishly wild at first, swimming about, something that is not natural for goldfish, then get lethargic and sit on the bottom and refuse to eat, and finally they die.  It's a slow, painful death that's not necessary.

An airstone is NOT the same as a filter, it simply oxygenates the water and adds surface agitation, something you can have optional, but in addition to the filter.

A goldfish bowl or too small a tank is cruel.  It's either not filtered or severely inadequately filtered (who or what would want to swim around in their own waste!?) and it's not enough water to support their bioload.  Nothing can safely live in a bowl, or those goofy advertised 'starter tanks' that show 5 goldfish happily swimming about in a 2 gallon tank.  Pure rubbish.  I am not a PETA freak, I'm just well-educated in aquaria, but bowls and tanks under 5 gallons need to be outlawed as a source of fishkeeping and I cannot believe stores that know better sell them.  I know why they do, they want you to kill your fish so you keep coming back and buying more fish and more products and keep trying, wondering what you are doing wrong while they reap the profit.  I know it is not your intention to kill these fish so please don't feel like I'm getting down on you but anything that you are going to take on should be researched first, just like you would when buying a car, or a home, or anything.  It's all about information gathering.

If you are willing to give it a go you should get them a 30 gallon tank with a 60 gallon filter and cycle the tank before you add any fish at all as the nitrogen cycling process will kill them.  Cycling is a process where the beneficial bacteria builds up in the tank and this is what eats the waste that turns into harmful ammonia and breaks it down into nitrite (still 50% as harmful as ammonia) and finally into nitrates.  Healthy tanks have nitrates present (always 5-20 ppm range) but never, ever any ammonia or nitrites.  I would get a liquid drop test kit for at least all three of these and monitor your newly cycling tank.  You can easily and quickly cycle your new tank by adding a piece of raw cocktail shrimp tied in new pantyhose and left to rot in the tank, set up and running, as you would if you had fish.  This will provide enough of an ammonia source to cycle the tank in a couple of weeks.  From your test kit results, you will see the ammonia spike and fall, the nitrites rise and fall and finally the nitrates rise.  When finished (0 ammonia, 0 nitrite and 5-20 ppm nitrates) do a 25% water change and add one goldfish.  Let the bioload adjust and then in a week or two, add the second.

Please let me know how else I can help you.

I have 4 healthy, happy fat fancy goldfish in a 55 gallon with a 110 gallon filter and it's barely sufficient!!!

A good reference site for you would be:

www.kokosgoldfish.com

Good luck : ) April M.