not ready to give up yet. I know bigger
is better, but it’s not feasible at this point.
Are there any specifics concerning water
quality I should know? I really think my
problem in the past with them has been
concerning the water, but as I’ve said
before, I have no guidelines for water
parameters to go on. Thanks for making
such a wonderfully informative magazine.
Keep up the good work.
Wendy McNall
via email
Thank you so much for your
kind words about TFH and the
“Q&A” column. Don’t be too hard
on yourself just because you’ve
had difficulty keeping goldfish. They may
be inexpensive and readily available (often
given away as carnival prizes, etc.), but it’s
something of a misconception that they’re
easy to keep—they’re not!
Goldfish are fairly adaptable in terms of
their water chemistry requirements, but they
thrive best in water that is neutral to slightly
basic in pH (say, 7.0 to 7. 4) and moderately
hard to hard (say, 10 to 15 dH). Don’t worry if
your values are slightly above or below these
ranges; it’s more important that the values are
kept stable.
Being temperate fish, goldfish prefer cooler
water. Target a stable temperature somewhere
in the mid-60s to low 70s. Common goldfish
varieties can tolerate much colder water
(which is why they can safely overwinter
in some garden ponds), but fancy varieties
typically cannot.
As far as tank size is concerned, I would
definitely recommend starting with your
20-gallon. That’s about the bare minimum
for a single goldfish. If you choose to add
any more down the road, plan on allowing
at least an additional 10 gallons for each
specimen. Goldfish are very heavy polluters,
so your tank must also be equipped with a
robust external power filter to keep pace with
the mess.
I know you’re tired of hearing it, but
frequent, heavy water changes are absolutely
essential when keeping goldfish, especially
in smaller systems. And the typical 10- to
20-percent weekly water change won’t suffice.
Think more along the lines of 50 to 75 percent
each week for your 20-gallon.
Feeding is another common area of concern
with goldfish. Keep in mind that they are
omnivorous, leaning toward herbivorous. Be
sure to offer a varied diet that includes plenty
of vegetable matter, not just meat.
A
Andrzej Zabawski
Male cockatoo cichlid Apistogramma cacatuoides.
Andrzej Zabawski
Keeping live plants in a tank with Xiphophorus swordtails increases the odds that some of
the fry will survive.
Q
Swordtail Tank
What would you suggest as
the minimum tank size for
four swordtails, one male, and
three females? Also, assuming I end up
with babies, are the adults likely to eat
them or will they leave them alone? I
would rather not have to set up a separate
tank for babies, but will do so if necessary.
Alton Latimer
West Valley City, Utah
A
I would recommend a minimum
tank size of 30 gallons for your
swordtails. That should give four
of these very active swimmers
sufficient room to flex their fins. As far as
these prolific livebearers are concerned, it’s not
a question of if they’ll have babies, but when.
Unfortunately, it’s not likely that the adults
will leave the fry alone, as swordtails are
prone to cannibalize their young. If you want
to keep most of the babies, you’ll need to set up
a separate fry tank. If that’s not in the cards for
you, adding lots of plants to your aquarium
setup, including some floating varieties, might
provide enough shelter so at least some of the
fry will evade the hungry adults.
Pea Puffer
Nibbling Snails
We just got a pea puffer and
I love him, but he’s a bad,
bad boy. He’s nipped off the antennae of
all the large snails. Will they grow back or
are the snails destined to die? They move,
but they’re kind of blind and don’t seem
to know what to do. They used to zoom
Q
Tropical Fish Hobbyist www.tfhmagazine.com
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