Ok then...you've decided to spend you hard earned cash on your new Goldfish hobby. You can't wait to go out and buy your 100 Gallon Tank, fill it with water and add gorgeous Ryukin and Ranchus as soon as possible. You can't wait for them to fill up and develop magificent head growths and colours. Wait a minute...what tank should you get? what filter do you need?...it's easy to get ahead of ourselves isn't it?
Let's assume you've decided to keep your goldfish indoors, you need to then buy an aquarium, yes? No. The first thing you need to decide on is the space/area you want to position the aquarium. At the corner beside the TV? No good...too much radiation and heat, you might end up with a tankful of half-boiled fish. The ideal place IMHO, is right beside a window and away from any heat source, though a bit of sunlight is always good. And Feng Shui is also a huge consideration for me, personally. Don't want a wrongly positioned fishtank to cause any outflow (instead of inflow) of wealth now, would we? Now that you've decided on the position of the tank, you need to decide on the dimensions and volume of the tank.
Tanks cost more when they're larger. No surprise really. The bigger ones (50-100gals./200-400L) can easily cost upwards of RM500 (US$140). These are of course very well made, with aluminum frames/rounded edges and don't cause you nasty cuts that require a thousand stitches to mend. The cheaper varieties (that look like they were glued together by Mr Butter Fingers, using a gigantic tube of UHU) cost substantially less. You could also go out and buy a stadium sized tank and have it shipped to you on the back of a 747...if you lived in Northern Australia and had a zillion dollars. The bigger the better...now isn't life simple.
The filter is the lifeblood of your tank. I can't stress this more. Gone are the days when people could keep goldfish in bowls that measure 2 inches across, without a filter. The modern, highly evolved Ryukin would never stand for that...no sir it wouldn't...in fact I don't think it could, even if it tried. If you grew up watching those Tom & Jerry cartoons, I wouldn't blame you if you thought all goldfish lived in little castles, inside 'Yuri Gagarin helmet' style bowls. You could fill the biggest examples of these with about 10L of water.That's not even enough to cook a packet of instant noodles...let alone keep a fish alive for any amount of time. The very minimal that one fish should have is about 10gals. (45L), that's the very minimal. And even then with some form of filtration in place.
There are 3 kinds of filtration:
a) Mechanical & Biological Filtration
No...this is not the process of using some kind of machinery to clean your water. Mechanical filtration is the process of removing debris and insoluble waste from the water. These nasties are suspended in the water and can only be removed by chanelling the water through some mesh or porous material with tiny holes that allow the water to flow through but trap the particles. The water that is mechanically filtered should be clean, clear and free of insoluble waste.
Biological filtration is closely tied with mechanical filtration. Thats because most filters in the market take care of both these kinds of filtration simultaneously. Biological filtration has been partially explain in the earlier post about the Nitrogen Cycle. This is the process of removing the soluble waste (ammonia, nitrite, nitrate) from the aquarium. This is done by cultivating a robust colony of 'good bacteia' in you filter material. The bacteria colony when establish, should guarantee good quality water provided water changes are done regularly.
Several varieties of mechanical/biological filters exist. I'll try to describe some of them:
i) Undergravel
- This type of filter consist of a pump and a series of pipes embedded under the aquarium's gravel bed. The gravel bed acts as the mechanical and biological filter. Water is channeled through the gravel pipes and exit through the pump. Often, some form of aeration is added also. This type of filtration is very 'old-school' and the process of cleaning the filter can be quite troublesome. This method is not ideal for goldfish.
ii) Box Filters
- These types of filters may be placed inside or above the water, depending on their specific application and brand. Generally speaking, a water pump/powerhead that may be integrated or separate from the filter channels water through the filtration media to remove the waste mechanically and biologically. Aeration function is often included as well. This is the most common filter type due to it's relative easy of maintenance and low cost.
iii) Power Filters
- Power filters often come in the form of a box that includes the pump within the assembly. The box is usually hung at the back of the aquarium, above the waterline. A pipe that extends almost to the base of the aquarium sucks the water up into the box and through the filtration media. The water exits like a mini-waterfall through the front of the box. This type of filter has been gaining popularity in recent years due to it's compact size and relative ease of maintenance.
iv) Cannister Filters
- Cannister filters are a relatively recent innovation and is fast gaining popularity due to its effectiveness ans ease of maintenance. The system consists of a 'cannister' placed below and often behind the aquarium. 2 lengths of hoses, one to extract water into the filter, the other to return water to the aquarium are placed inside the aquarium. Usually no aeration is included in the setup and a separate air pump will need to be installed. Maintenance of the filter very convenient due to it's modular design.
b) Chemical Filtration
- Chemical filtration is the removal of soluble waste from the water through the use of activated carbon or chemical additives. Usually the addition of activated carbon is sufficient to remove these impurities and odours from the water.
c) Lighting
A tankful of expensive goldfish would be incomplete if you didn't display them in all their glory, isn't it so? Several lighting options can be chosen nowadays and the more common types consist of a fluorescent tube beneath an aquarium cover. Recently however, the more 'modern' setups consist of an open frame without an integrated cover. The light source is invariably fluorescent tubes but more frequently, 'power saving' bulbs are becoming more popular.
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