Planning for your aquarium should be in place before you buy your fish. Goldfish can be messy at times so placing a thin layer of gravel at the bottom of your tank is easier to clean than a thick layer. Place any filters, lights plants and decoration into the tank before you get your fish and make sure that the temperature is correct before placing them in the aquarium. Make sure everything is clean and rinsed before putting them into your fish tank. Goldfish are quite active and need plenty of room to move about so do not overcrowd the aquarium. You should also place some objects in the tank to give your goldfish somewhere to hide.

Once everything is in place fill your tank to the correct level with water, seek advice from your local aquatic pet store on the best water levels. Water from the tap will need to be de-chlorinated and you can us a de-chlorinator for this purpose as chlorinated water from the tap is poisonous to your fish. Run the filter once the aquarium is full of water and check the instructions from the filter manufacturer to see how often the filter will require cleaning. The aquarium water should be at room temperature and this is the temperature goldfish will live in. it should be approximately from 68 to 80 degrees. Let your filter run for a couple of days before placing your fish into the aquarium as this will allow any chemicals and dyes from the things you have introduced to the tank to be filtered out of the water. One way to acclimatise your fish to the water temperature is so leave them in the plastic bag you received them in and dangle this into the aquarium until the two temperatures are the same and then release them.

You should not release too many fish into a tank at once. The reason for this is that fish excrete ammonia and the water needs to be seasoned enough to dissipate it. When your goldfish have been in the tank for some time the water will age and a build up of bacteria will occur. This bacterium is beneficial for your goldfish because they turn the harmful chemicals the fish excrete into harmless ones. This takes time however so that’s why you should introduce your fish slowly, and your nitrogen cycle will only begin after you have introduced your first fish. With the aquarium being new you should replace a portion of the water everyday for the first week. About 25 percent of the volume would be appropriate.

With your first fish from the pet store you should also buy your goldfish food. At first sprinkle only a small amount into the tank about twice a day. Keep an eye on how much they eat as any uneaten food will sinks to the bottom of the tank, lodge into the gravel and will then rot. If they do not eat all of the food you sprinkle into the tank in the first two to five minutes then reduce the amount you are giving them until you get the balance correct. Overfeeding when you first get you tank can be very harmful and if there is a build up of toxic chemicals your fish would be in danger of dying very quickly.

Once everything is in place and working correctly your water should start its nitrogen cycle. The water may become cloudy but this is normal in this process and you should notice it clearing up within a couple of days. Once the water is clear you can start adding a few more fish, but not until the water is clear. You can tell that the nitrogen cycle is working when the water clears this means that the toxic chemicals produced by the fish is being converted into benign chemicals.

Goldfish will grow quite large and need plenty of room. If you want them to stay happy and healthy do not over crown the tank. Take any advice given by your aquatic pet store expert and using these guidelines to make sure your goldfish aquarium is healthy.