# Starting a small cold water aquarium, any advice?



## MidnightBaelfire (Aug 16, 2009)

My fiance and I recently bought a small 3 gallon tank for our young son. We are thinking about having a goldfish or two in there and having it be cold-water. Are there any small algae-eaters that can live in cold water that don't get too territorial?

There's a rather large opening in the cover of the tank so any snails would be able to escape if they so chose.

Any help would be appreciated. Thanks!


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## kelly528 (Aug 31, 2009)

Small goldfish tank is an oxymoron. With fancies you are looking at a _minimum_ of 20g per fish or 55g for three. An with shubunkins and comets you can pretty much triple that. Quadruple it even. Goldfish are dirty, dirty, dirty fish. They produce a lot of waste from those convoluted stomachs!

The goldfish you see in stores are actually only fry. The smallest goldfish variety will reach an adult size of 8 inches, with most fancy types reaching 12 inches. Double that for comets. Furthermore, they need heavy filtration and tons of oxygen. Given proper care and space, however, a goldfish can easily live for 20 years.

Most pet stores would also tell you you could do white clouds but to be fair they need a group of 6 to be happy and are so active that they are better suited for a 20g minimum. 

3g, however, would be an awesome size for a betta, provided you get a heater. They actually prefer warmer water than most tropical fish, but small heaters aren't that expensive. Plus, bettas are so nice and colorful, full of personality (you laugh now...) _and_ are solitary so you have a good excuse not to take on any more fishies! When properly taken care of (ie NOT starving in a dirty peace-lily vase) your betta could be with the family for up to 7 years!

Here is a really good care sheet to check out: 
http://www.tropicalfishkeeping.com/betta-fish-care/must-read-general-betta-care-faq-20058/

And a little mythbuster on why bettas need at least 2g to live:
http://www.tropicalfishkeeping.com/betta-fish-care/mythbuster-do-bettas-really-live-tiny-8923/

By the way... welcome to the fish forum!


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## BettaKeeper (Dec 4, 2009)

To add onto what kelly528 said :

I'd use this heater Hydor Mini Aquarium Heater at PETCO .If you don't have a Petco near you, your LFS should have them too. 

This filter is small enough for a three gallon and should not disturb your betta (if you get one) Penn Plax Small World Pump & Filter Kit at PETCO

And last : I use "Bowl Buddies" to de chlorinate my tank. It also comes with a small package of Hikari Bio-Gold food. 

Hope that helped and good luck to what ever you chose!


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## Angel079 (Feb 14, 2007)

I'd also not suggest any goldfish in that size tank, but much rather a Betta, provided you wanna buy a heater.
There's really not too much you can do with such a small tank. You could set it up for Shrimp, a few of them, but while they're fun to watch in their interactions, I don't think they'd be enough fun for a kid.


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## Lupin (Aug 2, 2006)

Fancy goldfish are technically not coldwater fish. Good advice, Kelly.


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## MidnightBaelfire (Aug 16, 2009)

Thanks, I did buy a small female betta and 2 small goldfish yesterday but for some reason all three were dead when I woke up this morning. I'm thinking either I didn't climatize them enough, or I didn' let the filter run long enough. 

Once I get it running longer and get a heater, I'll try for just a betta. Thanks again for the advice.


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## kelly528 (Aug 31, 2009)

MidnightBaelfire said:


> Thanks, I did buy a small female betta and 2 small goldfish yesterday but for some reason all three were dead when I woke up this morning. I'm thinking either I didn't climatize them enough, or I didn' let the filter run long enough.
> 
> Once I get it running longer and get a heater, I'll try for just a betta. Thanks again for the advice.


That is why every person who replied advised against it. 2 goldfish alone can produce a lethal amount of ammonia in 12 hours, no sweat.

Seed the filter with squeezings from your running tank so you can jump-start the cycle in the new tank.


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