darksky

We are not trying to upset you regarding the size of your tank if you type in the sizes you just gave into the volume calculator it confirms that your tank holds 54 litres
http://www.tropicalfishcentre.co.uk/Calc.htm

i worked it to be a little less at 50 litres
but your fish add up to a total of 10 inches length and it gives coldwater at 7.5 inches maximum!

you can pick up bigger tanks online and in local trade it papers real cheap .




Ok The tank is all you have at the moment so lets do what we can for the time being.

(how much of a gap should there be at the top of the tank to the top of the water?)
Simple enough that it doesnt overflow ! ( is there a piece of glass like a ledge near the top of the tank aproxamatly 1 inch from the top? these are called braces and if yours has that then i would say fill to the underside of this!
(im waiting 24hrs before i put the fish into the new tank water)
If you use a airstone this is to alow the chlorine to escape! It saves the expence of tapwater addatives.......I use interpet tap safe on my tanks

(squeeze the sponge out of the filter )this advice i would say is if your changing filters and you squeeze the good bacteria from the old filter into the new filter!
if you have a filter then keep it as it is! No need to squeeze, then when you think the filter needs a clean you only clean it in old tank water. This is where i think you have read squeeze filter in tank water . When you do a water change dont just throw the old tank water away wash your filter in it then throw it away!

i would not use the glass beads in your tank......it would only benafit you as it looks prety not your fish! keep the bottom free of anything,that way you can see when the poo needs syphoning !.....also as your tank is so small syphon any uneaten food off the bottom of the tank after 10-15 minutes of feeding.

feed little and miss one day a week! do regular small waterchanges and keep your eyes open for a larger thank

hope this clears up a few things

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sorry m8 but have to agree with the last three posts. koi belong in a pond no matter what size they might be. they have the potential to grow over three foot long in the right conditions. I am sitting in my place in France at the moment and have looked at the koi today. they didnt do well in the uk but since moving them out here they have doubled in size and not one has been ill- Treat them right and they will live for ages- keep them in a tank and they will almost certainly die!!

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Once again thanks alot.., especially you Robertpope for taking the time to answer so many questions, it has cleared alot up for me, i cant do anything at the prescent about buying a new tank as all my funds are set a side for my walking and climbing weekend up Helvellyn in the lake district on the 18th April, so it will have to wait untill i get paid next, but serious guys THANKS ALOT..., also one more question...:- the little shubunkin i have in the round glass bowl awaiting its true home in the tank, i woke this morning to find a complete end to end around the top of the water line ..lots of little bubbles..which i have not seen before, what is this?

probaly where its gasping for breath at the top of the water?do you have a filter or at least an airpump running in the bowl?

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Hey darksky where are you located? because there is a website called freecycle where people getting rid of items post them and you contact them to collect and the best thing is everything is free i recieved a 3ft tank with hood, heater filter ect for nothing so it might be worth a try.

Cheers Tina, i live in Eccles,do you know it? And by the way ive been checking the net all day looking at photos of goldfish and koi, and ive not got koi ive got all goldfish..ive a little Calico Fan Tail or a Calico Veil Tail....and my big'ish goldfish is maybe a Red Comet and the other is a red and white goldfish type.., My tank is all set up with filter and bubbles coming out of a blue ball type thingy hahaha sorry forgot what its called ! just gotta get some testing strips now, but i cant wait 20 days or so before i put fish in tank as its not really ideal where the fish are now so i might put them in tommorrow .

how long has the filter been running? do you know what kind of filter it is (it should have a name and number on it), in my opinion i would put the fish in the tank because even a un cycled tank is better than a fish bowl with no filter.

The filter is a FLUVAL 1plus. and the filter has been on since 2pm today{10 hours or so}

hello mate, theres no way that this filter will be powerfull enough for the fish you have, can you not go n get a bigger one? youre setting yaself up for problem after problem, eventually leading to the death of your fish, if cash is a prob check out ebay theres always cheap filters + tanks on there, i wouldnt worry too much about maturing the water in the bigger tank, but you will need adequate filtration or the fish will be living in their own filth, you can help things by doing regular water changes

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do you know of anyone with a mature fish tank?? if so ask them for a handful of gravel and put it into your tank or you could even ask your lfs if you could have some of theirs, basically your trying to put some good Bactria into the tank.
im really sorry to go on and i know that your doing the best you can for the fish but a fluvel 1 + is a really small filter so your going to have to do loads of regular water changes.
but dont worry we all started off just like this lol
i started with 4 goldfish in an unfiltered tank because the pet shop told me it was not needed!!