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  #1  
Old May 4th, 2006, 01:01 AM
Elise Elise is offline
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Location: Brisbane, Australia
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My new fish

I want to get my new fish a toy, but mum doesn't want to spend a lot of money. I have access to an autoclave (steriliser), but am worried about cheap plastics affecting the water (and my fish). What should I look for?
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  #2  
Old May 4th, 2006, 09:38 AM
Lucky Rescue Lucky Rescue is offline
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What kind of fish? Most fish are not playful. If it's a schooling fish, it does need others of it's kind.
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  #3  
Old May 4th, 2006, 09:49 PM
Elise Elise is offline
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He is a goldfish (black). We are getting 4 more on Monday. It's just that the tank looks very empty. I wanted to add a pirate ship or something fun.
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Old May 5th, 2006, 10:38 AM
Lucky Rescue Lucky Rescue is offline
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If you're going to have 5 goldfish, you need a really huge tank and powerful filters, since they grow very large, make big messes and pollute the tank quickly.

Don't put anything with sharp edges in the tank, since goldfish mouths can be injured on them.
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  #5  
Old May 7th, 2006, 10:27 PM
Elise Elise is offline
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The tank and filter are both very big. Thankyou for the warning about sharp things (no pirate ship!). I'm just worried that cheap plastic might do something yucky to the water. Do you know anything about what to look for?
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  #6  
Old May 8th, 2006, 06:58 AM
kaytris kaytris is offline
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If you get something from an aquarium dealer or a petshop, made specifically for aquariums, it should be safe.

There's lots of tank decorations you can get.. you can go natural, (with plants, rocks and artificial wood) or cute (Ships, divers, skeletons, etc)

My tank has an assortment of plastic plants (fairly realistic looking) for the fish to hide in if they want, and two large rocks, one with a 'cave' at the bottom for the shy fishies. Looks natural and keeps everyone happy.
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  #7  
Old May 11th, 2006, 07:52 PM
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Sneaky Sneaky is offline
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Hi Elise,
when you say the tanks and filters are "very big"
what do you mean by very big?
Some people seem to think tanks that are quite small
are "very big".
Fancy Goldfish need at least 15 gallons per fish. So for 5 goldfish,
thats a 75 gallon tank.
Comets grow to 3 feet or more, and are too big for most tanks.
Common goldfish can be up to 20 inches, so need 90 gallons at least.
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