Hey guys,

I'm fairly new at keeping goldfish, fancied something prettier than the basic orange common goldfish so opted for Shubunkins.

I had my 30 litre tank set up for 2-3 weeks before adding any fish into it. I have this tank (petsathome.com/shop/aqua-one-aquastart-320-graphite-86113) with good aeration (3 inch airstone at the back of the tank) with a couple of air plants and large fake log decoration.

I wasn't sure on how many I could have in my tank, the fish in the store were only small, about 2-3 inches. I asked the lady working in the dept, and she said I could have 3 or 4 fish in this tank.

I decided on 3, for odd numbers/decoration sake.

Just wanted to check that this is alright, they seem to be happy - had some white spot, but thats nearly cleared up now - thanks to interpet treatment!

I do a water change (~20-25%) once a week, and check quality of water every 3 - 4 days using those dip-sticks - everything is fine with that

Bascially just wanted some reassurance that they should be alright living with me and I'm doing the right things

Thanks!

Actually I'd say with single-tailed fish 180L for the first and 40L for each subsequent fish...I'd say 250L with 4ft length would be an absolute minimum( for a year or two); Once they reach 5 inches they should be re-homed in a garden pond

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Please don't think that we are having a go at you...Pet stores give bad advice...their job is to sell fish.....they defend this by saying it is up to the customer to upgrade

Shubunkins are pondfish

Hey and welcome to the forums!

I agree with what's already been said, 30 litres is far too small.

What are your ammonia, nitrite, nitrate readings?
Ammonia and Nitrite should be 0ppm, with Nitrates below 40ppm. If you ever see ammonia or nitrite above 0ppm, do a large water change. Be careful as you might have a spike, I had a nitrite spike in my goldfish's old tank and had to water change daily until it went down, so just keep up with the testing and be aware that spikes in the quality might happen

Now you might be wondering about this larger tank buisness, so allow me to explain....
Shubunkins are beautiful fish, but they also have the potential to grow up to 30cm in length. What happens when you keep fish in tanks that are too small, is that they become stunted and this can affect their lifespan and health.

The other reasons for large space is for exercise and also to help with the water quality (i.e. too many fish in too small a space, can result in bad water quality for the fish, leading to other issues such as illness, possibly even death).

Like Vic, I've been in a similar position, so we all understand what you're going through
I had two common goldfish in a 21 litre tank, one died within a week because the water quality was so bad and my remaining goldfish Lucky, somehow survived. She now lives by herself (for the time being) in a 90-100 litre/3 foot tank. Because of her time in the 21 litre tank she is badly stunted and so too small to be upgraded to a pond yet.
So for the time being I am keeping her until she is a little bigger, then I will upgrade her to a pond either with me or I will re-home her

For now though, Forrie, just keep up with the water testing and weekly water changes, possibly try doing 50% changes weekly, the more you can change at the moment, the better. I think when Lucky was in her tiny tank I changed around 50-80% each week.

Take your time, to consider what you want to do about the fish Feel free to ask away with questions too!