"This isn't fishy so come on in. The following will be some information about fish care and the money it takes to raise a fish.

• The temperature for a goldfish should be kept around  75 degrees Fahrenheit. If you have a tropical fish you should keep it around 78 to 80. If you have both you should keep it around 75. If it is warmer then it raises there metabolism and it allows there immune system to function better, and keeps them from getting sick more often.

•     The water changes should be of about 10% and completed every week. Evaporation does not count. First of all remove the water from the tank and then replace it with fresh water that has no chlorine. If you are using public water then it has chlorine in it, which you probably already knew. Use a commercial dechlorinator to remove the chlorine. If you don't have time to do a 10% change every week then just try 25% change every two to three weeks. Always do some sort of change so the waste doesn't build up.

•     Every month you should change the filter pad, cartridge or the charcoal, (depends on what kind of filter you have.)
• You should feed your fish about two or three times a day. If you see any of the food you put there then at the bottom of the tank your probably over feeding them, which will lead to bacteria build up and it will get cloudy in the fish tank. That will also probably make your fish get sick. Use catfish to get rid of all that junk at the bottom.
• The tank light should be left on no more then 10 hours in my opinion. You can buy a timer at most hardware stores that turns off the light when it goes off.
• If you leave it on it turns the water green. To fix this you should turn off the light and make sure no light reaches the tank for about 2 weeks.
• You will need to test the ph in your tank (which means the measure of  positive and negative ions in the water of you fish tank) to do this you must go out and buy a ph testing kit and follow the instructions. You should try the keep the ph at 7 at all times. Occasionally it will go up or down down 1 or 2 (6.9 or 7.1) do to biological processes that happens in your fish tank.

•     First do a 20% water change, then take out the filter or cartridge or charcoal pad and leave the filter running because the filter pad won't let the medicine go through.. Turn the temperature for fresh water fish to 82%.
• If you have goldfish make no change
• For fresh water tanks add 1 tablespoon of water for every 5 gallons. Make sure there are no plants because the salt will kill the plants, and make sure its aquarium salt, kosher or non iodized. This will help kill the bacteria and fungus. After all this add your chosen medication. Ask the clerk for what type of medication you should use. You should look at the sick fish for a little while and tell the clerk what is wrong with him. This will save you and the clerk some time. Use the medication as directed. If you do not see results in 4 days (unless the medication bottle  says it will take more then 4 days) go back and get another kind. Ask the clerk for advice.
• When the fish is well put the filter, cartridge or charcoal pad back in.

    There are many reasons for this to happen.
 

•     If the tank is less then a month old then just wait and it will go away.
• If you over feed them this will happen. Just cut back on the food for a little while and it should go away.
• When you add ph adjusters and buffers or other chemicals this will happen. Just wait and it will go away, or you can do a water change.
• If you don't have enough filtration then this will happen. Example, if you have 30 fish with a tiny filtration then don't be surprised about this. You should get a bigger filter and a water change.
• Too many fish is another reason. You should only have one inch of fish per gallon (do not count the fins). For this you should do more water changes and a bigger filtration system, and try getting rid of some of your fish.

•  It would normally cost about 125$ to get started.
• I would buy an aquarium that costs about 50$, but you can get them from 10$ to 250$ dollars depending on what size you want.
• I would buy a ph testing kit and those would cost about 10$, but you can get bigger ones that have about 6 different tests on them but those cost about 45$.
• Then you will have to buy some gravel and some plants, even though you don't need plants they make the tank look better. Gravel will cost about 5$ and plants will cost about 2 to 3 dollars each.
• Then you have to buy filters and those cost about 25$ and then you need filter cartridges. After that you need power heads. Actually you don't need them but they help. They cost about 15$.

•    It costs about 10$ a month. You need to buy different filter cartridges, you need a new one almost every month. They cost about 4$.
• And you need food which cost about 5$.

•   Fish can cost from 1$ to 500$ depending on if its saltwater, freshwater, were it comes from. I just usually get 5$ - 10$ ones, and acassionaly a 15$ one. You can get them as low as 20 cents at some places.