# Freshwater Aquariums > New To the Hobby ? >  Goldfish

## Kirsty

Im gonna go out and buy  gold fish and stuff for the tank, what do i need to do to start off with, as when i was young mine always died within a week, so I wanna do it all properly and then when i know i can take care of the goldfish properly im going to get more fish.  

What are the first steps i need to take to make sure my fish will be happy and live long?  :fish4:  :fish3:  :fish2:  :pinkfish:

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## Timo

> Im gonna go out and buy  gold fish and stuff for the tank, what do i need to do to start off with, as when i was young mine always died within a week, so I wanna do it all properly and then when i know i can take care of the goldfish properly im going to get more fish.  
> 
> What are the first steps i need to take to make sure my fish will be happy and live long?


Whats the size of your tank?

A small powerhead with a under gravel filter mat is normaly perfect for gold fish. A few plants will help as well.



Under gravel

Water is drawn down through the gravel and up a riser pipe. The gravel bed becomes the filter media hosting the nitrifying bacteria. Under gravel filters can be operated with either a power-head or an air pump (power heads are much better and make less noise).

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## Kirsty

I havent got a fish tank yet but was in the pet shop today to have a look, and the guy said cos im starting out goldfish are the best to start with, he was gonna give me a starter kit (goldfish bowl, stones and food and 2 goldfish) and told me thats the best to start off with.  Im not to sure on the size of the bowl he was giving me.  I dont have anything for the fish at the moment so im looking to buy stuff within the next few days. 

 :fish3: 
 :fish4:

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## Timo

> I havent got a fish tank yet but was in the pet shop today to have a look, and the guy said cos im starting out goldfish are the best to start with, he was gonna give me a starter kit (goldfish bowl, stones and food and 2 goldfish) and told me thats the best to start off with.  Im not to sure on the size of the bowl he was giving me.  I dont have anything for the fish at the moment so im looking to buy stuff within the next few days.


Ouch am not to keen on bowls. I would go for a small nano style squre tank but thats my pref. There loads of nice ones for sale in the fish shops around here but i guess thats no good to you  :lol: .  :fishy:

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## Kirsty

> Ouch am not to keen on bowls. I would go for a small nano style squre tank but thats my pref. There loads of nice ones for sale in the fish shops around here but i guess thats no good to you .


If i was gonna go and buy a fish tank i think id buy tropical fish, but you need more stuff for that. Il think about it anyways.  Cheers for your help.  :pinkfish:

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## Kirsty

Just wanted to let you know that I was at Pets @ Home today and got a tropical fish tank and it hadthe light and heater  with it, so we will just be getting tropical fish now and i think they are nicer.  Thanks for ur help.   :pinkfish:

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## Timo

> Just wanted to let you know that I was at Pets @ Home today and got a tropical fish tank and it hadthe light and heater  with it, so we will just be getting tropical fish now and i think they are nicer.


Cool, im sure they will be the best kept fish in town  :Wink:

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## Gary R

> Just wanted to let you know that I was at Pets @ Home today and got a tropical fish tank and it hadthe light and heater with it, so we will just be getting tropical fish now and i think they are nicer. Thanks for ur help.


Good on you Kirsty  :Smile: 

I was going to say when reading this...that you would be better going into tropical fish instead of goldfish as you only would of needed a heater and light to get you started, and they do look a lot nicer and the plants that you can get as well are nicer than the cold water ones.

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## djprincessx

Heya there, just wanted to make sure you have some idea of the stuff you need when starting a tropical tank and cycling the tank and stuff like that, if not i know we have a lot of knowledgable people to help you with kind of stuff  :Smile:  I always had tropical aquariums so I have tons of advice always about tropical fish, never done saltwater but one day, one day  :Smile: 

-Leslie  :banana4:

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