# Broken Fish Bowl



## appleby762000 (Oct 20, 2012)

My fish bowl has broken down which means I have no pump working. 

Can my goldfish survive without the pump? If so for how long? 

Also can anyone advise a shop or website where I can purchase a reasonably priced fish bowl?

Many thanks


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## NaomiM (Sep 22, 2012)

Hi and welcome to the forum 

Goldfish produce a lot of waste, so they need very good filtration and large tanks (as I found out myself when my two died due to the tank being too small).

The best thing you can do for your fishies is to get them the biggest tank you can, as soon as you can, or better still if you know someone who has a pond with filtration, they're happiest in a pond.

If the pond's not an option, try ebay or gumtree for second-hand tanks. A new or re-started filter takes a while to establish its colony of good bacteria (which turn the harmful ammonia and nitr_ite_ in fish waste into less harmful nitr_ate_). If you know anyone who has a working filter, ask them if they can spare you some of the filter media (sponges or ceramic noodles) to put in your new filter, as this will kick-start the process.

In the meantime, keep doing big (75%ish) water changes every day.

Good luck!


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## NaomiM (Sep 22, 2012)

Forgot to mention, when you do the water changes, make sure you use a dechlorinator, and try to get the temperature of the new water as close as possible to the tank's existing temperature so as not to shock the fish.


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## appleby762000 (Oct 20, 2012)

Thanks very much for your reply. will try my best at what you've suggested


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## Sussexplumber (Oct 5, 2011)

NaomiM said:


> Hi and welcome to the forum
> 
> Goldfish produce a lot of waste, so they need very good filtration and large tanks (as I found out myself when my two died due to the tank being too small).
> 
> ...


75% water change each day? I think she wants them to stay alive! Everything else though, I quite agree. I think 20% each day, done slowly might be better. All depends on stocking density and how much they are fed. Best not to buy another airpump though, get a power filter, which is a far better option for the same price.


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## NaomiM (Sep 22, 2012)

I know 75% daily seems a bit drastic, but with goldfish in a small bowl with no filtration at all, the ammonia levels are going to go through the roof pretty quickly! So long as the added water is the same temperature and pH, surely it's better to get rid of as much of the ammonia as possible by doing big changes?


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## magpie (Jan 3, 2009)

I can't see why 75% water changes would be a problem? The fish are more likely to be caused harm by allowing ammonia & nitrite to build up, than by the potential stress caused by large water changes.

As NaomiM has said, goldfish are extremely messy creatures! In a small, unfiltered bowl, large daily water changes would be absolutely necessary to have any hope of keeping the water parameters under control.


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## Sussexplumber (Oct 5, 2011)

magpie said:


> I can't see why 75% water changes would be a problem? The fish are more likely to be caused harm by allowing ammonia & nitrite to build up, than by the potential stress caused by large water changes.
> 
> As NaomiM has said, goldfish are extremely messy creatures! In a small, unfiltered bowl, large daily water changes would be absolutely necessary to have any hope of keeping the water parameters under control.


As I said, all depends on stocking density and how much they are fed.


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