About Christy Expertise I can answer some questions regarding freshwater fish ranging from their care to diagnosing common diseases or problems with the fish. I can also answer questions regarding the care and maintenance of an aquarium. I haven't had much luck with live plants, so can't help in that area very much. Not real good with explaining salt water or brackish set ups too well either. Also regarding goldfish, I have some comets, and have a little experience with them but mostly just general info on them. I AM NOT THAT FAMILIAR WITH ANY OF THE FANCY VARIETIES OF GOLDFISH. YOU MIGHT BE BETTER DIRECTING THOSE QUERIES TO AN EXPERT MORE FAMILIAR WITH THEM. If I can't answer or don't know something, I'll let you know, so don't be upset if I reject your question, I'll always explain why. I would just rather not answer then give an answer I'm not confident about.
Experience All personal, first hand, general fishkeeping experience. I've had fresh water aquariums now for about 7 years. I've had tropical/community fish tanks, African cichlids, South American cichlids, brackish water puffer fish, and a lot of other varieties in between.
Education/Credentials None, all personal experience
Question I have few questions i just got my tank and i hooked everything up yesterday waiting to get the fish.What is the recommend temp of a fresh water tank... How often do i need to change the filter
Answer Hi Logan
The temperature will depend on what types of fish you keep.
Cool water fish like most goldfish do best in room temperature water-
65-72°F.
Tropical fish do best about 76-80°F.
Then there's the fish like danios, guppies, platies, some tetra species that do best similar to cool water fish, 68-80°F.
So, I would suggest researching on a few different sites to see what the types of fish you have and what temps they'll do best in.
As for the filter.....depending on the type of filter you have, if it's one of the standard hang on the back power filter, you can get away with changing out the filter pad every 3 months or so. At least once a month it should be rinsed in a bucket of used tank water though.
Not sure on how you're going about everything with setting up your tank, so don't want to overload you with info you may already know, but before you buy any fish, I suggest doing a search on and doing what's called a fishless cycle. I don't have any good links handy for that topic. But, here is one on the nitrogen cycle or the cycle process of a fish tank, which kind of goes along with the fishless cycling:
