Newbie-i think i need help!

Well I'm glad you found the site. You can't be taking horrible care of your fish if they are alive after two years. Some people just luck out and manage to overcome things that they don't even know about, I guess.

If you are going to have just a plant or two, that really is personal preference. If you want to get live plants, then I think you will need a bit more substrate. Depending on what plants you get, they can be a hassle to maintain when it comes to fertilizing, lighting, balancing all these different elements without getting algae. However, if you have a moderately to densely planted tank, the plants can help maintain the nitrate levels lower by using the nitrate as food. There are people who have very densely planted tanks who rarely find the need to change the water, as they have a very delicate balance achieved. Personally, I only use live plants in my tanks.

Hello and welcome to the site.
Actually goldfish are pretty tough and can survive mistakes, like an uncycled tank. Good that you are now aware of it and will keep an eye on it. The two black moors you have can get up to six or eight inches in length, and goldfish produce the most waste of any fish in the hobby. If you have chinese algae eaters, they can grow up to 14 inches!! They will also get very territorial as they get bigger, but are not while they are small. You do have a few issues with the tank:
First, it is overcrowded. You should have at least 15 gallons at the minimum for your goldfish. The algae eaters will need a new home if they get too big. Definitely do not add any more fish.
To give you an idea of how much waste goldfish produce, when I started out I had two fantail goldfish in a ten gallon. I now have a betta imbellis, six neon tetras, three endlers, two platies and two albino cories in the tank. All of these fish produce less waste than the two goldfish did!
My tank does have a lot of fish, but strict maintenance ensures that they are all healthy and happy.
If you want to keep these goldfish in the 9 gallon, you will also need strict maintenance. Get a gravel vacuum and use it twice a week (as a start) and change 30 or 40 percent of the water each time. Monitor nitrate levels and make sure you keep them under 40 ppm or so. This is an indicator of how many water changes you will need. A fast growing plant will help use up some of these nitrates. Check out the forum on plants, there are many to choose from, you could submit a post for an easy fast growing plant and I am sure you would get lots of responses. You may consider getting a bigger tank if you can afford it. A twenty gallon would be perfect, and not really take up much more room than the one you have. The algae eaters will be OK as long as they are small. You will have to find a new home for them eventually. Sometimes they can attach themselves to the goldfish and leave marks, so just keep an eye on that.
Keeping fish in an aquarium than is too small is not ideal, but the situation is what it is and you can do things to better it. Kudos to you for searching out this site, which has a lot of information. If you cannot get another aquarium, remember that strict maintenance is the key, and nothing substitutes that, not even a heavily planted tank. Monitor ammonia and nitrate, and keeps the nitrate levels down. Nitrates measure waste, and if they are too high your fish are swimming in their own septic tank. Just because the water is clear does not make it healthy. I have heard from many people the misconception that their filter is so good they do not need to do water changes (because their water is so clear!). There is no substitute for water changes...ever!
Welcome to the site, hope this was helpful. If you do start a new aquarium for your goldfish, post it here and there are lots of people to help you through the process. I was just like you at one time, and this site helped me enormously. Good luck!

>I agree, congrats on keeping your fish this long. I'd say most people start out not knowing 1/2 of what they "should" know.
> I like live plants. Id also say that they can only help your algea situation ( by using some of the nutrients the algea is enjoying). Java fern can float, although it looks kind of silly that way, or can be anchord into the gravel. It doesnt get its nutrition from those rootlooking things, it just uses them to hang on. You can also grow it on driftwood, or tuck it under the edge of that large rock thing. It doesnt require any extra light, and IME is pretty easy to get along with. I'd suggest it. I also always havelive plants in my tank. i dont do anything special for them.

More importantly, I am afraid Id have to say, I think those fish could really use a larger tank. Look at profiles for info specific to the moors. If You can post a picture of the algea eater someone here may be able to id it.

meantime, yes, get the testkits ( I Like "Aquarium Pharmacueticlas brand. most others her seem to also).

>How often do you vaccuuum the gravel and change some water?

good luck! and im glad you found this site too. i really like these forums

RE "There are people who have very densely planted tanks who rarely find the need to change the water"
While plants can slow the buildup of nitrates in the water, and do other lovely things for the tank, i am sure, They Do not replace partial waterchanges IMO.
I beleive that things will accumulate in the water that the plantscannot remove. Nitrates are Not the only reason for partial water changes.

WOW Denali, you posted while I typed. If I'd seen yours I would have skipped mine! :laugh:
(except to suggest the java fern.)
~ Z

http://www.aquaticcritter.com/Fresh...tm#Gravel Vacuuming and Partial Water Changes

This link will answer questions about gravel vacuuming, as well as other maintenance tips. Glad to hear that your algae eaters only get three inches long.

If you would be interested in getting a bigger tank, keep your eye out for used tanks in your local paper, garage sales, and ebay. I've gotten great deals that way

I was just thinking... Since the tank has never been gravel vacuumed (right?!), you might want to start out with the cleaning/doing better maintenance slowly. Perhaps only vac. half of your gravel or take out 20% or so of the water a week (whichever happens first) for a few weeks. Even though the fish would have better water quality, sometimes the shock of the sudden changes in the water chemistry can be too stressful and kill the fish. I would hate for you to come on here for help and think we've all killed your fish with our advice after you've managed to keep them alive for 2 years. Also, if you can, buy your own test kits or ask the LFS to give you actual numbers for nitire, amonia and nitrate. What is good to some of the workers might not be good, and they just don't know any better! Unfortunately some LFS workers are not all that informed, and your own research is usually better than trusting their advice ("yes, 2 goldfish would be fine in a 9g tank :duh: !!")
Good luck