Best filtration for a 50gal long

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Blue goldfish

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Sep 15, 2002
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Best filtration for a 50gal long?????

I have just gotten a 40/50gal long tank. I don't really know the volume, it's 12 3/4 wide, 48 1/4 long, and 19 1/2 high...inches. I am gonna be having a 7-8in common goldfish, 5-6in sarasa comet, 2 minnows and some other fish in it when i get it setup. The goldfish are gravel-sifting freaks so a lota stuffs gonna be stirred up. I thought about 2 Aquaclear 150s or 200s. Will this be enough mechanical, biological, and chemical filtration???? I also hope to grow plants in this tank, so i don't want to overdo it. Or will one of these canister filters be better???? I don't have very much experience with them only power filters and UGFs(which i will never use again). What's your opinion???? If you wanna know the other tank mates i wanna get are 2 weather loaches and a red-tailed black shark so far. Though i may mark out the shark and get another fish. But the filtration is what's got me stumped.

Any advice, personal preferences, or comments will be appreciated.:D :) :D :)
 
That is WAY too many fish for a 40-50 gallon tank. The goldie alone will max the tank out when full grown.

You don't need chemical filtration running full time--and I would put 2 AC300's on with such a heavy bio load. You're not going to be able to just dump those fish in--you'll need to either fishless cycle it, or add the fish slowly, one at a time with 2 weeks in between additions.

I would avoid the shark--they are tropical, while comets, goldies, many minnows, and weather loaches are comfortable down to the mid 60's. Keep the tank warm enough for him (mid to upper 70's) and all the other fish will suffer.

Plants are going to be difficult--the carp tend to eat them, and the digging won't help. You might be better off going with potted plants--though that will eat up some space when you're already limited.
 
way to many fish???

OrionGirl I think you misunderstood. I am going to move a common goldfish that is 7-8inches long into it, a sarasa comet which is 5-6inches long, 2 minnows that are 21/2inches long, and 2 weather loaches which will be about 3-4inches long a piece.

How is this way to many fish????? I will also be moving a few small goldfish into it as well and the biggest one is 3inches. But it won't be a problem cuz the majority of them will be moving into a above the ground pond this spring/summer. Is this really too many fish??? I didn't think so. Hmmmm.......:confused:
 
Experienced goldie keepers recommend 10 gallons per inch of fish. A goldie that is 7-8 inches long needs 70-80 gallons. Add another fish of the same family, giving it the same space consideration, and you need to add another 50-60 gallons. And then you want to add some more, smaller fish as well?
 
I have a 50G tank with an AC300 and an Emperor280 which currently contains 4 goldfish (ryunkins and orandas). Everything is fine.

The most common goldfish recommendation is 10G per goldfish as a minimum although I would not recommend trying to keep one of the larger, faster varieties (comet, shubunkin, common, etc.) in only a 10G.

If you were trying to raise show quality then you would probably want to double it to 20G per fish or more. IMO your tank would be maxed with 2 goldish plus your other fish, but not overstocked. Keep up with your maintenance!
 
Now I am going to step in it:)
When we had Goldfish and Koi in our pond during the summer and had to pull them out in the winter we had a 75 gal tank. Buy the end of the 2 year we had 4 Koi that were 10-12" long and about 12-16 6-8" Gold fish and a mess of little ones (40) about 2-3" long. They all made it through the winter in that tank with 50% water changes a week and cleaning out the filter weekly. The fish were in the tank from Sept to May. Now this was back in 1976 with 1 HOB filter and a UGF (and no test kit or heater)

I am not saying that a person should do this I am just saying that it can be done, if you look after the tank.
 
Originally posted by OrionGirl
Experienced goldie keepers recommend 10 gallons per inch of fish. A goldie that is 7-8 inches long needs 70-80 gallons. Add another fish of the same family, giving it the same space consideration, and you need to add another 50-60 gallons. And then you want to add some more, smaller fish as well?
Click to expand...

i read some where it's 10 gallon per goldfish, not 10 gallon per inch of goldfish.

it doesn't make sense to having an 80 gal tank that just to contain 2 x 4inch goldfish, whicn it actual fact that kind of tank can easily contain a few full-grown oscars who actually eat and output (they don't allow me to use the 's' word) more.
 
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I don't have the money to spend 10gal per inch of goldfish.... and besides it would be a very boring tank to boot. I do keep up with my tank maintenance as some days the first thing i do is clean-tank duty. I have not had any problems keeping him in a 20gal high......along with the sarasa comet and the 2 minnows. He IS cramped though. That's why i got the 40gal long. Besides i don't have the room either. I can't even set it up yet cuz i don't have the money. I have insurance, car payments, and other things first. So Here derives my next very important question....

Can i buy the 2 filters and the gravel and be ok???? I will only be able to gradually get it fixed up nice becauze of current situations. I'll have plants (fake) in it and that's about it. I'll cycle it by seeding it with my 8month old 10gal's gravel (originally my goldfish's original home...) which is highly established.

Thanks for the advice though :D
 
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