Filter for 37g goldfish tank

cryeth_the_raven

cryeth_the_raven

fumbling towards ecstasy
Feb 10, 2009
183
0
0
45
CT
Real Name
Trev
I've decided to ask the community for some advice regarding my 37g... three baby fancies call it home. Right now I have an Emperor 280 on it. I've had the filter and the goldfish for a year.... and the water parameters are all fine (ph 8.0, Nitrite 0, Nitrate 0) save for ammonia (.25). This has been the case for some time with this tank. I do not overfeed and change the water weekly @ 50% as I do with all my tanks. The conclusion I've come to is I really need a 10x turnover rate and the 280 isn't cutting it.

I'm planning on upgrading to an Aquaclear 110. I sought advice from someone in the AC community only to get a snotty, rude individual who shall for purposes of civility remain nameless. I was told (rather brusquely I might add) that the problem isn't my turnover rate but my stock. And that I'm "wrong" to upgrade filters for purposes of more gph alone. That I have "no understand" of the bio-load in relation to the filter.

So am I misled? Will not the 110 help alleviate my ammonia problem by greatly increasing turnover rate? Was I wrong to approach the problem this way? Generous, thoughtful advice sough.
 
I'm keeping this stupid thread alive until get an answer.
 
PM for links to a couple articles I wrote on goldfish, they may help you a lot.

What test kit are you using for ammonia and nitrate?

Honestly unless you have tons of love plants in there I doubt your nitrate is 0.

Do you have an air stone? They can save your entire stock one day (last thing you need is for your one HOB to stop running and come home to three dead fish). Goldfish love them too. They can also greatly increase flow.

What types of goldfish are they? Many cannot handle high flow very well. How big are they?

Honestly with a biowheel I doubt you will have inadequate biological filtration. Don't get me wrong, more filtration is always better, but I don't think that would be your problem.

What do you feed them?
 
Higher turn over doesn't ALWAYS mean better filtration. Much of the process has to do with how long water stays in contact with the media, thickness of bio-film, available/type media, ect...

However, I am one who is always in favor of "over" filtering tanks. There is nothing wrong with you wanting to try and create a better living environment for your fish, in fact most people on here usually encourage such a thing ;).

Is the 37 going to be a permanent home for these fancies?? Regardless, there is nothing wrong with getting a bigger filter. On my 135 I run two FX5's, one which I moded to have a bio-wheel 350. On my 120 tall I run an FX5 and a Mag 350. On my 20 long blackworm tank I run a Cascade 300. If I remember correctly these filters are rated for tanks of the following sizes (rated in my opinion is not accurate at all)

FX5 up to 400 US gallons
Mag 350 up to 100 US gallons
Cascade 300 up to 100 US gallons

My tanks on average test 0 ammo, 0 nitrite, 0 nitrate, rarely ever do I get a nitrate reading. They are all planted though so that could help.
 
Yes it will be their permanent home. I get flack for that but that I know **** well I could be doing alot worse. Besides I go by the 20+10g rule for fancies. Risky? Yes. But that's why I'm so careful.
 
That word was darn.... really it was. I'm a good boy and never swear.
 
Food: Tetra sinking granules

No live plants. Nitrates are really 0. Weird, huh?
 
What test kits are you using?

Tetra is...not the best. High quality foods mean more food is digested on the way through the fish so less waste is produced. This keeps the whole tank cleaner. I only feed and recommend New Life Spectrum Thera+A.

Three goldfish in a 37 is fine if you are doing aggressive water changes. Water changes have a larger impact on what you can stock than the actual volume of the tank. If you keep the nitrate under 20ppm you are not overstocked (to a point). I also use the 20+10 guide for goldfish.
 
Thank you
 
If you don't shake the heck out of the nitrate reagent 2 of the api nitrate test kit you will get a 0 nitrate reading when it is actually much higher. I learned this the hard way. Shake it vigorously at least 30 seconds.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
AquariaCentral.com
Top Bottom