I'm brand new to all of this but it hasn't taken me long to learn to be suspicious of pet store advice. We have a 12 gallon Eclipse with a Biowheel filter, heater, and airstone. The pet shop sold us two, two inch (fork length) goldfish and an algae eater (2 & 1/2 inch fork length). Are the g/f and algae eater compatible? From what I've been reading it seems as if g/f don't mix well with other fishes, yet I've learned that the two fishes' pH requirements are similar and if I keep the temp at about 72 degrees their temp requirements will be met as well. Should I keep them together or get another tank to separate them (we wouldn't mind keeping both a g/f tank and a tropical tank)? Also, the shop told us that I can feed them all with g/f flakes, and that the algae eater will eat the food that sinks to the bottom. Shouldn't I feed the algae eater with either sinking food or algae tablets as well? Lastly, could we add more g/f to the tank, or preferably a different species? If so, how many more fish can we safely add? I've read that g/f grow to the size of the tank, so would it be problematic to add two or three more?
Thanks!
Thanks!