Questions about keeping goldfish

tomdkat

Da Man
Nov 29, 2005
126
0
0
A friend of mine is about to take ownership of an aquarium (not sure of the size yet) and some somewhat large goldfish (maybe 5"-10" in length, but I'm not positive about that either). I'm in the process of getting more details and I'll post them when I have them.

Generally speaking, what kind of filtration should be used with goldfish? Is a HOB power filter sufficient or is a canister preferred?

Thanks!

Peace...
 
It really depends on the tank IMO. I have goldies and double the filter used as is used on a tank with no goldies in it.... I don't know if it's a must but because they are such waste producers, I find it more settling. Water changes are still weekly.
 
Ok. Is a chiller needed for the water or is simply lack of heating sufficient?

Peace...
 
no chiller needed unless you are trying to trigger breeding indoors. my 55 goldfish tank is run on 2 whisper 60s. depending on tank size you could supplement these with canisters. any more than a 55 and i would use a canister in addition to HOBs. i have used fluvals, but have heard good things about eheim and rena. reverse flow undergravel could also be used to add a lot of biological filtration to help handle the large bioload.
 
Thanks. I found out this morning the tank is a 55g and the goldfish are "medium" sized, so I'm guessing they're in the 5"-7" range. There are 4 of them in about 4" of water, due to the tank having a leak and needing resealing.

Peace...
 
With a 55 gallon, I think that 2 Whisper Model 60s would be best. If you can still find one, a SecondNature Whisper Model 4 or 5 would be even better. You need to circulate the tank water 10-15 times an hour. So no less than 550 gallons per hour total but no more than 700 gallons per hour. Remember, Fancy Goldfish are poor swimmers!!! :read: :idea: :troll:

fishieperson <><<<<<
 
I woudl get the person to invest in a large rubbermaid container. That way the fish can be placed there temporarily so that the 55 gallon can be re-sealed. They won't need to stay in it for more than a couple of days so some daily water changes will suffice along with some sort of aeration.
 
if they are fancy (round-bodied fantail) goldfish than the tank is fine, but if they are comets or any other long bodied regular tailed goldfish, that tank will be too small as they can max out at easily over a foot. i have 2 whisper 60s on my 55 with 3 fancy goldfish, i will be adding a couple more goldfish soon, and the filtration i have is doing great and should be ample with the tank fully stocked.
 
That is true. Comets can grow to be about 2 ft. I have 5 adult (but not full grown) Comets in a 75 gallon tank with 2 Penguin 330 filters on it and 3 bubble bars. They love the bubbles! I can't put plants in their tank because they shred them all. It seems like they just like to toss things around in their tank.
 
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