Filters for golffish

[Savvysweetie06]

Hello. I have a question about filtration for goldfish. I am moving my 3 small goldfish to a 70 gallon tank. They are 2-3" nose to tail. (I have them in a 20 gallon now) I have a filter that does 300 gph and another 7 watt uv filter but I would like to add a bubbler for better circulation. My question is, if I'm adding the bubble anyway, is adding a bubble power filter too much filtration. Is there any such thing as too much filtration?

For reference, they are fancy goldfish. Now I change 40% of the water every weekend and 20% in the middle of the week. I will probably switch to only doing a 30% water change every weekend I have a few ammano shrimp to help with clean up. I feed them a different food twice a day. They eat goldfish pellets, frozen bloodworms, frozen omnivore diet, live ghost shrimp, live fruit flies and blanched veggies. Any advice on goldfish care would be appreciated especially filtration. Thank you.

 

[skrapeNKA]

I'm of the opinion you can't over filter. If your fish can stand the water flow, you're good! (If they're struggling to swim obviously dial it back)

 

[Savvysweetie06]

Thank you so much. That makes me feel better.

 

[skrapeNKA]

It pays dividends when you're cleaning filters or need to replace media, too. More media, more cushion! Just try to stagger weeks on which filter systems you're cleaning

 

[Savvysweetie06]

Right now I just change my HOB pad when it's indicated and change the floss and media on my other filter once a month and clean the uv filter once a month. Do I need to do anything else to clean them? I've never even thought about cleaning them any more than that.

 

[skrapeNKA]

The general rule of thumb is to just rinse or swish your media in the water you've drawn out of your tank. I wouldn't replace any media until it is physically falling apart; the exception being carbon if you use it. The benefits of carbon have a finite time span and I'd follow the recommendations for it (but don't feel like carbon is necessary, it isn't! It certainly doesn't harm your tank if you have it, though)

 

[Savvysweetie06]

Thank you for your help. I've been keeping fish for a while but this is my first time with goldfish. I know they're not very expensive fish but I really like mine and I want to keep them happy and healthy. Thank you.

 

[BBradbury]

Hell Savvy...

I keep quite a few Goldfish both common and fancy. You only need to change the water weekly, because of the time it takes fish waste to dissolve in the water. Multiple water changes every week in an established tank are a waste of time. When you get out the gear for a water change, remove and replace half and you're done. Less than half, still leaves most of the polluted water in the tank. The fish and plants will add to the pollutants before the next water change. If you change half the water weekly and feed sparingly, you don't need a lot of filtration. A gph (gallon per hour) of four times is enough to maintain a good oxygen level. Because you change so much water, the filter whatever kind it is, is simply filtering water that's already clean. So, save your money. Just change half the water weekly, no excuses.

B

 

[Savvysweetie06]

I don't have a planted tank. Just 6 large moss balls and a little bit of Christmas moss and I just put that in recently. This my first time putting any plants in the aquarium. My ammonia is fine but my nitrates are alway a little high. That's why I vacuum the gravel and change the water 2xs a week.

 

[D-Fish]

For goldfish I like to have 10x the volume in water flow with going HOB filter. I've had goldfish for 20 years and the more filtration and more water changes the better with them. I did 80% WC on mine between weekly and biweekly. 10gal/fancy goldfish is my stocking limit with them preferably 15gal/fish. They can get 10" long in some cases and as big around as a softball (speaking from experience).

I like to to planted if I can and have a list of plants that do well if you want. But one thing I heavily recommend is duckweed. It prevents swim bladder issues in a lot of fancy goldfish that are prone to it. You can grow it easily in another tank or even in just a simple plastic tote. I have a 15 gal tropical tank that I used to grow duckweed and take about half of it twice a week and feed my 3. It grows fast and will help keep your water perfect in whatever tank you are growing it out in.

I wish you the best of luck!

 

[Savvysweetie06]

I've been thinking about duck weed but I don't really understand the lighting requirements for a planted tank at all. I'm hoping I can keep my moss alive but I have a black thumb when it comes to plants. Right now I have the standard lights that came in the box with my setup from the store. I'd love to add duck weed but I have a few questions like where do you get it and how do you keep it alive and how do I keep it from blocking out light to my fish and moss?

 

[D-Fish]

I've been thinking about duck weed but I don't really understand the lighting requirements for a planted tank at all. I'm hoping I can keep my moss alive but I have a black thumb when it comes to plants. Right now I have the standard lights that came in the box with my setup from the store. I'd love to add duck weed but I have a few questions like where do you get it and how do you keep it alive and how do I keep it from blocking out light to my fish and moss?

You will not be able to keep it with the goldfish. They will eat it all. Lol

It is not picky about lighting any halfway decent aftermarket LED or t5 light will work for it. You can also container it and place it in full sun for rapid growth. I would order is online or from someone here. Do not harvest it from the wild as it may have nasty hitchhikers.

As for it blocking light. When it gets thick it will block a significant amount of light. I have it on a blackwater biotype tank so I don't really worry about a lot of light in the tank for plants and such on the bottom. I can still see the fish plenty well but it will dim the tank if you let it go too far. Topically I have 25-75% top coverage and do not let it get thicker.

What kind of light came with the tank? If it's a very small led you may need to replace it to really grow plants. You might be able to get by with Anubias. If it takes the compact fluorescent bulbs as long as you have a daylight or plant bulb you should be fine for most low and maybe medium light plants.

 

[Savvysweetie06]

Would it work in a barrel planter with a regular grow light for house plants? I could probably do that and add a little to my tanks every week?

 

[D-Fish]

Would it work in a barrel planter with a regular grow light for house plants? I could probably do that and add a little to my tanks every week?

Yeah that should be fine. [emoji106]

 

[Savvysweetie06]

Thank you