What do I do with the fish when I clean the tank?

[TCool]

Not sure if this was mentioned (I have a tendency to miss things), but ditch the test strips. They plain suck. My always told me I had zero nitrates, but that's not really possible (or at least it'd be really hard to do I imagine... unless you have no bacteria). Get a liquid kit, they are more accurate and cheaper in the long run.

 

[mellawson]

+1 on ditching the strips they are only good for 2 things false security and unnecessary freakouts.

 

[Andrewz00]

i would have to agree with everyone here.. you are waaayyy over crowded and waayyy over cleaning!

i have a 90 gal tank and i do about a 20-30% PWC once a week... during which i vac at least a quarter of the gravel.... once ever 3(ish) months i clean my canister (during this i dont vac the gravel)

when replacing the water i match temp to the touch... at this point ive probably had my hands in the tank cleaning the glass or moving DW to vac under... so i use my best judgement on temps....

all the while keeping my fish in the tank... most of them are so used to me in there they arnt bothered... some try to "eat" things flowing up the gravel vac.. others like to be pet (go figure)

i also have used all the chem PH balances, salt, accuclear, stress coat/zyme in the past... ive since moved to a chem free approach.. (only Seachem Prime as a declore/conditioner) and have seen vast improvements in the health of my fish.

+1 on ditching the test strips for a liquid kit.

 

[Mark Hewitt]

5 goldies in 10 gallons! ouch! Good idea on getting that bigger tank!

As others have said, you should only be doing a 50% water change at the absolute maximum, and the fish should never have to leave the tank unless it's exceptional circumstances.

A water change doesn't stress them too much, in fact much of the time they'll find it interesting!

One thing, is your water, decorations, gravel etc becoming covered in grime all the time? It could be that you're lighting your tank too much, which is encouraging algae growth.

The fish don't need the lights on, they prefer the dark, only have your fish tank lights on for periods when you want to look at the fish. Get a timer to make sure that when you are in bed, at work etc, that the tank lights are off.

 

[Mark Hewitt]

PS. Do you have a tank heater? I'm guessing with goldfish you don't? It might be worth getting one, but set it to a lower level than you would with tropical fish.

Just so that if you put coldish water in, it's brought up to temperature, and should the outside temperature drop in winter, the tank will stay the same.