How to reduce current flow from filters?

[Trioracles]

I recently got my goldfish from the mail and they always seem to be swimming at the bottom. They're pretty small so I think the current from my two 110 aqua clear filters might be too much from them. Even lowering the flow doesn't help. I've seen a youtube video that this person hanged a cloth so the flow lands on the cloth reducing its current. Is their a better way? Maybe something less ugly? Is their a product for this sort of thing? Thanks!

 

[Rare]

How big is your aquarium? How many goldfish? What I'm trying to get at is do you really need 2 of them running or can you just run one?

 

[Trioracles]

A 60 gallon with 5 small goldfish. Originally I bought four but I guess they gave me one for free.

 

[Rare]

The 110 aqua clear is rated for 500GPH & for your aquarium it's turning over the water over 8x an hour. (for 2 running you got 16X an hour) I can't help you with what to do about flow, but makes sense to have either one auqa clear running or sell both or downgrade and get the next one down if you dont get an answer.

 

[Khuligirl93]

Extra filtration is usually a great thing to have with goldfish. I wouldn't recommend selling or downgrading.
Maybe while they're just babies you could only use one, and then in a few months once they're larger you could add the second?

 

[Rare]

Extra filtration when it's needed but not the case. Next one down is the aqua clear 100 with 300GPH & with 2 running it's still 10x the return. If the water is clear, bio load is low, there is no need at this time to run such big filters on a 60g tank when gold fish are swimming at the bottom. Running one is fine as long as water parameters are in line.( as i stated) If the OP wants to have 2 filters to run each on both side or 2 if one fails, having 2 aqua clear 100 is not a terrible thing. What kind of goldfish are we talking about here?

If the filters are off do they swim around freely?

 

[Fresh2o]

You can look up "bottle baffle". Have not used one but other members have used it to reduce water flow.

 

[Old Scales]

+1 on the bottle baffle. I made one for my HOB and I love it! OS.

 

[jlk]

I cover the intakes with pantyhose then place thick pieces of filter foam over this. The thicker the foam, the more flow is limited. Also, make sure the tank is filled to the brim to dampen outflow. Your filtration is perfectly fine. I run the same amount (or more) on tanks with tiny fry using the pantyhose and foam and do not have any issues with water flow from the filters or current levels. Its also likely that your new fish are undergoing adjustment period and their activity should increase with time.

 

[Trioracles]

Thanks, I'll try both the bottle baffler and the foam to see which one works best! And my Goldie's swim fine when filters r off.

 

[mrvincent]

There's never enough flow/filtration for goldfishs -.-