hi all,
I have an overstocked tank, as in, one comet ( 4 inches long), another comet (3 inches long ) and a weather loach ( 4 inches long ). My tank is 10 gallons. The problem is though I am unemployed and scraping by on money and therefore cannot afford to buy a 30 gallon tank I do however have two filters. I don't know how you define these filters, one is a fluval which has a sponge inside it and the water is pumped through and is cleaned as it goes through the sponge. The other has the same functionality except the brand is Rena. I was wondering if I could put the two filters in the tank in an attempt to improve the filtration. I wonder though if the water current in the tank would be too much for the fish though, I think it would....
It's just that I have to do water changes every day to keep the water parameters such as ph, Ammonia, nitrates and nitrites down. So, I was thinking that if I put better filtration in I could just do the once-weekly water change....
I think I could stretch to buying a new filter. I would like to ensure the water quality of the tank to prevent my fishies from getting diseases, one already suffers from ammonia burns which I am keeping under control with regular water changes.
So, let me know what ye advise, thanks

Even with good filtration i would be doing water changes at least 3-4 times a week. I dont know how long it will be before you can scrape up enough cash for a 30G but if its going to be a long time you might want to consider getting a 30G or 50G Rubbermaid plastic bin as a temporary solution until you can get the bigger tank. It does not look great like a tank but your fish would be better off. You could put all of your filters in it including the 3rd one you mentioned you wanted to buy. I dont know how old you are but if you're young you should see if you can get your parents to order you a filter online and save a good amount of money instead of paying double the price at a LFS.

Good Luck!

What are the brand and model names of the filters? Given that, we could determine the GPH. Over-filtration is usually not a problem, especially with the size of your fish. If I had too little water for my fish, I'd over-filter the thing until I could upgrade the tank. Under-filtration on the other hand will make your fish suffer needlessly.

Definitely use both filters... Goldfish naturally live in high-current areas like rivers, and I think most loaches don't mind a lot of water movement. The more movement you have, the more oxygen you have... and more filtration will take more solid waste (food and poo) out of the water. Like gldfshkpr said, it would help to know more about the filters, but I doubt they'd actually be too strong.

The filters wouldn't reduce your water changes much. It would catch the waste, but unless you clean the filters a lot, that waste is still in the tank water breaking down. To clean the filter, just squeeze the sponge a little bit in some old tank water (or new dechlored water). Most of your good bacteria will stay on it, and most food/waste particles will come off.

Good luck with your fishies... I can tell how much you care about them!