Hi i have found a new fish tank which has been used before but in good condition. Its 48" long 24" high and 18" deep.

Comes with hood too.

Is this a good sized tank? Has anyone on this forum got a tank this big and how many goldies can you fit in it safely? What external filter would i have to use for something this big?

That's about 50 gal or so. You'd need a canister filter that pumps 500-gal/hour (or slightly less is ok)

That's 90 gallons so a very good sized tank You can keep at most, 9 fish in there

When do you get it?

There is an aquarium volume calculator on practicalfishkeeping.co.uk

Is it a Fluval 1200?

Hi i have also found a 50Gallon tank for sale at a good price with lots of extras


is 50 gallons a nice size? If i got a good external filter could i keepy 5 fish in it? Id like the bigger 90 gallon tank but at the end of the day a 50 gallon aint too bad is it?

U sure it's 90 gal, Jen? My tank is similar dimension and it holds aout 200 litres which is about 50 gal or so.

I think 50 gal is a very nice size. U can certainly keep 5 fish there with a good canister filter.

if it helps, i found this:

Width: 48" (121.92cm)
Height: 24" (60.96cm)
Depth: 18" (45.72cm)
Your tank's volume is approximately 20736 cubic inches or 89.77 U.S. gallons, which is approximately 349.19 liters.

according to http://www.firsttankguide.net/calculator.php

Ah the depth and height is different than mine

Geez Riz - if your dimensions were the same, I was going to suggest you run out and buy another 4 fish

Yeah, it's definately about 90 US gal (75 ish UK).

A very good size tank for goldfish!

How exciting!

Hi, i have found the tank im going to get is 50 gallons.

It comes with a SACEM MARATHON 1000.
Does anyone know anything about it? Is it a good filter?

I'm a bit confused

Are you getting a 90 or a 50 or both!

Oh I see now, you're going for the 50 gal.

50 gal is great too!

I'd love a 50 gal!

I've not heard of the filter before. Is it an external cannister?

how does this sound? Honest opinions please.

If i get the tank set up with ornaments from the Old Tank and put them in the new tank, i will also put some gravel from my current tank into the new tank. I will also put 1 Filter media into the External filter and i will put 25% of water into my new tank.

Once i've done this do i test everyday?

Do i need to put fish flakes into the tank or what i've said going to be enough?

Will i see ammonia rise and drop then nitrite rise and drop and then nitrates appear?

When do i start doing water changes? is there any need to add salt?


Please comment on the above and please give me any advice - i need it lol.

I just dont wanna mess this up and wanna cycle the tank as quick as i can. Oh and when my new tank finally does cycle shall i add 1 lionhead a time or will it be ok for them to both go in together?

If you move everything over from the old tank then you can put both of the fish over at the same time. Check the water every day though to make sure there is no bump in the cycle.

Are the measurements you gave in the first post the actual measurements of the tank you are getting? If they are then it is a 90 gallon and not a 50. I just want to make sure you know the right size so you can have the correct amount of filtration on it.

thank you for pointing out to me the sizes etc.

I was looking at EITHER a 50 gallon or 90 gallon.

Now practibility (i think i've spelt that wrong) forces me to go for the 50 gallon, i think thats big enough for me.

I am going to look at the 50 gallon on Sunday.

I dont know if i should move everything to the new tank because i have a slight bit of ammonia present in the water at the moment. I think the juwel filtration system on my tank isnt strong enough for my two lionheads!

what shall i do if i have some ammonia in the current tank? shall i just move everything straight over into my new tank or not?

Hi everyone i bought the new tank and got an almighty bargain! lol.

The tank is nice, and in good condition. It has hood and lighting all included (The Lighting is purple'y).

It comes with loads of brand new filter sponges, airstones, piping, food, water treatments, big carry case (for all the bits), backgrounds which are new, external filter (sacem), 3 internal filters which are eheim and a whole lot more things! £50 for the lot


I need to clean the fish tank because there is some scum in the tank from where they didnt bother cleaning it down before selling it, whats the best thing to use to clean inside a tank ? (some of it seems quite tough!)

The Sacem external filter looks very well built indeed! Inside he has ceramic beads, thing that looks like sooty gravel (muddy looking) and filter sponges. Anything out of the external i can wash and re-use?

Then he has loads of these internal type filters inside them are loads of gravel...does anyone know what they are?

When i finally do get the new tank up and running shall i run an internal filter and the external filter aswell? To me them internal filters seem to be just pure bacteria grabbers because they have gravel in them....

i dont know where to start lol. what do i keep? what shall i chuck? lol

Please someone advise me before i throw something valuable!

Tonight im going to clean out the external filter. I looked in it today, the previous owner of the tank had it set up like this (there are four baskets) 1) plastic wire mesh type thing which looked like it caught all the gunk, 2) second basket has white gravel in it, 3) 3rd basket has ceramic beads in it and 4) I have not looked that low yet but it looks like another sponge.

Now can someone tell me how i can set it up please....I assume i can use filter floss wool for the top basket and it works the same as his wire mesh did ?

His internal filters have small sponges in them and then he's surrounded the sponges with gravel - is this normal?

Hope someone can help me with the filter setup

thank you


thanks peeps,

Mike