two 68 quart (I figured it out later to about 16.5 gallons) clear plastic sterilite tubs
two 5-15 100 GPM power fillters
One 20-60 gallon rated air pump with double outputs
two 18 inch bubble walls placed just under the surface behind the filter (I discovered I still got the benifet of the extra aeration, while not creating such an strong current)
two and a half bunches of a underwater plant (starts with an A I think,)
One 10 Gall aquarium with fancy tail guppies (it just wasnt right for my fishies to live like that. . . .) 5-15 gall power filter gravel plastic plants and decorations

once our 100 gallon pond and filter cycle through (not to mention we muck out the bottom, not all dead fish float, we discovered. . . The goldfish will be moved there for the summer, along with some of the plants. I also intend on setting up two more like these tanks as the fish grow larger, although I may downgrade to just one filter and not fill the container full up,

I plan on weekly waterchanges (any advice on what percentages or if they should be more often?) and have added aquarim salt acording to the directions on the box.

The water perams are as follows
Goldfish tank 1 16.5 gall
(all have the fan tail I think, it looks like a V and seperates into 4 lobes)
2 1 1/2- 2" black moors
1 3" calico
1 2" Orangesh Red

Temperature 60F
ammonia .25 ppm
nitrate 20
nitrite 0
total Alkilinity 180
Ph 7.8
hardness 300

Goldfish Tank #2

3 1 1/2-3" black moors
1 3" calico

Temp 60F
ammonia .25 ppm
Nitrate 16 Ppm
Nitrite 0
total hardness 150
total alklinty 180
Ph 7.8

Guppy tank
10 Gall aqarium
1 2 inch male fancy tail guppy
2 2" female fancy Tail guppies (one has a blue tail and one has a yellow)

temp 72F
all other perams are the same. . .

Well, you have 4 goldfish in each of your 16 gallon tubs. Keep in mind that the 16 gallons is measured if you were to fill the tubs to the very brim, so you most likely have about 12-13 gallons in each tub. You are running filters that filter approx. 100 gallons per hour at their best, but, as soon as they get a bit dirty and older, they will no longer do the full 100gph.

Those 4 fish would do much better in about 40 gallons of water, but, since they are small, you could probably be OK with 30ish. Unfortunately, they are in less than 15!

The fact that you have some nitrates showing means that there is some cycling bacteria working for you, but since you have ammonia, the filtration and biological media for the beneficial bacteria is not up to the job of filtering for those fish.

You may be able to get away with this setup for a short time if you were to up your filteration (you need at least 160gph - I would aim for 200gph PER tub - each tub needs a Penguin 200 or so) and build your platform for the beneficial bacteria. Stuff the filters full of media - put extra baggies of media in the bottom of the tubs, etc.

I would also suggest careful feeding - on the sparce side - until the fish can be placed in a larger, more filtered volume of water. You will also, most likely, need to change out the water every other day or so - testing it every day or every other day to make sure that the ammonia or nitrites are not climbing.

For your pond, you will need to have at least 80-100 gallons of water - fantails actually can use and thrive in larger volume - about 20 gallons per fish - so a 200 gallon volume is not outrageous for those fish.

Good luck! A pond sounds like fun!

so I should have gotten the better filters instead of two of the 5-15 gallon per tub? I do have the tubs filled up almost to the brim though. I plan on getting a bigger tub, probably about 30 gallons, (never let you stepmother talk you out of what you need!) I did have two filters rated for 20-40 gallons in the cart, but I followed her advice. . . duh duh duh. .
So any permanate fixture should be atleast 30-40 gallons? (I have to set up a winter retreat and may just build a plywood aqarium) also if all four filters up to one tub, and keep just one fish in it (as a hostpital tub) would that keep the filters established so that they can be used later on?

Assume that your 8 fish are going to grow. As they grow they will need a larger volume of water - the larger volume means that it will take longer for the fish to "pollute" their water. A good biological filter that turns over the water 12-15 times an hour, stuffed full of media for beneficial bacteria to colonate, will go a long way to keeping the water clean. If you really have a good, solid, large biological filter working, you will be able to get away with overstocking a tank. You will have to change the water in larger amounts, more often, though, to keep the nitrates under control.

In the winter, assuming your fish grow to at least 4 inches (6-8 in the first year is not uncommon) you will need to have at least 80 gallons total for those 8 fish. How you decide to distribute them is totally up to you. A couple of 30 gallon tubs with good filtration and loads of water changes will do, but will need careful monitoring to keep the water in order.

As far as the filters, generally when a filter says it is for "20-40" gallons or "10-15" gallons this is stated assuming the the buyer will be using the filter for tropical fish. Tropical fish are squeeky clean compared to the dirty little buggers that goldfish are! A goldfish can overwhelm a tank in a matter of hours if the filtration and cycle are not up to par. Instead of looking at the "Gallons" that is listed on a filter, look at the "gallons per hour" rating. You want at least 10 times your gallon volume - 12-15 times is better. So for a 30 gallon tub, you should have at least 300 gph or 350-40gph. I use Emperor 400s on my 30 gallon tanks.

This filtration can come from multiple filters or from one larger one. You can still use the filters you have - just add more to them. It all works out well.

You can perhaps find better prices on the internet for filters and equipment - BigAls has some marvelous prices - about 1/2 what I see in the retail stores around here.

And, yes - one fish will keep a filter/tub cycled for you. The beneficial bacteria colony will grow to process the amount of waste of one fish. IF you were to suddenly add 4 large fish to the tub, it would take a few days for the colony to grow to the challenge, but it would do so in a very short amount of time. Another method is to hang an extra filter on your working tank/tub/pond. When you need to move a fish to the iso tub, just use the extra filter.

okay, that is really good to know! I will keep an eye out for good buys, thanks a ton Daryl! oh one more question, I have a 10 gallon with guppys in it and the water appears to have a yellowish cast, the tank perams are fine, so what is it? and should I be worried, If nothing else I plan to do a full waterchange, but I dont know what the problem is.