I thought that I finally had a handle on this goldfish keeping thing. My tanks are cycled and parameters are good. I've got the water change chore down to a relatively easy task. Fish are happy and healthy and I'm finally happy with my landscaping/decorations. Now, I discover that I'm woefully underpowered in the filter department. Somehow I got it in my head that the 10x/gph was the law - or at least the accepted practice! Anyway, I have 2 - 40 gallon tanks/ponds - a good sized black moor and fantail in the first and a 7" shubunkin & a 5" shubunkin (with tails) in the 2nd. On the first one I have an AQ 30 (for max 30 gal) and an AQ 20 (for max 20 gal). I assumed that would give me 10x filtration for 500/gph. On the other I have an AQ 50 (for max 50 gal). Again, I assumed 500/gph. I also have a Stingray 10 running on the 2nd tank just to have cycled incase I need it for a hospital tank at some time. The hospital tank is 20 gal. so I knew the Stingray would be under powered but for a temporary situation I thought it would be OK. In actual fact the AQ30 is 150/gph, the AQ20 is 100/gph, the AQ50 is 200/gph and the Stingray is 50/gph. So I have only 250/gph on each 40 gal tank. I'm sort of stuck with what I have as we had to cut the lip of the "ponds" to fit the filter and I've spent more $$ than I could really afford already. Totally my fault for not understanding this b-4 I made all my purchases. I guess my question is - will this be adequate? They seem to be doing their jobs with regard to the water parameters and go a very good job of sucking up the solid waste. I have extensions on the intakes ~ an inch and a half from the bottom. Water is always clear. Both tanks are bare bottom. There is rarely any poop laying around and when I do my weekly vac I really get very little. Also, the current is fairly strong already. The fish seem to handle it OK but I think much more would be over powering for them.


On a totally diferent note - not fish related at all. I did have a nice suprise today. I had to go and write an exam today to renew my Production Animal Medication Qualification Certificate. It's been 5 years since I last wrote it and had no time to study. I'm sure many of my brain cells have died in the past 5 years and I was quite worried about it. Anyway, I get there and it's "open book"!! How lucky is that! (Glad I took my book!)

Hi Diamond T,welcome to Koko's.
Well,I think that right now you have two strong points going for you.
a) you are not overstocked
b) you're barebottom
I'll tell you that in my experience with Goldfish,I actually go over the recommended 10x's filtration (not the law,but just highly recommedned from our own experiences with Goldfish.
Your tanks sound fairly new,how long have they been up and running?
As I mentioned,having barebottom tanks and actually understocking the one tank, and the shub tank being a okay too ,those things will help alot with how dirty your tank will get.I think as long as you're performing regular water changes,and weekly tank floor cleaning and such that you may be able to get away with the less stronger filters for now.I wouldn't add any other fish to these set-ups though.
Aquaclears are pretty good filters in my book and they flow pretty good .I tend to rinse the sponges quite often to remove all the big muck and to keep my Nitrates lower and to make sure that my sponge doesn't float up and water spill out of the tank too. Been there,done that,what a mess.My tanks have been established though for quite a long time though.
You'll just have to make sure as the fish continue to grow,that your filters are able to keep up with them and their bigger waste.
Do you have any bubble wands,or Air stones in the tank for extra aid in oxygenating?That may be a problem during the warmer months.
Anyway,we'd love to see your set-ups.

Thanks Devs. This summer (June/July maybe) I inherited the 20 gal - way overstocked. It had been up with it's previous owner for about a year I think with the 7" subunkin, fantail, black moor, lionhead and a balloon mollie. The mollie had ick and the lionhead had a large lump & sore on her side. Tippy (the lionhead) was coming along thanks to the help and everything I learned here. While I was away for 2 week in Sept. (hubby in charge) I lost the Mollie and Tippy. In early Oct. I bought the new tanks and three new filters, distributed the cycled filter media between 3 of them. The tank with the fancies retained it's cycle but the shubunkin tank just completed its cycle a week or so ago. I did add the 2nd smaller shubunkin last week and had a small blip in the cycle but as of Sunday everything is good again. All filters are stuffed with foam and biomax ceramic media - so no floating sponges - thanks for the warning! Each tank has 2 - 6" bubble wands. The decorating I have done has everything on plates or containers so cleaning is easy. I just pick up the container, dump rocks etc into a strainers and rinse/wash as nesessary. Uneaten food particles end up in there but not too bad really. I was doing bi-weekly water changes when I first set up the new tanks - about 50% - more on the cycling tank. Now, per test results - once a week 30 - 50% seems to keep things in order. I vac with every water change and usually rinse filter medias is used tank water. Occasionally I miss a week of filter rinsing. I've learned my lessons well here and am doing my best to do this right. I'm finally at a stage where I'm not battling disease/illnes, cycling, decorating/re-deocorating and am really enjoying the fish without knocking mysef out. That's why I was so dissappointed when I realized my filters were not what I thought they were.

I just finished with the decorating and am quite please with the way they look. It's taken a bit of getting used to looking down at them instead of through glass. A whole different concept in decorating! And I am not very artistic. I am going to try to get some decent pics. The tanks are black (rubber) though so I'm not sure how pics will turn out. I was hesitant to post pics since I have seen so may beautiful tanks here. Afraid mine may look a little amateurish.

We are all - (or most of us are!) amateurs.... My tanks are not decorated worth ANYTHING. I let the fish speak for themselves..... so who cares? If you find them attractive and pleasant to the eye, I am sure most here will also. It is nice to see different ways of doing things. Life is more fun if you mix it up - rather than have a line of cookiestamped tanks with the prerequisite skindiver statue and the blue gravel!

Your filters do 2 things for your tanks. They mechanically and biologically remove the waste from the water. If you have sufficiant turnover that your water is clear - not hazy and with a minimum of solid waste on the bottom, then you have covered the mechanical filtration needs of the tank. If your water parameters remain in the good range, with standard water changes and maintainence, then you have sufficiant biological filtration.

Since the majority of the beneficial bacteria that make up your biological filter are in the filter boxes on the media you keep there, it is a matter of passing the ammonia/nitrite laden water past/over that bacteria so it has a chance to process the waste. If the bacteria does not have access to the waste, it cannot process it. If your fish make waste faster than you can pass it by the filter/bacteria, then you will get a buildup and the filtration is not sufficiant. We have found that a rule of thumb is 10 times an hour for a standardly stocked tank - a standard shaped tank with average depth. An odd shape, or deep tank will require more care to make sure that the water from all the odd corners and depths is lifted and circulated through the filters.

You have, what sounds like, an ideal situation. You have a large volume, low stocking, rather shallow, tank with loads of surface area. That is GREAT! As Devs has so wisely stated, though..... as your fish grow or you add more, you may find that the situation may need some ammendments. When you get to that point, I am sure something can be managed.

Welcome. I, too, look forward to pictures!

Well, I was really concerned about not having enough filtration. I went to lfs today and the AQ110 was $119.00 CDN! Fish supplies in samll town Alberta are not cheap! I priced it online at Petsmart and it was $39.99US plus $19.00 shipping surcharge (Canadian Orders). Even with the surcharge and exchange it still about $50.00 cheaper. Was telling hubby about it when I got home from work. Being from a tropical fish background he is adamant that I have plenty of filtration and that I didn't need to spend any more $$ on filters. Glad I didn't tell him I already ordered it. By the time it arrives (about 2 weeks) hopefully he will have forgotten about the conversation. I guess I'll put the 50 into the tank that already has the 20 & the 30 and put the 110 on the other tank. That should be enough. I feel kind of guilty going behind hubby's back but I really want to get a lionhead to go in the tank with the fancies so I just had to have more filtration. Now I'm excited that I will be able to get another fish.

(edited for spelling)

Just a great tip as for online pricing at Petsmart.com - if you have a printer, print out the page with the prices on. The store will match prices if you bring something in print about the cheapre online pricing. I do it all the time - I go online window shopping at Petsmart.com, and at the end print out my shopping cart. Last time I bought two heat emitters for my tortoises, some food, tortoise bedding and the biggest Rena airpump, and saved about 50 bucks. I hope the canadian Petsmart does it too.

Oh my....We allready are showing signs of OGD! (Obsessive Goldfish Disorder)
Seriously though,,if you spend all that money,and find fish that you really like,it only makes sense to keep things where they need to be.Since you have allready planned on adding another fish,I say the bigger filter will cover that better for you.
I recently bought another Aquaclear 110,and Petsmart happen to have the best price for it,so you did well.

Thanks for the tip Ranchugirl. The closed Petsmart to me about 2 hours away in the city. I get to the city about twice a year and that's if I absolutely have to go! I'll be sure to gather up an online shopping list though next time I have to go in.

Devs - OGD - yes, I definately have it! Keep making lists of things I simply must have. Sometimes I get impatient and pay way too much at my lfs but I'm getting better at planning, ordering on-line and waiting!

Finally got a couple of pics. The tanks seem a little boring in the pics. The Shubunkins are Spanky (the big one) and Dora (the smaller). Seems my girls are camera shy. You can just see SunnyD (fantail) hiding under the plant. Shadow the black moor is no where to be found. They aren't great and this is probably the wrong place to post but them here they are.

Nice setups. Very pretty.

looks great. a perfect home

If I were a goldfish I would want to live at your house.

Thanks everyone!



What a nice thing to say! I take that as a huge compliment.