Hi, I'm new to this forum.

I have 8 lionheads and 1 black moor.

I have a goldfish tank that is around 30 US gallons. Yes, my tank is overstocked. I didn't know the general "rules" until after I bought them. For my tank, I use two AquaClear filters. One is AquaClear 30 (for 20 to 30 gallons) and one is AquaClear 70 (for 40-70 US gallons). They both include the foam insert and the carbon insert. The Aquaclear 70 has the insert that removes/controls harmful ammonia and nitrite and an insert that encourages biological capacity in the aquarium. My tank has nothing other than the filters, water and fish. The tank water is currency not crystal-clear but is rather a bit cloudy. I do a water change of a quarter to a third every week. Current temperature is around 22 degrees celcius and 70 deegrees F.

I feed the fish pallets twice a day. I first soak the pallets for about two minutes. Every feeding session, I feed about as many as the fish can eat in 3 to 5 minutes. Around once every two weeks I feed peas.

Any comments or suggestions on how I can improve my current way of keeping my goldfish? I know one thing that I can do: get one of those test kits.. I currently don't have one. I never knew about such a thing before stumbling onto this nice forum. Thanks. And constructive critism is welcomed.

Hi there Lion.head and

I don't think giving you constructive criticism is what we're about as we're here to offer advice only and usually advice is all the help any of us need

I think you already know you're dangerously overstocked because 9 fish would definitely need at least 90 gallons so my first suggestion would be to up your waterchanges to 50% twice weekly. Feeding twice a day will just foul your water more so reducing to once daily feeding would be much better. If you're feeding them up for growth, then you would definitely need to consider a bigger tank asap.

Your filtration is excellent as together, they filter 450 gallons per hour so that's a big plus and if you want your filters to work better, try replacing the carbon with biomax/ceramic noodles. This will help increase their capacity to filter biologically. I have 4 aquaclears and in each I have 2 sponges and one bag of the biomax so I have excellent mechanical filtration (sponge) followed by good biological filtration - although the sponges offer biological filtration also.

So I think for now, my advice would be try increasing your waterchanges and make your filters work better for you and if you can, sometime soon try to get a bigger tank for them all ...

I agree with Jen entirely.

The water testing kit you mentioned would be extremely helpful as well, to help you know if your water changing is keeping up with the fish load or not.

If you are not able to get them a larger tank, there is always the rubbermaid option. They sell big bins for rather cheap, and as long as you've got enough filtration, they'll be happy in the bins until you can find a tank large enough for them.

Welcome to Koko's!

If your considering the rubbermaid option and can't find one as big as you want. You can go to a farm supply store and get a stock tank. They cost around $60 for a 100 gallon tank and you can get them as big as 500 gallons.

Welcome! Well, you do have quite a little crowd in there!! Don't feel too bad about it....I always say most of us found our way here because we had too many goldies & not nearly enough water!! I would run down to Wallyworld & pick up a 50 gallon tub. You can put one of your aquaclear filters right on there. ((By the way Aquaclears are my FAVORITE filters! I think you will be glad you have them!!))

And I agree with the others step up your water changes & decrease the feeding! Wonder if the fishstore might take back a couple of them. I know it might seem hard to give them up but you are in for quite a bit of work keeping your water in good shape.

Thank you very much for all your replies.

I just did a 50% water change. It was the first time I've done it. To my surprise, the water looks much clearer and no longer "cloudy". I plan to do another one maybe on Thursday or Friday. And then after that, every Sunday and Wednesday would be a 50% water change day. Thanks for the suggestion about the water changes. It helps.

As for the feeding part, I think I will just decrease the amount of food I feed each time. I don't think having all the food in one big meal is a good idea.

Returning some of the fishes back to the store is not an option since my mom thinks nine is a lucky number. I'll try to get a bigger tank.

Also, I was browsing around in the other forum sections, and I found that someone said that there is an Aquaclear insert that shouldn't be used in fishtanks. It is the insert that removes ammonia. That is the one I am currently using. Should I remove it? However, the box for the insert says it is designed for highly populated fish tanks (like mine). Any thoughts? I know removing all the ammonia would sorta ruin the cycle.

Thanks again. This site and forum is really useful. I love it!

The tester kit is a great investment!

I bought a nitrite, nitrate, and ammonia tester (drops, not strips) for about 7 bucks each at petsmart. 21 bucks is not too bad for testing kit that's good for something like 120 days!

It tells you so much about your fish and your water changes. I have an overstocked tank too (3 fish in 10 gallons) and I test every day and my tests tell me I need to change my water every day.

I leave my fish every weekend (my boyfriend is 30 minutes away!) and my mom just feeds them. I do a big water change before I leave on Friday night (around 60%) and by the time I get back three days later I had a .25 on my nitrItes and almost a 1 on my ammonia! That's not very good at all. And that's how bad my tank gets in three days with 200 galons per hour filtration (a penguin biowheel 200, don't know how many gallons it's designed for).

So your water can get really bad really fast and you won't even know it without a test kit.

If you can, purchase a kit as a MASTER KIT. Printing the ad from the PetSmart website will only cost you ~$14.

The ammonia removing insert contains zeolite, which absorbs ammonia and binds it into a form which is not accessible to the bacteria that form your cycle. On a heavily overstocked tank or when you have ammonia in your water supply, it can help keep things under control, but you need to be VERY careful. It only absorbs up to a certain point, and then it is completely full and can't absorb any more (at which point you need to replace it). If at any point it comes in contact with salt, it will release the ammonia it has absorbed and dump it back into your tank.

I ran with one of those inserts in my filter for a while, but once I got to where I wasn't overstocked anymore, the first thing I did was remove it, because I didn't want to risk having toxic levels of ammonia dumped into my tank on accident.

L. E. Pirin: Thanks for your explanation. I shall keep that in mind.

i agree woth everyone else .

My AquaClear 30 broke down. So today I got another AquaClear 70. So now I have two. That means 600 gallons per hour. Would that be too much?

I don't think you can ever have "too much" filtration. The only time it's a concern is when the outtake is concentrated into one spot and it causes too much terbulance for your fish to swim through, but even that is easily remedied.

Just a quick note, too, as someone already mentioned purchasing a water test kit at Petsmart: I know a lot of people know it, but its extremely helpful for those who don't.

Most larger chains will price match prices on the internet. A master test drop kit for example is only about $13 online, but $25+ in store. Save a lot of money by printing the price out, and they will match it in store. Feel free to call your local chains and see if they will oblige, most do.

Oh, and welcome!

hey can u get a pic of the tank

Some photos of my goldfish and tank (not the best quality):

I like your fish, they're pretty.

Aside from the overstocking problem, it seems like you're taking good care of your fish, which are sooo cute

Perhaps just for display purposes you could put some gravel/decorations in there? I thought my tank was decorative until I saw some of the pictures on here and I suddenly wanted to go and buy fish-things to decorate my tank with!

Ooh and welcome to the forum

Your fish are really beautiful.

I too think that some gravel would look cool but hey, a lot of people prefer barebottom tanks.

Your fish look wonderful, just really be careful with your water chemistry as you are overstocked and you can run into problems if you fall behind in your water care. Other then that they look great.

I would keep it bare bottom for a couple different reason! One being that you are overstocked you do not want to cut down on your water volume with gravel or rocks etc. And another reason, bare bottom tanks are so much easier to clean and with that many fish you do not want uneatten food and waste to have a place to hide, your water would go "Bonkers" real fast.

I have several goldfish tanks and they are all barebottom and its such a bonus at cleaning time.

I would definately get rid of the ammonia-absorbing insert. It will disrupt your nitrogen cycle to bind ammonia, but with that many fish in a smaller tank, it will VERY quickly fill and leak out. The nitrogen cycle is a much better way to go because ammonia absorbers are more for very small tanks with a couple tiny tropical fish, or a temporary quarentine tank without salt. I'd definately replace both the ammonia-absorbing and carbon inserts for bio-max. I'm assuming that you bought all the fish at once and didn't cycle the tank before that? If so, your fish are in trouble. Buy a test kit like suggested for ammonia, nitrite and nitrate. The masterkit is best because you get a TON of tests. Test daily to make and be prepared to do daily waterchanges if needed until it is fully cycled. The cloudiness is a sign of bacterial bloom, indicating that the nitrogen cycle is starting, but there is a lot of ammonia in the tank.

I would really limit the amount of food to a few pellets for each fish every day, just until you are cycled. Fish are very adaptable and they'll be okay

I also recomend buying a bottle of Prime water conditioner. It's a very good de-chlorinator, and also safely detoxifies ammonia and nitrite without harming the cycle.

If you aren't planning on upgrading to a much larger tank soon, maybe you should trade in the 9 goldfish for 9 tropicals instead. Tropicals can be just as rewarding as goldfish and you can probably fit more in your tank.

Good luck!

Hey hey those are some nice looking fish!

My first goldfish was a fantail and then when I learned more I just knew I'd only ever buy fancy fish with long flowy tails because duh, they're the only pretty goldfish.

But darnit ranchus are growing on me like whoa. They're soooo cute and tubby! If I get another fish it's gotta be a ranchu. Your tank is making me even more itchy for one!

Well they do seem ok in there, at least for now, But i would either get a bigger tank, or get a few 10 gallons or a 20 gallon and separate the fish so that the water in that tank is cleaner, and they will have more room.

I personally have 3 goldfish in a 10 gallon right now, but they are only 2.5 inches each, so its ok now, and i do frequent water changes. Also until you get the test kit, petco and petsmart test your water for free. I go there once a week until i get a job, then i will be able to afford my own test kit. lol. But other than the fact that there are so many in that one tank, it looks like you are doing great. So keep it up, and upgrade as soon as possible.

(I wanted a lionhead, but the store was out, so i settled for a ryukin, now i want a lionhead still!) Lucky you.


And another thing to think about is that you probably have males and females in there wich mean if you want them to breed, you will need a lot more room and tanks so salvage the fry and for them to breed properly. So if you start to think about raising fry, you will need to upgrade before they are old enough to breed. Just something to consider.

Good luck.

I am currently using the AQUA plus water conditioner.

very nice i love the black moor and the lionheads

and also look in my sig for lion head pics (i own one)

here is a pic http://i115.photobucket.com/albums/n293/fi...06/lionhead.jpg

and a video http://s115.photobucket.com/albums/n293/fi...=mygoldfish.flv

enjoy lion head