ive read through the forums and i cant find any information that helps me because i really dont understand any of the technical (and probably also the not so technical) terms

i originally had a filter which appeared to be too powerful and kept sucking my fish towards it, i had the same problem with this filter in a bigger tank so i went to the petshop and they gave me a filter which (they said) would not be too powerful for my fish to handle. it's a trixie internal filter and looked pretty efficient, however when i tried to set it up i realised there were no instructions for the many different settings, just 4, pretty tiny pictures. the man at the pet shop had indicated that i should use a long tube that came with the filter..so i matched it as best i could to the picture and set it up this way.

my fish seemed fine at first, but then they started floating towards the filter whenever they stopped swimming..is this normal? it wasn't exactly sucking them into it but it was definately producing a current that they had to fight, even though not very hard

then one of my fish swam to the corner of the tank and started going crazy and i panicked that he was getting an electric shock or something so i switched the filter off

sorry i must be so stupid but i really dont know what to do please help me save my fishies!

Well, I do not know if I can help you with your specific filter, but I can,perhaps, give you a bit of general info on them.....

You do not have to be good with technical stuff - you are plenty smart enough! Just look at it from a "layman's" point of view. I do that on sooooo many things.

You have to have a "goes into" and a "comes out of" parts on the filter. Depending on what type of filter you have, the "goes into" can be from a long tube that is inserted over the side of the tank, or the filter itself if it is an internal filter.

Whenever you have a "goes into" you should have some sort of grate or protection on the end of the intake.... this normally comes with most filters, but you can manufacture one or purchase one separately if it does not. I sometimes wrap my filter intakes with plastic grid to provide an extra modicum of safety for delicate fish.

Goldfish do enjoy and actually do need a bit of current in their tanks (most of them). This gives them something to swim in. They will play in the rising bubbles from a bubble bar and swim happily against a current. The only time they do not want too much current is when they are sleeping. Goldfish hover, motionless, somewhere in the tank when sleeping, so you need to provide them with that "somewhere" without current. This can be done by placing rocks or plants (real or plastic) in specific spots to block or break the currents, creating a pocket of still water.

If your fish are having trouble with the currents, I am concerned that they are not doing as well as they should - perhaps from water that is less than quality - resulting from not having a filter! Terrible catch22, huh? I have 4 week old fry (1/2 inch) that have no trouble with the currents from 400 gallons per hour (approx. 1513lph).

That said, may I suggest that you test your water? Find out what the ammonia levels are in the tank. You may find that there is some ammonia there - from the fish's waste. This can be quite detrimental to the fish's wellbeing - causing them to be weaker and not capable of withstanding a filter's flow.

Changing out your water is always a good idea when you see fish acting "less than"...... Even if you cannot test for the ammonia, I suggest that you change out at least 1/2 your water. Remember to treat for chlorine and such, match temperatures and all.....

Then, when you set the filter going, see if you can place a plastic plant in front of the intake. Or put something around the intake to prevent the fish from being pulled too hard.

As always, we are here to help and answer questions. HEre is a bit of reading to get you started:

http://www.kokosgoldfish.com/care.html

thank you!

i changed 1/2 the water and checked the ammonia level and its about 0.1mg/l. i replaced the filter and put a plastic plant in front of it, which seems to have helped the strength of the filter "pull". they seem much happier now, my only concern is my black moor who is starting to show signs of pop-eye and therefore is probably quite a bit weaker than the other two. ive put some aquariam salt in the water to help combat the pop-eye (which doesnt appear to be getting any worse since) but i couldnt find any kind of meds to help. instead ive been feeding them a wide variety of foods in the hope that they will all get a load of minerals and such to build up immunity...do you think this is ok? i know this isnt the right place to ask about this...