One more tank

[sombunya]

The place where I buy fish food gave me a 10 gallon tank for free. Probably because I occasionally give them some Bluegill and Craw fish.

So, we went to Wally mart and got a Black Moor Goldfish and two gold colored Goldfish. About an inch and a half long, each one. Because my fish are aggressive, chase each other around and eat live food, the wife wanted something tame and calming.

I have a Whisper 20 HOB filter and I put a bag of ceramic stones that were in the filter of my 40 gallon tank in the new tank, along with two fake plants that should be covered with good bacteria. The new critters seem to be exploring non-stop, checking everything out.

Of course I'll be watching and changing water when needed. The wife wants to add a few more as these fish look pretty small in this 10 gallon tank. As I've seeded the tank with some stuff from one of my cycled tanks, can anyone guess how long until this 10 gallon unit stabilizes?

 

[jo3olous]

wait, why are you putting goldfish in the 10G?

 

[DesignsOnYou]

That's what I was thinking. There are several threads on here that one goldfish won't fit in a 10 gallon, much less 3. Do you have plans to move them, or is this there permanent home?

 

[unwritten law]

people say that but since they are still crazy small, i don't see it being a big problem. Once they grow in size he should probably move them into a larger tank but right now at less than two inches each....

 

[DesignsOnYou]

Yes, they are small, but I would imagine that they are still big waste producers. Anyone who has had goldfish here? Are they ok in a smaller tank for a while, like slow growing tropical fish? Or is the bio-load even at that size too much for a 10 gallon to handle?

 

[Kissyboots]

people say that but since they are still crazy small, i don't see it being a big problem. Once they grow in size he should probably move them into a larger tank but right now at less than two inches each....

But they CAN'T grow because there is no room right? I'm not sure because I've never had goldfish, but that would make sense to me...

 

[unwritten law]

I havent had goldfish since I was a kid and Im sure i treated them wrong so....i dont know either

 

[sombunya]

After I started this thread I read this advice from Iggy. I am well aware of the loading that Goldfish place on a tank. As I said, right now they are about 1.5 inches long each. The tank (20" long, 12" tall, 10" wide) looks expansive. At this point they have a lot of room to stretch out. If I put them in the 40, alone, they would be lost in it. Besides, after this weekend the 40 gallon tank (48" long, 18" tall, 11" wide) will be vacant as I need to upsize the tank my Bluegill are in. Not because of any water quality issues but because these fish just need more space.

So here's my plan; set up a 100 gallon unit this weekend for all of the Bluegill (I'll use two Aquaclear 110's), moth ball the 40 for a while, move all the Sculpin to the 20 (so they can spend some time NOT hiding) and keep an eye on the 10 with the Goldies in it. When my 20 was cycling the Nitrites were at .25 ppm and I was doing a 25% WC every day.

FWIW, at one of the LFS I saw a 15 gallon tank with an AQ 70 HOB filter with about 30 fish in it, 2-3 inches each. They are some kind of fancy FW fish she was selling for about $15-$20 each, around $500 worth of fish. The tank looked good, as did the fish. This woman has run a tropical fish store for 29 years and is an expert, I think. She says if you have the proper filtration and water movement you can load a tank very heavily. Of course I will never do that but I will be watching this little tank closely with regards to water quality.

 

[Dynamicfisher]

I know that I am practically an itty bitty fish around here still. But I have successfully kept two smaller fancy goldfish, and two platies in a ten gal.
Water was great and everything. I just had a filter for a 20 gal. !

 

[sombunya]

I got some bacteria today to add to the 100 gallon unit I'll be setting up tomorrow. I figured I'd add some to the 10 gallon tank and get it cycling quicker. I may not need to because I "seeded" the tank with some fake plants and ceramic stones from my 40.

I checked the Nitrites today: zero. Less than the day before. The wife has been feeding them generously, and I gave them a few worms too.

Again, I've read the post about how dirty they are, biologically. And why they are. But they sure do look tiny in that 10 gallon tank.

 

[jo3olous]

it really isnt about how they look, it's how they feel, and you cannot determine how they feel by looking at them all the time, only at the end result long term. it probably is okay to keep them in there short term, because they are slow growers and they aren't exactly the most active fish in the world. It is however probably not optimal for them and don't expect them to grow to their full potential.

BTW why does your signature say 20G for your 3 goldfish? I thought you stated you have a 10G

 

[jo3olous]

iFWIW, at one of the LFS I saw a 15 gallon tank with an AQ 70 HOB filter with about 30 fish in it, 2-3 inches each. They are some knd of fancy FW fish she was selling for about $15-$20 each, around $500 worth of fish. The tank looked good, as did the fish. This woman has run a tropical fish store for 29 years and is an expert, I think. She says if you have the proper filtration and water movement you can load a tank very heavily. Of course I will never do that but I will be watching this little tank closely with regards to water quality.

Of course it looks okay. It's a periodically restocked tank full of fish that haven't been there for too long. Fish in a petstore come and go, and like I said before just because a fish is cramped up in a small tank at a store and looks great, does not mean it is great. Plus a fish store will tell you anything to sell you fish, I dont GAF how good it looks. It's their job. If the tank looked like crappo, would you buy it? of course not! so it has to look good, but just because it looks good doesn't mean it is right, or efficient. Just my 2 cents since you brought that up~

 

[sombunya]

BTW why does your signature say 20G for your 3 goldfish? I thought you stated you have a 10G

That's because my dyslexia was flaring up. Thanks for catching that.

Also, the Nitrites are slowly rising in the 10. Up to .25 ppm. I bought a bunch of nitrifying bacteria for the 100 I set up. As the 10 is about a week old I'll add some to it and continue to watch it.

 

[LtGtR2]

Cool!

Been a while since i have posted anything on the forums but i stopped in to see how everyone is doing, when reading your thread i got curious to what type of fish you are keeping and just wondering if i could see some pictures of the Sculpin! i googled them and they are really cool looking!

If you have the time i would really like to see pictures of them!