I am new to this and find myself in need of some advice.

I have a ten gallon tank with two goldfish, a frog that stays at the bottom of the tank and only comes up for air, and, for lack of a better term, a pale yellow "sucker" fish.

We have a filter "Top Fin 10".

I am having to clean the water rather often, about every 10 to 14 days, but I don't think this is right.  If it is please let me know, but I was under the impression that the cleaning should occur about every 21 days.  I love my fish so I don't mind doing it, but in the back of my mind I am thinking I am doing something wrong.

When I clean the tank I give it a good scrubbing, rinse the gravel, and scrub down the decrotive things (a ceramic rock and treasure chest).

Any help, tips, suggestions would be much appreciated.

Thanks,

Craig

Thanks,

Craig

Welcome to the Marine Depot Forums.

You should never change 100% of the water in the tank otherwise you are killing off the beneficial bacteria that forms to help breakdown the fish waste.  Here is an article that talks about maintenance.  It is geared towards a saltwater tank, but for the most part it can be adapted to a freshwater tank.  Basically you should be doing about a 20-50% water change every 2-4 weeks on your tank.

Goldfish tend to be very messy, so make sure you are not overfeeding them (same for the frog).  Are you feeding flake or pellet food?  What are you feeding the frog?

Is your water turning white cloudy or green cloudy?  Are you getting algae building up on your gravel and decorations?  How long do you leave the light on for?

Also I would like to mention the frog and goldfish are not the best tank mates.  Goldfish should be eating mainly a vegatable based diet and the frog needs a more meaty diet.  Goldfish many times will out compete the frogs or other bottom dwellers for food, so people often feed heavier to make sure the bottom dwellers are getting enough food which in turn pollutes the tank.  IMO and IME goldfish are left in a tank with just goldfish.

HTH,

________________________________________________

Keith

“I'm hitting the woods just great,
but I'm having a terrible time getting out of them.” - Harry Tofcano

Thanks for the link.  I will read that and go from there.

No kidding about goldfish being messy!  They are fun and beautiful to watch, but I understand what you mean.

Right now the frog & goldfish are eating the same flake food.  The "sucker" fish gets an algae pellet once a day.

I have not been paying attention to the color that the water has been turning.  I think it is green/brown.  I all I have really noticed is that it was cloudy.  Since you are asking I assume that they mean different things?

Yes, I am seeing some algae build up on the decorations.

The light is generally left on about 10 hours.

OK, so goldfish should generally be with other goldfish.  Can different species of goldfish nicely coexist within the same tank?

Is there a book/chart/post/etc... that spells out what species work better with others and why and which should NOT be mixed. 

We do a have a beta (sp?) also, but he has own personal little tank.

Just out of curiosity about how many goldfish can be supported in a 10 gallon tank before having to move up to the next size?

Thanks,

Craig

I read through your article and found it helpful, but it raised a few more questions for me.

The section on cleaning the tank was straight forward.  But then we get to the other "stuff" which I am sure will significantly demonstrate my ignorance

Are all/any of the water tests necessary for freshwater?  If so, which ones and how/where do I go to find out what to do if they are too high/low?

Are there any additives or supplements I should be using for freshwater?  Or is that as much fish dependent as it is environment dependent? (i.e. fresh vs salt)

Thanks,

Craig

wcboyd (5/12/2008)

---

I have not been paying attention to the color that the water has been turning.  I think it is green/brown.  I all I have really noticed is that it was cloudy.  Since you are asking I assume that they mean different things?

Green water (almost like pea soup) is an algae bloom.

Yellowish brown usually is "dirty" water with high dissolved organics (i.e. overfeeding or over crowding or lack of water changes) OR can also be caused by some decoration (like driftwood).  Carbon can help clear this up along with water changes.  Carbon probably will need to be changed every 2-4 weeks.

White cloudy is a lot of times referred to as a bacterial bloom.  Normally caused by not enough good bacteria to break down the fish waste.  This can happen in new tanks as they are establishing themselves (especially when too many fish are added at once), by overcleaning (killing off the good bacteria) or overfeeding.  Water changes (not 100%, 20% is usually good) and being careful to not overfeed can help with this.  There are also a few water clarifiers that work well (I recommend Accu-Clear).

You don't need to have the light on that long.  4-6 hours will be plenty.  The longer it is on the faster algae will grow.

Kind of.  With in goldfish you have Koi (best in ponds only), fantail goldfish (like Ryukins and oranda) and single tail goldfish (like comets, shubunkins).  Fantail goldfish waddle (as I like to call it) through the tank almost like a duck walking.  They tend to be fairly slow swimmers.  Single tail goldfish are much more streamlined and can move quickly through the tank.  Many times single tail goldfish will outcompete fantail goldfish for food.

So Koi are good in ponds (can be mixed with single tail goldfish), single tail goldfish are fine with each other and fantail goldfish are fine with other fantails.

There are quite a few books out there on goldfish, check out your local fish store or amazon.com for some of them.  I haven't gone through a lot of them, so I can't recommend one in particular. 

That is where they do best and are happiest. 

Not the easiest question to answer because it will depend on the type of goldfish.  One or two IMO are plenty for a 10 gallon tank.  Most single tail goldfish will get anywhere between 6-12 inches full grown.  Two 3-5 inch goldfish would fit in a 10 gallon tank assuming you keep up with water changes.  The more space you give them the healthier they will be.

HTH,

________________________________________________

Keith

“I'm hitting the woods just great,
but I'm having a terrible time getting out of them.” - Harry Tofcano

I would test for pH, ammonia, nitrite and nitrate.  pH should be above 7.0 (usually around 7.0-7.8 is fine), ammonia and nitrite should be at zero and nitrates should be kept at below 40ppm.

For a goldfish tank you really don't need to worry about any additives or supplements (besides declorinator for the tap water).  Just keep up with your water changes and you will be fine.

________________________________________________

Keith

“I'm hitting the woods just great,
but I'm having a terrible time getting out of them.” - Harry Tofcano

I really appreciate your time!

Thanks,

Craig

Keith

“I'm hitting the woods just great,
but I'm having a terrible time getting out of them.” - Harry Tofcano