Dirty goldfish

[Buddha_Red]

When i first set up my 29 gallon tank, i threw in 3 fantails and a blackmoor. They kept the tank so dirty that i swore after they died that i would never have them again.

how do you cope with how dirty they make the tanks?

By dirty i mean alage or just slime.

thanks just curious

[Tracy]

hi... not sure if i'm correct is saying this- but no one has replied so I figured I would give it a shot- only been a 55 gallon and 10 gallon owner for about a year.

I have 4 goldfish in a 55 gallon (orandas and telescope)- and I have 2 60gallon filters (Aquatech) on my tank... when I had the 2 goldfish previously in a 10 gallon- the tanks was always dirty. Basically I saw a change when I fed them pellets instead of flake food (only flake very rarely) and when I increased the tank size and filter. I've had to vacuum less too. I only have 4 goldfish because I did research and 5 is the max for a 55 gallon if you want them to be big-rule: 20 gallons for first gold fish and then additional 10 gallons for each one. Alot of people in this forum have given me that wisdom :)

Hope it helps.. and if anyone disagrees- I would love any extra advice too :)
tracy

[oscarbartoni]

It also depends on if you have the double tailed (egg shaped) goldfish or the mor common single tailes comet type of goldfish. The double tailed (egg shaped) goldfish will get to a maximum of about 6 inches where as the single tailed (comet type) goldfish will get to be over 12 inches. I would not mix the two types because the single tailed type will get to the food quicker and that will mean that you will probably over feed the tank.

[Valkyrie66]

Hello,
I love the little goldies despite the reputation of being dirty... with regular tank maintenance they are a joy. However, I had a bad problem with brown algae in the beginning because I allowed too much light on the tank. I had the tank lights on for 12 hours a day, but when I stepped the light back to only 8-9 hours a day the algae problem went away, permanently.

Good luck!

PS!
Having 4 goldfish in a 29gal tank could be too much depending on their size. Since they are dirtier than most other fish, you need to make sure you do not overstock the tank and keep good filtration. This could have been a contributing factor as I do believe algae feed on the waste products in the tank.