Filtration Question

dfreas wrote:

Right. Whatever. My first aquarium was a ten gallon tank from walmart
that I stuck a lionhead goldfish, two black moors, and a pl*co in. I
never had any problems and I checked the water quality practically
daily. 3 goldfish does not make this tank overstocked. 6 months from
now it may be overstocked but I'd be willing to bet that after six
months he'll have either discovered he doesn't like this hobby and have
gotten rid of his fish or decide he loves the hobby and buy another
tank.

It seems like practically everyone around here is always jumping on
every new person that wanders in about how overstocked their new tank
is. Overstocked is an extremely relative term. I have a 20 gallon
aquarium with about 35 inches worth of fish in it plus clams, snails
and shrimp - it always has less than 10ppm nitrates. Is it overstocked?
No.

The only way to tell if an aquarium is overstocked is to watch the fish
and see if they are comfortable and have enough swimming room and then
test the water to make sure it's healthy. If you can't do that (which
no one here can) then you can't say if the tank is overstocked or not.
The only time we should ever accuse someone of having an overstocked
tank is when they come in here saying "I have 50 fish in my new ten
gallon tank and they keep dying...whats wrong!?!?"

-Daniel

How about levels of hormones that are not tested - this can determine
if a fish becomes stunted.

While I am as yet unconvinced this is actually even a valid concern I
would point out that hormones almost certainly build up slower than
nitrates if in fact they do build up. Therefore if your tank
maintenance schedule is keeping nitrates down it is almost certainly
also keeping hormones down.

-Daniel

I disagree with the "a 10g with more than i goldfish is not overstocked"
theory sorry...

....A puppy could "look" comfortable in a cage...but its not really
comfortable...Nor is it HUMANE

Come on...more than 1 goldfish IS way too much for a 10g....They produce soo
much ammonia, its incredible... and may i add that if large frequent water
changes are a way to keep the levels down, you are adding to the stress of
the fish aswell as making life harder for yourself by doing the extra
work...

IT IS OVERSTOCKED....but wait...let me finish.....its isnt as bad as some
peoples tanks...

You can't tell if a fish is comfortable ....What do they do....pull out
their recliners, put their pectoral fins behind their heads and sip on
champagne?...Yeah right...you can find fish that looks fine and happy fine
one minute, and the next minute they go belly up....

In overstocking cases, the fishs' outsides may stop growing....but what
about the insides? They don't stop growing....this is where the trouble
starts.
The probability of fish getting diseases and sickness in an overstocked tank
is higher than a safely stocked tank.

Goldfish (such as comets, shubunkins, commons) can grow to at least 10
inches in a matter of 1 year....try fitting one of them in a 10G tank!
Fancies also need more room as they aren't fast swimmers and need room for
error correction.

If a fish fears something, they put out a "fear scent" throught the
tank....in an overstocked tank, this fear scent is concentrated causing them
to dart all over the place and finally getting so stressed that it can cause
them respiration problems.

A big point for the at least 10G per gf rule....disease and polution
prevention...

Like us, gf like the space....could you live in a bus with 3 other people
all day everyday,getting someone to give you food twice a day, having to go
to the toilet there and not be able to get out?? Sounds uncomfortable doesnt
it.......It is uncomfortable for us...so why out your pets through that....

Ive been keeping goldfish and koi in my pond for nearly 15 years, have
several tanks setup up for about 5 years and have worked in Aquaculture for
over 5 years....So please spare me and don't tell me that i don't know what
im talking about......

"dfreas" wrote in message
ups.com...
While I am as yet unconvinced this is actually even a valid concern I
would point out that hormones almost certainly build up slower than
nitrates if in fact they do build up. Therefore if your tank
maintenance schedule is keeping nitrates down it is almost certainly
also keeping hormones down.

-Daniel

Ok, you disagree - I still think you're wrong. It is easy to tell if a
fish is happy - watch its behavior. Unhappy fish do not exhibit natural
behavior patterns. If you have ever had a "fish that looks fine and
happy fine...go belly up" then you don't pay enough attention to your
fish.

I almost always keep my tanks far above the normally accepted stocking
limits yet I am quite sure they are very happy. Why? Because I watch
them breed, I see their colors get brighter as they stay in my tank
longer, I watch them school and interact the way healthy fish do and I
watch them grow quite quickly. I get top dollar from my LFS for any
fish I wish to sell him because my fish look better than the fish from
any other source he has. That doesn't happen unless the fish are "fine
and happy fine"

Most of what you say sounds like something from a petsmart FAQ. Despite
the dogmatic warnings we have all heard about overstocked tanks the
facts are the warnings are simply not true. They are good guidelines
for beginners who may not want to put a lot of time into their tanks
but they don't hold water if you actually test them.

I would be glad to share any information you would like to have about
my "overstocked" aquariums. I assure you they are running far above
their recommended capacity of fish and are completely "happy fine."

-Daniel

anemone wrote:
Come on...more than 1 goldfish IS way too much for a 10g....They
produce soo
much ammonia, its incredible... and may i add that if large frequent
water
changes are a way to keep the levels down, you are adding to the
stress of
the fish aswell as making life harder for yourself by doing the extra

work...

I know you mean well, but when is there a point in time where a
goldfish in a glass tank has enough volume/space?
Wouldn't 20gallons/goldfish be better than 10g/goldfish? 50g/goldfish?
100g/goldfish?

Could it be possible that the water in a particular 10g (or smaller)
tank is better for a goldfish than the water in some other 40g tank? Or
have we come to the conclusion that the water in a 10g tank is ALWAYS
worse (i.e. more toxic) than the water in any 40g tank, for more than 1
goldfish?
And have we come to a conclusion that providing more than 10g per
goldfish WILL guarantee a healthy fish?

I have 3 goldfish in a 10g tank, and my wife won't let me buy a bigger
tank right now.
The 3rd goldfish she insisted on adding (during tank cycling days with
already 2 goldfish in the tank!) had what looked like ammonia burns
when we got it from the chain fish store (we didn't know anything about
ammonia burns then, and thought it was nice fin-coloring!), but it
actually recovered in my 10g tank!
Ammonia Alert(tm) indicated grey during cycling, and is currently
yellow (safe).
I did 1g/day water changes.
Now I do 2gallons every 2 or 3 days.
So where is all that Ammonia that the 3 goldfish (in my 10g tank) is
excreting?

When the fish get bigger, I foresee getting a bigger tank.
In retrospect, I should have bought the larger tank at the beginning,
but I (and I am NOT a fish expert) feel that unless fish have no space
to swim properly (a relative term), the quality of the water in the
tank is the most important consideration.
Yes, one has to work a little more often to ensure that the water in a
10g tank is acceptable for 3 goldfish.

My wife had raised 6 goldfish for 8 years in what looked like a 40
gallon tank.
She did not use tap water de-chlorinators.
she did not know that the power filter had a cartridge that could be
changed.
But she did 80% (or more) water changes almost weekly, and I believe
that is what kept the fish alive for 8 years. I'm not sure if I would
have done the same thing, but that system worked for 8 (possibly more)
years.
(One of her tenants accidentally washed the tank with detergent in her
absence, and that killed all 6 goldfish)


You can't tell if a fish is comfortable

If one can't tell if goldfish are uncomfortable by watching them, how
does one tell that they are comfortable in any given tank?
To me, a change in their normal behavior/breathing/swimming pattern
would indicate a possible problem.

If the 6 goldfish survived 8 years in a 40 gallon glass tank, my wife
was definitely doing something right.
Sure, they may have been happier in a tank twice that size.
And they may have been even happier not being in any glasss tank at
all.

The also would have had the potential to live twice as long. 8 years isn't
that much for a goldfish dude.
"Gfishery" wrote in message
oups.com...

anemone wrote:
Come on...more than 1 goldfish IS way too much for a 10g....They
produce soo
much ammonia, its incredible... and may i add that if large frequent
water
changes are a way to keep the levels down, you are adding to the
stress of
the fish aswell as making life harder for yourself by doing the extra

work...

I know you mean well, but when is there a point in time where a
goldfish in a glass tank has enough volume/space?
Wouldn't 20gallons/goldfish be better than 10g/goldfish? 50g/goldfish?
100g/goldfish?

Could it be possible that the water in a particular 10g (or smaller)
tank is better for a goldfish than the water in some other 40g tank? Or
have we come to the conclusion that the water in a 10g tank is ALWAYS
worse (i.e. more toxic) than the water in any 40g tank, for more than 1
goldfish?
And have we come to a conclusion that providing more than 10g per
goldfish WILL guarantee a healthy fish?

I have 3 goldfish in a 10g tank, and my wife won't let me buy a bigger
tank right now.
The 3rd goldfish she insisted on adding (during tank cycling days with
already 2 goldfish in the tank!) had what looked like ammonia burns
when we got it from the chain fish store (we didn't know anything about
ammonia burns then, and thought it was nice fin-coloring!), but it
actually recovered in my 10g tank!
Ammonia Alert(tm) indicated grey during cycling, and is currently
yellow (safe).
I did 1g/day water changes.
Now I do 2gallons every 2 or 3 days.
So where is all that Ammonia that the 3 goldfish (in my 10g tank) is
excreting?

When the fish get bigger, I foresee getting a bigger tank.
In retrospect, I should have bought the larger tank at the beginning,
but I (and I am NOT a fish expert) feel that unless fish have no space
to swim properly (a relative term), the quality of the water in the
tank is the most important consideration.
Yes, one has to work a little more often to ensure that the water in a
10g tank is acceptable for 3 goldfish.

My wife had raised 6 goldfish for 8 years in what looked like a 40
gallon tank.
She did not use tap water de-chlorinators.
she did not know that the power filter had a cartridge that could be
changed.
But she did 80% (or more) water changes almost weekly, and I believe
that is what kept the fish alive for 8 years. I'm not sure if I would
have done the same thing, but that system worked for 8 (possibly more)
years.
(One of her tenants accidentally washed the tank with detergent in her
absence, and that killed all 6 goldfish)


You can't tell if a fish is comfortable

If one can't tell if goldfish are uncomfortable by watching them, how
does one tell that they are comfortable in any given tank?
To me, a change in their normal behavior/breathing/swimming pattern
would indicate a possible problem.

If the 6 goldfish survived 8 years in a 40 gallon glass tank, my wife
was definitely doing something right.
Sure, they may have been happier in a tank twice that size.
And they may have been even happier not being in any glasss tank at
all.

blue sky wrote:
The also would have had the potential to live twice as long. 8 years
isn't
that much for a goldfish dude.

They did not die "normally" after 8 years.
Someone washed the tank with detergent in her absence, and that killed
all 6 goldfish the next day.

Has anyone here had the same goldfish for 15 years?

"Gfishery" wrote in message
oups.com...

blue sky wrote:
The also would have had the potential to live twice as long. 8 years
isn't
that much for a goldfish dude.

They did not die "normally" after 8 years.
Someone washed the tank with detergent in her absence, and that killed
all 6 goldfish the next day.

Has anyone here had the same goldfish for 15 years?

Not yet, but I expect to. And he's my first, too.

A