Filtration Question

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.