Tank water cleanliness

I've recently purchansed a tinly little 11 litre (about 2.5 Gallon I think)
tank for 2 goldfish. It came with a little filter which obviously isn't
doing a great job as the water gets cloudy after about 3 days, after a week
it's quite murky - still see through, but not pleasant to look at!

I understand that 2 fish may be too much for 11 litres, so is there anything
I can do to keep their environment a bit cleaner?

I feed them 3 times a day, and generally not more than they would eat over a
3 min period (as per several web searches have suggested)
I also refresh about 10-20 percent of the water in a week, however this
doesn't help enough.

Any suggestions would be appreciated, as I want to keep the two fellas
happy!

Generally a cloudy tank indicates a bacterial bloom, which can be
difficult to remedy in a small aquarium. (uv sterilization would take
care of it, but it is not practicle in your size aquarium). What brand
food are you feeding? a highly digestable food makes alot of
difference, Spirilina algae based foods are great, Sanyu and Hikari
make excellent ones too. Avoid Tetrafin. A ph of 7.5 is important, so
is your carbonate hardness. Sponge filters are an excellent choice for
bio filtration, especially in small aquariums, but they do not work
over night. You need to allow time for them to seed, and to never clean
them in tap water. Here is a blog about them:
http://spongefilter.blogspot.com/. Wonder shells (non-medicated) can
help with carbonates and ph. I am sure others can add more.
Carl
http://www.americanaquariumproducts.com/

They have those hang on the back filters i use them for my betta tanks, they
work good and keep things clean, i think the ones i have are for ten gl, but
work good for it. Also, just a note, i have a big goldfish, which is how
most wind up as long as they live, mine was a feeder for a pacu, who got
saved, he started out about the size of a guppy and now he is very big, he
could not turn in a 2.5, i dont think he could live even in a 10 gl. he is
in a 29 gl being moved to a 55 gl in a week or so.
Nik
do some water changes like 10-20%,




"Ben Rum" wrote in message
news
I've recently purchansed a tinly little 11 litre (about 2.5 Gallon I
think) tank for 2 goldfish. It came with a little filter which obviously
isn't doing a great job as the water gets cloudy after about 3 days, after
a week it's quite murky - still see through, but not pleasant to look at!

I understand that 2 fish may be too much for 11 litres, so is there
anything I can do to keep their environment a bit cleaner?

I feed them 3 times a day, and generally not more than they would eat over
a 3 min period (as per several web searches have suggested)
I also refresh about 10-20 percent of the water in a week, however this
doesn't help enough.

Any suggestions would be appreciated, as I want to keep the two fellas
happy!

"Ben Rum" wrote in message
news
I've recently purchansed a tinly little 11 litre (about 2.5 Gallon I
think) tank for 2 goldfish. It came with a little filter which obviously
isn't doing a great job as the water gets cloudy after about 3 days, after
a week it's quite murky - still see through, but not pleasant to look at!

Goldfish, when healthy and well care for can grow to 12" or more in size.
Your tank is too small for even one GF. Perhaps you can either buy them a
20Long tank for return them for a betta.

I understand that 2 fish may be too much for 11 litres, so is there
anything I can do to keep their environment a bit cleaner?

Constant partial water changes. But 2 GF in such a tiny tank isn't going to
work.

I feed them 3 times a day, and generally not more than they would eat over
a 3 min period (as per several web searches have suggested)
I also refresh about 10-20 percent of the water in a week, however this
doesn't help enough.
Any suggestions would be appreciated, as I want to keep the two fellas
happy!

PLEASE go purchase them a 20Long tank and get a filter adequate for GF.
Use the tiny tank you have now for a hospital or quarantine tank - or use it
to house a betta.
--

Koi-Lo.... frugal ponding since 1995...
Aquariums since 1952
My Pond & Aquarium Pages:
http://tinyurl.com/9do58
~~~ }((((o ~~~ }{{{{o ~~~ }(((((o

get a 20 gallon tank with a made for 40 gallon filter (I like whispers)
take the gf back and get a betta
you are overfeeding the gf. cut that back to 2 mouthfuls once a day
get a nitrate kit and change enough water to keep nitrates at or below 20 ppm
believe it or not, but cloudy means you got biobugs but they dont have a home.


"Ben Rum" wrote:
I've recently purchansed a tinly little 11 litre (about 2.5 Gallon I think)
tank for 2 goldfish. It came with a little filter which obviously isn't
doing a great job as the water gets cloudy after about 3 days, after a week
it's quite murky - still see through, but not pleasant to look at!

I understand that 2 fish may be too much for 11 litres, so is there anything
I can do to keep their environment a bit cleaner?

I feed them 3 times a day, and generally not more than they would eat over a
3 min period (as per several web searches have suggested)
I also refresh about 10-20 percent of the water in a week, however this
doesn't help enough.

Any suggestions would be appreciated, as I want to keep the two fellas
happy!






~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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Solve the problem, dont waste energy finding who's to blame
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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I do not run nor receive any money from the ads at the old Puregold site.

wrote in message
...

get a 20 gallon tank with a made for 40 gallon filter (I like whispers)
take the gf back and get a betta

20 gl tank for one betta
or do you mean one or the other?
Nikki



~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
List Manager: Puregold Goldfish List at
http://weloveteaching.com/puregold/
sign up:
http://groups.google.com/groups/dir?...s=Group+lookup
www.drsolo.com
Solve the problem, dont waste energy finding who's to blame
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I receive no compensation for running the Puregold list or Puregold
website.
I do not run nor receive any money from the ads at the old Puregold site.

for the GF
http://weloveteaching.com/puregold/c...htm#essentials

"Nikki" wrote:


wrote in message
...

get a 20 gallon tank with a made for 40 gallon filter (I like whispers)
take the gf back and get a betta

20 gl tank for one betta
or do you mean one or the other?
Nikki



~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
List Manager: Puregold Goldfish List at
http://weloveteaching.com/puregold/
sign up:
http://groups.google.com/groups/dir?...s=Group+lookup
www.drsolo.com
Solve the problem, dont waste energy finding who's to blame
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I receive no compensation for running the Puregold list or Puregold
website.
I do not run nor receive any money from the ads at the old Puregold site.




~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
List Manager: Puregold Goldfish List at
http://weloveteaching.com/puregold/
sign up: http://groups.google.com/groups/dir?...s=Group+lookup
www.drsolo.com
Solve the problem, dont waste energy finding who's to blame
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I receive no compensation for running the Puregold list or Puregold website.
I do not run nor receive any money from the ads at the old Puregold site.

wrote in message
...
you are overfeeding the gf. cut that back to 2 mouthfuls once a day
============
I have to disagree with this. The goldfish people are buying are young
rapidly growing fish. Two mouthfuls once a day is nowhere near enough to
grow healthy goldfish. Where is the variety to make sure they get complete
nutrition? The oranges and greens? The thawed bloodworms? These are
aquarium fish, not pond fish who can find food among the pond plants and
snatch bugs and insects that fall into the water.

Overfeeding is when there is so much food per feeding the fish can't eat it
all and it rots on the bottom. Keeping nitrates low can be done with
partial water changes. I feed my GF two or three times a day and the only
problem I've had are algae problems - the fish remain healthy and are
growing rapidly.
--
Koi-Lo.... frugal ponding since 1995...
Aquariums since 1952
My Pond & Aquarium Pages:
http://tinyurl.com/9do58
~~~ }((((o ~~~ }{{{{o ~~~ }(((((o

Moments before spontaneously combusting Jolly Fisherman at
was heard opining:

On Mon, 20 Mar 2006 10:13:57 -0600, "Koi-Lo"
wrote:


wrote in message
...
you are overfeeding the gf. cut that back to 2 mouthfuls once a day
============
I have to disagree with this. The goldfish people are buying are
young rapidly growing fish. Two mouthfuls once a day is nowhere
near enough to grow healthy goldfish. Where is the variety to make
sure they get complete nutrition? The oranges and greens? The
thawed bloodworms? These are aquarium fish, not pond fish who can
find food among the pond plants and snatch bugs and insects that
fall into the water.

Overfeeding is when there is so much food per feeding the fish can't
eat it all and it rots on the bottom. Keeping nitrates low can be
done with partial water changes. I feed my GF two or three times a
day and the only problem I've had are algae problems - the fish
remain healthy and are growing rapidly.
=============================
I think the idea is to limit feeding until the OP can get a larger
tank that is fully cycled. Feeding 2 GF for 3 mins 3x a day in a new
2 gal tank is way too much.

This is true but I was talking "in general".... and not specifically
referring to this particular OP's set-up. Let's hope the OP bought a larger
tank or returned the GF to the store.

The OP needs to cut it back immediately
and continue water changes until a more ideal, sustainable situation
can be attained.
--
Koi-Lo.... frugal ponding since 1995...
Aquariums since 1952
My Pond & Aquarium Pages:
http://tinyurl.com/9do58
~~~ }((((o ~~~ }{{{{o ~~~ }(((((o

actually... overfeeding fish is when so much food is given that it is not digested
before it exits the fish. Fish have short intestines and no stomach. fish get the
same "food value" from tiny amounts of food more often than large amounts of food.
in the wild they nibble tiny amounts all day. Ingrid

On Mon, 20 Mar 2006 10:13:57 -0600, "Koi-Lo"
wrote
Overfeeding is when there is so much food per feeding the fish can't eat it
all and it rots on the bottom.


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
List Manager: Puregold Goldfish List at
http://weloveteaching.com/puregold/
sign up: http://groups.google.com/groups/dir?...s=Group+lookup
www.drsolo.com
Solve the problem, dont waste energy finding who's to blame
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I receive no compensation for running the Puregold list or Puregold website.
I do not run nor receive any money from the ads at the old Puregold site.