I have already used a grav vacuum and it doesn't really help. Even after a day there were flakes and poop all over the place. I have a filter going 24 hours a day, but its one of those carbon slotted ones.
Will suckerfish or some sort of snail (small) be able to help clean the house as it were?
What do you recommend?
Thanks!
2007-01-01 10:43:07 · 10 answers · asked by joshua s 1 in Pets ➔ Fish
A 5 gallon tank is SMALL. Especially for 2 fish. You really need to upgrade to a much larger tank. How often are you feeding them? Once a day is more than ample. You will want to do a thorough cleaning once a week w/ a pump kit. What you do for that is transfer the fish into a large bowl of water that you have set out for 24 hours. Pump the old water out. Wipe the insides with ONLY paper towels and no chemicals at all. Refill the tank and put some water shock into it. Then return the fish to their home.
Goldfish are VERY dirty fish. They require a LOT of maintenance. Make sure you have a good oxygen pump in there for them and a plant or 2 for them to nibble on. But remember, they will grow. Think of it like this, a 5 gallon tank is the equivilent to a person being in a room the size of a small closet. Sure, that person can move around a bit but no real exercise. Now put 2 people in there and you can see how crowded it can get really fast. Goldfish grow very fast too. I started out w/ 2 babies and ended up eventually getting a 50 gallon tank because they grew so much. After that, I threw in the towel and gave them to a friend of mine.
Hope that helps.
2007-01-01 11:04:56 · answer #1 · answered by Lucky Me 6 · 1⤊ 2⤋
Buy a floating goldfish pellet. It won't sink to the bottom and pollute your water like flake food. The brand I use is Hikari and you can get it at Petsmart stores. Goldfish also likes to eat. Don't feed them more than they can consume in a minute or two. It's ok to feed it just once a day. This will control the amount of waste they produce. Also do a 25% partial water change once a week once you control the feeding. Debris is normal on the bottom of the tank. You also might want to talk to the people at the petstore to find out what kind of bottom dwelling fish you can get that will get a long with your goldfish. These bottom dwelling fish will eat algae and waste on the bottom of your aquarium. I own some goldfish myself I hope this helps! Here's a video of my aquarium from youtube.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qEU5Z3ONHoo
2007-01-01 17:04:49 · answer #2 · answered by Thot77 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
There are two things you can do:
1.) Trade the 5 gallon tank for a 50 gallon tank as that is about the size of tank two goldfish require
2.) Trade the goldfish for a fish such as a betta *or* a pair of killies that would do okay in a 5 gallon tank
2007-01-01 11:18:21 · answer #3 · answered by dee 4 · 1⤊ 0⤋
A 5 gallon tank is WAYYY too small for even 1 goldfish. That is your problem. If flakes are all over then you are feeding WAYYY too much, which makes things 5 times worse. Get a 30 gallon tank if they are fancy goldfish, if they are common goldfish get a 75 gallon tank. If you can't get a bigger tank, get different fish, because no goldfish is small enough for a 5 gallon tank.
2007-01-01 12:17:36 · answer #4 · answered by fish guy 5 · 1⤊ 0⤋
a 5 gallon tank is actually to small for 2 gold fish you might want to up grade to a 10 gallon.
to help with the flakes you can get a snail or a few shrimp or cut down on how much you feed them only feed them what they eat in 20 or 30 seconds . as for the poop nothing will eat or clean that up besides a filter or you cleaning out the tank
2007-01-01 10:48:56 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 2⤋
A 5 gallon tank is way to small for one goldfish, much less 2 goldfish. Baby goldfish require at least 10 gallons each and as adults will require 50 gallons each.
You should return your goldfish and get either a betta or 5 small community fish (tetra's, pygmy cory cats, etc.)
2007-01-01 12:03:05 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
first of all goldfish are really dirty fish, they poop and pee like crazy. second, you should get a pleco or a cori catfish to clean the tank. snails reproduce rapidly and are a pain. i would get rid of the goldfish or get a more powerful filter and some bottom feeding fish. also, you might be overfeeding them, goldfish will eat as much as they can so dont feed them more than once or twice a day, and only a tiny pinch.
2007-01-01 12:43:50 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 1⤋
Get rid of your goldfish and when you get more fish don't feed anywhere near that much food. Feed only what the fish will eat in 30 seconds, and remove any uneaten food right away.
The tank is too small for goldfish, get rid of them.
2007-01-01 11:10:10 · answer #8 · answered by Johnny 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Donate the gold fish to someone else and get a betta male/female or 2 females. That tank is waaay to small for gold fish.
2007-01-01 13:44:35 · answer #9 · answered by chamelean75 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Goldfish get 1-2 feet long (I know, what a shock!) and are VERY messy. If you want them to live, get a 75 gallon or more and they'll get HUGE.
2007-01-01 11:41:37 · answer #10 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋