keeping the tank clean!

[TMac]

Hi folks

I admit that I do not know very much about goldfish keeping....we will be bringing in some of our goldfish from our pond to overwinter in our tank. I remember last year it was tough to keep on top of the green sludge that kept the sides of the tank looking gross. Does anyone have recommendations re snails or those little sucker fish that could help eat the algae? Any other tips?

Thanks!

[want4rain]

water changes. thats the best thing you can do. do you have a light for it? there are many things that factor in to algae growth, different lighting, sunlight, fish poo.... tank stocking and stuff.

how large is the tank? how many goldfish? what kind of goldfish? is the tank 'established' before you put the goldfish in it? how often to you take out some water and put new in? what kind of filter? lights? how long do yo uleave them on?

all of those thigns have to do with how fast it grows but bottom line, scraping and water changes are what help the most. water changes keep the nutrients the algae uses lower so it slows the growth.

a few thigns about goldies that will prolong their life considerably- they need very little protein so supplementing with house hold veggies like blanched cucumbers, lettuce, peas and such go a long way to keeping them alive longer (up to 80 years for some). very clean water also goes a long way towards keepign them healthy also.

goldfish (the common fancy variety) need to be housed in at least 15g of water each although if they are pond GOLDFISH (not koi) they can probably get away healthy with 8g to 10g each, MAYBE even as little as 5g if you keep on top of water changes and its only 4 or 5 months.

koi are a totally different story as they get really big.

if you are interested in learning more, ill be happy to oblige!

-ashley