Fancy goldfish and Marineland penguin 350

Hello! I have a small two inch fantail goldfish in a 32 gallon tank with marineland 350 HOB filter. The filter output seems a little too strong. It created a strong current near the surface that blow my fish halfway across the tank. The current is from back to front and I tried hot glueing rocks to the filter's output but the rock won't stay. How do I dispense the flow? When my goldfish get bigger he will probably be fine, but right now I need to think of a way to dispense the flow. Please help!

 

work well with hobs, I have made/used them a few times.

 

Thanks, but the website isn't really being clear on how to install that thing. Are there any more attractive ways? No offense, but the bottle kind of look ugly, especially if I put it in my rimless tank.

 

Basically you bend a "U" shape to fit the rI'm of the tank in the opposite direction of the bottles curve, place it on the rI'm of the tank and then the hob on top of it.

They are kind of eye sores but you can make them less obtrusive using a smooth bottle. Also, you don't necessarily need the 2-3" sticking in the air above the waterline for it to work.

 

Oh, I kind of get how it work now. My fancy goldfish is still small and I think that they won't be bothered by it when they get bigger. Will I be able to remove the bottle then? According to what you say, the only thing that is holding the plastic in it's place is the filter's weight, right? Can you post a picture of how it work?

 

If you have other means of adding surface agitation for aerating the tank, raising the water level helps. I have this exact filter on my 29 gallon goldfish tank and it did cause some problems at first. What I noticed, in time, was that the goldfish actually got stronger and can now swim right through the current with ease. My goldfish are not much bigger than yours and were smaller when I first got them. That fantail was in a 6 gallon tank in your friend's possession with another goldfish for some time. It's unlikely he had the diet to help him grow nor the exercise room to build strength. In time and under your care, he will. It will happen much faster than you think! My goldfish are the same size as yours and no longer have any trouble with the filter (and that's with the water level lowered) except when they get right next to the output, which they seem to do for fun on occasion.

 

LWormy, how long has your filter been running? in due time, your filter media will start collecting organic matter and the flow will slow on its own.

 

My filter's been running for a few weeks. I am a little concerned because when I put a pellet in in the back of the tank, it get blowed all the way to the front. That proves how strong the current is. My fantail doesn't seems too bothered by it. Yesterday I can see him purposely avoiding the current, but today he is braving through it. I see him swimming against the current and swim away when it tires him. Will this stress my goldfish out? It seems like he is just getting some exercise but I'll leave that to the expert. Any ideas or suggestions?

 

You can try using some filter sponge tied with a rubber band at the intake to slow the flow, though this would also reduce your GPH turn over.

 

You can try using some filter sponge tied with a rubber band at the intake to slow the flow, though this would also reduce your GPH turn over.

I am not sure if I like that idea because I wanted my water to be as filtered as possible. I will do it if there are no other options, of course, but I will rather not.

 

You should consider upgrading to a canister. In a 30 gallon tank, a large HOB will always produce some downward current. You can try raising your water level as well.

 

I agree a canister is a good idea. But with the TSS cycle in progress it's tricky, the standard media those filters come with and the biowheels do not transfer easily to canisters for preservation of bacteria so you may end up needing to recycle unless you ran it side-by-side, but then you'd have even more current.

Current can be stressful but I never saw mine stress over it. Until they became strong enough, they just avoided it unless playing. And they did play like you are seeing. Now they swim through it without any hesitation and are barely affected despite still being small. You can reduce stress by giving them lots of fun areas to explore that aren't directly in the way of the current. Right now, your tank is lightly stocked so you can likely get away with baffling it with the sponge Riv mentioned until your fish is strong enough to brave the current fearlessly. He will get there. They are pretty determined, tough fish.

 

Thanks for all the advise! I think that I will go for Riv's idea and wait til the fish are big and strong. Hopefully I won't have to wait so long!