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What are the benefits of having a bare bottom tank for goldfish? How do you establish healthy bacteria if there are no gravel?
What are the benefits of bare bottom tanks for goldfish?
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OP
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What size tank do you have?
I would vacuum the poo. Your filter will pick up some. A 10% water change is really not big enough for goldfish. 50% would be a lot better. Like I said they are messy fish and need a lot bigger WCs than other fish.
I would vacuum the poo. Your filter will pick up some. A 10% water change is really not big enough for goldfish. 50% would be a lot better. Like I said they are messy fish and need a lot bigger WCs than other fish.
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The bare bottom tank.... all waste is highly visible.... and annoying. This will make you want to clean it up more often and do water changes in the process.
This in turn keeps the water "fresh" and near pristine for the goldfish which will appreciate it.
Trust me, as someone that has done both, bare bottom and gravel, you don't see the buildup in gravel until it's really bad, and with bare bottom every time you turn around there's something to get the small vac out for and do a small water change to keep it looking good and debris free. You'll find the minor build up annoying and unpleasant to the eye and want to get rid of it and as a byproduct the water will be very low nitrate, and basically in line with your tapwater parameters through 5-10 minute clean ups.
This in turn keeps the water "fresh" and near pristine for the goldfish which will appreciate it.
Trust me, as someone that has done both, bare bottom and gravel, you don't see the buildup in gravel until it's really bad, and with bare bottom every time you turn around there's something to get the small vac out for and do a small water change to keep it looking good and debris free. You'll find the minor build up annoying and unpleasant to the eye and want to get rid of it and as a byproduct the water will be very low nitrate, and basically in line with your tapwater parameters through 5-10 minute clean ups.
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You'll want to do bigger water changes than that.
What kind of goldfish are you talking about? Fancy variety or comet/common? How many?
What size tank?
Is this just the planning phase or do you already have the set up and fish?
The pros of bare bottom might be easier to clean, however, it deprives goldfish of their natural instinct to sift and forage through substrate so I don't recommend it.
You also need double filtration. Depending on the size of the fish and the filtration the filters may pick up the waste off the top of the substrate. With sand you'd need to stir it up and remove waste with a vac, with generic aquarium gravel (though not recommended because they can choke on it) would need a deep gravel vacuum,
with bare bottom you'd need to vac up any waste you see.
What kind of goldfish are you talking about? Fancy variety or comet/common? How many?
What size tank?
Is this just the planning phase or do you already have the set up and fish?
The pros of bare bottom might be easier to clean, however, it deprives goldfish of their natural instinct to sift and forage through substrate so I don't recommend it.
You also need double filtration. Depending on the size of the fish and the filtration the filters may pick up the waste off the top of the substrate. With sand you'd need to stir it up and remove waste with a vac, with generic aquarium gravel (though not recommended because they can choke on it) would need a deep gravel vacuum,
with bare bottom you'd need to vac up any waste you see.
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Water changes.. the goal should be to change 100% of the tanks volume per month, bigger or dirtier or more fish or sensitive fish may require even more water changes than that but ideally all water should be changed 1x a month ( in smaller changes, say 25% a week) to keep it fresh. 10% a week only changes 40% and keeps 60% building up month after month which will become a problem over time.
OP
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Will a high powered heavy duty canister filter allow me to just change 10% of the water per week? I don’t envision carrying 55 gallons of water back and forth to the bathroom ideal. It’s more of a chore.
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The filter collects, it doesn't take it out of the water column it just takes it out of sight but what the filter collects, unless it's rinsed, will affect the water quality.
There's really no way around a water change, as the tank sits, the fish is going to create ammonia and the bacteria activity will make nitrates, and those are going to become acids and its a matter of time before the KH is gone and the pH drops and the fish gets into trouble. 20-25% a week, 40-50% every two weeks would be best for longevity.
Your tank and your fish of course, I'm just giving advice for the wellbeing of the fish, I hated water changing with buckets myself, it became easier with a python style water changer. I still use a bucket and a small vac to "tidy up" and change a gallon or two when I have 10-20 minutes here or there and use a water changer to drain and fill for larger water changes than just tidying up.
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No.
Filters remove solid stuff and help it break down to nitrates a bit faster. The only way to remove nitrate is water changes and fast growing plants that you regularly prune.
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Nobody is carrying that much water. You just connect a water hose to the bathroom faucet and use it to empty /refill the aquarium it's like the "python water changer" but you buy the pieces from the hardware store and its a quarter of the price of the real thing! I also have a 90 gallon bare bottom tank and it's so much easier to clean. I have 2 appropriate canister filters for the tank size, but as others said there is NO way around the water change.
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Means no waste can hide in substrate, makes for easier cleaning and ensuring nothing is decomposing without your knowledge.
Goldfish are waste heavy fish; many find their ammonia spikes because they missed food or poop when vacuuming the substrate. Gravel especially is like a graveyard, is what I've heard.
(As others have said, there is no way around a water change larger than 10% to maintain a healthy tank. 20-30% a week is more realistic and there are ways to get around carrying the water to and fro.).
Goldfish are waste heavy fish; many find their ammonia spikes because they missed food or poop when vacuuming the substrate. Gravel especially is like a graveyard, is what I've heard.
(As others have said, there is no way around a water change larger than 10% to maintain a healthy tank. 20-30% a week is more realistic and there are ways to get around carrying the water to and fro.).
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I feel you. I hate the sterile clinical look of the bare bottom tank, but shiponing the gravel in a 90 gallon tank became tiresome. In your 55 gallon it will be easier especially with a thin layer of gravel, But it will require manual labor. You can always start with gravel and easily remove it with a big fish net later if you get bored of it. Another idea would have been to glue sand in the bottom of the aquarium. Or you can install a reverse flow undergravel filter. That's what I will do.
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First time I've seen this, I'm not a canister filter person, but this is a solution to cleanups of a bare bottom or gravel tank on a regular basis, to remove waste before it breaks down, then a regular water change when you need to. Might be able to modify the hose from the out with this on the in to also assist with draining the tank for water changes then a hose to fill.... never seen this before. not so good at explaining but If I had one I think I could come up with a method to connect and use the filter to pump out water using that vac and then some 24mm tubing and a hose bib connector for refilling also. then again probably just that vac and a long enough hose could work for draining to the bathroom and a connector to use it like a hose for refilling by just popping out the backflow preventer on the vac. or taking off the vac head for refilling. Possibilities are pretty good with this device though if I did have a FX canister filter.
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One can just establish all the beneficial bacteria in one's filter instead.
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Everyone: I have found an easier way to do water changes in my 55 gallon tank. I have a pump with a 30ft hose to drain 50% of the tank’s water. In order to refill it with new water I have hooked up a garden hose from my shower head. All of this eliminates the need for carrying heavy buckets.
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OP
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I have some questions about putting the declorinator first. Wouldn't that dechlorinate only the existing water and not the new one? Are you doing this for a long time? How much chlorine does your water have? (if the water doesn't smell like chlorine when you open the tap it's not much) what brand of dechlorinator are you using? I mean I add the thing last for the whole volume of the water as the instructions on the bottle of seachem prime, but we don't have chlorine in the tap water.Just make sure the water you put back in is the same temp as your tank. AND put your dechlor in the tank first.
No, water changes don't do that, but how do you intend to do the cycle?
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I should have added to dechlor for the whole volume of the tank. Not just the new water. It will still dechlorinate all of the water.
I dont have a python or anything like that. Any dechlor will do what it needs to. Prime is just super concentrated.
I would be afraid myself doing it after. I wouldnt want my fish exposed to chlorine for the whole time of adding water to the tank.
No WCs will not harm your cycle.
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Obviously both of the methods work at least for our particular cases. (as I said, my tap water is not chlorinated) I don't have a python either, I made the thing with parts from the Hardware store. Does she same thing for a quarter of the price!
Random Great Topic!
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