Restarting 55 gallon goldfish tank

fungambler

I lost all my Goldfish about 3 months ago after some infected swordtails were delivered to my tank by my friend. I said NEVER again, but I have to do it I miss my Goldfish.! I am hearing from pet stores here that you can set the tank up with the bacteria and dechlorinator and add the fish the SAME day. I want everyone's opinion here before I even think about doing that.
Also, I wonder if a bio-wheel filter is better than mine? I just have a dual whisper filter. The pet store people sell one by Marineland but it also takes charcoal filters. I sure did want to get away from the charcoal thing, if there was another alternative.
Thanks in advance!

Castro235

I haven't personally used any of those bacterializers and whatnot, but it seems like they have been suggested against throughout the forums, I guess its not as good as the real bacteria, and it ends up making the actual cycle just take alot longer before you end up with a truly healthy tank.

I actually just set up my 55 gallon Goldfish tank probably less than a month ago, I built a small sump tank out of a 10 gallon, partitioned it into 4 sections, have the water flow through lava rock, filter floss, more filter floss and an ammonia reducing filter pad, then more lava rock and have a Maxi-jet 1200 pumping the water back into the tank.

I built a cheap pvc overflow for maybe 20 bucks to go into the sump, and made a nice waterfall for the return for probably 5 bucks.

The lava rock was a big bag at home depot for like 4 dollars, and the filter floss and ammonia pads were cheap as well.

All in all, the filtering I set up for it probably cost less than an expensive bio-wheel filter aimed at 55+ gallons, and I'd imagine it probably works just as well.

I set up the tank with playsand, some rocks and a few cheap plants and fake plants, let it sit for a few days and checked the levels were all well(just brought some water to my lfs) then grabbed 2 small Goldfish(under 4") and acclimated them to it, since then I added one large Goldfish(about 6-7") and one more small Goldfish.

My ammonia level has stayed low to nil the entire time(I imagine at least partially from the ammonia pad) and I already have nitrates, so it seems that the tank actually cycled quite fast, and the Goldfish have never seemed in poor health during the process.

I haven't done any water changes, only added 1 gallon once or twice a week when my sump gets close to not covering all of my lava rock.


I know it's a big long boring thing to read, but I thought I'd share my setup for a tank and such since it's the same situation you're starting, one small Goldfish is a common, and the other 3 are all comets, and they all seem to get along just fine and be doing well, no signs of ich, finrot, or anything the like, and all of my levels seems to be doing well also.

When I was poking around it seemed like suggestions for buying a filter for the 55 gallon as a Goldfish tank were either a sump, a canister, or two large expensive bio-wheel filters, and since I'm both broke and cheap, I decided to go this route, hopefully whatever you end up doing goes well for you though, I love watching my Goldfish glub around in their big tank.


If you want any help with the overflow, or sump tank, I'm glad to help you out with the little I know, I'm about as ameteur as anyone else, since I just got started with fishkeeping a few months ago, but I'm happy to share my good experiences, and my many mistakes if you like.

fungambler

Wow! You are a sweetheart with letting all of us read all of that information. Unfortunately, I don't have the time for that, plus I'm a girl "no pun intended" and my hubbie could definitely do all this, but is just out of time. But Geez Louise, what you thought of, it's just very neat, and I know it would work. I gotta cheat though but I am really worried about liquid bacteria. Ya ask one ? & you get a million answers. This board rocks though, and everyone here has helped me so much with my bettas and losing my previous fish. Thank you so much for all your info. I will print it and show it to my hubbie for future reference!

Castro235

Well, you can often find sump tanks at a good price on craigslist and such, as well as many other things, if I were going on a quick route for the tank, I would get some nice chunks of lava rock for the tank as decor that add plenty of extra bacterial growth, and then just grab something like two emperor 400 hob filters, or maybe even the next size down if they're much cheaper.

Seems like Goldfish tend to need alot of filtration, so without a sump setup I'd imagine you probably need at least one powerful HOB(I think I was suggested to use two emperor 380s I think, but it was only like 10 bucks more for the 400s, so I would go with those) or a canister or something.

I have alot of time and little to no money, so the DIY sump and overflow worked out well(especially since I had the maxi-jet powerhead already)

I do think the tank would look alot nice set up with 2 HOB filters, as I have to have a stand next to the tank for the sump, but then again, that stands going to have a 15 gallon shrimp tank soon, so I'm glad I did it :)

Any way you do it should be fine though, as long as you don't have like, one small HOB and a dozen Goldfish or something, and if I was going to do it, especially budget/time friends, I would just get one HOB filter now, get some small Goldfish, and in a year when they're a bit bigger maybe buy the second.

And as for the bacteria, I personally wouldn't worry about it, if you have the 55 gallons of space and adequate filtration, I tihnk two small Goldfish to start, and then one a week up to maybe 6, should be able to cycle the tank well and not be harmed in the process, just have the stores check your levels first, I thought my tank was set up well, but apparently something caused an ammonia spike, and the very first two Goldfish I put in it didn't make the night, thats when I redid everything to the current setup and they seem to be doing great.

Castro235

What kind and how many Goldfish do you plan on getting by the way?

And what did you have on it previously for filtration that you want to upgrade?

fungambler

I was thinking 6 and 2 plecos but after talking to my Pet Store place today, she kinda convinced me to go with angel fish, catfish, hard tetras, etc. for a more peaceful, and much cleaner tank. I would love to only clean that tank a few times a year instead of every 5-6 weeks!