Is Filter stressing our goldfish???

sadie9

We have set up a tank for a couple of goldfish. It is a 38l tank (yes, I know it is 'small' etc etc). We have 2 goldfish in it. We have a Cascade 300 submersible filter which came with the tank. All grand so far..
HOWEVER, I notice when I switch off the filter, the fish, previously very lively, go all very placid and one of them even kind of lies near the gravel on the bottom. Like the behaviour is markedly different when filter is on Vs off.
So is the filter keeping them awake and stressed?

The filter started making a rattling noise on the lowest setting, and the high setting which is virtually silent, is making a stronger current which maybe is too strong.

uck51js9zml2yt

sadie9 wrote: »

We have set up a tank for a couple of goldfish. It is a 38l tank (yes, I know it is 'small' etc etc). We have 2 goldfish in it. We have a Cascade 300 submersible filter which came with the tank. All grand so far..
HOWEVER, I notice when I switch off the filter, the fish, previously very lively, go all very placid and one of them even kind of lies near the gravel on the bottom. Like the behaviour is markedly different when filter is on Vs off.
So is the filter keeping them awake and stressed?

The filter started making a rattling noise on the lowest setting, and the high setting which is virtually silent, is making a stronger current which maybe is too strong.

Tank too small for 2 fish.
Double the tank size and get rid of 1 fish.

I'd suggest its a build up of toxins in the tank when its off.
How often do you change the water?
Have you a test kit?

sadie9

We only have the fish about 7 days and the tank about 2 weeks, so surely not enough time for toxins to build up. Would the toxins build up in about 3 seconds???

Berserker

sadie9 wrote: »

We only have the fish about 7 days and the tank about 2 weeks, so surely not enough time for toxins to build up. Would the toxins build up in about 3 seconds???

First of all, the tank is far too small as you said above. When and why are you switching off the filter?

uck51js9zml2yt

sadie9 wrote: »

We only have the fish about 7 days and the tank about 2 weeks, so surely not enough time for toxins to build up. Would the toxins build up in about 3 seconds???

So the tank never got a chance to cycle properly and build up enough bacteria in the filter to deal with the nitrates from the excess food decaying and fish excrement.
The tank is too small.
There are too many fish in it
You turn off the filter which removed waste from the water.
You've probably not changed the water.

Try reading this and decide if your set up is correct

sadie9

As an amateur, I was following advice from the internet and books my kids got out of the library to learn about fish keeping.
Our knowledge says 1 inch of fish per 10 litres of water. We used the starter stuff in the water and it was tested at the pet shop before we put any fish in it. They said to come back after we had the fish 10 days and they'd test it again for us.

It's more the current in the water I was worrying about. Do they learn where the current is and how to avoid it?
They seemed grand and lively same as usual after a little while. Then we just switched the filter back on.

lynchie

sadie9 wrote: »

As an amateur, I was following advice from the internet and books my kids got out of the library to learn about fish keeping.
Our knowledge says 1 inch of fish per 10 litres of water. We used the starter stuff in the water and it was tested at the pet shop before we put any fish in it. They said to come back after we had the fish 10 days and they'd test it again for us.

It's more the current in the water I was worrying about. Do they learn where the current is and how to avoid it?
They seemed grand and lively same as usual after a little while. Then we just switched the filter back on.

Yes but the 1 inch rule applies to the average adult size of the fish and not their current size. And considering that some goldfish go as big as 10-12inches, they should be in a tank >100L

Jen Pigs Fly

Never ever turn off a filter, it's like switching off your septic tank at night :eek:

The fish go to the bottom when it's off because the filter cleans the water, and its movement adds oxygen to the water, when you turn it off the fish are suffocating in their own waste.

Again, I'll repeat, never ever turn your filter off

CruelCoin

sadie9 wrote: »

We only have the fish about 7 days and the tank about 2 weeks, so surely not enough time for toxins to build up. Would the toxins build up in about 3 seconds???

You should be doing regular water changes. 20% a week is a good rule of thumb.

Mind you, that's for fish that aren't slobs with their food like goldfish are.

http://fish-etc.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/size-of-goldfish.jpg

The fish you have are going to quickly fill that tank. Short of selling them off, what are you going to do when they outgrow the tank?

Nevermind what the guys in the shop said. They'll do anything for a sale, just like any salesman worth his salt will do.

Sleepy

With such a small tank, there's not a lot you can really keep in it that you won't kill. My advice would be to return the goldfish to the petshop and either get some shrimp for the tank or pick up a slightly larger tank (there are loads of 60l tanks on adverts quite cheap) and look into keeping some tropical fish which are, surprisingly for many beginners, easier to keep.