10 gallon goldfish tank with 2 comets - 2.5 gallon water changes every 7-10 days - please read details...?

Question

Goldfish are supposed to be messy, really messy. I do 2.5 gallons (25%) water changes about every 7-10 days. Everything is great in the tank... crystal clear water, pH levels, happy, active comet goldfish. I just want to be sure of something that had kind of bothered me... When changing the water I syphon around on the bottom of the tank sucking the gravel & such. I try to do all over the whole tank bottom to remove as much waste as possible, but I feel like by the time my 2.5 gallon bucket is full only "most" of the gravel gets syphoned, not "all". Like I stated before, the water is super clear, no smell or funk & the fish are thriving, not just surviving. They don't recommend anything more than a 25% water change so I just want to make sure... make positive that the amount of gravel/water I am syphoning is adequate. That not "ALL" the gravel has to be syphoned over, just the majority.

Answer 1

Your doing just fine, I wouldn't worry about it at all. You see I had a 30 gallon tank that I left alone and would only clean it out like every 5 months and I wouldn't change the filter at all, just rinse it out. My goldfish lived for 7 years with me and his tank was clear as a bell. But he got to big and now he lives in a huge pond. So whatever you are doing keep doing it. Sounds like your a good fish parent. I was a lazy fish parent. Also if your little fishy friends get sick, try melafix. It rocks!!!!  

Answer 2

2 comets are going to need at least 50 gallons to grow properly.  They will survive in small tank but their growth becomes stunted.  They look fine on the outside but their internal organs gradually become compressed and they die of organ failure.  Really think about upgrading.  

For your cleaning your really don't want to clean all of your gravel at once.  The beneficial bacteria that your tank needs lives in your gravel and your filter so cleaning it all can really remove a lot of that bacteria.  

When you monitor your tank pH is really not that important and water clarity isn't a good guide of the health of your tank.  What you need to be monitoring is ammonia, nitrite and nitrates.  Ammonia and nitrite should always be at 0 ppm and nitrate no more than 20 ppm.  

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Answer 3

you need a 70 gallon cycled aquarium

Answer 4

As long as you get the majority, you are fine.

You never want to get ALL of the waste out, anyways. Bad stuff lives in the gravel, but so does beneficial bacteria that is good for your tank.

Eventually you will have to get a larger tank for your fish, but if they are small a ten gallon tank is fine, for now...

You mentioned pH is good and water is clear, but you didn't mention amonia or nitrates. Do you test for either of these? If not, you need to. These are the bigs ones with goldfish tanks, especially nitrates. If your nitrates are sky high, you need to do a more complete gravel syphon, even if that means going more then 25%. You will also want to do water changes more often. Not the most favorable method, but if you are going to keep really dirty, big fish in a tank that small, its what you have to do to keep it clean