I just purchased a 1.5 gal tank, very small, with a very small filter and I have two Goldfish and a snail. ?

Question

I have to clean the tank almost every day, even with the filter. I was thinking of getting a bottom feeder. My husband suggests a cat fish. Do they stay small? I thought of a Plakto but they grow so fast. Does anyone have any suggestions for keeping the water and bottom cleaner, naturally?

Answer 1

1 goldfish need 30gal and 10 more {gal's} for next one, snails do baby's  fast so if it's a girl she might have eggs and start a farm, catfish grow big and a bottom feeder grows big to so IDK

Answer 2

Well, goldfish are not the type of fish to have in that type of tank.  Yes they are cheap and all, but they p**p a lot.  Snails also make a bit of a mess.  Adding yet another fish to 1.5 gallons of water will only make it worse.

I would get rid of the goldfish and snail and get something else - like a Betta.  They are quite beautiful and not very expensive.  They adapt well to small tanks and are easy to take care of.  Be warned that they do not play well with other fish, but with that small of a tank you should only have 1, maybe 2 fish total.  

Kind of a rule of thumb for me has been 1 fish per 1 or 2 gallons of water, depending on the type of fish.

Answer 3

1.5 gallons is too small for anything

2 goldfish and a snail need 70 gallons if there commons/comets/feeder/carnival goldfish

or 30 gallons if there fancy

i currently cant think of any cold water bottom feeders

whats a plakto i think you mean pleco or plecostomus

they are tropical fish and need tropical water

to keep the water clean GET A LARGER TANK

bettas are not suitable

they need a 2.5 gallon minimum tropical setup

Answer 4

You need to get a larger tank.... Goldfish are very dirty fish. They require a lot more cleaning than most fish. You need to keep in mind that the general rule of thumb is 1" of fish per gallon of water, but with goldfish I would go more. The larger the tank, the more room for error you have with water conditions. Example. 1 ounce of bleach in a 1.5 gal of water is very concentrated. 1 ounce of bleach in a 20 gal tank is more diluted. Also you needed to give your filter time to cycle before putting  fish in the tank.

Answer 5

NOOO...

Dont put More fish in that tiny death trap.

The reason you need to clean it out every day is because it's too small for almost ANY fish, especially goldfish. Adding any other fish will just make things worse.

Depending on the type of goldfish they will need a 29-55gal tank eventually.

Right now they could probably live in a 10gal if they are small, but they will outgrow it.

You have discovered the main reason that people recommend larger tanks for goldfish.

Ian

Answer 6

Your tank sounds too small even for what you already have (goldfish can get pretty big.)  Fish typically grow relative to their tank size, so a smaller tank = smaller catfish but I wouldn't add anything else to that tank, it'd be too crowded and the waste would get out of control and kill all your fish, I believe.  My advice would be to get a bigger tank. Try 10 gallon or preferably larger with a filter, cycle the tank, and then you'll only have to do a partial water change (20-30%) about every week or two (and then you could add another fish.)

But yea, that's really all you can do to keep the water clean...is clean it, as you are.  You sound like you're just overcrowded so you need a bigger tank.

P.S. If you get a tank with a filter, the Eclipse biowheel is AWSOME! I just recently got one for my betta, and it's working out well.  The biowheel keeps a bacterial culture growing on it, which helps eliminate toxins even without a bottom feeder (assuming you cycled the tank of course.) Just a tip for now or the future.

Answer 7

You're not going to like this answer, but to really keep the water cleaner naturally... I'd do the following

Cut back to a single fish and no snail.

Add some low light plants such as java moss or java fern.  Those will assist in absorbing up the nitrite and nitrates in the water.

To add another fish in a tank that small, regardless of the type of fish, will cause the quality of your water to deteriorate even faster.

Remember bottom feeder doesn't mean a p**p eater, they will dirty the tank up quite a bit on their own.

In addition, Goldfish have rather fast metabolisms, thus they create a lot of waste, and aren't ideal for a small, low maintenance, tank.

A tank that size is really only suitable for a single fish, such as a Betta, or a Paradise fish.