SamC2020 SamC2020
  • Just popping in
  • Just popping in
  • Joined: 11/5/2020 21:17
  • Group: Registered Users
  • Posts: 1
  • Posted on: 11/5/2020 21:33
New biorb owners #1
Hi, I'm a newbie at the fish keeping. We were given a 40L biorb with 2 goldfish by my uncle (who has kept fish for years) for my 3 year old daughters birthday in January. (We had mentioned getting her a pet for her birthday, but never expected him to provide a full blown set up!!)

Anyway, since then we have struggled with keeping the tank clean, and nearly lost the fish a couple of times :(

Now bare with me. This is all new remember.
We have an air pump running up the middle of the tank. We have brought and replaced the filter service kit a number of times (It is circular with a sponge and black and white stones inside a plastic case).
We have replaced a big sponge/mesh circular thing around the base of the service kit. We then have multi coloured stones and a Frozen set up with Olaf, however the bits are so worn already we know we need to change the set up asap.

The tank gets dirty so quickly!
We are having to do full water changes almost twice weekly because the tank looks so dirty. We use tap safe at every water change

Should we have plants in the tank? Will they help to keep it clean?

Is there anything we can add to the tank to help with cleanliness or is it just that the fish are dirty buggers?

I'm sorry if any of this sounds stupid, but appreciate any help we can get before we have an upset 3 year old on our hands!

Many thanks!
Sam
Fishlady Fishlady
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  • Joined: 6/7/2010 19:26
  • From Worcestershire
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  • Posts: 13924
  • Posted on: 12/5/2020 8:48
Re: New biorb owners #2
Unfortunately, the problem is that the tank is much too small for two goldfish and its filter is inadequate. Goldfish are dirty fish anyway and will grow to at least 8 inches long so need something much larger with strong filtration. For the two of them you need about a 180-litre tank in the long term. Have a look at this article: https://www.fishkeeping.co.uk/articles ... -size-life-expectancy.htm