? about sand with gold fish

[Janie]

Hi, I've been searching for this forum.
I live just south of Dallas Tx. and I have a 50 gal. tank with gold fish in it.
2, 3" black Moors, 2, 3" orange and white Ryukins and 1, 4" calico Oranda.

I've been thinking about putting sand in my tank instead of the gravel.
Does anyone have the pro's and con's on doing this?
How do I protect the good bacteria in my tank when I remove the gravel?
Do gold fish do well with a sand bottom?
To my way of thinking, it seems like it would be easyer to keep clean, and the fish would be able to find their pellets better.
What do ya think?

Looking forward to hearing from ya all.

[smaug]

That sounded like a singles add for a minute!
anyway.Sand would work fine for goldys,the bacteria that is needed lives in the filter so removing old gravel will affect your cycle very little.

[Janie]

That sounded like a singles add for a minute!
anyway.Sand would work fine for goldys,the bacteria that is needed lives in the filter so removing old gravel will affect your cycle very little.
Yeah, I realized that and went back and edited it. I'm new to the whole forum thing so bear with me. lol:11:
Great, Thank you!

[Aeonflame]

They will be fine with sand, and it looks better IMO.

[Fishguy2727]

http://www.aquaticcommunity.com/aquariumforum/showthread.php?t=14997&highlight=sand

http://www.aquaticcommunity.com/aquariumforum/showthread.php?t=23740&highlight=sand

http://s28.photobucket.com/albums/c207/reptileguy2727/Goldfish/

[bigbad-ratman]

i am normally the last to say something about overstocking but i think your tank is waaayyyy too small for all those goldfish. i have three fancies in a 45 gal and have been told that is the minimum for these guys.

[megastealer]

Well its not way way way too small of a tank. Just make sure you have lots of filtration. 5 goldfish in a 50 gallon is overstocked, since they should each have 15 gallons each, but 10 gallons each isn't nearly the worst I've seen goldfish with.

I have sand in my goldfish tank. They love it, and I love it since its easy to clean. The bacteria live in your filter, not your substrate, so don't worry about that.

[Fishguy2727]

One thing almost every one is forgetting is that tank size is only one aspect of stocking. Even with tank size there are many 'rules', none of which is actually a rule. These range from 10 to 30+ gallons per goldfish.

Most importantly is the water change schedule. It has been shown that it is water quality, not tank size, that stunts fish. These same fish in a 150 with 10% water changes every two months would be much worse off than these same fish in a 40 with an aggressive and adequate water change schedule.

http://www.aquaticcommunity.com/aquariumforum/showthread.php?t=30940&highlight=stocking