Fishy Trouble

Question
Hi, I have a 20 Gallon tank. With Pump-filteration, a bit simple hill decor with holes for fishes. Some times i buy plants to put it and remove when they die (perhaps not enough strong lighting, only a simple flouresent light). Currently i have two Goldfish, one about 5 inch, the other 2.5 inch. 8 corys, 2 ram cichlids, 2 mini-red gourami (suspect to be dwarf, (1) any way to find out?), i'm considering to add an adult golden gourami to the tank. He was previously removed together with his friend after they bite each other, both same breed. (2) do you think it is advisable to put him back now? His friend died a few days ago. (3) is my tank considered big enough for them? I do weekly water changes. Also, it seems after 3 weeks of partial water change, the water becomes so dirty that i need to do full water change or they tend to fall sick or develop ick. (4) Is it because of the goldfishes? (5) What should i do to keep tank happy for my little cutie pies? Thanks for any speedy reply :)

Answer
Hi Mr. Fishy;

The gold gourami would certainly fight with the red dwarfs. He may even fight with the other fish too. It's just their nature and can be quite aggressive. The only gouramis with red color are dwarfs, you are right about that. If they are both the same color intensity they are probably males. They are probably okay together because it's a big enough tank.

The goldfish really need their own 20 gallon tank with a good power filter. Undergravel filtration is not good for them because of their tremendous waste production. They've got a lot of growing to do and are very deep-bodied messy fish. They are also cold water fish and should have no heater. They will get 8 inches long in just their bodies alone, not counting their tails. You've done a great job in trying to keep the tank as clean as you can. It's just way overcrowded with the goldfish in there.

Every three weeks your tank is probably going through another break-in period, also known as "New Tank Syndrome". Overcleaning kills much of the beneficial bacteria that keeps it balanced so it has to try all over again. It gets smelly, cloudy and just gross. The fish also get sick during that time because there are so many fish adding waste. Ammonia and nitrite are building up and with such a heavy population of fish in there it just gets too high for them to handle. So, it then gets another full cleaning and has to start over once again trying to balance. Once the goldfish get their own home it will be much better.

Overfeeding is a common problem with all fish too. We all do it from time to time. Cut back on feeding and feed the fish only once per day. Give the fish enough food to eat all of it from all over the tank in 5 minutes or less. If you really feel you must feed them twice, give them enough to eat for 2 to 3 minutes. You can also give them veggies to nibble on all day. Cooked green beans, cooked and peeled peas, raw romaine lettuce, squash and cucumber are great ones. It's very good for all the fish (lots of needed fiber for digestion) and it doesn't rot like regular food does.

Here is a link to my article on new tank syndrome;

http://www.xanga.com/home.aspx?user=Expert_Fish_Help

Here are some others you might want to look at too;

http://www.xanga.com/home.aspx?user=Expert_Fish_Help
http://www.bestfish.com/overfeed.html
http://www.bellaonline.com/articles/art28815.asp
http://www.firsttankguide.net/goldfish.php
http://fins.actwin.com/mirror/begin.html
http://freshaquarium.about.com/cs/beginnerinfo/a/fishcalc.htm

I hope everything turns out okay, and let me know if I missed anything or you need more help........

At Your Service;
Chris Robbins