# why does everyone say...



## mousey (Jan 18, 2005)

that goldfish are dirty?
When I clean out my goldy's tank i barely get any stuff out of the gravel.
When I clean my livebears tank it is absolutely filthy as they are constantly eating the plants and algae. livebearers are super poopers. Sushi and Ben are not big poopers. 
maybe I am underfeeding them?They get a light sprinkle of sinking pellets twice daily , shrimp on sundays and bits of lettuce in between.
they are certainly active.
Mouse


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## Ownager2004 (Apr 4, 2005)

Just a geuss here... but i think its because a lot of the fancy varieties break the inch per gallon rule. Their bodies are much more massive than almost all other fish of the same length... Therefor, they release a lot more ammonia during respiration than other fish of the same length.


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## Niki2105 (Apr 12, 2005)

I find that my Goldfish are very dirty and none of them are very big. Not having them in too small a tank helps but i still find that I am never able to keep the gravel clean. No matter how many bucket fulls of crap i take out there always seams to be some left in the tank. I also have a tank of 12 Neons 2 Gouramis and a Betta and i dont clean that tank out near as often as the Goldfish because they dont produce that much waste. Anyway thats just my opinion.
Niki.


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## fish_doc (Jan 31, 2005)

Part of this has to do with the type/brand of food they are being fed. I know when I have tried different brands of goldfish food the fish produce different amounts of waste. If you found a brand that produces little waste I would stick with it.


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## redpaulhus (Jan 18, 2005)

I'd say its based on total body mass.
I've got a 6"+ "comet" (ie feeder) in my 125g tank that I got as a weee little baby about 6 months ago (about 1" long then). Its easily weighs as much as 20 or more of my platies  and I suspect that it eats, and excretes, as much as 20 of them as well.


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## Ramis (Apr 10, 2006)

My friend use to own goldfish he told me that too. If never really like goldfish, except the ones in the pond I hate the ones you keep in a tank, no offense though.


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## RockabillyChick (Nov 18, 2005)

don't look at the amount of poop you suck out with the gravel vac. test your nitrAtes and see how fast they build up.


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## garfieldnfish (Jan 18, 2005)

I share the same feeling Mousey has. I have 2 fancy goldfish in a 29 gal with a rubberlip pleco. Out of all my tanks (13) this is the one that is usually the cleanest. I do weekly water changes in all my tanks but the goldfish tank is never dirty when compared to some of the others.


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## mrpotato (Mar 4, 2006)

I think part of the issue has to do with food. Fish foods that have higher phosphorus in it tends to cloud the water more. I personally find nutrafin fish food to work out well as it has low phosphorus.


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## mousey (Jan 18, 2005)

Thanks guys. I find the food quality issue interesting.
yes he is on a premium food tetra sinking mini stiks for fancy goldfish.And yes the nitrates are quite high in his tank -at least 20ppm;Also there are no plants there in that tank.


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## RockabillyChick (Nov 18, 2005)

the rate at which nitrAtes build up, and now high they get is what makes goldfish dirty. NitrAte is the end product of their waste being broken down in a cycled tank. if it builds up fast and gets high, that means they are producing a LOT of waste, and they are dirty fish. "dirty" doesn't refer to how much poo you vaccume out. my otos are little poop machines. but they eat algae. they have to eat a LOT of low-nutrient food, therefore they poop a lot, getting rid of the parts they can't digest. that isn't really a measure of how much bioload a fish has.


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## DUSTIN323 (Sep 21, 2005)

Well it's basically a fact that goldfish are some of the measiest fish there is.


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