Goldfish Care Guide

All three kinds of aquarium filter in use today (undergravel, internal and external) will help keep a goldfish aquarium clean and healthy.

You’ll still need to regularly change a portion of the water and keep the glass clean (as well as being careful not to overfeed or overstock your fish), but at least the filter will trap the dirt in one place, and so speed up the job. But how do you choose which aquarium filter is right for you?

Firstly, it’s important to buy the correct sized filter for your tank. An undergravel filter should completely cover the bottom of the fish tank, and be teamed with a sufficiently strong airpump or powerhead. Different models of internal and external filter are designed for different sized aquariums; you can check their capacity on the box, by studying any online data if you’re buying over the Internet, or by asking in the shop.

Beyond that it’s really a matter of personal choice, and perhaps a financial one.

Generally, we’d recommend an undergravel filter if you’re on a tight budget and noisy bubbles from airlifts aren’t a problem. If they are, you can get a decent internal filter for only a little more than a powerhead and you’ll save on the cost of gravel, not that it’s particularly expensive.

Power filters are very versatile, and the latest designs are quick to clean. In the old days you always had to suck a tube to get them started again (which often meant gulping down a potentially dangerous mouthful of aquarium water) but you can now avoid that if you buy a modern self-priming model. All in all, if money is no object you’re unlikely to regret buying a power filter.

Filed in: Equipment