goldfish in sump to provide co2

[trinidentist]

ok my set up is all wrong for a planted tank.
i have a wet dry filter, and an undergravel filter 240 watts on a 180 gallon tank and some natural ambiant sunlight

other than injecting co2 someone suggested placing goldfish in the sump to provide co2. there is room for a couple of goldfish to live, could it work?

the undergravel filter was an Azoo product that was sold as being for planted tanks before i read up on it. :mad:

[rich815]

How is it that goldfish provide CO2? This is new for me.

They poop like mad so if you need phosphates and nitrates you'll get that (and ammonia if there's not enough plants or beneficial bacteria to make quick work of it).

[tcyiu]

Bad idea for several reasons

1. Goldfish are cold water fish. They will not do well in discus temperatures. They will get sick and "may" pass on whatever they get to your discus.
2. Even assuming they create enough CO2 in the sump, when the pump brings the water back into the tank, some of it will get degassed.
3. Will they create enough CO2 to matter?
4. Gold fish are dirty. You will inject their detritus into your fish tank - the point of the filter is to create clean water.
5. The sump will have a lot of noise and water movement because of the pump. This is pretty inhumane treatment even for goldfish.

If I sit and think about it some more, I can probably come up with more.

Go smack whoever it was that gave you this idea. Just kidding. But you get the point.

Tim

[Scribbles]

Was the person who told you this drunk? A goldfigh in the sump will only add more waste.

Chris

[blkrob]

You can seal or tape up your sump well, along with increasing the amount of water in your sump. This will decease the amount of co2 used once you start injecting it into your system. This way you will not run through a tank as fast. Good luck.
Robert

[BruceWatts]

With the low wattage co2 fertilization would be a waste of time and money. You will be limited to ferns and moss type plants unless they are placed directly under the lights.

The goldfish in the sump is a terrible idea unlsss your goal is to kill them and your discus.

Bruce

[Eddie]

The goldfish in the sump is a terrible idea unlsss your goal is to kill them and your discus.

Bruce

This had me rolling....:D

[Wahter]

Some people do keep goldfish with discus, but I wouldn't recommend it. Take a look at this video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QwTp-h1vY8I


Walter

[target]

The only goldfish I ever had were weekly snacks for my turtles and they never lasted long enough to make a mess. Not a fish I am fond of. They are dirty

[icemanx23]

Mixing cold water and tropical fish is bad idea IMO. They can cross contaminate the disease. And goldfish providing co2 is never heard of.