Doing Some Investigation ...

[ArcticLancer]

Hey everyone.
I didn't think this was going to get in-depth enough to warrant a more specific board, so I just threw the idea up here.

Anyway, there's a guy in my house down the hall who, earlier this year, got a small tank. It's 5Gals, and currently houses two goldfish. I know this tank isn't supposed to be used in this case, but I don't think there's much to be done about it right now. I'm just wondering if there are some more minor things to help accomidate them better to their space, so let me give you some more specific information.

Like I said, it's a 5 Gallon tank. There is a bottom layer of sand that varies in height around the tank, but stays between 1 and 1.5 inches or so, and has a small amount of smooth gravel on top (Not enough to cover, but still some on there). There are two small, plastic plants (Not silken) that are about 3 inches tall each, and they're situated fairly close together (At the back of the tank, around the middle, with about 2 inches space between them).
The tank does have a hood, with a 6W light (I'm pretty sure it's flaurecent), and has a filter for tanks up to 20 gallons. I've noticed that the filter (An overhanging filter, an AquaClear) tends to create a LOT of current in the small tank. Will it reduce this current to turn it down, and would it be a good idea to do so? There's no heater, but the temperature tends to float between 22 and 26 C, which I know can be high for Goldfish.
He does a pretty good job keeping it clean, and doesn't have any real problems with waste.

On a slight off-note, we spent a while last night trying to sex the two residents. I've very unsurely concluded that one, a common orange, is female, while the black googly-eyed one is male. The 'male' spends a good deal of time chasing the female, and both spend a lot of time scrounging at the bottom of the tank.

I know that's a good lot of information, and more like an essay than anything else, but since we've agreed to take care of these fish over the Christmas break, I'm just wondering if anything should, and could be changed (Again, excluding changing the tank size).
Thanks guy!

 

[WILDER]

I'm afraid there is nothing you can do to help them stay in that size tank, they will get stunted and die, plus they are big waste producers and they need at least a 30gal tank, plus an excellent filter, that 5gal will become polluted in a day, and there is no room for them to swim or grow, best thing to do is rehome them and let them have alife they derserve, sorry.

 

[anvil63]

Have him go out and by a 29gal -less than $40 at Walmart

 

[Tokis-Phoenix]

Goldfish can get massive given the chance, comet goldfish can grow to a foot long, as said before there is nothing you can do to give those goldfish decent lives in a 5gal, you really need a 10gal for the first goldifsh plus 5-10gals for every one after that depending on its type, many goldfish can also live up to 30yrs+ so they really are long term investment fish if you chose to look after them well .

 

[annka5]

Agree with the above, but as they're not your fish you don't have as much control as you'd like over their tank...If you could get him to buy a bigger tank, say second hand, he could use the same filter even - that's the only real improvement. However, one thing:
They need relatively high levels of oxygen, so turning the filter down will reduce surface agitation which in turn will give lower oxygen levels. I'd be inclined to leave the filter as it is, assuming it isn't like a washing machine in there.

 

[ArcticLancer]

Thanks guys. This is basically what I figured, but it's something I don't know if we can do anything about. My girlfriend (A much more avid fish-lover than I) has already brought it to his attention, but he doesn't seem too interested or concerned in any way. I'll have a talk with him later on and see if I can get him to either get a bigger tank (Which is very unlikely since he'd have nowhere to put anything bigger than 5Gals) or see if he can take the goldfish back and get something smaller.
Any suggestions (Outside of Bettas) on fish that fit in 5 gallons okay?

Oh, and about the filter ... Yeah, I had left it turned up just because of the amount of waste they produce, so I was hoping it would keep things at least a bit better. The problem is that on full it creates so much current (The tank isn't currently FULL as we're going to take it for a car ride tomorrow) that the surface actually bubbles, so I put in a break to keep the water from just plain gushing into the tank.
Also, about the tanks ... Our local Wal-Mart (We're in Atlantic Canada) only carries a few tanks, and they're all at least 50 gallons, so they're both exsessive and expensive, and the local fish stores don't carry them nearly as cheap as they should.

Again, I'll see what I can do.