we did have a big column tank with our 4 goldfish in but had to take it down when our house was done up, so i bought a smaller tank and our goldfish, now only 3, are living in there. i'm thinking of moving them back into the big tank but it is reeally hard to clean without having 6 foot long arms. so i'm not sure whether to leave the goldfish in the new tank and make the other tropical as i've been told they're not as dirty.

but i've never kept tropical so i'm not 100% sure how different it is? any advice would be greatly appreciated. x

tropical are good for keeping yu can get different fish that feed different levels in the water bottom feeders . middle level feeders and top feeders + cat fish that will keep yer glass clean if i was yu thats what i would do get a mixture of fish idnt use filters that hang on to side of the tank ive got a undergravel filter and a external filter make sure yu have plenty of air going in to the tank if you keep it a mixture tank you should have no problems ps my tank is 6ft x 2ft x 15 inch high ive kept fish now for a good 25 years at least , ive got tropical in it cat fish , plecs , lake malawis , convict , + loads of baby fish , red tiger osacr , and two very big silver dollars , good luck hope you get the bug . ive allso got 2 big ponds so yu can say its in me blood

thanks for the advice!

when we got the big fish tank it had an undergravel filter but it didnt seem to do much, it was fairly old, but when i went to the shop to try and find another nooone could understand what sort of tank we had and i was told to buy one of those that go on the side so i did. why are they not as good? i love the big column fish tank but its about 3ft tall plus then another 2 foot for the stand. looks great all lit up in the room but is a pain in the bum to clean. only place i have seen them is from those companies where they come and maintain it etc. and its acrylic too which makes slightly harder to find things for.

The problem with the tall column tanks is indeed how hard they are to keep clean and what fish to keep in them. Angels would be good, BUT they can be nasty and bully lots of other fish. If you have an undergravel filter, you still have to vacuum the gravel, and again in tall tanks this can be a nightmare.

Tropical fish are easier to keep than Goldfish in my opinion (got about 30 tanks lol)

If you want some good advise I would suggest www.svas.co.uk and speak to them there. They have a lot of accumulated knowledge between them :)

HTH

Angi