How Is This Feasible?

[AdAndrews]

I know someone who keeps a normal goldfish in a 8 gallon tank with no filter and light, he cleans the tank out every month, by cleaning he says takes all the gravel out washes that in tap water!, removes all of the water and replaces it with conditioned water. The goldfish has been alive and under this condition for years, how is this possible. also my other friend also keeps a goldfish, same size tank but with a filter and light, he says he scrubbs the algae away every week but when the gravel gets dirty he swishes it all about cleans the filter sponge in tap water! and then puts it back in the tank, i asked him about what water changes he does but he says he just takes a little bit out, so not clear on that bit, How is this possible?how can they survive in a too small tank for that long with ineadequate filtration or None!?

 

[minxfishy]

They are hardy fish, I (to my shame) before I knew any better, had black moors in a tank that I used to clean out every couple of weeks with washing up liquid (obviously the fish were removed into a cup!!!! beforehand), rinsed the filter out in tap water etc, lord knows how they survived. I also used to keep a goldfish in a bowl with no filter, zip nadda nowt, lived for years. It wasnt until I got into keeping tropicals that I realised I had been doing it wrong and not only that causing those poor fish to lead horrible lives. Im ashamed, but until you get to researching (net was not available to me at that point, this was years back) you dont know any better.

 

[AdAndrews]

anyone else got any ideas

 

[Spishkey]

no idea but at work they have 4 goldfish (chubby small type) in a tank, which they totally empty every week and scrub it out (gravel and deco) and refill with plain tap water.
no light no filter nothing!