How's your tank going Alfio? Did you get it all sorted out?

hey you guys... is it really THAT important to fill up buckets with the water and dechlorinate there? I have a syphoning thing that attaches to the tap. Syphons out and refills.. pretty neat thing. I put in the dechlorinator from there.

I just assumed that since I'm only doing like 20-30% water changes, there wasn't enough chlorine in there to harm the fish and it would be killed off in a lil bit anyways.

That big of a deal or no?

Pre-dechlorinating is just a safer-than-sorry approach. You can add the water first but it'll just cause undue stress on the fish. Your (bigwill) cichlids may be hearty enough to handle the process as many parts of the water will get dechlorinated faster in a moving-water system like your tank (when treated) rather than sitting around in a bottle overnight. Personally I prefer the safe approach, but my largest tank is also only 30gallons...

As far as the goldfish go, the LFS associates are correct, hypothetically they will be ''fine'' in a community setup, but as someone else pointed out they're far more messy than the rest of your fish and therefore will require more maintenance from you than a normal tropical community would require. Unfortunately German Blue Rams probably wouldn't do well with goldfish as they require very pristine water conditions.

Goldfish are also meant for cooler temps but obviously can adjust to warmer temps, which may do little more than shorten their longevity if kept in warmer waters than they're used to.