alix

After six months of learning I've achieved my goal of three fancies and five platties in my 75-gallon planted tank this week! Poke, Wasabi, and (Monster) Wasabi didn't even react when I added their plattie pals and, so far, they swim and vacuum substrate and plants in total harmony. I wish to express my gratitude that after visiting five other Seattle-area stores (and not speaking to anyone because the environment and tank quality didn't feel 'right') I met Brandon at Aquarium Co-op. His style was warm, informative, and encouraging. At that time I had only an internet-researched idea of 'fancy goldfish for their personalities!'. He was generous with his time and explanation of the items and sequence I'd need to learn to sustain an ecosystem they could thrive in. As I left with my new tank and a game plan to add my first friends a week later, Brandon mentioned Cory and the tremendous online resources and support available... I had no idea I'd stumbled upon a national aquarist treasure in my own backyard! I didn't even know aquarist was a term! Brandon's (plus many of your) guidance and support has literally changed our lives for the better every day! We love our fish friends! And I love continuously learning. Thank you to Brandon, Cory, Aquarium Co-op, and to everyone in our broader online community who has helped to educate and encourage us to learn how to build and maintain a beautiful ecosystem. I (and so many others) have probably read your threads and watched your videos trying to be better. Just, yay. ❤️

Even better than our cat enjoying watching our goldfish is how adorable it is that our goldfish love watching our cat! 😍

Hi everyone! I am a boomerang freshwater keeper who returned to the hobby after 25 years and after researching fish personalities aspire to be a fantastic fancy goldfish parent. ❤️ I had the good fortune of buying my starter 20 gallon long tank setup and two beautiful medium-sized fantails a month ago from Aquarium Co-op. I've felt pretty good about my learning curve on their little ecosystem thanks to the great content available these days (thank you!). However I'd appreciate some advice: For background, I think I've identified that Poke started to have fin rot due to a small piece missing three days ago, then some brown discoloration starting two days ago, and small jagged areas today (photo attached). I began active infection treatment with erythromycin yesterday but am more worried about identifying the cause since water quality and aquascape don't explain it so I was sensitive to recent fish aggression, and... I believe Poke must be a female due to rounder, wider, bulging shape (though I can't see a protrusion and s/he may have slight tuburcles) while Boba is a male with an elongated, thinner shape with no protrusion and recent tuburcles. Today Boba has begun exhibiting chasing behavior, staying below and nudging at Poke (but not nipping as far as I can see). Therefore my questions are: 1/ can you confirm chasing would explain why Poke has recent fin issues due to nudging or stress, hence it is correct to continue to treat for fin rot to lessen the damage? 2/ should I add a second female to change the ratio to 1 male : 2 female to give Poke a break, even in their small 20 gallon starter tank (weekly water change stats has been nitrates 50, nitrite 10, gh 150, kh 80, pH 6.4, cl2 0, ammonia 0)? I've attached a photo of their relative size to the tank and current plantscape. 3/ I have decided on 75 gallons as their forever home; would increasing the tank size help even if I can't find the perfect second female quite yet (finding a stand I like is also proving to be pretty difficult)? 4/ am I missing anything or even overthinking it altogether? Thank you in advance for your time! Alix