Softbreeze Posted June 24, 2022 Share Posted June 24, 2022 (edited) Want to throw my stocking idea at you guys to get some feedback. Please be gentle but I'm open to changing things if it's not appropriate. The planned tank is 72' x 24' x 24' @680l (180ish US gallons) with a 60-90l sump. I'm planning to plant it, mostly stem plants, possibly floaters, and I might go out of the europe biotope to get some goldie proof anubias in there. Hardscape likely to be river rock, gravel and sand with some wood but without cluttering up swim space. So, dealing with full and likely adult sizes.... 5x comet goldfish @30ccm 15x eurasian minnows @10cm 5x gudgeon (gobio gobio) @10cm 5x dojo loach @30cm *dojo loach as stand ins for the European Weather Loach from the same family as this requires a license to keep in the UK Gives me 500cm fish for my 680l tank, eventually. However, goldfish produce much more waste than the 30cm dojo loaches so I'm unsure on this calculation. I'd also like to make sure the comets would have enough swimming room in this tank. My prev tanks have been much smaller so I'm finding it difficult to imagine the size. We can get a pond but as I find it extremely difficult to leave the house due to my illness then I'd rather do my best to make this work.Otherwise I'd hardly ever see my fish. We can go to 72' x 24' x 30' tall instead, giving us an extra 200l to play with, as an alternative. I guess I'm after reassurance, or constructive criticism 😅 Edited June 30, 2022 by Softbreeze Updated with 6ft specs as used 5ft specs by mistake! Also updated dojo loach info 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gardenman Posted June 24, 2022 Share Posted June 24, 2022 I think you'd be okay with that level of stocking, depending on your biofiltration. A lot of the length of a comet goldfish is in its tail. So, while the fish can top out at 14"-18", a good third of that (maybe more) will be tail finnage. I'd buy them all small (not that you have a lot of choice in the matter as that's all you'll likely find available) and let them grow into the system so as they grow so does the filter's capability to handle the fish bio-load. By starting with smaller fish, it's easier for the filter to keep up with them. If you were to dump in all those fish as adults, there's no real-world way to prep the tank for that big of a bio-load just dropped in all at once. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Softbreeze Posted June 24, 2022 Author Share Posted June 24, 2022 On 6/24/2022 at 3:12 PM, gardenman said: I think you'd be okay with that level of stocking, depending on your biofiltration. A lot of the length of a comet goldfish is in its tail. So, while the fish can top out at 14"-18", a good third of that (maybe more) will be tail finnage. I'd buy them all small (not that you have a lot of choice in the matter as that's all you'll likely find available) and let them grow into the system so as they grow so does the filter's capability to handle the fish bio-load. By starting with smaller fish, it's easier for the filter to keep up with them. If you were to dump in all those fish as adults, there's no real-world way to prep the tank for that big of a bio-load just dropped in all at once. Was thinking I'd need to the gudgeon and minnows in first, as I think they'll grow more slowly and I need them to be a good size before the goldies arrive. My lfs sells comets at 5cm minimum but I've seen they can grow fast! Will pack the sump with sponges and biomedia. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flumpweesel Posted June 25, 2022 Share Posted June 25, 2022 What a beautifully huge tank sounds like a lovely plan. I had two comets and some corys in 230l tank for years but it was looking very full towards the end the comet that is my avatar is about 25 years old and about a 30cm long at that point the other goldfish (feeder) had reached that within a couple of years. I did water changes every 2 weeks ish and filter clean every month or so. (1 canister + 1 internal for me) I struggled finding plants that could go the distance with the goldfish anubias survived but everything else spent more time floating. So you will probably find the maintenance will scale as your fish grow but your approx 3 times the volume and 3 times the fish on my set up so I'd say that would work. Can't wait to see pictures. 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Softbreeze Posted June 25, 2022 Author Share Posted June 25, 2022 That's great advice, thanks! If I had my way we'd have the tank now but gotta get the living room refurb done first so I have to exercise the dreaded 'P' word lol Your fish looks great, do you have any pics of your setup? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flumpweesel Posted June 25, 2022 Share Posted June 25, 2022 (edited) Not many pictures it seems but here is what I have, my goldfish died in 2018 while I was away the tank is now a tropical (not ready for another Goldy yet). This shows it is set into what should be my fireplace in the living room I was very lucky that a standard tank was such a good fit. And a couple of my big goldies Edited June 25, 2022 by Flumpweesel Change of tack 1 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Softbreeze Posted June 25, 2022 Author Share Posted June 25, 2022 Looks great! I'm sorry to hear about your loss, I had a similar experience many years ago and it's tough. Thank you so much for sharing these photos. That really is a perfect size alcove for a tank. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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