Goldfish & plants

[Never stop learning]

I have a 300 gallon tank with 10 to 15 goldfish (most are common) with the biggest being around the 8 inches.  I'm wondering if anyone has had any luck long term with plants and what kind would you recommend to start with.  I have already tried java fern the fish ate them.

[Cinnebuns]

I have never kept goldfish myself so take this for what it is. 

My understanding is that goldfish eat all plants and destroy most decor and that's why most goldfish tanks are so bare. I know many goldfish owners will actually keep duckweed in one tank to grow to feed to the goldfish. I've also had people buy water lettuce from me to feed to their goldfish in the past. 

[Colu]

The only success I have had with plants is water lettuce and elodea the trick is to get the plants established before adding the goldfish you could add Javan fern's as long as the  root are established  enough to withstand the attention of the goldfish you could try the co-op easy plants to protect the roots of the plants while they establish 

[Flumpweesel]

My main problem with the goldfish and plants was up rooting rather than eating. But to aid cleaning I kept the substrate very shallow so there wasn't a lot for them to root into.

Stem plants can cope with the uprooting but I would generally get sick of replanting I imagine that would be even more of chore in such a big tank 

If it's for nitrate control maybe look at emergent planting with bamboo or pathos .

 If it's just for the aesthetic I would invest in well weighted artificial 

[Guppysnail]

A lot of folks use emergent growth plants like lucky bamboo and pothos with plant eaters. It helps with water quality and does add the plant viewing above the tank. 

[Biotope Biologist]

Established plants never stopped my Bob from grazing on them. I would think @Guppysnail suggestion would work the best.

 

I say get cheap fast growing plants too and see if they can outgrow the grazing. I had some short lived success with aponogeton, dwarf lily, and pond weed.

[BlueLineAquaticsSC]

I’ve never kept goldfish with plants but I had similar problems with my Cichlids. The most successful plant I was able to grow was Anubius Coffeefolia, which ime has tougher leaves than other Anubius. I super glue them to rocks or tie them to drift wood with fishing line. If you can find marimo moss balls I’ve heard goldfish keepers use those and the fish will roll them around, but they are not able to be imported anymore so you would probably have to find a hobbyist selling them to get some.

[Darax]

I've got one big common goldfish. He doesn't uproot crypts. Java fern and various anubais survive well. I have two crenim (sp?, viney stem plant) that thrived with the goldfish. Hornwort and water sprite generally gets uprooted but those thrive at the top and my fish loves slurping food from the plants floating at the top. 🙂 I actually have a water lilly of some sort surviving with him. I was able to tansplant it a couple weeks before the goldfish.

I've managed to get other stem plants to survive by surrounding them with rocks the fish cannot move. 

[Odd Duck]

You might take a look at my 75 Gallon Jack Dempsey tank in my signature.  I’ve had fairly decent luck keeping large Anubias (must be firmly attached to something (roots growing into the item - best is wood, but lava rock an also work) not just glue and not just string) before adding it to a tank with goldfish/cichlids), Crinums, emerse grown pothos and lucky bamboo.  I’ve also had decent luck adding very mature swords but I suspect your luck would be different with goldfish and swords.  I did add all the plants nearly at once and have them well anchored down with very large pebbles, small rocks heaped around the roots.

Another note and something to keep in mind when you’re deciding how/if to keep plants with cichlids - I very recently lost one of my 2 big common plecos.  I found him very firmly wedged between a couple of the largest pots. I don’t know if that’s what killed him but I had to move the pots to get him loose.  He mostly got along with the other pleco (but it is also a male about the same size), the Jacks, and the juvenile silver dollars didn’t appear to bother him any.  He had been in this tank with the pots for just over 1.5 years.  Never got stuck before.

[Ninjoma]

I have two goldfish who are around 4 inches. I've grown Java fern, hornwort, scarlet temple and a few types of crypts. I never noticed any goldfish inflicted plant damage. 

 

Yours ate Java fern though.... I would maybe try anubias? 

[phish head]

my goldfish never bothered the jungle val. The val grow so well that I've been bringing it to the fish club to be auctioned off,when it starts to over take the tank

[Brainsponge]

I have 3 large goldfish. Smallest is around eight/nine-ish inches, biggest is eleven/twelve-ish inches. I had/have the same issues. They either eat or destroy most plants. In my experience water hyacinth has worked the best. My Java fern 'wind', java fern, and Anibias Barteri( I think) are doing good as well. They are all firmly attached to rocks. I tried some attached to some drift wood and they didn't eat them but they did just pluck them out of the crevices. I tried lucky bamboo and pothos, large and small and both there roots got waxed so I had to remove them. I also tried water lettuce but the ate the roots, then the leaves.

I would try water hyacinth, it's the best long term in my specific tank.

It's worked so good that I'm growing more out in the backyard.

I wish you the best of luck, my large goldfish tank is the biggest PITA tank I have. But the will soon be moved to a patio pond.

[EVoyager31]

I have fancies in two separate tanks! Biggest issue is uprooting, but I simply added some small smooth rocks around the base of the plants keeps them from pulling them up. I’ve been able to successfully keep crypts and java ferns as well as a few others in the tank. For the taller plants, putting them close to the back glass of the tanks helps as well.

[Odd Duck]

On 1/8/2023 at 9:04 AM, Brainsponge said:

 I tried lucky bamboo and pothos, large and small and both there roots got waxed so I had to remove them.

I bought the very tall lucky bamboo so the straight part of the stalks were planted in a pot with heavy clay soil, sand, then very large pebbles around the bases.  The upper part of the stalks are run through a kitchen sink sponge caddy to stabilize and support the tops.  The leaves are all emergent (except for the new sprouts that have developed underwater near the base of the plants - who knew they would do that?).

My pothos are growing mostly in foam stuffed into HOB’s, but some stems are stuffed into the sponge caddies and doing fine despite nibbling, no doubt by both the by Jack Dempseys and tiger silver dollars.  These pics are from fresh set up.  The tank doesn’t look this clean and pristine anymore.  😆 But the pothos are a giant curtain down the back of the tank and the lucky bamboo are now about 5’ tall from base to top.  Not quite to the ceiling.

 

 

Edited January 10 by Odd Duck
Add about pothos.

[Brainsponge]

On 1/10/2023 at 1:56 PM, Odd Duck said:

I bought the very tall lucky bamboo so the straight part of the stalks were planted in a pot with heavy clay soil, sand, then very large pebbles around the bases.  The upper part of the stalks are run through a kitchen sink sponge caddy to stabilize and support the tops.  The leaves are all emergent (except for the new sprouts that have developed underwater near the base of the plants - who knew they would do that?).

My pothos are growing mostly in foam stuffed into HOB’s, but some stems are stuffed into the sponge caddies and doing fine despite nibbling, no doubt by both the by Jack Dempseys and tiger silver dollars.  These pics are from fresh set up.  The tank doesn’t look this clean and pristine anymore.  😆 But the pothos are a giant curtain down the back of the tank and the lucky bamboo are now about 5’ tall from base to top.  Not quite to the ceiling.

 

 

That's amazing. I can't believe it never entered my head to put them in pots. That's very cool. Now I just need to find those tall ones. Your tank is exceptional.

[Never stop learning]

Thanks to everyone for the suggestion on plants. Now i just need to find / grow out some larger plants to try.

[PineSong]

Pardon the casual photo, but here is my 10g that I set up to bring my pond goldfish in for the rest of the winter. I'm using it to store an anubias nana petite and an anubias hastifolia that I bought but haven't decided where to put in my 'real' tanks yet.

I also added big clumps of floating guppy grass and corkscrew val that I removed from another tank, just to see whether the goldfish would eat them. I've seen no evidence that he does. 

In the pond, I had a giant amazon sword which the goldfish did not uproot nor eat, so far as I could tell. It was in a 4 or 6" clay pot with a couple of inches of pebbles on top of the roots. It was big when it went in the pond and kept on growing as well as having babies on runners, and the goldfish did not eat those either.

I love the look of Odd Duck's tank above, and it's a good reminder that using pots can make plants work in places where otherwise they might not. Thanks, @Odd Duck!

Edited January 12 by PineSong
Added photo!

[Odd Duck]

On 1/10/2023 at 9:07 PM, PineSong said:

Pardon the casual photo, but here is my 10g that I set up to bring my pond goldfish in for the rest of the winter. I'm using it to store an anubias nana petite and an anubias hastifolia that I bought but haven't decided where to put in my 'real' tanks yet.

I also added big clumps of floating guppy grass and corkscrew val that I removed from another tank, just to see whether the goldfish would eat them. I've seen no evidence that he does. 

In the pond, I had a giant amazon sword which the goldfish did not uproot nor eat, so far as I could tell. It was in a 4 or 6" clay pot with a couple of inches of pebbles on top of the roots. It was big when it went in the pond and kept on growing as well as having babies on runners, and the goldfish did not eat those either.

I love the look of Odd Duck's tank above, and it's a good reminder that using pots can make plants work in places where otherwise they might not. Thanks, @Odd Duck!

Your pic didn’t attach and now I can’t wait to see the pic!  Glad I can help.  The idea of the plants in pots was inspired in part by @dasaltemelosguy’s tank pic full of lucky bamboo on the nitrate and plants thread.  It never crossed my mind before that to find lucky bamboo with long stalks so the roots could be at the base and the leaves emerse.

 

[Expectorating_Aubergine]

Try kale and brussel sprouts. NOTHING will eat that stuff willingly. They will eat the plastic plants before they eat that. Unless you put balsamic vinegar, olive oil, salt and pepper on it.....

Edited January 11 by Expectorating_Aubergine

[PineSong]

On 1/11/2023 at 1:57 PM, Odd Duck said:

Your pic didn’t attach and now I can’t wait to see the pic!  Glad I can help. 

 

Sorry, argh, I fixed it above.

[Pencapchew95]

I know you have a large tank but if you get some large pothos vines and hang the roots in the water they are awesome! And the roots are super hardy! 

[Mark303]

I have had the best luck with Anubias. my goldfish leave them alone.