Greetings, fellow Nerds.

[MalevolentMermaid]

I’m Johnny, 

I’m just getting back into aquarium keeping after a 20 year hiatus. I plan on keeping Fancy Goldfish. Any tips on aquarium set-up, sourcing my goldfish once the tank is installed and cycled, etc. would be very much appreciated. 
 

thanks in advance, and I look forward to meeting you all! 

[Theplatymaster]

On 2/26/2023 at 8:33 PM, MalevolentMermaid said:

Any tips on aquarium set-up, sourcing my goldfish once the tank is installed and cycled, etc. would be very much appreciated. 

@EVoyager31has some good experience with goldfish.

definitely check out the Aquariumcoop youtube channel, its a great source of information.

definitely a large aquarium, goldfish are stomachs with tails, and get big so need large enviroments.

[EVoyager31]

On 2/26/2023 at 8:39 PM, Theplatymaster said:

@EVoyager31has some good experience with goldfish.

definitely check out the Aquariumcoop youtube channel, its a great source of information.

definitely a large aquarium, goldfish are stomachs with tails, and get big so need large enviroments.

As big of a tank as you can get for sure! Surface area is important too: example a 40 tall vs a 40 breeder, you’d want to go breeder because it has more surface area. I have 4 fancies in a 75 and 4 smaller ones in a 55 with extra filtration and they do very well. I over filtrate like crazy because they are so messy.. two canisters on each tank that I have.

In one I have sand with some large smooth river stones and a couple crypts. If you do have a few plants in there I would put a little rock barrier around the base so your fish won’t dig them out! In the other tank I have seiryu stone on sand with pothos. My fish do well with it but I would be careful as the rocks are jagged and can injure their fins if they are particularly flowy. Sand/gravel vs bare bottom is another debated topic.. I like sand for aesthetic and my fish love digging through it but you run the risk of them actually eating it and causing digestive issues. Hasn’t happened to me (yet) but they will 100% get mouthfuls of sand to sift through at the very least. 

 

Sourcing goldfish, atleast online, can be a little harder. I am lucky because I have 2-3 great local fish stores that carry a variety of fancies I have easy access to. If you’re interested in Ranchus as all, Luke’s Goldies (from tiktok) is awesome, but you’d have a wait as he is currently moving his whole operation across several states. I have not bought any fancies online personally, but Zhao’s or maybe Chu Chu’s (I think thats what it is called) seem to be okay from what I’ve read. I have definitely added to cart on those sites 😜

 

Biggest thing if you’ve been out of fish keeping for awhile is go ahead and drop the 80-120 bucks on a python water changer. Goldfish are incredibly messy and need big water changes and you do NOT want to be hauling buckets if you're planning on getting a tank larger than 40 gallons (which you should if you can). 
 

Be sure to post updates and pics of the new setup once you get going! 

 

[MalevolentMermaid]

@EVoyager31 Thank you for the advice. My experience with aquarium filtration is limited to HOBs and sponge filters. Admittedly, my tanks were all smaller (30 gal or less) and at the time I was working on a shoestring budget. 
 

Would you say canister filters are really worth the extra expensive and learning curve? I’m considering a “breeder” style tank,  40-55 gallon size range.

My plan had been: a Tidal 110 HOB filter, a Ziss bio bubbler filter, and a sponge filter. 
 

So the cost wouldn’t be too much more for a canister in lieu of those three. And if you recommend canister filtration above those, which brand? 
 

thanks in advance 

[EVoyager31]

On 2/27/2023 at 1:23 PM, MalevolentMermaid said:

@EVoyager31 Thank you for the advice. My experience with aquarium filtration is limited to HOBs and sponge filters. Admittedly, my tanks were all smaller (30 gal or less) and at the time I was working on a shoestring budget. 
 

Would you say canister filters are really worth the extra expensive and learning curve? I’m considering a “breeder” style tank,  40-55 gallon size range.

My plan had been: a Tidal 110 HOB filter, a Ziss bio bubbler filter, and a sponge filter. 
 

So the cost wouldn’t be too much more for a canister in lieu of those three. And if you recommend canister filtration above those, which brand? 
 

thanks in advance 

You can totally do HOBs..I think it is really about preference honestly. I like having the bulk of my equipment underneath and I have found to be able to have more surface area for BB to grow in a canister, but Cory had a whole video about the HOB vs canister argument. Main issue with canisters is they can be annoying to clean..They are expensive too, which is why I have two smaller ones on each tank instead of one large one on each tank.

Learning curve wise they're easy to understand and you'll only have spills on your first go setting one up. Fluval is my personal favorite because is is super easy to set up and is the only brand I've used where I did not spill a ton of water but folks on here seem to like Eheim brand canisters as well. I also have more budget friendly sunsun filters and they work fine for me but were annoying and difficult to set up, primarily with priming it.

 

Linking a couple videos below that helped me make my choice, but like I said.. I personally think it is a preference for most applications.

 

[Schuyler]

I was totally me to the hobby and went with a fluval. For the most part it was pretty straightforward.

If you're doing goldfish you probably won't have plants so another option would be an old fashioned under gravel filter. Then you could add a hob to give you options for chemical filtration if you need it.

[EVoyager31]

On 2/27/2023 at 1:36 PM, EVoyager31 said:

You can totally do HOBs..I think it is really about preference honestly. I like having the bulk of my equipment underneath and I have found to be able to have more surface area for BB to grow in a canister, but Cory had a whole video about the HOB vs canister argument. Main issue with canisters is they can be annoying to clean..They are expensive too, which is why I have two smaller ones on each tank instead of one large one on each tank.

Learning curve wise they're easy to understand and you'll only have spills on your first go setting one up. Fluval is my personal favorite because is is super easy to set up and is the only brand I've used where I did not spill a ton of water but folks on here seem to like Eheim brand canisters as well. I also have more budget friendly sunsun filters and they work fine for me but were annoying and difficult to set up, primarily with priming it.

 

Linking a couple videos below that helped me make my choice, but like I said.. I personally think it is a preference for most applications.

 

Came back here to amend my statement of my sunsuns being fine, lol. Overall they have been great for me for a little over a year.. but right now I am getting a ton of noise in my 704B.. I've ordered a new impeller and hope this will solve but thought I would bring it up here incase you were still considering. When I researched it, it seems many people have been having this noise issue after a year of use. (Though, they've been able to solve)

 

 

Also someone mentioned that there won't be many plants in a goldfish tank--mostly true. I can do plants if I guard the base with small rocks so they don't dig, but pothos and floating plants are a great option too.