Would this sand mix be potentially dangerous for future goldfish?

[EvanT]

Hello all!

My girlfriend and I are looking to get a couple goldfish in the future once our 55 gallon is cycled. I bought some sand from a local hardware store and after cleaning and laying out the sand I only then realized there were some small pebbles mixed in. Unfortunately in my excitement in setting up the tank for us I didn't take that into consideration. I'm wondering/second guessing if this is appropriate for goldfish as I know they can be come impacted if swallowed. Can y'all let me know your opinion on if goldfish would be okay with substrate like this or if we should look into getting something else.

 

Sand link for reference:
https://www.lagrangehardware.com/shop/building-materials/concrete-and-mortar/concrete-alternatives-and-sand/sand/quikrete-60-lb-sand?SKU=281395

Thanks!

[Lennie]

Mine lived on 3-4mm river sand and now a mixture of tropical aquasoil and very fine sand so far for a year. 
 

I havent had any problems yet. They do take the small rock pieces and sand to their mouth and they spit it back. Mainly doing this during feeding time

I think it should be okay. From what I understand, these guys live in similar substrate in nature anyway?

I want to add a note here. They do disturb the bottom of the tank a lot, so the water gets dirty with fine particles. Make sure to have a good filter and add good mechanical filtration. Sponge filter was able to keep up with the biological filtration, but the particles in the water column was so bad no matter how big or often I water change. Big HOB with prefilter sponge, coarse sponge and filter wool helped me a lot

Another note, if you will get a couple ( i would do 3 in your tank size), try to get 1m:2f. males do chase females from time to time much worse than livebearers do. Spreading the males chasing behavior is needed. I have 1m:1f and community tank stopped this behavior to a high degree, but species only tank=male focuses on the female a lot

[mynameisnobody]

You’re good 

[EvanT]

@Lennie Thank you for the response! Glad to hear that yours lived in something similar. We have a Fluval 407 and two of the baskets in it are filled with filter floss along with the filters they provide (I took out the charcoal, never really used it). We plan on getting three small ones so we get the satisfaction of watching them grow up. Should I try to get 3m's or 3f's or is it better to have both sexes?

@mynameisnobody 'Preciate the input!

[Lennie]

On 6/10/2024 at 4:20 PM, EvanT said:

@Lennie Thank you for the response! Glad to hear that yours lived in something similar. We have a Fluval 407 and two of the baskets in it are filled with filter floss along with the filters they provide (I took out the charcoal, never really used it). We plan on getting three small ones so we get the satisfaction of watching them grow up. Should I try to get 3m's or 3f's or is it better to have both sexes?

@mynameisnobody 'Preciate the input!

I have only two. 1m and 1f. And it was problematic due to him chasing the female a lot

If you get very small ones, it will be likely hard to sex them. 

 

I am not very experienced on goldfish, as I have been keeping only two, excluding the childhood experience which I don't count.

But I would try to keep at least 2 females per male. @mynameisnobody has more experience on goldfish if I remember correctly.

 

Nice choice on keeping goldfish btw. I think they are such great fish with high personality. My another recommendation is just to avoid fully egg shaped bodies, absurd eyes, or anything that looks abnormal. You will likely deal with nonstop issues and health problems rather than enjoying fishkeeping with such fish. I got me low grade orandas for quite cheap. I have not seen a single swim bladder or wen issue yet. Not even once. They dont have that nonstop growing wens covering the eyes or big egg shaped bellies that cause problems like pricey ones do. Telescopes or celestial eyes, etc. all have eye issues as you may guess. Many have swimbladder issues, swimming issues, and so on. Closer to their natural carp body and look, usually the healthier it is. Like ranchus look very cute but that spine is very bad. Imagine human bred with such absurd spines and deal with it whole their life to look cute.,Many  looks are commonly problematic for the goldfish so choose your fish friends friends wisely. Personal opinion

Edited June 10 by Lennie

[EvanT]

On 6/10/2024 at 11:42 AM, Lennie said:

I have only two. 1m and 1f. And it was problematic due to him chasing the female a lot

If you get very small ones, it will be likely hard to sex them. 

 

I am not very experienced on goldfish, as I have been keeping only two, excluding the childhood experience which I don't count.

But I would try to keep at least 2 females per male. @mynameisnobody has more experience on goldfish if I remember correctly.

 

Nice choice on keeping goldfish btw. I think they are such great fish with high personality. My another recommendation is just to avoid fully egg shaped bodies, absurd eyes, or anything that looks abnormal. You will likely deal with nonstop issues and health problems rather than enjoying fishkeeping with such fish. I got me low grade orandas for quite cheap. I have not seen a single swim bladder or wen issue yet. Not even once. They dont have that nonstop growing wens covering the eyes or big egg shaped bellies that cause problems like pricey ones do. Telescopes or celestial eyes, etc. all have eye issues as you may guess. Many have swimbladder issues, swimming issues, and so on. Closer to their natural carp body and look, usually the healthier it is. Like ranchus look very cute but that spine is very bad. Imagine human bred with such absurd spines and deal with it whole their life to look cute.,Many  looks are commonly problematic for the goldfish so choose your fish friends friends wisely. Personal opinion

I'll ask the LFS if they're able to determine the sex when we go get them! Thanks for the ratio suggestion. 

 

Also discounting my childhood experience, I wanted to try Goldfish as an adult because I'm more educated on their potential. I had a community tank before moving and having to rehome them and wanted to go back to taking care of a handful of fish rather than a community for now. The koi colored oranda's are what caught our eyes so that is likely what we will go with. I share the same opinion regarding ranchu spines and the telescopic eye variations. I'm looking forward to learning and taking care of them! 

[mynameisnobody]

Be vigilant with diet, all fancy type goldfish are susceptible to swim bladder issues that are almost always irreversible in the long run. Buy good quality to ensure better genetics, but honestly much like @Cory, fancy goldfish have me frustrated and stumped. They’re excellent and then they absolutely are not. For this reason, I keep Wakins. For the record, I adore fancy’s and hate that they have such health issues. 

[EvanT]

@mynameisnobody Thank you for the heads up. I watched and rewatched many of the Aquarium Co-op videos surrounding Fancy goldfish diet and will follow that. If I run into any issues I'm sure you will see my name pop up in these forums again in the future.