the journey of my planted goldfish tank

[Colu]

1 hour ago, yannachka said:

thank you! im scared of what it will look like in another year, i might not be able to see any fish. i am planning on moving once the market is somewhat more stable and i will probable have to drain this tank and move it as is lol

As long as your fish have plenty of swimming room I wouldn't worry

Edited June 7, 2021 by Colu

[yannachka]

Just now, Colu said:

As long as you fish have plenty of swimming room I wouldn't worry

they're definitely going to outgrow this so it will need to be upgraded. for now it is fine, i agree, and they definitely take advantage of the plants.

[H.K.Luterman]

Oh my this tank is absolutely gorgeous. I never knew this sort of thing was possible with goldfish. I will definitely be watching. 

[laritheloud]

This is my absolute dream. I'm starting to plan my next tank, which will be at least 90 gallons but I hope to get something as big as 120 gallons for fancy goldfish. I love seeing that your goldfish are doing so well with all of this plant life!  I'll probably end up with something a bit more sparsely planted, but I'll just quietly admire what you've done here. Simply gorgeous.

Do you have any tips for someone just starting out with goldfish?

[yannachka]

On 6/8/2021 at 4:38 PM, laritheloud said:

This is my absolute dream. I'm starting to plan my next tank, which will be at least 90 gallons but I hope to get something as big as 120 gallons for fancy goldfish. I love seeing that your goldfish are doing so well with all of this plant life!  I'll probably end up with something a bit more sparsely planted, but I'll just quietly admire what you've done here. Simply gorgeous.

Do you have any tips for someone just starting out with goldfish?

i wouldn't consider myself an expert but i can definitely give some tips for creating a planted goldfish tank. you will have much more success with fancy goldfish vs common/comets in my experience, those wreck havoc on all plant life.

• when you set up your goldfish tank you should take the goldfishes' natural digging behavior into consideration. it is best if you find some way to block off the plants so they goldfish cant dig them up. the coop plant holders are a good option. i used black river stone and driftwood to block off the back 1/2 of the tank so the goldfish can swim through the plants but they cant reach the substrate to dig. i left them the front 1/3-1/2 mostly open (although lots of val and other plants have grown in now) so they can dig to their hearts' content.
• if possible, set up the tank without any goldfish for at least 2-4 weeks. you can do this while it is cycling but this allows the plants to grow in and develop a good root system so they are much more difficult to pull out. this also gives them the best chance of surviving any nibbling since they will have a healthy root system to bounce back. i didn't do this but i highly recommend it, even though i have swords, crypts, and val in the front open area, the roots are so deep that the goldfish can try to suck them up but they stay put.
• avoid fine stem plants and mosses. i have had the best luck with:
  • vals (i have giant)
  • swords
  • crypts
  • pogostemon stellatus oct.
  • bolbitis
  • ferns/anubias
  • subwassertang
  • floaters
• emersed plants are your friend. they look nice and are very effective at removing nitrates from the water. pothos are the most common and easiest but i also have various monstera, peace lilies, and a host of other plants growing as well. i struggle with keeping nitrates in the water so i fertilize heavily and only do water changes every 2-3 weeks (which for the stocking i have in this tank would be impossible to maintain without the plants).

 

i hope this helps, a combo of this should set you up for the best success.

[laritheloud]

On 6/11/2021 at 3:26 PM, yannachka said:

i wouldn't consider myself an expert but i can definitely give some tips for creating a planted goldfish tank. you will have much more success with fancy goldfish vs common/comets in my experience, those wreck havoc on all plant life.

• when you set up your goldfish tank you should take the goldfishes' natural digging behavior into consideration. it is best if you find some way to block off the plants so they goldfish cant dig them up. the coop plant holders are a good option. i used black river stone and driftwood to block off the back 1/2 of the tank so the goldfish can swim through the plants but they cant reach the substrate to dig. i left them the front 1/3-1/2 mostly open (although lots of val and other plants have grown in now) so they can dig to their hearts' content.
• if possible, set up the tank without any goldfish for at least 2-4 weeks. you can do this while it is cycling but this allows the plants to grow in and develop a good root system so they are much more difficult to pull out. this also gives them the best chance of surviving any nibbling since they will have a healthy root system to bounce back. i didn't do this but i highly recommend it, even though i have swords, crypts, and val in the front open area, the roots are so deep that the goldfish can try to suck them up but they stay put.
• avoid fine stem plants and mosses. i have had the best luck with:
  • vals (i have giant)
  • swords
  • crypts
  • pogostemon stellatus oct.
  • bolbitis
  • ferns/anubias
  • subwassertang
  • floaters
• emersed plants are your friend. they look nice and are very effective at removing nitrates from the water. pothos are the most common and easiest but i also have various monstera, peace lilies, and a host of other plants growing as well. i struggle with keeping nitrates in the water so i fertilize heavily and only do water changes every 2-3 weeks (which for the stocking i have in this tank would be impossible to maintain without the plants).

 

i hope this helps, a combo of this should set you up for the best success.

This is wonderful advice, and I was absolutely planning on growing in plants before stocking the tank with fish. Unfortunately, most house plants are a problem for us, since we have three cats that like to nibble on all kinds of greenery. I'm not sure if we could get any that would work as an emersed growth filter for us that would also be cat-safe!

I hope you're loving your tank so much. 2 to 3 week water changes and a stable ecosystem is the dream!

[PineSong]

Lovely combo of plants and goldies--you were very clever to think of giving them a digging area and a protected non-digging area. 

[Jeff]

This tank has the most emersed and craziest plants I've ever seen. I love it. 

Very well thought out, and set up. Nicely done!

[Scrum Fish]

That was a great read and your setup is beautiful!  Sorry to read about the bad frozen good incident.  Is that common?  I’m new to the hobby and have bought frozen food once so far.