# Planted Goldfish Tank



## Arana (20 Mar 2008)

I've heard a few people lately mention the possibility of mixing plants and Goldfish, here's a bad picture of my goldfish tank, although it does contain a few tropicals that have been banned from my big tank for bad behaviour  
if you want to keep Goldfish in a planted tank then the order of the day is big beefy broad leaf plants and a thick layer of pebbles around each plant to stop them digging them up  Oh and NO shrimp  
I'll attempt some better pictures if anyone is interested


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## Ed Seeley (20 Mar 2008)

Definitely need to see more pictures.  Looks good.


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## LondonDragon (20 Mar 2008)

Very impressive  full setup also would be great.
Congrats


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## Azaezl (20 Mar 2008)

Oh wow that looks fantastic! I did google planted goldfish tank a little while ago and the only pics it came up with was yours I think. Looks fantastic!!!

Here's mine, just finished moving the plants about a bit about 10 mins ago;









I'd say plants with goldies is a bit hit and miss, some goldies, such as mine will leave any plant alone wheras some will eat anything and everything, but your advice about broad leaf plants and pebbles to stop uprooting is exactly what I always tell people.


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## Arana (21 Mar 2008)

Thanks for the replies  

The tank is 80cm X too narrow X too high 
pressurised co2 
Tetratec 700
very low light (waiting for the new luminaire to be delivered) and then it will be full EI like my other tank  
Here's a few more pics  













There was a gravel pathway through the middle but has got a bit overgrown, once i get around to digging that pond for the Goldfish i'll be able to give tbis a rescape


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## Azaezl (22 Mar 2008)

That's fantastic! What are you planning on putting in there once the goldfish go into a pond?


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## tropicman (22 Mar 2008)

gorgeous tank mate , whats the stocking part from the obvious goldfish lol


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## Steve Smith (23 Mar 2008)

What temperature do you keep the tank at?  Would be interested in finding the common ground between warm enough for the plants and not too warm for my goldfish.


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## Ed Seeley (23 Mar 2008)

DevUK said:
			
		

> What temperature do you keep the tank at?  Would be interested in finding the common ground between warm enough for the plants and not too warm for my goldfish.



Goldfish, like koi, do very well at tropical temperatures.  The problem is really with the fact that the higher temperature speeds up their metabolism meaning they need more oxygen (they generally need more of this than tropicals anyway) and will produce more waste.  Many koi keepers now heat their ponds to above 20oC during the summer to make sure the fish grow rapidly and keep young fish in growing on ponds inside heated to that temperature all winter.


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## Arana (23 Mar 2008)

tropicman said:
			
		

> gorgeous tank mate , whats the stocking part from the obvious goldfish lol



Thanks, apart from the 5 Goldfish there are 3 big Buenos Aires Tetras (2 of them albinos) expelled from the big tank for plant nipping, 1 Fake Siamensis sentenced to life for bullying and 2 Ottos because it's the law  Oh and not forgetting 3 Nerites.


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## Arana (23 Mar 2008)

Azaezl said:
			
		

> That's fantastic! What are you planning on putting in there once the goldfish go into a pond?



Thanks i love yours too, i bet the Goldfish love that sand  
not thought about the next scape yet as the pond feels like a long way off at the moment  
Anyone fancy coming to a pond digging party (bring your own shovel)... no i thought not


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## Arana (23 Mar 2008)

DevUK said:
			
		

> What temperature do you keep the tank at?  Would be interested in finding the common ground between warm enough for the plants and not too warm for my goldfish.



Eds is right they seem to love it in the low 20's (although sometimes it will be warmer because we have our central heating up so high  ) but they will need regular water changes to keep up with their increased metabolism, my usual 50% per week seems to be more than enough


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## Garuf (23 Mar 2008)

Arana said:
			
		

> Azaezl said:
> 
> 
> 
> ...



I will...


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## Arana (23 Mar 2008)

Garuf said:
			
		

> I will...



Bless you for even considering it


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## Azaezl (23 Mar 2008)

Arana said:
			
		

> Thanks i love yours too, i bet the Goldfish love that sand
> not thought about the next scape yet as the pond feels like a long way off at the moment
> Anyone fancy coming to a pond digging party (bring your own shovel)... no i thought not



Yeah the goldies love it. I don't think I'll ever go back to gravel not after the few close shaves I've had with goldies getting unusually large bits stuck in their mouths.

I dig your pond you dig mine  I'm definately going to have a pond at some point, if we end up staying in this house rather then moving then I'll be going for a very large pond as the garden has plenty of space.


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## Arana (23 Mar 2008)

Azaezl said:
			
		

> I dig your pond you dig mine  I'm definately going to have a pond at some point, if we end up staying in this house rather then moving then I'll be going for a very large pond as the garden has plenty of space.



Have Shovel, Will Travel  maybe when the weather warms up a bit i will ask for volunteers


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## Ed Seeley (23 Mar 2008)

Save yourself a lot of time and hassle and get a little bobcat digger and large skip and have the job done in two days - great fun too!


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## Steve Smith (23 Mar 2008)

I sense a UKAPS pond digging meet comming soon


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## Arana (24 Mar 2008)

DevUK said:
			
		

> I sense a UKAPS pond digging meet comming soon



Happy Days  I better pollish up the BBQ and start shopping for Butyl


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## Themuleous (24 Mar 2008)

Very nice Mark


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## Arana (24 Mar 2008)

Themuleous said:
			
		

> Very nice Mark



Thanks mate  suprising the differance a decent bit of wood can make  Did you see Wetpets in the current PFK?


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## Themuleous (24 Mar 2008)

Yeh it is!!  Yeh saw the shop in PFK, and the 'not to be missed' sticker.  Well deserved really, he got excellent for both marine fish and inverts, but don't remember it being that good, but I'm not marine expert! 

Have you been able to chat to him about plants much?

Sam


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## Arana (24 Mar 2008)

Themuleous said:
			
		

> Have you been able to chat to him about plants much?
> 
> Sam



Not a lot it's always so busy when i go in there, but he does seem to love the planted tanks and always asks how UKAPS is doing   did catch him in his office the other day, he had a coffee in one hand and an Amano book in the other, maybe he is a closet aquascaper trapped in a marine world


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## Themuleous (24 Mar 2008)

Cool, nice to find a shop owner keen on plants


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## Steve Smith (27 Mar 2008)

Could you possibly list some of the plants used in this tank?  You've got me seriously thinking about my goldfish tank now...


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## Arana (27 Mar 2008)

DevUK said:
			
		

> Could you possibly list some of the plants used in this tank?  You've got me seriously thinking about my goldfish tank now...



Of course mate...

Microsorum pteropus 
Echinodorus 'Ozelot' 
Echinodorus 'Ozelot' (Green) 
Echinodorus parviflorus 'Tropica' 
Vallisneria americana (natans)
Cryptocoryne wendtii 'Mi Oya'
Nymphaea (Rubra i think)
Echinodorus bleheri 

I think that about covers it  
The only one i have probelms with is the vallis, the biggest goldie likes to chew the ends occasionally, if i see that i know he needs his greens so i throw a bit of cuecumber in there and they all go mad for it  
I have just had a EJQ Luminaire delivered for this tank, so as soon as lampspecs deliver the tubes for it (hopefuly tomorrow) i'll post some new pictures as i moved a couple of plants around at the weekend


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## Steve Smith (27 Mar 2008)

Thanks for that   Looking forwards to more pics!  I'm currently thinking about how to scape my goldfish tank.  Damn you for making me do it


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## Azaezl (27 Mar 2008)

Dev I'd say it depends on your goldies, if your lucky and they are like mine you could probably get away with most plants, but if you have ones that like to uproot / will eat anything then I'd go for broader leaved plants and bitter tasting / tough ones like java fern.


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## Steve Smith (27 Mar 2008)

I have a single fancy/veil tail who takes a good pop at most things.  He's not been able to munch crinums, java ferns or anubias so these will be "staple" plants


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## Arana (28 Mar 2008)

The new Luminaire and the lamps from Lampspecs finally arrived and i have removed a few of the older leaves from my Ozelots in order to let some of the new light onto the younger growth and genrally thin things out a bit.
Also because of the sudden increase in light i have upped the Co2 and dosed some carbo plus just in case.

here's a few more pics...


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## Steve Smith (29 Mar 2008)

Looks fantastic!


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## Arana (29 Mar 2008)

Thanks Steve glad you like it


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## Steve Smith (31 Mar 2008)

I'm upgrading my Goldfish's tank this week.  Hopefully have this tank by the end of the week, which is significantly bigger (2 1/2 times bigger! 36" x 15" deep x 20" high).


Your tank has inspired me to give it a go   Thanks for sharing!


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## Arana (31 Mar 2008)

DevUK said:
			
		

> I'm upgrading my Goldfish's tank this week.  Hopefully have this tank by the end of the week, which is significantly bigger (2 1/2 times bigger!)
> 
> 
> Your tank has inspired me to give it a go   Thanks for sharing!



Nice Tank  your goldies will love it! I'll look forward to reading that Journal mate


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