# Is may aquascape 'Fancy Goldfish' compatible?



## macleod92 (25 Mar 2020)

Hi -

So I recently bought another tank which I aquascaped a couple of weeks ago and am waiting for it to finish cycling.
I had been planning to put tropical fish in there (I already have some Guppys, a Betta, and some Cardinal Tetras in my other tanks) however I'm now toying with the idea of getting a couple of goldfish instead.  

The problem is that I've already done the aquascape and don't want to change it.  I've looked up my plants and it seems like most of them will be alright in cold water.  What I'm wondering is if my substrate will be a problem.
I have approximately 1cm of Tropica Plant Growth Substrate on the bottom of the tank, topped with a layer of greenhouse shading followed by about 4-5 cm of Unipac Silver Sand.

I've read that goldfish like to dig around in the substrate.  What I'm wondering is if they'll dig up the growth substrate that I've got at the bottom/ will generally dig up plants and make a mess of the tank?

Ultimately if the answer is that they're not really compatible that is fine, I'll stick with my original stocking plans.  I just thought it my might be nice to have a tank that's a bit different to my others.

Thanks in advance for the help!




 

I have the following plants:
- Amazon Sword (Echinodorus Paniculatus)
- Echinodorus Argentensis
- Christmas Moss
- Java Fern
- Java Fern Narrow
- Cryptocoryne Parva
- Cryptocoryne Petchii
- Cryptocoryne Wendtii


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## alto (26 Mar 2020)

macleod92 said:


> What I'm wondering is if they'll dig up the growth substrate that I've got at the bottom/ will generally dig up plants and make a mess of the tank?


At some point yes, some will do so sooner, some will do so later, occasionally you might get a couple angelic goldfish that don’t dig up your plants or taste your plants 

There are some nice aquascaped tanks with goldfish, but most are designed with goldfish in mind

Remember that even fancy goldfish get BIG (unless stunted by poor water quality etc), general recommendation is ~80 litres per mature GF
Like most fish, having just two, can end up with 1 harassed GF and 1 dominant GF

A lot of people keep GF, not many keep them as they deserve 
These fish should live 25yr plus and can be very personable
(I don’t keep GF as I lack the commitment but have some friends that do, I’d only like to be a GF in one friend’s a.m.a.z.i.n.g tanks  )


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## PARAGUAY (26 Mar 2020)

Forget the goldfish in the set up you have it's too small a set up and the plants you have are going to get uprooted. Temperate set up would be best White Cloud Mountain Minnows, danios ,small Barbs would look good and be easier and how about Platys . A group of Red Wagtail Platy would give it a wowfactor IMO


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## mort (26 Mar 2020)

I would also suggest something else. You could go for golden barbs. They have the goldfish look (well young goldfish) and go well in a temperate setup https://www.seriouslyfish.com/species/barbodes-semifasciolatus/ 

Paraguays suggestions above are good, especially the platys for that vibrant pop of colour but there are so many interesting temperate fish beginning to gain popularity like rhinogobius gobies. So you could create something that will end up much more rewarding and decorative.


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## macleod92 (26 Mar 2020)

Thanks everyone!  That's some pretty conclusive advice.  I'll stick with my original plan and go tropical. 

Also thanks for some of the stocking suggestions, I hadn't considered some of those so I'll do some more research.


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## Gill (26 Mar 2020)

yes agree with what has already been said. Why not think about a pair of Paradise fish, they can take quite low temps, And there are many different colors available now thru FB groups and the BAND app. They would get along with most temperate fish.


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## macleod92 (26 Mar 2020)

I had previously been looking at Pardise fish but decided that based off what my LFS had I'd do better to go with a Dwarf Gourami.  Hadn't considered looking at Facebook groups though.  Also haven't heard of the BAND app.  Any chance you could suggest some specific groups to look at?


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## Gill (26 Mar 2020)

macleod92 said:


> I had previously been looking at Pardise fish but decided that based off what my LFS had I'd do better to go with a Dwarf Gourami.  Hadn't considered looking at Facebook groups though.  Also haven't heard of the BAND app.  Any chance you could suggest some specific groups to look at?



TBH most Gourami are temperate, And the dwarf gourami - Yellow Honey, Sparkling, Croaking do very very well in an room temp tank. 
Also the males have some wonderful colouring when peacocking. 

Band app, all you have to do is join. and it auto generates some groups to join. And then you can search for more groups to join. Kew Aquatics is very good, and have brought from him already with no issues.


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## Paul27 (26 Mar 2020)

White Cloud Mountain Minnows would be my pick in a temperate setup


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## Greengeek (31 Mar 2020)

I love my fancy goldfish but keeping them in planted tanks is hard work. Biggest problem you will have is they will quickly outgrow your tank, they constantly uproot and nibble plants and are incredibly messy eaters producing massive amounts of waste. Best success I’ve had is with Anubias, giant Vallis and Java fern. But the vallis was already well rooted and established. 
I’ve tried multiple times to keep my fancy’s with plants, some plants survive but don’t thrive. Even with huge filtration the leaves always seem to have a diatom issue from the high levels of waste in the water with regularly large waterchanges. It can be done, but it’s hard work. Oranda, Ryukin have been most destructive and grow huge. My Ranchu been pretty well behaved with plants and don’t generally get over 8 inches but there are always exceptions. 

I’d upload photos, but they keep coming up too big.


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