Fancy Goldfish Tank

[Kate]

I've had my 50 gallon 24'' cube fancy goldfish tank for a couple of years now and it has been through a few transformations. When I first set it up I had a lovely little red and black pearlscale, and so was able to have a fairly heavily planted yet low-tech tank whilst he was small. Here's a few photos...















Unfortunately that lovely little pearlie was involved in an unfortunate incident with the filter outflow pipe, I came home to find him wedged behind it and when I released him it was apparent that he had been there for a while and was in a really bad way, despite my best efforts I lost him a couple of days later.

After that I decided to have a complete tank overhaul, even with just one little pearlie I had been finding maintaining a heavily planted tank difficult, goldies just produce so much waste. I initially bought just one large java fern and had that as a central island in the tank. After much deliberation I bought two teeny tiny baby goldfish, a ranchu and a fantail...



I then decided I wanted a planted tank again, but I needed a way of being able to move the plants around so that during water changes I could make sure that I could syphon up any detritus. I bought pieces of slate and glued them together in stacks, and then managed to source various anubias and java ferns and glue them to the slate. I was really pleased with the outcome, and I could easily lift the slate pieces out during water changes.













Shortly after this I introduced my lovely female calico oranda...







A year on and the three baby fish are now big adults....







I have just moved house and have just ordered my dream tank, a custom built 6.5ft long x 16'' wide x 21'' high rimless tank with aubergine gloss cabinet, I'm so excited! Anyway due to the move and the pending new tank and the fact that I was battling major algae problems on the anubias leaves I decided to get rid of the slate pieces, so currently the tank looks very basic. Here's a video of the fish currently...



You'll see that there is a new addition, that's Stephen the fry, the offspring of my oranda and fantail. My big tank is not looking so big anymore, so this upgrade can't come soon enough!

 

[Andy D]

Nice looking fish! (And I'm not generally a Goldie fan).

 

[foxfish]

Stephen Fry is a great name, we have a pet seagull called Steven & a pet crow called Russell (its true)

 

[ajm83]

I like that tank set up a lot. Nice and simple.

Stephen the fry

 

[Martin in Holland]

Smart to keep the plants out of harms way by putting stones around them, carbs do like to dig.

 

[Edvet]

Why do you use an airstone? What's the thought behind it?

 

[Newbiedoobydo]

You've inspired me to post my goldfish tank. Your fish are lovely. I liked the piles of slate set up. I'd be interested to see what you do with your new tank (not that I'm jealous at all, no not at all... ).

 

[Kate]

Stephen Fry is a great name, we have a pet seagull called Steven & a pet crow called Russell (its true)

Great names!!
When the new tank arrives my boyfriend wants us to get a black moor and call him Roger

Why do you use an airstone? What's the thought behind it?

Well goldfish need well oxygenated water, so historically people have used airstones for this purpose, but I understand that the current thinking is that it is more surface agitation than the actual bubbles that provide oxygenation. So in theory if you've got good surface disturbance from your filter outflow, an airstone is probably unnecessary, I've just got one in there because I think the fish like 'playing' in the bubbles. However in the new tank I probably won't have one as I'm going for a very minimalist natural look, and since I'll have two FX6s on it (and I'm planning on making spray bars for them) I think my surface agitation should be sufficient.

You've inspired me to post my goldfish tank. Your fish are lovely. I liked the piles of slate set up. I'd be interested to see what you do with your new tank (not that I'm jealous at all, no not at all... ).

Please do post some pics, I'd be really interested to see your setup (and your goldies of course!)

 

[Lindy]

Nice tank, lovely fish and look forward to seeing your upgrade. Lucky fish!

 

[pondweed]

That's a gorgeous tank for gorgeous goldfish!

 

[Smells Fishy]

The top tank is the best, like the bogwood. I'm a goldfish fan aswell at the mo I've got a Black Moor and a black Ranchu in together and I love them. They are my all time favourite fish.