Lupes, Kyr I need your help... and well anyone else who is a goldfishie person.

Lycanthropic

Lycanthropic

AC Members
Jun 29, 2009
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Alberta
The hex tank deal ended up being broken.
I was set to have a 60-70 gallon hex tank , but the idiot dropped it, an hour before I was set to pick it up >.<
Im still looking for a hex tank and may have found one.
I really want Phoenix Goldfish.... like this-

http://www.goldfishsociety.org/blue_egg_phoenix.html

but then again I found a cute lionhead at my LFS.... I was thinking 3 goldies max in a 60-70 gallon tank, with like 150-200 some gallonage filtration. No substrate really... just some plants in lil pots or something very easy to clean. I was thinking of having driftwood horizontal in the tank.... maybe a bit of sand at the bottom.

Suggestions for which goldfish I should get? I like ones that arent run of the mill, look cute. I think pearlscales look funny kinda like a big baseball with scales... so thats a no.. please add pics.

Other than that.. I dont really have any plans. I was thinking maybe a hob or internal filter plus a canister... maybe an xp3 plus my fluval u2... how does this sound? please help me!
 
Why not just run a HOB and then a canister filter? Besides, the barebottom setup will indeed be much easier to clean up as the filters will keep the poop out of sight. Be sure to check your filtration system from time to time for blockage as the poop tend to be expelled in heavy amounts by goldfish that most filters clog in no time as a result.

A 60-70g tank can fit 4-5 goldfish as the max although 3 is already a very good number if you opt to keep three only. Goldfish after all grow rather humongous and bulky in shape that the tanks tend to look a bit cramped when there are several of them. It depends on the variants though because most variants stay very small such as bubble eyes and celestials, both of which are extremely delicate fish.

If you really like the fancy goldfish, the blue egg phoenix does look very pretty to look at. The choice is yours whether you want the eggfish or the lionhead. If I were to choose, I would not mind both at all. I have a lionhead myself so I'm a bit biased on my preference since lionheads are basically very cute in their own right. If you had seen photos of my Julian, he originally had a very white wen growth which gradually turned orange. He is predominantly orange with white streaks.

If you like orandas, ranchus, lionheads, lionchus and ryukins, they tend to have a body width almost 2/3 of their body size excluding the tail although ryukins are much taller so the length may be a little shorter than the width in this case.

Some people are able to keep ryukins successfully with the ranchus and adut orandas but I don't have that kind of luck considering I keep four ryukins and the ryukins are pushovers bowling everyone whenever they go into a feeding frenzy. It's basically trial and error. If you choose to try ryukins, get a backup tank if your other goldfish are unable to compete with ryukins.

The young orandas are much more adept at getting their fair share of foods since their wen growth is still small that it does not obscure their eyesight especially if the wen growth is a goosehead type wherein the wen confines itself on the head only and not the cheeks. The same has been observed with young ranchus that have very small wen growths until it starts growing as they mature.

As for the pearlscales, personally, I prefer the ones that can at least swim very well without dragging themselves around because in some cases, the bodies look extremely bloated that they cannot swim very well anymore and moreso, just eat at the bottom as a result. Pearlscales are distinguished into two categories: the crown pearlscales (hamanishikis) and tikus pearlscales. The crown pearlies have wen growths much similar to orandas. I actually love these guys since they look very cute with their wen growths. Tikus do not have the wen growth but they tend to be much rounder in appearance. You might want to avoid abrasive decorations if you want their "pearls" intact because most of the time, once the "pearls" are damaged, they may not regrow anymore.
 
wow. I found a cute ryukin... but Im thinking I may have to opt for a smaller tank 30-40 gallons... and as a hex Im thinking of keeping only one goldie... that blue phoenix if I can find one...
 
I would advise against getting only one goldfish. They are sociable fish by nature and should not be deprived of their company. They are more depressing to look at when kep singly and you would be unable to see their full potentials when they have nobody else to interact with.
 
Well, Lup pretty much covered it, lol. Personally I really like Ryukins and Orandas, and of course my little pearlscales. I have two crowns and a tiku.

I second that I would never keep a solitary goldfish. It would quickly become depressed and just would not be a happy fish.

The filter idea sounds good to me, I have a canister and a hob on my goldy tank and it is working out well. I have the canister on one end and the hob on the other, and in conjunction with the powerhead I have to move water across the bottom, I don't have a problem with waste settling anywhere. I have a sand substrate, but to start out I think that barebottom with potted plants is a great idea. Another idea is to use a nice big, smooth piece of driftwood and tie anubias and java fern to it as a centerpiece.

Kristina
 
So I found out th blue egg phoenix is like endangered or something and should only nbe given to serious breeding programs... >.< that blows
 
Hex tanks have far less in terms of surface area than traditional tanks and thus have a smaller fish holding capacity. I honestly cannot in good conscience reccomend any goldfish breed for a 30 or 40 gallon tank. Given an adequate care regimen, any breed can easily outgrow a tank of that size, an issue only compounded by a goldfish's need for company. If you choose to go forward with the hex idea, it would be best to go with a low mobility breed like the dorsalless varieties or eye types excluding telescopes.

Since you're in Canada, check out Andrew's stock at www.fishsempai.com
 
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^ lower surface area on the top of the tank means that you need a higher amount of water motion to facilitate oxygenation. This is not very good for most fancy breeds that need more still water. Makes using a smaller hex a poor choice goldfish.

If you really want to keep nice goldfish the basic rule is the bigger the tank the better. The larger tank not only allows for better growth but massive amounts of behavioral changes. I agree the goldfish are a very social species and need others in the tank with them. Otherwise they are very sedentary. Get the biggest tank that you can find and afford. You will not regret it.

As for filtering a bare bottomed goldfish tank. I ran a Magnum 350 and a C-360 on my tank for a while without substrate after I moved. The Magnum 350 consistently accumulated most of the junk. It does an excellent job of mechanical filtration while the C-360 did more of the biological.
 
I looked at that fish sempai site and didnt really see much at all.
I am now seriously considering some Shubunkin goldfish, like the ones tropics007 has... I really like the blue in the fish, I think its beautiful.

Itds been decided that the tank is going to range from 40 gallons to 60 gallons.
I know I want 2-3 fish, I really like the zen theme that another member had on here.
The tank may end up being a friends 80 gallon due to him wanting to get rid of it, its an 80 tall, would this work?

So my choices at this moment are:

Shubunkin
A very colorful or unique oranda-
Butterfly tail- also not sure of reqs
Veiltail
lionchu?
or tosakins.
Any suggestions? I would like to knwo the tank size reqd for 1, then I will multiply that to find out the min size for 2-3 maybe even 4.
Thanks all!
 
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