true CW plant suggestions.

[fishcatch22]

well, as you know I recently acquired a 30G with goldfish, and once I get rid of all but one I was thinking about making the tank into a CW planted tank. I need true CW plants, I plan on keeping the water temp the same as the outside water temp (48 degrees in the winter, and 68 degrees in the summer.) it's right next to a window, so it gets plenty of natural sunlight. i'm also planning on keeping a crayfish in there with the last goldfish, so they need to be pretty hardy plants that can withstand life with a crayfish and a goldfish.

 

[drgold]

crayfish aren't all that compatible with plants or goldfish. The goldfish are just too slow and the plants are too edible. That said, hornwort and anacharis do well in lower temps, but 48 may be pushing it. that's pretty cold for fancy goldfish, too. fancies like 70-ish water due to their inbred fragility. oh, hornwort is usually goldfish resistant, but some love anacharis

Sounds like a project doomed for trouble, but I"m having a bad day so maybe I'm just being pessimistic. I really hope you can make it work.

 

[fishcatch22]

crayfish aren't all that compatible with plants or goldfish. The goldfish are just too slow and the plants are too edible. That said, hornwort and anacharis do well in lower temps, but 48 may be pushing it. that's pretty cold for fancy goldfish, too. fancies like 70-ish water due to their inbred fragility. oh, hornwort is usually goldfish resistant, but some love anacharis

Sounds like a project doomed for trouble, but I"m having a bad day so maybe I'm just being pessimistic. I really hope you can make it work.

well, i've been keeping the water a around 50 degrees since I got them to help slow their metabolism down so they don't poop as much, but it hasn't really worked. I think he will be fine.

I knew the cray would find plants to be terribly edible, but what could he to the goldfish? he is not a small goldfish and can move much faster than a cray can.

how about water lilies they sell for ponds?

 

[drgold]

goldfish sleep, and then crayfish bite them.

personally I think water lilies are ugly in aquaria. They're great in ponds when you just see the tops, but underneath they're just a mass of roots and ugly stems. they'd work, theoretcially, though.

one thing to consider when keeping fancy goldfish at a low temp is the effect of a slow metabolism. Fancies have a kinked up digestive tract because of their egg-shaped bodies. Commons have a straight line from mouth to end. slow metabolisms will increase the difficulties that goldfish will have passing food through the complex digestive tract. You might run into swim bladder trouble or other floating issues this way. I would feed very sparingly and make sure to drastically limit protein. fast at least one day a week, too, or even feed every other day.

 

[fishcatch22]

goldfish sleep, and then crayfish bite them.

LOL really? i've never heard of that happening before....

personally I think water lilies are ugly in aquaria. They're great in ponds when you just see the tops, but underneath they're just a mass of roots and ugly stems. they'd work, theoretcially, though.

oh, but I do view it from the top, and I love looking at roots and stems XD. it's sort of like a cross between a pond and an aquarium.

one thing to consider when keeping fancy goldfish at a low temp is the effect of a slow metabolism. Fancies have a kinked up digestive tract because of their egg-shaped bodies. Commons have a straight line from mouth to end. slow metabolisms will increase the difficulties that goldfish will have passing food through the complex digestive tract. You might run into swim bladder trouble or other floating issues this way. I would feed very sparingly and make sure to drastically limit protein. fast at least one day a week, too, or even feed every other day.

I do feed every other day, and when I do I feed vegtable flakes and algae wafers. I will make sure to keep this in mind, but winter is already almost over anyway so I won't need to worry about it until next winter.

 

[fishcatch22]

how about a banana plant?