coldfish stocking...

[meandthetanks]

last night i picked up a bargain, i had to get a new tank fo rmy fancies as their old tank was falling apart,the silicone was failing and the water was starting to seep into the joints. well we dont have much money,and i managed to bid and win a 48 x12 x18inch tank for them,so same footprint but taller tank,only 3 inches but hey every little helps right! so i got it for £25 with a hood. picked it up last night and its all set up and thankfully watertight :grinyes: anyway,i was just wondering how many fancy goldfish i could house in this tank,now i would like to say its a temporary thing and we are getting a bigger tank in few months etc but we are broke so i doubt it,so for now i will have to say its a permanent set-up. its got live plants in there, fluval4+ filter,and theres an air pump running to 2 air stones in there aswell. at the moment its the same stocking as i had before, the 2 small 2-3 inch inc tails fancies and the 2 larger 4-6inch fancies,with 2 dojo loaches. is this stocking maxed out? i doubt i want anymroe anyway but just incase i see a very striking one at some point its nice to know :drool:

the other thing is,my larger bright yellow male oranda has a problem with his tail, the larger orange females tail seems thick and healthy, but his tail seems thin and every few weeks or so it shreds apart,this is the worst ive seen it so far and theres actually a strip of tail coming off :eek3: it looks like someone has attacked him with a knife he still swims plenty and eats well, the other 3 goldies seem fine,it just looks awful. i dont think its finrot as there is no white edge, and its not from netting him out of the tank when i swapped tanks as i use a jug and kinda slowly herd them one at a time into it and then back out into the bucket. is it something to do with his colour maybe? he seems kinda transparent in all his fins compared to the others. he is an older guy,but not that old,only between 6-8years old as far as i know. any help welcomed here.
problem number 2, my bigger dojo has over the last day or so had a lump appear on one side about halfway down its body,it doesnt hinder it at all, its as lively as ever,and eating well,but it looks terrible,it may be slightly different colour from his skin but i cant really tell,and its more under the skin than on it. yet again any ideas welcomed.

thanks for reading,sorry for the huge post x

 

[wataugachicken]

that's a little under 45g. i would say no more fish in there, and continue saving up for a larger tank.

i think what you should shoot for as a permanent home would be a 75g tank, and add one more dojo loach.

 

[meandthetanks]

ok,so definately no more goldies,i wont even glance in the goldie direction lol,as i know i will find one i just cant resist! im hoping that sometime within the next year or so i may have the money to buy a bigger tank, what length tank would a 75 be? dont mean to sound daft but i tend to go with lengths as guides as my house isnt exactly huge! i know i can definately fit a 5ft tank inthe space where the 4foot is now,and im thinking it will be a minimum 18 inches wide and 24 inches deep for the 5foot tanks ive looked at (i will have to get a step ladder to get into it mind lol) im thinking of getting a 2nd fluval 4+ filter to run in the tank now as the one doesnt seem to be moving the water around as much as i would like. if i did would it be best to have them both pointing in the same direction or have the aimed at each other from either end of the tank? i have often wondered this as if they are together they will either create a whirlpool effect in the tank or shove all the fish against the far side of the tank, but if they are facing each other then im not sure how rought the wate rwould be in the centre of the tank? i do come up with some odd and seemingly pointless questions sometimes-sorry x

 

[Flaringshutter]

hey there meanthetanks, welcome to AC!

you're definitely on the right track with a larger tank and two filters. I have both my Rena XP3s shooting the same way into the tank. It doesn't create a whirlpool - the tank is much too big for that! On the contrary, it pushes all fish waste and uneaten food toward the intakes, which are on the other side of the tank. Works quite well!

 

[Rbishop]

I would also think your tank is max'd out for the goldies. I would start a post in the bottom dweller forum about your dojo and include pics if possible.

 

[meandthetanks]

well the dojo seems to be getting better,the lump has shrunk down a lot,so im thinking he may have just hurt himself,they do go a bit nuts at feeding time. we went and got a 3rd dojo last night,all 3 rest in a bundle behind the filter or under the driftwood we have,so sweet. and i checked in on my goldies first thing this morning and hey presto,the 2 smallest ones are both males,they both have the small white bumps on their gill plates and fronts of their fins,same as the big bright yellow male,they werent there yesterday,didnt think they would come up that fast! they are chasing the big female round the tank, im hoping this wont stress her too much,she does just ignore them most of the time. they look like they are shoving her around with their heads under her tail,is this normal? they definately arent nipping or anything,i noticed yesterday they were doing this aswell but not as much as they are today since putting in the new plants. they all seem so much happier in the bigger tank,even if it is only a tiny amount more water!

 

[Lexi_D]

-bump... sort of-

The males shoving/chasing the female means they want to breed good luck if they do!

 

[meandthetanks]

wow,they dont do it every day now,but they did it continually for like 2-3 days,now they have clamed it down,but the males do still bump the females up their bottoms and on their sides. its only since the lives plants and larger tank they have been doing this,i doubt anything will come of it. im not lucky enough! sadly i think the big old bright yellow male is on his way out, he tends to just sit on the bottom of the tank and his tail is still shredded,though not as badly as it was. he ahs developed like a red lump on his lumpy brain bit of his head (sorry for the description but i cant think what it is called) its on one side an dlooks like a giant zit,it was orangy last night and its a red colour today. i talked to his old owner last night and she said she had him for around 6 years, and he hasnt grown much in the time she has had him so i have no idea how old he is,or what conditions he was kept in before she get him. he still eats well but tends to either sit on the bottom, remain motionless in the water or prop himself in a plant. he looks ok in himself apart from his tail (seems to be healing slowly) and his huge zit, he always has his fins out and relaxed, which is what i tend to go by as in the past before i knew not to keep a goldfish in a mug (joke!) my fish always had clamped fins. oh,and im considering somehow using my spare 3foot tank as some sort of extra water space, making it into somesort of giant filter, or maybe have my filters in the 3 foot tank under the 4 foot tank on its stand,running the water out of the goldie tank,into the bottom tank through filter media and back into the goldies tank. i just have no idea how to do so,any ideas welcomed. tahnks for reading.

 

[Flaringshutter]

Your older orange goldfish may be suffering from a tumor, which are not uncommon in goldfish.
The idea of using the 3 foot tank as a sump is an excellent one. Even if you can't provide more room for your fish, more water flowing through the tank will immensely improve their health and happiness. There are many plans on the site for sumps - do a search for "sump DIY" and you should find many great plans.
Good luck!

 

[meandthetanks]

hopefully these pics will show up so you can see the red zit on the yellow males head,its just above his eye. and i thought i would add some other pics aswell. the first pic is an older one of the yellow male and further down is one from today with the red zit,sorry for the poor quality but i had to take them on my phone.