Planted Gold fish 75g

Thank you all for the encouragement. Just a little edit: Its not a 75, its a 55 gal!:liar: I'm not very good with imperial measurements.

I hope I can get Java Fern that I will tie to the wood. The slate and java moss thing... I've tried it in my existing tank but hasn't been successful so far. In another tank kept outside in the sun, its doing really great. I don't think I'll try it. I'll wait until I have really a lot of javamoss (another work in progress) to try it.

The mesh wall is a good idea. Specially for goldfish to help them turn around at corners. I have no clue how to make one but I'll investigate.

For filtration.. I'll start with this at the moment. I'll probably end up adding an Eheim 2217 later when I upgrade my filtration to my display tank later this year.
 
flaringshutter said:
An undergravel would probably turn out to be a nitrate factory. Plus you have no chemical filtration with them, which is extremely important with goldfish.

quote]

Thats new information! Probably going slightly off topic but what kind of chemical filtration? active carbon? Why is it important with goldfish?
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Can anyone confirm if the sword in the forground is a lepard sword? Can I put it with goldfish?

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Well, looks like you are well on your way! I run extensive UGF and RUGF. Haven't run into any plant issues.

Though with the messy Goldfish, I would run RUGF to keep the debri out of the substrate. I have never seen an UGF or RUGF turn into a "nitrate" factory. In fact, no filter can. Poor maintenance and over feeding turns a tank into a nitrate factory.

My experience is that the hood type filters are poor for messy fish and go into the overflow mode quickly and you get little mechanical filtration. I suggest getting a canister filter in addition to your current filters.
 
I think you are right. As it is, the only mechanical filtration is the gravel itself. But I can't afford a good canister and I don't want to go for a cheap knock-off one. I'd rather wait a few months and get the Eheim2217 that I am running on my other tank and get a really good one for the other tank. Can't afford that right now.

With one more powerhead, I can have some more mechanical filtration. I could use a power filter, which basically is a powerhead with a cylindrical case containing a couple of sponges at the inlet. I could even use the same powerfilter to then create a reverse flow through the one of the UGF.

How does that sound? Would the fact that I have half the footprint on reverse flow and half on normal flow cause any problem? I will still have the hood-mounted one.
 
I just want to say that I think you are off to a good start. For plants you don't have to have a lot of different kinds. I would go with java fern and possibly anubias to start with. The anubias come in all different sizes and varieties so there are a lot to choose from.You may want to try onion plants. I hear that they taste nasty so the goldfish more then likely will leave it alone.

I am not sure if the filters you have for this tank are sufficient enough for a goldfish tank since they are very messy fish and will mess with the water quality in no time. Make sure you have a good water testing kit and test the water often.Also make sure to keep on your water changes. (This is very important in a tank that has fish that have the potential to make the tank really dirty really fast. Be ready to do a water change if you get any ammonia or nitrite in the water. ) I would recommend the Aquarium Pharmaceuticals Master Freshwater test kit. It is the best one on the market and will give you the most accurate results. Just make sure not to use those funky test strips. They are wildly inaccurate and you really need accuracy with a goldie tank. The addition of the Eheim 2217 canister filter will be a wonderful thing for this tank. The Eheim classic series canister filters are one of my favorite filters. They are so reliable and super quiet. In my opinion their performance is outstanding.

As far as the swordtail in the picture, I would not add him to the goldfish tank. First of all he is a tropical fish and the goldfish are cold water fish. They do not belong in the same tank together since their water requirements are so different. Another reason is that the goldfish will most likely consider that fish a tasty snack. I would not do it.

All in all, I think you are off to a great start and keep up the good work.

Marinemom
 
Its not the swordtail fish I was talking about. Its the sword plant. I think its a leopard sword but I'm not sure. The tank will have only 2 goldfish and 1 pleco and thats it. Some trumpet snails too.

I use the API liquid testing kits currently and I'm happy with them. I will definitely add the canister but not just yet. I want to get an Eheim Pro or the Wet/Dry for the 90g and then I'll transfer the Eheim2217 to this one.

As for plants, there is a lot of plants I can't easily get. Anubias is one of them. I live on a tiny island and there are lots of restrictions on import of plants to protect the indegenous varieties. I've got 3 Anubias Afzeli (I think) but they have been showing nutrient deficiency and absolutely no growth in the past 6 months. There are restrictions on Java fern as well because it out-competes local aquatic plants for nutirents. The restrictions are not on use but on import, and has only recently been put. I know some of the stores have them but they are keeping them for propagation to sell later. I will really want to get a good bunch of Java fern to tie on the wood.

Plenty of elodea in the back corners to make a thick bush that will hide the equipment.
2 or 3 big swords in the mid-ground and lots of java fern on the wood. And thats it I think. Provided I can get the java fern.

As for progress... I've added 2 wild guppies that I've taken from a healthy established tank I keep outside. I've also got ceramic rings in an open mesh sack. I had put it in the same external tank 2 months ago. The wild guppies will go back to their tank once this one is established. So I have a bacteria seed and a small bio load. That should get things going.
 
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