Fancy goldfish substrate HELP...

[FlanBurberry]

Hi I have a 60 gallon tank with 3 pretty good sized (about 4-5 inches w/o tail) Pom Pom Orandas in it. I have been reading for days about gravel and impaction risk and have not gotten any seriously solid information. What I want to know is, is Carib Sea - "Rio Grande" gravel (3mm-5mm) safe and/or good for my orandas as far as size and shape. I'm sure this type of question has been asked a million times and I swear I've read each one. Alot of times people say medium or #2 or pea sized or fine or none or alot of other vague definitions or measurements, I will happily remove the substrate if it isn't good, but it was fairly expensive so I'd like a pretty solid answer. Someone please help!

 

[BriansAquariumCare]

I think they do best on sand. The only sand I recommend is Estes Marine Sand (aka Stoney River and Ultra Reef). It is inert so it won't mess with any chemistry, is the perfect grain size, is very uniform, sinks quickly when they mess with it, comes in different colors (I usually do half black half white so it isn't too dark or light and it hides anything that may land on it), requires no cleaning ever (before or after going in), and costs the same as gravel. Mine love sifting through it all the time looking for food, a very natural behavior. And since I never have to vacuum it at all it is the easiest, cleanest, and most natural thing for them to be on. Some places sell it, but you usually just have to special order it.

 

[FlanBurberry]

Thanks, I will look into thta. In the mean time, how dangerous do you think the current gravel is to them? Again, they are each about 4"5" with ought their tail to give an idea of mouth size...

 

[BriansAquariumCare]

I don't think gravel is a constant risk unless one of them has a tendency to eat it. It is just that with it you are more likely to have issues sooner or later. It also just traps tons of debris that then rots away and/or requires extra maintenance on your part.

 

[Redearsunfish]

It can become a problem if a particular goldfish is inclined to eat it. I have that sized gravel in all my goldfish tanks, and i employ trumpet snails to keep a thin layer clean. The fish I have now do not eat the gravel.

By the way, your tank is 30 gallons too small for three fancies.

 

[FlanBurberry]

Thank you for the info, I think I will swap out for some Tahitian Moon Sand sometime this week. I also appreciate your concern for the fish, the tank works out to be around 67 gallons total (48x13x25) and I think that is more than sufficient for them to thrive, considering the abhorrent conditions I rescued them from... Especially being 5x over filtered and weekly 30% water changes. Oh and I'm growing anachris in with them as well. There is more to it than merely tank size, IMO, but I'm always interested in any advice, so thank you.

 

[Redearsunfish]

Thank you for the info, I think I will swap out for some Tahitian Moon Sand sometime this week. I also appreciate your concern for the fish, the tank works out to be around 67 gallons total (48x13x25) and I think that is more than sufficient for them to thrive, considering the abhorrent conditions I rescued them from... Especially being 5x over filtered and weekly 30% water changes. Oh and I'm growing anachris in with them as well. There is more to it than merely tank size, IMO, but I'm always interested in any advice, so thank you.

get to 10x filtration if you can. i'm not sure what you mean by pom pom orandas though... orandas typically dont have pom poms.

 

[Redearsunfish]

that tank size is too small for three orandas, but if the pom poms have the telescope eye body, which to my memory they do, then you should be ok.

 

[FlanBurberry]

This isn't my fish, but this is what they all are...

 

[FlanBurberry]

Oh and aqadvisor.com says I'm only at 85% stocking capacity...?? I thought the general rule was 20 gal for the 1st fancy and then an additional 10 gal per. I think that 22 gallons per fish with good maintenance and live plants should be really good. And I also think that 670gph filtration would be a bit excessive...