That's me as well. In a tank that size I would try to create a nice biotope with several species that would interact in the wild. I would also try to keep the decor as natural as possible. Probably wouldn't be practical at a 4" height, but I would love to see a custom background on that bad boy
I'm with you...I prefer natural looking tanks. After seeing some of Egon's backgrounds, I was really tempted to try my hand at making one...but staring at this thing empty for 2 months while I got everything worked out was killing me, so I didn't have the patience to take even more time to make one. Realistically, I probably would have tried what he did (glue pieces of prefabricated backgrounds together), but that would have cost me quite a bit of money to cover 40 square feet...and I was already overbudget.
Setup looks great! I remember us exchanging a few PMs a while back regarding heating, and I knew it would be a challenge. Doesn't matter if you keep goldfish or a platinum asian arowana. Some of the elitists here make me laugh. Instead of saying would would have done this or would would have done that, put your money where you mouth is, go buy a 770g tank, and set it up just how you like.
Thanks Jose. Yup, you were the first one to provide a much needed reality check in regards to heating this thing...and I've been depressed ever since-lol. The sad part is that if our electricity rates were closer to the national average I would be ok with the costs; having some of the highest rates in the country sucks! But I'm sticking to my plan and going to test things out this winter...the room seems to be really well insulated, and if I keep the sump and tank covered up pretty tight, it might hold heat a lot better than I thought. I think the open top on your 405 let a lot of heat escape, making it really tough for your heaters to compensate for all that heat loss. I have three smaller (I think 17"x28") openings with 1.25" acrylic lids that should keep the heat in.
In regards to stocking, everyone has an opinion of what I should keep...I've heard it all; "dude, you should get a sea otter" or "man, what about a hammerhead?" The suggestions I get on MFK are actually a little more realistic, so I dont' take offense-haha. But regardless of who I talking to, the reactions I get when I say I'm keeping goldfish is always utter disappointment...I can understand it, so it doesn't bother me at all. But yeah, I think if people get upset about it, they should go ahead and drop $9K on the setup (if they can find that good of a deal on a tank this size), spend $250/month to run the pumps and heaters and then they can feel free to give me a hard time. Is that crickets I hear? No takers?

To your point, I'm guessing the guys on here with tanks 10 times the size of mine would understand my decision, given the amount of money they spend to run their systems.
I'm the same way, and used to be into the monster fish. I know a local guy with a 600g full of small schooling fish. One of the nicest tanks I've ever seen. Guys here think their bare bottom non-scaped tank with 4-5 big fish is the bees knees. I think it's ugly as sin. Different strokes...
haha- yeah, the only thing I think looks worse than the setup you describe is when there are dozens of (not just 4 or 5) big fish crammed into a tank. Japanese Domestic Market (JDM) =
so bad ass...congrats on the new setup
Thanks.
I think it is awesome that someone is finally taking the correct care for goldfish. It is tough to do without a pond, but most people think they are garbage fish and let them sit in a tank with terrible water and the like. I once bought a 40 gallon tank that housed one goldfish with no filter and he was using pocket change as the substrate. He said it had been there for years. Almost offensive to even look at. Anyway, awesome setup. Those will be some happy and big goldfish.
It's sad that goldfish get no respect. They are the Rodney Dangerfield of the fish world.

I'm curious to see if they will get much bigger. I believe they are around 4 to 5 years old.
i wish i had one of those man.....thats hot

cheers
Thanks. There have been times where I wish I had just gone with a standard 300 gallon...much more manageable. Monster tank = monster headaches and monster expenses.
I couldn't agree with you more. You have one of the nicest tanks on here. I know there are a ton of people on this website that have to be negative. It's always jump on whoever for what they're doing wrong or telling them what they would've done differently. I agree a tank with actual decoration and smaller fish is way better than getting a huge tank with no decoration and putting giant fish in it just so you can pat yourself on the back because you can keep a big fish.
I don't see anything wrong with keeping goldfish. One of my tanks is a goldfish tank. I think if you're a real fish keeper you'll appreciate being able to keep any type of fish and not think you're too good to keep certain kinds.
I hope no one intended to be negative, but sometimes that's just how it comes across. I've never spent more than $30 on a fish...I think if I spent as much as some people do on these exotics, it would take a lot of the enjoyment out of the hobby for me. I'm just as happy with an oscar thriving in my tank as I would be with a diamond crusted, platinum plated plus, pinky ring wearing, gold grilled wild caught F-0, champion bloodline arowana.

.....
Thanks.
For the record, I'm not upset at people making suggestions...I welcome them and realize that I solicited advice so I don't want to come across as ungrateful. My stock is set (at least through this winter, when I find out if my heating estimates will be accurate). I might get a few more goldfish from my overstocked pond friend. For the few folks that don't get naseous when they see such a big tank get wasted on such a common fish, I'll post more pix as I get them.
