Questions about Goldfish tank

[Lord Barium]

I was planning on buying a 75 gallon aquarium (55 gallon with 6 more inches) and filling it with ranchus (my fav) pom poms and bubble heads (not buble eyes, they have a sack above their heads).

I know that goldfish require smooth and rounded substrate, otherwise they'll choke on sharp peices. What would be the best substrate for this tank? I'm planning on having it heavily planted.

Also, scence goldfish are messy, should I get a under gravel, and a canister filter?

 

[fishdance]

Goldfish and planted tanks dont go well together. If your happy to keep replacing plants you might get away with things. I would use an undergravel filter with goldfish except gravel cleaning around plants is hard. Contrary to some literature I have grown plants very successfully with undergravel filters but you need to make sure the roots dont get under the plates and inhibit water flow.

 

[Lord Barium]

Thanks

 

[Acer]

Plants with goldfish will be difficult - not impossible, but you are very restricted and will have to experiment.

Before I gave up and let the algae flourish, I had dwarf sag., spade leaf, variegated onion plant, and java fern.

All of these worked well, however the dwarf sag was floating a lot of the times

Sand will work with goldfish... try to get a small gravel, nothing medium sized as that can get stuff in their mouth.

http://thegab.org/Articles/GoldfishPlantsLowTech.html

I'd go with a canister filter so you get the most filtration possible... they are very messy, and if it is heavily planted and you can't get at the gravel, you'll need lots of filtration/

Good luck!

 

[Lord Barium]

I've heard that planted tanks are good for the goldfish (but not for the plants). It would be fine by me if they ate the plants. I'm thinking of getting (for filtration) a magnum 350 canister filter. Does that sound good?

 

[importracer]

I was planning on buying a 75 gallon aquarium (55 gallon with 6 more inches) and filling it with ranchus (my fav) pom poms and bubble heads (not buble eyes, they have a sack above their heads).

I know that goldfish require smooth and rounded substrate, otherwise they'll choke on sharp peices. What would be the best substrate for this tank? I'm planning on having it heavily planted.

Also, scence goldfish are messy, should I get a under gravel, and a canister filter?

Stay away from undergravel filters....The sediment that accumilates over time will need to be cleaned...It is like an atom bomb going off in your tank, trust me you do not want that....Stick to a big canister filter....For a 75, I suggest the the Fluval 404 o FilStar Xp3....Stick two Aqua Clear 101's on the back, and personally, you have yourself the best 2-1 combo for tanks under 100g....

 

[dsrowold]

I would go with 1/2" or smaller gravel. Goldfish constantly root around in it. I feel importracer is correct about UGF. The plates allow for sediment to buildup and you cannot get to it without stripping the tank. They are messy so go with an oversized filter. Especially if you go with live plants. I gave up 'cause mine would destroy anything I put in there. Hope this helps.

 

[Lord Barium]

Thanks for the info! I've heard that goldfish need smooth round gravel otherwise they can choke on it.

 

[SemperFish]

I have an undergravel on my goldfish tank but I am also filtered in other ways. I have a Rena canister filter hooked up to the UGF, a Fluval 404 and a Whisper 60 hanging on back and a sponge filter. This is for a 55 gallon. The warnings above about UGFs are true but I compensate with very thorough gravel vacuuming. The UGF has its problems but I like the fact that it keeps all of the crap down at the bottom instead of floating around with the fish.