Just curious, anyone here have a goldfish tank setup?

MikeD

MikeD

New member
I've kinda always wanted one... Brings me back to my childhood. Only the goldfish now would be SOOO much nicer than 'comets'... :)
 
Koi pond! My dream but I'm not in a place where I can have a pond really right now.. It would be funny though if we did... I mean, there is technically a pond in our subdivision...
 
Haha, i understand, it does take up most of my backyard! But i used to have oranda goldfish which was fun. Lots of work but they sure were pretty!
 
The oranda goldfish was a lot of work or the pond in general? I think I see orandas in a lot of LFS around... That's a pretty common type right? Maybe I can keep one in a nano or something that's lying around...
 
The oranda goldfish, theyre not as complicated as a reef but do require frequent water changes. I ran into lots of problems if i did not keep up with water quality.
 
Water quality is a PITA. Just go big and barebottom. I used the big round baja beach pebbles and it was easier to siphon waste. It would be cool if you could have a skimmer for fresh water then it would be a snap to keep clean and oxygenated. I used a wet dry for filtration and would constantly have to clean the floss on top of it.
 
I have goldfish and they are great but the biggest myth that needs to be addressed it that they do fine in a "fish bowl" Gold fish actually need good sized tanks to thrive, great filtration, cooler temps and small frequent feedings. To breed they need a cooling off period, followed by frequent water changes and a gradual warming of water temp. Spawning mops (I make mine of large corks with thick yarn hanging from them) need to be placed in the tank. Then it is quite easy to move the spawn into a hatching tank, filled with water from the main tank. A sponge filter for the hatching tank and you are good to go. Remember to keep water quality high and cull...moving the babies into bigger, tanks as you go. If that is too much trouble, have fine floating plants, plastic or material, in the tank with the parents. They will eat what the can and some will survive by hiding in the plants. Good luck.
Drs F & S sell goldfish but I find their prices a little high. I love the Panda Orandas. White with black edging...just beautiful.
 
Dirty water is tough... I considered really going all in at some point when I saw giant beautiful orandas at a store, bigger than my fist. I went to an Asian grocery and bought a bunch of cheap ceramic cups and bowls with fish art glazed all over and tossed them around the tank, a 72g, really pretty scape with some plastic plants and pebbles for next to nothing. Then bought MUCH smaller orandas, about an inch and a half from head to tail. In the end, somehow I can keep a stunning reef with perfect water and fat healthy fish, but cheap tank bred goldfish were too much for me. Crazy disease or mystery death. Someday I'll have those giant orandas, but not until I can get a tank near a sink/drain to automate water changes.
 
Here's my outside tank for my koi :wildone:

<a href="http://tinypic.com?ref=1zmidqx" target="_blank"><img src="http://i50.tinypic.com/1zmidqx.jpg" border="0" alt="Image and video hosting by TinyPic"></a>
<a href="http://tinypic.com?ref=280kqhz" target="_blank"><img src="http://i45.tinypic.com/280kqhz.jpg" border="0" alt="Image and video hosting by TinyPic"></a>
 
" I went to an Asian grocery and bought a bunch of cheap ceramic cups and bowls with fish art glazed all over" ....Dollar to donuts, that was your problem...Stuff made in China can use all kinds of contaminated things...maybe copper or something in the clay. If you check, the glaze only goes down to where the item would sit to be fired. There is no glaze on the very bottom. Once the item is in water, the contaminents leach out thru that small unglazed spot. If you ever check items like that, that have come from Mexico, China, places like that, the bowls often carry small stickers that say "not intended for food use".
 
I think you may be right on the cheap "pottery". Worked hard on that tank... big water changes were wearing on me though so when the last fish (of 3) went, I didn't go back. Next time only items made for tanks go in, and easy water changes.
 
If you do start this tank and want a fairly large white commet, i have one i can spare. I cannot wait to get my pond back in shape.

My babies last summer:
7453c5ec.jpg
 
Yeah I wonder if it was something from decorations... Again, I haven't had me since comets a looong time ago! But still would like to try someday....
 
Nice Koi, Wiz. Do you bring them in for the winter or is your pond deep enough for them to weather the Chicago cold and snow. I know that the snow actually acts as an insulation over the pond and if you keep a hole open in the snow they do well. Mine did well and bred every spring as the pond warmed up.
 
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