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46 Bowfront, Goldfish Grazing Project

33K views 130 replies 42 participants last post by  Jadelin 
#1 · (Edited)
This is a journal of my journey into the planted tank community. It is full of mistakes as I slowly stumble my way into understanding.

I recently purchased a Seaclear 46 gallon bowfront tank for my girlfriend as a fish tank. I decided to look into having plants in this tank, because it couldn't be difficult right? :)

So to start off, here's a photo of the tank as it first arrived. I got the tank and stand from petco/petsmart, with some crazy 20% off coupons and free shipping. Was a stellar deal.





She arrived and is a beauty. Girlfriend loves it, and so does our cat Render. Something I didn't realize when getting the tank, was how small the holes in the top were. There is very limited space for accessing the interior of the tank. (More to come on this later!)

The tank comes with a light assembly, that hoses an 18 inch 20 watt bulb. At the time, I think this is great. There is even space for an expansion! I could double it to 40 watts! All with no reflectors! Awesome!
 
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#29 ·
good luck man. This reminds me alot of my journey into planted tanks as well. So full of ignorance and bad purchases.... :icon_roll:icon_roll

But it kept my brain occupied and it was alot of fun. Sometimes it got tedious... but every time I would finish something tedious, I would be so happy.

Also the many times I would research a particular area co2, light, substrate, plants, fish, and then impliment it to my tank.

I'm still attempting to master my own fish tank (journal), though I get better and better at it. Its always a journey forward.

I did not journal my first tank nearly as much as you did. Its fun to read it and look back at how it mirrors my own experience with it. Keep up good spirits and HAVE FUN!
 
#31 ·
very nice. Even i am carrying my own experiment of keeping a planted tank with Goldies running in it :D.

My male 'popeye' is almost 9 inches long (with tail) and girl 'orangina' is around 6 inches. third goldfish (temporary, will be giving it back to friend) is 4 inches. popeye and orangina are with me for past 2-3 years, they were tiny 2 inch babies in 2.5gallon fish-bowl(i know) , i finally moved them to this new 30 Gallon tank 2 months ago ( i know i know, i waited tooo long to get big tank ) and now trying to keep plants too with them , lets see .


BTW i have to tell you , you seemed to have missed reading how goldfish like to eat vegetables etc. I know that no one actually recommends/documents/wiki's goldfish will eat vegetables, but i learned about it after getting this new tank and was astonished to see goldies devouring the blanched stuff, I give them blanched Spinach(or small lettuce) , Cucumber , Brocolli etc, all blanched enough that the stuff feels soupy/gooey etc goldies love this soft stuff and its good for their digestive system, doesnt stress it out and also prevent them from malnutrition (i.e only one type of food). try it, the goldies learn not to harm live/hard leaves in tank and wait for the blanched stuff which they know is treat.
 
#33 ·
I really like this journal, and the way it was written narratively. Great job crossbow! And the tank is also looking very nice as well. You've made a lot of progress in a short amount of time! The big honking driftwood that you put in there to distract from the intake pipe actually ended up distracting me from the whole aquarium, but that's literally the only criticism I have. This is a very well done journal, and I like how you demonstrate all your mistakes and the lessons you learned.

Oh yeah, and it's Cabomba. ;)
 
#34 ·
Haha thanks guys.

And ya my friends call the new piece of fake petsmart decoration, "The Elephant Trunk." So ya, that's getting yanked out of there soon and replaced with that wicked cool looking actual driftwood...which I'm sure will end up covered in some sort of algae I'll have to fight! First though, it's going to be soaked for a few weeks!

To cover the inlet pipe of the XP3, I purchased a few feet of cheap black 1 inch silicon tubing. My plan is to cut it to length, slice it down the side, and slip it over top of the blue intake piping. This should really help cut down on it's visibility, as well as being relatively easy to remove, if I need to just the intake piping for some reason.

But ya, I'm learning a lot and having fun. The second tank is really helping reduce the goldfish losses from grazing, as long as teaching me about DIY CO2, diffusion, and super cheap DIY Lighting...oh and keeping my cat out of a 20L. That's a challenge in itself!

Next stages are...

1) GLA Regulator and 10 lb CO2 Tank.
2) Rex reactor
3) 80 lbs of Eco-complete replacing 50 lbs of Great Blue Mistake Petco Gravel.
4) Actual driftwood replacing elephant trunk.
5) First attempt at actually placing something in the tank so that it looks a bit nicer.

anshuman,
I did find a page about feeding the goldfish veggies. I just haven't tried it yet. Thanks for the link and info!

dj,
I picked up some cuttlebones at petco for a few dollars. I'm going to rinse a chunk, and drop it in the tank :). I don't have the ability to test for calcium, and I'm tired of buying kits! I'll just provide in case they need it. Here's hoping the goldfish don't eat it. They eat EVERYTHING. Well except pond snails...gosh I wish they'd eat pond snails.

Church,
I try to check my spelling but sometimes I get lazy after typing what seems to be pages of info...all which is usually myself admitting tons of mistakes and lost money :).

zavikan,
Your tank looks GREAT. I wish I could get some ground cover in mine. Right now the only ground cover I get is from val's growing so fast, the moors can't keep up with uprooting it.
 
#35 ·
Here's some photo updates of the main tank.

Tank as a whole


This shows the latest placement of the spray bar, and some various misc new plants. Mainly some ferns (I got 2 for 4 dollars which was a steal), and some dwarf rush. I'm probably going to keep one of the ferns in this tank, I can't figure out where to place one of them right now.


This is Rena the Nerite Snail. He loves to spend all day making sure I can see that bright blue intake. :)



This is a photo showing how thick the Val's have grown in. They've got to be about 4-6x thicker then they were originally. Fish in the foreground is ember.




This is a shot of the ever growing Cabomba, with Darth the moor in foreground. I still need to figure out the flow from the spray bar, to help keep this plant more vertical in the tank.

 
#36 ·
Lookin pretty cool! I like the cabomba and vals. But it looks as though the E. densa is just plopped in there in a random clump. Those ferns are a real deal. I got one for 7.50 and it was smaller and had wrinkled leaves.

What kind of rush is that? I don't know what kinds of rushes live 100% submerged. Maybe it's a ...ZERG RUSH.:icon_mrgr (Sorry. Had to be done.)
 
#37 ·
seds,

The Anacharis is just basically placed there in a random clump. At one time, it was in a nice planted bunch...but the goldfish uproot it, tear it apart, decimate it...I eventually gave up and kinda of corralled it into sort of a planted bed/bunch. At it's current location, it is maintaining a level of growth which allows the goldfish to snack on it continuously, but not die off. I've decided to leave well enough alone for now :).

I could try replanting it with the rescaping, but they love it so much, I'm absolutely sure they'd just tear it all up again. One day I'll have a tank where the fish generally leave the plants alone...one day! :)

Oh man, can't wait for starcraft 2! I hope it doesn't get too messed up with that odd triple pack...

The rush was picked up from petsmart. They had a plant sale recently. I believe it's this rush.
http://www.liveaquaria.com/product/prod_display.cfm?c=768+795&pcatid=795

So far the goldies are leaving it alone. If they continue to do so, I'll probably pick up another bunch and use it in the future noobscape.
 
#38 ·
I can't believe I am saying this - but the blue gravel is growing on me. I am normally not a fan of blue gravel with plants, but for some reason, it works for the goldfish planted tank. I might miss it once you put in the Eco. Do you have names for your fish? If I had those guys, they would definitely be named. They have so much character. I love that you are keeping a journal of the plants that are compatible. This will be invaluable for others that decide to setup a goldfish tank (something I want to do in the future).
 
#39 ·
Ha! I think I might miss it a little bit. But I could always add it later if I had to had some...maybe I'll so something silly like make a little gravel ring around a plant with blue gravel...hahaha.

The goldies names are...

Black Moors
Darth and Vader (though I renamed the larger one to Chomper)

Red and White Oranda's
Fin
Koi

Telescopic Calico
Ember

My gf also really really wants to get a ranchu/lionhead that is ridiculously adorable at our local LFS, and it's taking quite some persuasion to avoid getting him. (We are already overstocked!). These little guys are going to be nearly 10-12 inches in a few years! Hopefully by then we'll have our own place, and can see about getting a 125 wide. (72x24x17). I think that would be perfect for 6 super happy goldfish.
 
#41 ·
Chris, yes it does...but I'm still fiddling with it. Right now there is too much bounce back current. You can see it in the vals. They are angles over instead of vertical. I'm planning on trying to extend the spraybar length and #of holes and then place it across the rear pointing to the front. Haven't done that yet.
 
#43 · (Edited)
I think that's chomper/Darth. He's great. I actually didn't even notice this, but his fin is completely healed. No split, doesn't even look like he damaged it in the first place...he is growing CRAZY fast. His activity is aggravating. He somehow ripped a java fern out of the center rock. Not only was it wedged in there, but it was tied in place too!!! LOL. At least they are hilarious. Makes up for the constant maintenance. :).

The two goldfish, fin and koi (oranda's), are definitely the fastest in terms of snagging food...but the moors are growing the quickest. I use sinking pellets, and the oranda's give up after the food sinks about 75% of the way down...then the moors just go nuts scavenging all the dropped pellets.

I do worry about the calico. He's the least aggressive when it's feeding time, and appears to eat the least. He's not sick, but probably isn't getting as much food as the other four.

I wish they ate the nerite snail EGGS...nerites seem to produce a dozen eggs for every foot of algae they eat!
 
#45 ·
I wish they ate the nerite snails...nerites seem to produce a dozen eggs for every foot of algae they eat!
With glass tanks, one can use a utility knife blade to scrape the eggs away. Not sure about acrylic tanks.
 
#46 ·
Dj,

I thought about what I could use that was similar to a utility knife, only less likely to scratch the acrylic. I ended up using a safeway membership card, worked great at getting those eggs off the glass!

Here's an update photo. I redid the XP3 spray bar AGAIN. I was tired of seeing all the plants looking like they were being blown over by storm winds.



You can always tell when I use the iphone instead of the nikon D80 :).
 
#47 ·
I have reached a proud turning point that I would like to share with the forum. Now, after a few months of aggravation of trying to get things to survive...i now have a plant that is growing at an absurd rate.

Note the val's in the back of my tank on 1/30/10.

Now take a look at them!





They grew up, got hit by the spraybar output...but no, that doesn't stop super grass....now they've grown long enough to almost physically touch the front of the tank.

Hurray! I finally have stuff I have to trim for a reason other then death or algae!


Questions for anyone listening/watching/reading on Val's.

1) Can I trim them like grass? Just chop off a few inches?

2) When can i separate the propagating plant from it's parent?

3) I thought these plants were vulnerable to dosing excel? (That's my carbon source).
 
#49 ·
Questions for anyone listening/watching/reading on Val's.

1) Can I trim them like grass? Just chop off a few inches?

2) When can i separate the propagating plant from it's parent?

3) I thought these plants were vulnerable to dosing excel? (That's my carbon source).
Fantastic growth! I am also glad to hear about the fish's fin. Forgot I posted in two places asking about your Chomper/Darth. :wink:

1. Yes. Don't be surprised if the ends get a little brown line after the trim, though. Doesn't always happen but can and is normal.
2. You can seperate them as soon as you wish. The longer you leave them, the longer the roots will be.
3. I melted vals quick this way! However, others say it's not an issue. I think it's an acclimation thing.
 
#50 ·
Awesome. I'll get snipping and relocating this weekend. I'm considering just yanking out the elephant trunk, and replanting bunches of Val's in it's place. I'm also debating on doing the substrate switch. I really want to put in the eco-complete...but everything is so stable in this tank now. I don't feel like going through weeks of waiting again :).

I noticed when I first added the two small bunches of Vals, that they melted away to almost nothing in a week...then they came back out of no where, 4-6x thicker, and way greener. (Excel is my only carbon source currently).

Anyone know the particular species of Val that I have? Common name is fine.

I'm thinking when the goldfish move to the 120-180G, that it would be awesome to try and setup just a Val tank. I think it's fitting to have a lot of grass for some floating cows :).
 
#51 ·
Here is this weekends update. Thanks to sewings advice, I chopped off about 10 feet (if you connected it end to end) of Val tips.

I then yanked out the elephant trunk, plants that weren't doing so hot, and replanted about 25% of the val mass where the elephant trunk looking thing used to be.



Bad news? I didn't do the gravel switch yet. It snowed nearly 3 feet here. Only had enough energy for replanting and doing a 30% WC.

Good news? The Val's are growing about 1-1.5 inches a day! Other plants seem to being very well...except for the broad leaf plants...they got that damn black algae spots that I can't seem to defeat.

Will update on Val growth next weekend to see how it explodes!
 
#52 ·
Here's another weekend update. Everyone in the tank doing well. Was worried about fin today, but seems he just wanted to nap a little this morning. Fed them some skinned peas for dinner tonight.

Moved some plants around, put the java ferns and the sword in the back in another tank. After i moved the swords, some of the plants exploded...The iron tabs broke up, and allowed easier access to the iron. I've sense put some additional iron tabs by the Val's.



Forgive the microbubbles. Had a scrambling incident with the python water temp (i take photos on maintenance/water change day), and ended up with a lot more bubbles then normal.

I think the species of Val I have is Vallisneria gigantea. Any comments on this? This stuff is growing like crazy now. I'll trim 5 inches off one day, and a few days later, it's touching the front of the tank, or growing out of the tank. I've probably trimmed about 10 feet worth by now in just the past few weeks!

Oh and my Egeria densa has now turned into ground cover. The goldfish can not even minorly dent its growth now.
 
#53 ·
Another week, another photo update! Here's the general overview of the tank!



Vallisneria growing strong, starting to fill in front of the sponge filter intake. The goldfish have also expressed a strong desire to NOT have any Val's in the center of the tank, as any growth in that area, is almost immediately uprooted. Ok guys, I get the picture!

Another explosive growth occured in the Anacharis bunch. I removed a dinner plate worth of plant, replanting some in another smaller tank upstairs, and basically disposing of the rest, leaving the best looking plant material behind. It was starting to really take over the tank, and was roughly the size of a dodgeball in volume. Now it's closer to a softball in volume.

The Rotala Indica is growing fantastic. It's also showing a lot of color. The interesting thing is, it doesn't look much like any of the photos I've seen online of it. It's got its own particular bunching/shaping going on. Here's some photos.





An interesting side note. In the past week I did some water testing, and found the nitrates to be quite high. I immediately stopped dosing nitrogen, and they dropped back down to 20-30 ppm. I know a lot of people find that it's difficult to have plants with goldfish, but at their level of waste production, I don't see how you could NOT have plants with them. The nitrates in a plantless goldfish tank have got to be absurd.

Phosphates are still low (usually around 0.5ppm), so I'm still continuing to dose that and potassium.

We also found out the sex of most of our goldfish this week. It appears we have 4 males and 2 females. Got a great shot of male identification on one of the black moors, Chomper. You can see the raised bumps on the gill.



Here's another shot, just because.


We've begun investigating plans for moving these fish to a 150 Gallon Tenecor tank. 72x24x20. I'll be sure to start another journal when those plans come closer together. I'm hoping to do a lower tech, possibly Val's only planted tank for that behemoth!

Thanks for reading!
 
#54 ·
Looks Beautiful! I'm jealous. My vals are sending out runners and getting occasional new leaves, but don't seem to be growing any taller. I plan to start fertilizing next week (only DIY CO2 at the moment) so your success gives me hope.

Just an idea: I thought my goldies were uprooting my corkscrew vals (and they may have been) but recently realized that the runners were heading straight down in my shallow substrate and pushing the rest of the plant out. It looks like the substrate in the center of your tank is a bit shallower, so this may be a factor.

I am certain the goldfish were uprooting my dwarf hairgrass with all of their nuzzling around the base.
 
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