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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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#109 ·
Those Vals look amazezazing! :proud: I opened your thread curious of what i would find and Im very pleased. My first "real" tank was a 46g bowfront (not rimless :() I originally kept 3 black moors and I loved them!

That blue substrate really grew on me from page to page but im excited to see the Eco.

Peace
 
#110 ·
Hey Everyone! Sorry for the very belated delay in replies. All my free time was sucked up with searching for a new home, work, and then I took a vacation!

The good news. The fish are doing great! The plants are...surviving (see more info below).

The bad news. We still don't have a new home. We've been house shopping since march, and have been through four bids on homes, with none going through. (Always some problem). So tank is still pretty much unchanged.

Here's some tank photos before I begin discussing anything more!

May 28th, 2010


This was taken after I took the dissolving rock out of the aquarium. I noticed pieces of the rock were falling apart, and that the telescopic eye fish kept trying to dig in the main hole (in the rock). This worried me due to concerns of them possibly damaging their eyes. I replaced the rocks with some smooth river stones to create the same water deflection in the center of the aquarium.


July 20th, 2010


You can see quite a few changes here. Let me explain. We went for a 10 day vacation in mid june. During that time, the fish were fed, but there was no dosing occurring (neither excel nor fertilizers), as I didn't want to confuse my friend with the daily regime. Instead I dropped the light time from 10 hours to 6.

Upon returning, the tank was very clean, with the rotela showing a burst of growth. I decided to keep the light cycle going, but stop with excel dosing and only dose one fertz per week.

Well here we are a few weeks later, and the Val's aren't doing too hot. They are surviving, but no longer growing and spreading like weeds. I'm currently adapting the schedule to meet a happy middle ground.

Well that is the tank back up to date. Now for some fish growth! The fish are healthy and happy, and showing great growth. Chomper is gigantic now!

Here are some glamor shots!

Ember


Fin


Koi


Chomper


and the fleet! (for fish to fish comparison)


Thanks for reading! I'll get to everyone's questions tomorrow!
 
#112 ·
londonloco,
Thanks! My gf thinks it's hilarious how those opposed to the blue substrate start to like it over time. I did have a pair of small moors in a tank with eco complete, and it was more difficult to see the moors. I might look into mixing something in with the eco to try and give it a bit more color to help chomper stand out a bit more.

Chaos_Being: That dosing regime is setup for 10 hours of 96 watt AH supply light. I actually think its a bit too much light, as I generally have to clean the sides of the tank weekly. I've since reduce the light time to 6 hours and I'm readjusting the dosing schedule to compensate.

Here is the LFS I got the driftwood from. It's a small LFS, but nice people.
http://www.tropicalfishworld.com/

I also go to this LFS in rockville, which is much larger, and has a larger selection. Any good driftwood they get is gone in days though.
http://www.congressionalaquarium.com/


sewingalot: Ya..I think on average there is probably half a dozen new shoots each week, if not more. The goldfish tend to eat the small vals, but they still spread! Chompers fin still gets a mark from time to time. I think it happens when he does a crazy twist around at the substrate level. He's gotten very big, so hopefully once we get a new place, and the 125 (or 135), he'll fit a bit better. From the goldfish forums, they tend to recommend a 18-20 inch wide tank for full adults, the bowfront is only 18 inches wide at the center, so we definitely need a new tank in the future. At least it's 4 fish now, instead of 5, which helps a bit.

Dara: They eat everything. They picked the rotela leaves completely off, so I had to cut the rotela back down, to get it started growing again. On the vals, they generally eat the small shoots, and any roots that pop out of the substrate. The full grown plants they generally leave alone. I've tried pretty much every plant in that tank now. They ate everything. They even tore up full sized amazon sword leaves. They especially love duckweed and baby tears..those didn't even last a day.

Chilled_fire: Thanks! It's come a long way!

MlDukes: Ya I'm quite happy with the val's. Though I have to trim them every week (unless I'm on a reduced regime), the goldfish prune them, eliminating any weak or dying plants, makes it pretty easy to take care of.

lauraleellbp: Ya. Houses are definitely near comps..until a bunch sell under and drive all the comps down. Our problem has been with the sellers banks. There is always some issue. And when there isn't an issue, we get "UNDER" bid by a cash sale, who swoops in, and snags the house for 20-30k less then we bid...but pay in cash. Very frustrating :(.
 
#113 ·
46 Bowfront, Goldfish Grazing Project (8/25/10 Update)

Hey Guys,

I've been lazy with taking photos. Here is the latest!



Val's in full recovery. Nice and green again, normal grass lost/week. (More grass growing then eaten or pulled out by fish).

Other plants however, did not recover. The rotella would be growing fine, covered in tiny buds, which the fish would decimate every day. I eventually yanked them out because they looked so sad. If they recover I'll replant back into the tank, otherwise, this is now going to be a Val only tank. The val's are definitely hardy enough to handle everything that gets thrown at them, including chompers constant attacks.
 
#115 ·
Just sat and read the 8 pages, fantastic, I love it. I even loved the blue from the start, thought it brought out some of the colours on the Fish really well. I liked the little white stones that were there also.

I bought two Goldfish yesterday, two Comet's(Levi & Perry), but should probably have looked more into them before buying as I never realised how big they could get. There Tank is pretty small but I am going to get myself a 55 Gallon Tank in the next week or so with Pump etc. Is there anything you would suggest I read prior to setting up the Tank etc?
 
#116 ·
Hey Bill,

Thanks! I took the white stones out because they were continuously being covered by algae....AND the goldfish would bury them. Goldfish seem to be their own construction crews. They move gravel around the tank where ever they want, uproot plants, etc. They usually tear out at least 1-2 val bunches a week, no matter how they're held down.

My only suggestion for running a goldfish tank would be to get filtration in excess. I'm currently running an Rena XP3, which is rated for 175 gallons...in my 46 gallon.

I clean it about once a month. 1 Goldfish is probably equivalent to roughly 30-50 tetra's in terms of poop production.

I started out my filtration (for 5 fish) with an Aquaclear 70. Then I added an Aquaclear 55...then I finally went to the XP3, cause it was annoying as heck to handle cleaning two aquaclears every two weeks.
 
#117 ·
Awesome tank crossbow! Read the whole thread before but didnt comment afterwards :) Just had to comment this time to praise you on your awesome tank, goldfish, valls and Blue gravel :D Any updates on the house yet? and I would love to see how the tank looks now, Oh and just a suggestion why dont you let the valls grow long? looks a bit unnatural when they're cut so straight. Oh and P.S that picture of Showy picture of Fin on this page ( http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/t...5-46-bowfront-goldfish-grazing-project-6.html ) is now my background :D

Keep on doing what you doing :)
 
#118 ·
Hey Cheddar! Thanks for your comments!

Great news. We finally got a house! And it's a dream house! Most of the places we were looking at were 1300 sq feet...we ended up getting a monster sized 2000 sq foot end unit townhome in a great location. Just took 7 months of looking at homes every single day, with 3 failed bids, 1 awful situation, and lots of bank bs.

In the end it all worked out though, and we are in the process of moving to our new permanent home. (At least for 10-15 years).

The fish are doing great. The val's are doing great. I missed cleaning the tank this week, so I won't post any photos just yet. But everyone is alive and kicking, and the val's are hanging in there.

I have started prepping for the fish move. I'm setting up a bare 20 gallon long tank, with a heater and filter setup at the house. 50% of the water will be from the fishes own tank, the rest treated and ready. I'm going to put 2 fish in each 5 gallon painters bucket, with a battery powered air hose, and transport them to the 20L in the new home. Then I'll break down the 46, and move it over, while running the XP3 in a 5G bucket to keep all the bacteria happy.

If anyone has any tips or comments on moving fish, they'd be appreciated. But as of now, that's my main plan. The 20L tank should keep the 4 fish content for at least a few days, giving me some needed time to figure out the new tank setup/placement.

I don't know if I'm going to change out the blue gravel. I might just mix in the eco-complete and get a combo blue/black mix, with some minerals for the plants inter-dispersed. This will cut down on the break down time, and I won't need to mess with the plant roots as much, making the transisition easier.

As to your questions. I cut the val's because they end up growing right into the XP3 outlet, and bending over, messing with the tank flow. Also if I don't cut them, they take over the entire top of the tank. (As seen in some of the other photos). They grow extraordinarily fast. I didn't even dose any excel for the past 2 weeks and they've grown about 6 inches.

Glad you like the photos, it is crazy hard to get a good one. I think I get one good photo for 50 bad ones!
 
#119 ·
Question about the SeaClear cut-outs on top

First off, I loved this thread and the conversations. I have several planted tanks and have been looking at the 46 Bowfront by SeaClear myself. I was hesitant because of the small openings as I am a very manic planter / cleaner. Do you find this tank hard to keep clean inside (algae)? Has anyone changed the size of the openings? I do think that it is a stunning tank!
 
#120 ·
Hey Payback,

I find that the openings do limit your ability to clean somewhat (unless you have long arms), and also limit the size of the items you can place in the tank. I have an awesome piece of driftwood that won't fit no matter how i turn it.

As such, I still enjoy the tank, and don't find the ability to clean "too" limiting.

We finally finished moving, and everyone survived, so will get some photos up after I get a chance to clean the tank this coming weekend.

Goldfish have gotten gigantic....going to need a new tank soon....
 
#122 ·
Another question.. this time about the hood / enclosure for the lights

Did you get the 'canopy' or hood from ahsupply? Was it part of the lighting retro-fit kit that you got?

I am looking to do something similar, but have found no 'commercially produced' canopies for bowfront tanks. Fishtanksdirect has complete sets, but I would rather use the stand that Petsmart is using on their 46 gallon glass tank (I have a matching one on my 28 gallon bowfront--its a girl thing, I guess), but there are no enclosed canopies sold singly, that I have found. I am a DIY kind of person, so if I can't find it, I may build something to keep the light from sneaking out between the tank and light fixture. I am also getting a clear back so I can change background colors. My 28 gallon bowfront has a mirror back and that is awesome.

Your goldfish are SO beautiful.....:thumbsup:
 
#123 ·
paybackranch,

Hey! Yes I got the canopy from ahsupply. I don't know if they make them anymore, at the time it was a perfect size for the tank. Even better, the plastic cover that fits with the original aquaclear light canopy, perfectly fits under the ahsupply hood, thus preventing splashes, and escapes!

I'll try to get some photos soon. The Val's took a beating, so the tank isn't exactly perfect right now....well that hasn't stopped me before, I might as well take some shots :).
 
#128 ·
Thanks....I will contact them when the tank gets closer to being put together. I am planning a move in the next 4 weeks, so the tank is in an assembly mode right now. The move is cross country, so sometime after the first of the year I will put it together. I really enjoyed the photos of your tank! I have the same type of Vals....grow across the top and down of my 28 gallon bowfront also like yours. Weekly trimming. I may replace them with something shorter, although I love the lush look of them.
 
#129 ·
buritne,

The only time I've had any ick issues, was when there was a large amount of fish stress. This was due in part to insufficient filtration for the tank in question. Goldfish are incredibly hardy, but they require an excessive amount of filtration, and an excessive amount of water volume to live healthy lives. They also require temperature stability, and are not cold water fish, as many people believe. Any significant amount of stress will usually cause an ick outbreak.

Generally you want roughly 10-20 gallons per goldfish in terms of water volume, and you want an utterly obscene amount of filtration. I run a Rena XP3 on my 46 gallon bowfront. (It's rated for 175 gallons). Goldfish are the aquarium equivilant of a cow. They can and will eat almost nonstop, and produce what seems like an endless amount of waste. (Leading cause of death to goldifsh, besides insufficient filtration, is overeating) Most of the reasons you can't have goldfish with many other fish types isn't that they wouldn't get along...it's that the other fish can't handle the pollution the goldfish make!

As for temperature, I run it at 74F with one of those 200 watt inline hydror's. Though goldfish are commonly thought to be cold water fish, they actually thrive in warmer temperatures. They can "tolerate" cold temperatures, but prefer warmer ones. Bottom of tank siphon and roughly 40-50% water change weekly. Once a month I break down the XP3 and rinse out the sponges, and replace the pre-filter if needed.

It's funny because goldfish are usually rated as "easy" fish to take care of...when in reality, they're quite difficult to take care of properly. With the proper setup and care, most goldfish will outlive the family cat or dog! (Keep this in mind when choosing the type of fish to take care of! Goldfish can live 20+ years!!!)

I eventually plan to move the goldfish to a larger tank, as they are getting gigantic now. Chomper is as big as my hand!

paybackranch,
Having just moved, I understand your pain. The Val's are just now starting to come back. I lost roughly 50% of them in the move. Was worried for a bit, but then I remembered it usually takes about 2 weeks or so for the plants to get out of their shock phase and back into growing bonkers.
 
#130 ·
Vals and....

Hey Crossbow. I am currently planting a goldfish tank and was wondering if you could suggest a plant which might work alongside my vals. I have seen a number of stoies like yours where only the Vals ended up surviving the goldfish longterm. I would really like to have a stem plant that looks kind of like cabomba to compliment the look of the vals. I want a fast grower. Nitrate consumption is a must. Currently, I am considering Asian Ambulia, Cabomba, and Water Violet.
 
#131 ·
If you get lucky your goldfish might not eat hornwort, and it looks similar to cabomba. My goldfish ignores it, but other people say it gets eaten. Depending on your lighting, it might grow too fast, but it's nice to have something that grows quickly in a low-light tank.
 
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