Sand and soil Goldie tank

aweeby · 08-10-2012, 04:56 AM

My sister has been getting after me to put up a journal for her new tank. So yeah, I know, I know. 10g is not optimal for a goldie, we're looking on getting him into a 20g in the garage but for the moment this is better than any bowl, imo.

I left for 3 weeks on a trip, the timers broke on half my tanks and the person caring for them didn't find out until it was too late. Of all my tanks, this one actually looked better than I left it. I'm beginning to love this dirt thing.

Filter- HOB rated for a 50g
Light- 13w 6500K CFL in brooder fixture
Substrate- pseudo MTS (clay soil with added peat and some other minerals I had lying about) capped with silica sand.
pH- 7.6
plants- amazon sword, jungle val, ozelot sword, java fern, java moss, hygro bold, un-ID'd red bullated crypt, crypt wendtii green.
hardscape- basalt from the beach, red cinders for the moss.
fauna- 1 spoiled fantail goldie (lovingly named Frankfurter), 1 zebra nerite (Phoebe) smuggled from aqua forest in SF, 1 lonely oto (odie), 2 red ramshorns (bob and dragon)

the virgin tank

mmmm...

flooding

flooded

Post cycling, the lucky new residents explore the place.

Present day.

**SpecGrrl** · 08-10-2012, 06:12 AM

Such a pretty fish!

izabella87 · 08-10-2012, 07:36 AM

I love gold fish...!

Jedi_Pizza · 08-10-2012, 10:19 AM

Haha.. Happy fish

The water looks crystal clear too!

Silky · 08-10-2012, 12:47 PM

very nice, this actually makes me want to set up a goldfish tank.

chibikaie · 08-11-2012, 12:20 AM

Please, keep us up to date on how the tank does. My goldfish would uproot everything and eat all of the plants, so if you have better success, I want to hear it!

aweeby · 08-11-2012, 01:50 AM

Thanks for the compliments, guys!

@chibikaie: I think the key is to really design the tank around the goldie. In past experiences, most stems didn't do so well. So we went with some tougher, heavy rooters and lower maintenance plants I pulled from some of my stock tanks. The only stem plant in here are a few hygro bold stems that already had extensive root systems to begin with and cannot be nibbled easily. I planted the tank, left it a month or two to root and cycle (I believe this is absolutely necessary unless you enjoy daily replanting) and then tipped the goldie in after testing to make sure the plants could withstand uprooting attempts. A deep substrate helps too. We've had him in there for about 3 weeks so far, everything is all well and good.

izabella87 · 08-11-2012, 06:20 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Silky

very nice, this actually makes me want to set up a goldfish tank.

you're going to have 20 set ups soon lol...

xjasminex · 08-11-2012, 03:52 PM

Yess! A bigger tank is def needed! And the goldie is very cute!
If you have a twenty long that would be best, the like longer tanks than taller tanks!
He/she looks healthy!
My goldfish like to eat all sorts of plants, Val's,anubias, amazon swords and they even nibble at the hornwort I just put in there. The only plant that they havent really eaten is crypts, and I'm going to be planting more today because of that!

Take a look at my journal in my sig and you can see my goldie tank!
Good luck!
Oh and I'm subscribed cuz there isn't enough goldfish here!

08-10-2012, 04:56 AM	#1
aweeby Planted Tank Enthusiast (View User Tanks) PTrader: (37/100%) Join Date: Oct 2011 Location: Honolulu, HI Posts: 993	Sand and soil Goldie tank My sister has been getting after me to put up a journal for her new tank. So yeah, I know, I know. 10g is not optimal for a goldie, we're looking on getting him into a 20g in the garage but for the moment this is better than any bowl, imo. I left for 3 weeks on a trip, the timers broke on half my tanks and the person caring for them didn't find out until it was too late. Of all my tanks, this one actually looked better than I left it. I'm beginning to love this dirt thing. Filter- HOB rated for a 50g Light- 13w 6500K CFL in brooder fixture Substrate- pseudo MTS (clay soil with added peat and some other minerals I had lying about) capped with silica sand. pH- 7.6 plants- amazon sword, jungle val, ozelot sword, java fern, java moss, hygro bold, un-ID'd red bullated crypt, crypt wendtii green. hardscape- basalt from the beach, red cinders for the moss. fauna- 1 spoiled fantail goldie (lovingly named Frankfurter), 1 zebra nerite (Phoebe) smuggled from aqua forest in SF, 1 lonely oto (odie), 2 red ramshorns (bob and dragon) the virgin tank mmmm... flooding flooded Post cycling, the lucky new residents explore the place. Present day. __________________ RAOK club #37 5.5g Iwagumi \| Mini-S \| Emersed Plant Dump\| 20g Shrimp Tank

08-10-2012, 07:36 AM	#3
izabella87 Planted Tank Enthusiast (View User Tanks) PTrader: (0/0%) Join Date: Apr 2012 Location: montreal,canada Posts: 554	I love gold fish...! __________________ Believe in the impossible because only a fraction of the things humans have accomplished was considered possible - IK 38g Volcano,15g Forest,Projekt X,Oasis,40 g Beach

08-10-2012, 10:19 AM	#4
Jedi_Pizza Planted Member (View User Tanks) PTrader: (0/0%) Join Date: Jun 2012 Location: South Coast, UK Posts: 260	Haha.. Happy fish The water looks crystal clear too! __________________ My 7G Cherry Shrimp Nano Cube

08-10-2012, 12:47 PM	#5
Silky Algae Grower (View User Tanks) PTrader: (0/0%) Join Date: Sep 2011 Location: Washington, D.C. Posts: 101	very nice, this actually makes me want to set up a goldfish tank. __________________ I used to have fish tanks. Now I have plant tanks.

08-11-2012, 01:50 AM	#7
aweeby Planted Tank Enthusiast (View User Tanks) PTrader: (37/100%) Join Date: Oct 2011 Location: Honolulu, HI Posts: 993	Thanks for the compliments, guys! @chibikaie: I think the key is to really design the tank around the goldie. In past experiences, most stems didn't do so well. So we went with some tougher, heavy rooters and lower maintenance plants I pulled from some of my stock tanks. The only stem plant in here are a few hygro bold stems that already had extensive root systems to begin with and cannot be nibbled easily. I planted the tank, left it a month or two to root and cycle (I believe this is absolutely necessary unless you enjoy daily replanting) and then tipped the goldie in after testing to make sure the plants could withstand uprooting attempts. A deep substrate helps too. We've had him in there for about 3 weeks so far, everything is all well and good. __________________ RAOK club #37 5.5g Iwagumi \| Mini-S \| Emersed Plant Dump\| 20g Shrimp Tank

08-10-2012, 06:12 AM	#2
SpecGrrl Wannabe Guru (View User Tanks) PTrader: (12/100%) Join Date: Jul 2012 Location: Virginia Beach Posts: 1,571	Such a pretty fish!

08-11-2012, 12:20 AM	#6
chibikaie Planted Tank Enthusiast (View User Tanks) PTrader: (6/100%) Join Date: Aug 2012 Location: Connecticut Posts: 509	Please, keep us up to date on how the tank does. My goldfish would uproot everything and eat all of the plants, so if you have better success, I want to hear it!

08-11-2012, 03:52 PM	#9
xjasminex Planted Tank Enthusiast (View User Tanks) PTrader: (14/100%) Join Date: Jul 2011 Location: new york Posts: 796	Yess! A bigger tank is def needed! And the goldie is very cute! If you have a twenty long that would be best, the like longer tanks than taller tanks! He/she looks healthy! My goldfish like to eat all sorts of plants, Val's,anubias, amazon swords and they even nibble at the hornwort I just put in there. The only plant that they havent really eaten is crypts, and I'm going to be planting more today because of that! Take a look at my journal in my sig and you can see my goldie tank! Good luck! Oh and I'm subscribed cuz there isn't enough goldfish here! __________________ Jasmine's 55 Gallon Low Tech Dirty Goldfish Tank No Fish Ten Gallon I <3 golden fishies

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