[gabs]

Hallo!

I have a 29 gallon tank thats needs a little filling in. I plan on keeping two or three goldies in there and was wondering what I should buy to "flesh out" the 'scape...

For substrate I have about an inch and a half of black flourite sand and a half inch of red eco-complete gravel...the red eco-complete has been in that tank for upwards of six months. But the black is new.

As for plants...I have (for now) relatively low wattage at about .7 WPG.
I have the lid that came with the tank, which is a single strip 24"...and the largest wattage I can find is 20 watts for that size. But I'm planning on upgrading to 60 watts sometime within the next few months.

As for plants, I have the following:
1 twelve inch amazon sword thats a bit tattered that I got from my friend
2 clippings of moneywort, also from the friend
1 rather piddly patch of four leaf clover
2 4-5 inch anubias plants
1 small lace java fern
& 1 tenish inch jungle val.

So I was wondering, as a planted tank newbie..what you all here at the lovely plantedtank.net had to say about other plants that would look nice/complement the ones I've purchased thus far.

And yes, I know the chances of plants staying all pretty and nice are low...but I figure if I plant densely it should reduce the ammount of nibble marks...or at least those visible...

Any planted tank advice in general would be mucho appricated...I wont say I have a knack for killing plants...but I wont say I have a knack for growing them either :hihi:

thanks a bunch!

 

[dthb4438]

You really have to be careful what you put in a tank with goldfish as they will eat A LOT of your plants. If you get plants, get something that grows very fast.

 

[lauraleellbp]

I think you'll have much more success if you get your lighting up close to the 2 wpg range. 0.7 is extremely low, especially on a relatively deep tank like a 29gal.

Also, most varieties of goldfish should outgrow a 29gal very quickly (besides like dthb mentioned being plant-munchers...)

 

[Michelle_WI]

I have had good luck keeping crypt wendtii with my goldfish, and it does well in low light. I keep mine in pots since goldies like to dig up plants. If you get some of these, don't be surprised to see all the leaves die back at first, to a point where you think its dead. Just let it be and it should come back.

 

[Ariel301]

Anacharis and sunset hygro both grow well in very low light and cooler water. I don't know how much they'll get munched on though. Crypts and anubias tend to be good low light plants, and I know african cichlids leave them alone; I don't know about goldfish. What kind of goldfish are you keeping in there? As already said, many will get too big and too dirty for your tank eventually. Feeder goldfish, I learned the hard way, get HUGE!

 

[seds]

Goldfish are all one species. They are like dogs, they all fall under the same scientific name... just throwing that out there...

I had success with HORNWORT and BLADDERWORT (ultricularia vulgaris) with goldfish, both in 1.4 WPG, no CO2 or ferts. I had milfoil as well, but once it suffered from a deficiency, it began to die back and was quickly devoured. I guess that means they like dying leaves, sort of like snails.

Moss is a NO GO unless it is already very very very securely attatched, like if you move a rock or piece of wood with moss already on it into the tank, or buy a piece of wood that comes with a lot of moss on it. They seem to love pulling it up, chewing on it and spitting it out. It is the least herbivore safe plant I have ever had, besides egeria najas with tinfoil barbs, ha ha... "Anacharis" wasn't left alone by goldfish either. Some people, such as BigBlackMoor, have had success with it in a goldfish tank.

I kept 2 black moors in a 29 gallon for 2 and a half years, now I have one in a 35... It is 3 years old. They didn't get very big, only about 4.5 inches including tail. I guess one could say they were stunted...


In all seriousness, if you want a planted tank I would shy away from goldfish, unless you already have them. It has been done, but IME it is very frustrating at times. If you are sure, then definitely get hornwort.

 

[lauraleellbp]

Goldfish are all one species. They are like dogs, they all fall under the same scientific name... just throwing that out there...

Whoops, point taken. Fixed. :hihi:

 

[mynameisjonah]

You'll definitely have enough natural fertilizers with goldfish! Lol. Jokes aside Water Wisteria may be a good addition to your tank once you amp up the lighting. I heard through the grapevine that it is mildly poisonous?? So vegetable eating fish such as goldies, silver dollars, etc., won't nibble on em, and it grows way fast. Where is your temperature at anyway?? You may want to research plants that are more suited for cold water set ups.

 

[rotnak1271]

I've had a plated goldie tank for over a year now. They like to munch on the anacharis and hornwort, but luckily these grow faster than they can eat it.

I've got a couple of big swords in the tank, the older leaves look really tatterd as they like to nibble on them, but the plants have always grown faster than the goldies could kill the leaves.

Crypts are definitely worth it, especially in a lower light tank. I have never seen the goldies much on these in my tank.

Aponogetons grew well in the tank, same problem with the swords tho, the older leaves got a bit tattered from munching.

Water wisteria grew too huge and fast for me to keep up with.

When I was researching this a while back this is the page that I took most of my initial plants list from

http://www.geocities.com/Tokyo/4468/gf_plants.html