Preparing the goldfish's new tank

I have a single comet goldfish named Scroob (approaching 3 inches long). Currently he is in a 10g with 4 red wag platys. So far the ammonia level has not begun increasing and everyone looks great. I haven't had a lot of time to work on resealing the 30g tank but that is a project on my list for this week. Once I have it all sealed and it passes the leak test, I am going to set it up upstairs. I have the filter but I do not have a lid or light. Will this be a problem?

A question about substrate. Currently he is on gravel. The tank is cycled. I plan to cycle the 30 before putting Scroob in it. I plan on using a fish-less cycle or using rosy red minnows to do it (and then feed the minnows to my crawfish) What kind of substrate is best for goldfish? Gravel? Sand? A mix? Bare bottom?

I plan on using live plants. Should these go in before, during, or after the cycle? I will not be using a heater. The water will be about room temperature (70) Are there any bottom feeders that can be housed with him?

Definitely you want gravel . Goldies sift through it continuously .
DO NOT put live plants in with your Goldfish. That would be like setting a fancy salad in front of them.
Put a piece of driftwood in with them if you want .
Cories and Plecos go well with Goldies.
here is a link to my Goldfish tank ,

https://s327.photobucket.com/albums/k458/lifeisgood1954/1-10-2011/?action=view&current=20110110071618.mp4

Hope this helps ,, Ray

Ray is correct! Also put some extra filter material in your 10 gal tank now so it will be seeded with good bacteria when you have the 30 set up. You can even put some pieces of driftwood in the 10 to seed that also. The more material you can switch over to the new tank the better. It will help cycle the tank much quicker.

If you are going to house a pleco with the fish (and I wouldn't seeing as how single-tail GF need alot of swiiming room) then go with a bristle-nose pleco and not a common. Common ones have been known to attach themselves to GF at night and suck their slime coat off.

SeaWitch wrote:

If you are going to house a pleco with the fish (and I wouldn't seeing as how single-tail GF need alot of swiiming room) then go with a bristle-nose pleco and not a common. Common ones have been known to attach themselves to GF at night and suck their slime coat off.

Forgot to mention The BN part. That is what I meant LOL . I raise Bushy Noses and have them in just about every tank .

I love my BNs! I have two albino long finned ones and they are so pretty!

I have 2 breeding pairs of Long Fin Albino BN with about 20+ babies , A colony of ABN reg fin , A colony of Choc.BN ( A. Temmincki ) , A colony of Tortoise Shells BN , and Calico BN's .
Yup ! I Love my BN's also ! LOL

Ray

Ooh, I don't think I have ever seen a chocolate BN or a tortoise shell!!! Do you have any pics of them on here? Do you sell any?

Here are a couple of pictures. Yes , I do sell them.
Ray

And the calico? LOL! I would really like one of the ones in the first pic! Do they do okay with different types of plecos, such as albn's?

They all get along . Only thing is ,,, they WILL cross breed.




Ray

Ray, can you let me know when you have some more for sale? I would prefer females as I really don't have any room for babies. LOL! How much do you usually charge for them? They are beautiful!!!

Nice looking good!

SeaWitch wrote:

Ray, can you let me know when you have some more for sale? I would prefer females as I really don't have any room for babies. LOL! How much do you usually charge for them? They are beautiful!!!

I always have some for sale . I'm just not shipping at this time . TOO COLD !! I lost 4 out of a batch of 8 on my last shipment . I'll have to replace those when it warms up.
I usually get , for a 6 pack , $30 . That includes Priority shipping . If someone wants next day , they have to make up the difference .
They are Juvies , about 1.5+ inches , so picking females is not an option , Sorry.
Tanks ,, Ray

Thanks everyone. I'll be looking to put a BN pleco in there with him. He seems to leave Java ferns alone so I'll be putting some of those in there with him. Also, would goldfish eat duckweed if it was provided? I can get small amounts of duckweed from work (little 2-3 leaf bits) and was wondering if I could grow them in a separate container to feed to the goldfish. I just got the 30g sealed. I have to wait a couple days before I can fill it and leak test it. Then I'll be ready to start adding gravel and set the filter up.

Goldies will eat the duckweed !

some will tell you bare bottom tank is best but I hate the look of it. However I have heard of people paintint the bottom outside glass a color like brown or black to give the look of gravel or at least not to look so bare.

I've had gravel with goldfish as long as I can remember with never a problem but you have to vacuum the gravel to keep it clean.

welcome to the site!

oh yeah, no sand, goldfish like to pick up gravel and scape food particles off the gravel, sand is never a good idea with goldfish.

I have black gravel, its a great color with orange fish, the fishes color pops!!

Love love love shubunkins and comets!

Would it be okay if I kept it mostly bare bottom but put a little gravel in there for them to eat off? The tank is ready to leak test now, but I'm going to wait for a warmer day.


I was thinking of making sure the new tank was cycled before putting him in there. Would this be okay? I'm going to add filter media to the 10g to begin soaking up some bacteria. I might also put a small bag (net) of the gravel I plan to use in there (so it is easily removed). Would putting a few rosy red minnows in there be okay to help cycle the tank? Then once all the levels are right I can put the goldfish in there. He's getting so big so fast. I've only had him a few months and he went from being an inch long to around 3 inches. I just know that when I put him in the 30 gallon he's going to grow even faster.

The thing with single-tailed goldies is that they are better suited to ponds than tanks and yes, they grow extremely fast! LOL!
My 125g tank has just a few river rocks thrown in for the GF to pick out of, but not enough that it makes cleaning it a pain. I personally hate gravel in my tanks because it seems that no matter how much I clean it, I can never get the crud out of it.
Do you know how to do a fishless cycle? It is really easy to do with clear ammonia. You don't even need the rosy reds.

I have kept water sprite with goldfish before and it seemed to do fine and actually had to remove some as it got thick, so if you want a plant that might work. I originally had it for my newts who lived peacefully with my goldfish :)

Well the 30 gallon passed the leak test. Now all I have to do is fill it up inside, get the filter going, and put everything in it. Then to the cycle! Thanks everyone for helping me out with this.

One thought I had though was getting one of those plastic ponds and putting it out on the deck. I found one that is 35 gallons and is meant to be in or above ground. With it being above ground, will the water get too hot if its really hot outside? Its black so I figured that would absorb heat.

You will have to consider how much direct sunlight it will get to determine how hot it may get. The best way though is to put it where you want it and test the water temp at the hottest / sunniest part of the day.

ClarkeExotics wrote:

I have a single comet goldfish named Scroob (approaching 3 inches long). Currently he is in a 10g with 4 red wag platys. So far the ammonia level has not begun increasing and everyone looks great. I haven't had a lot of time to work on resealing the 30g tank but that is a project on my list for this week. Once I have it all sealed and it passes the leak test, I am going to set it up upstairs. I have the filter but I do not have a lid or light. Will this be a problem?

A question about substrate. Currently he is on gravel. The tank is cycled. I plan to cycle the 30 before putting Scroob in it. I plan on using a fish-less cycle or using rosy red minnows to do it (and then feed the minnows to my crawfish) What kind of substrate is best for goldfish? Gravel? Sand? A mix? Bare bottom?

I plan on using live plants. Should these go in before, during, or after the cycle? I will not be using a heater. The water will be about room temperature (70) Are there any bottom feeders that can be housed with him?

Hello Clarke!

The lid shouldn't be a problem unless you have cats or children (lol). You CAN go without having a light on your tank, but I personally dont advise it. If you dont want to part with the money for a 30g hood light, there are always ghetto fabulous alternatives. ^_~

I'm against "fish" cycling, and there are products on the market that make your tank safe almost instantly. I recommend Tetra's "SafeStart". It says you can throw fish in right away, but I've always waited a day or two, and your levels come out fine. Having a cultured Filter already also helps speed up the cycling process, but petstores also sell filters that have already been cultured, and I find these work just as well (if the idea is not more than a bit silly. I'll add my own poop to my filters, thank you ^_^)

I use gravel myself, tiny gravel underneath a 1 inch layer of river rock. Goldies LOVE to sift through rocks for food, but can get them stuck in their mouths, and it can hurt the fish to try and remove them. Sand is great, its cheap and looks wonderful, and goldfish can sift through it at their hearts content, and the sand actually helps them pass blockages in their digestive tracts. The downside of sand is that it has the tendency to build up toxic bubbles of "gas" that can harm a tank. Solution? When doing water changes, remove all your decor (or just lift it up) and run either your fingers (or we always used a fork) through the sand to remove any air pockets and stir up debris.

I agree with the no plants...kinda. Goldfish are pigs and they'll dig up and eat any plants you give them. A cheap plant that looks nice and is easy to come by is called Anachris. We always bought a bunch of them, stick them in little .79 cent terra cotta pots, and threw some rocks in to hold them down. Anachris needs no special lighting or additives to grow (like most aquarium plants) and is hearty enough to take root in just about anything. And it looks very pretty in an aqua scape. Duckweed is another alternative, but it's a floating plant and it can be harder to find.