Is My 40 Gallon Breeder Setup Okay For My Oranda And Fantail?

Is my 40 gallon breeder good enough for my oranda and fantail for a couple of years until I would possibly be able to get a bigger tank like a 55gal? I have a fluval aquaclear 50 and 20 HOB filters on my tank right now, along with a sponge filter and bubble disc. I keep up with good size water changes as much as I can, varying from every 2-5 days depending on if I'm busy. I can't work a job just yet (in a year I may be able to) I'm definitely gonna put either another HOB 50 or 70 fluval filter once my birthday comes around in a month.
The two are very happy and content with each other I bought the oranda since my fantail looked lonely and sulked around a lot. I heard oranda's can get pretty big so that's why I asked if I was gonna need something bigger in a year or two. My water parameters are perfectly healthy right now so no ammonia, no Nitrite, and only 5.00pp
Of nitrate. I do have plants but I decided to take them out since I'm treating ich on my fantail( going to be using Kordon rid ich plus since I don't want to use salt and heat again since it didn't work last time. Temp is at 82 degrees Fahrenheit, once I am done with treatment will room temperature water be okay for both of them?

 

Usually you treat with meds or heat not both. They should be fine for a long time in there. And room temp is fine.

 

Usually you treat with meds or heat not both. They should be fine for a long time in there. And room temp is fine.

Yeah I think I'll bring it down to 80 instead just for a bit so it speeds up the process. I bought paraguard as well for another back up med. not using both at the same time obviously.

 

When using meds you don't need to speed up ichs life span.

 

Is My 40 Gallon Breeder Setup Okay For My Oranda And Fantail?

My answer to this question would be no. The gravel looks to be to small. They may not be able to get it in there mouths now but before you know it they will and goldfish are kind of known to pick up gravel in there mouths, where it ends up getting lodged. I've seen to many videos and post of people trying to help a poor goldfish that tried eating gravel.
River rocks, sand or bare bottom are good/safer.

Is my 40 gallon breeder good enough for my oranda and fantail for a couple of years until I would possibly be able to get a bigger tank like a 55gal?

A 40 gallon breeder is one of the best smaller tanks for goldfish. It's also bigger then the 55g. Most say 2 fancy's can live out there lives in a 40 gallon no problem.
40g breeder at around 648 sq inches where as 55 gallon is only 576 sq inches.
40g breeder is around 45g where as 55 gallon is about 42G.
I believe after the 40 gallon breeder the next best upgrade would be a 75 gallon as it's as long as a 55 gallon but also as wide as a 40 gallon breeder.

Temp is at 82 degrees Fahrenheit, once I am done with treatment will room temperature water be okay for both of them?

Room temperature doesn't really explain much.
Room temperature is fine as long as it's low enough and as long as the temperature doesn't drop quickly.
In our home room temperature is normally around 72 Fahrenheit and tank stays high 60s to low 70s. Sadly in the summer the room temp goes up to about 80 leaving the tanks to warm for a few months. Our goldfish tanks are normally 68-72 most of the time and a slow increase to 75+ over the summer. I don't use a heater but my tank temp also doesn't move much if at all over a few hours time and I do have heaters ready if needed.

 

My answer to this question would be no. The gravel looks to be to small. They may not be able to get it in there mouths now but before you know it they will and goldfish are kind of known to pick up gravel in there mouths, where it ends up getting lodged. I've seen to many videos and post of people trying to help a poor goldfish that tried eating gravel.
River rocks, sand or bare bottom are good/safer.


A 40 gallon breeder is one of the best smaller tanks for goldfish. It's also bigger then the 55g. Most say 2 fancy's can live out there lives in a 40 gallon no problem.
40g breeder at around 648 sq inches where as 55 gallon is only 576 sq inches.
40g breeder is around 45g where as 55 gallon is about 42G.
I believe after the 40 gallon breeder the next best upgrade would be a 75 gallon as it's as long as a 55 gallon but also as wide as a 40 gallon breeder.


Room temperature doesn't really explain much.
Room temperature is fine as long as it's low enough and as long as the temperature doesn't drop quickly.
In our home room temperature is normally around 72 Fahrenheit and tank stays high 60s to low 70s. Sadly in the summer the room temp goes up to about 80 leaving the tanks to warm for a few months. Our goldfish tanks are normally 68-72 most of the time and a slow increase to 75+ over the summer. I don't use a heater but my tank temp also doesn't move much if at all over a few hours time and I do have heaters ready if needed.

What substrate would you best recommend then? I have three amazon sword plants, two anubias, and some grass that the goldfish won't eat. Thinking of just getting rid of my swords for java ferns instead. I heard they don't like to eat them as much. Should I get like a super fine gravel then? Sand would be beautiful but I don't know what brand would work best. I have sand in my Betta tanks and it's a pain to clean since some of it gets sucked up into my siphon.

 

I use pool filter sand and black diamond blasting sand. I also started out using black and white petco sand and can say it was heaver then the 2 I have now so was easier to not siphon up.
I've also used glass gems.

You can go with larger gravel like river rocks you just want to make sure they don't fit in there mouths.
Java ferns are water column feeders so don't need any substrate. I think Anubius are to but not sure.
What plants they will leave along are kind of up to the fish. Some like java are known to be better but I still have a few goldfish that kill them, where as I have one tank full of different types of swords, crypts and java fern with no problems.

 

I use pool filter sand and black diamond blasting sand. I also started out using black and white petco sand and can say it was heaver then the 2 I have now so was easier to not siphon up.
I've also used glass gems.

You can go with larger gravel like river rocks you just want to make sure they don't fit in there mouths.
Java ferns are water column feeders so don't need any substrate. I think Anubius are to but not sure.
What plants they will leave along are kind of up to the fish. Some like java are known to be better but I still have a few goldfish that kill them, where as I have one tank full of different types of swords, crypts and java fern with no problems.

I decided to get some sand for the tank substrate, how much do you recommend putting in the tank?

 

I used the thinnest layer I could while still planting my plants in it. I really don't remember how much I added. I got a 50lb bag of pool filter sand and rinsed it in small batches(adding to the tank as I went) in a 5gal container. I'd guess I used around 20lbs-30lb. I don't have it as a equal layer, my sword in the middle of the tank is in a small mountain of sand, where as my java fern are on wood or rocks with a very light layer of sand under them.

 

I used the thinnest layer I could while still planting my plants in it. I really don't remember how much I added. I got a 50lb bag of pool filter sand and rinsed it in small batches(adding to the tank as I went) in a 5gal container. I'd guess I used around 20lbs-30lb. I don't have it as a equal layer, my sword in the middle of the tank is in a small mountain of sand, where as my java fern are on wood or rocks with a very light layer of sand under them.[/QUOTE

I got the sand today! It was a 20 pound bag so I have a small layer of sand. Just ordered another 20. The sand looks much better then the gravel I must say! And I won't have to worry about my Goldie's choking on rocks I'm still treating them for ich (using rid ich plus by kordon) I had one of my anubais in my tank and some of the leaves are turning a dark color and are semI transparent I've got my other plants in a tub and they seem to be doing fine since I'm not medicating them. The ich should eventually die off without a fish host right?

 

Very nice looking tank.

I don't want to say a definite yes but I'm pretty sure the ich with die with no host. I don't know how long it will take. I'm sure that also depends on the water temp. Only times I dealt with ich was in 5-20g QT tanks with only the fish in them.

As for my plants I've bought some out of tanks with ich and never had a problem but I also do a bleach dip on my new plants. Maybe its the bleach, or just running them under fresh water, or my health fish able to fight of the little ich that comes on the plant, or plain luck.

 

Very nice looking tank.

I don't want to say a definite yes but I'm pretty sure the ich with die with no host. I don't know how long it will take. I'm sure that also depends on the water temp. Only times I dealt with ich was in 5-20g QT tanks with only the fish in them.

As for my plants I've bought some out of tanks with ich and never had a problem but I also do a bleach dip on my new plants. Maybe its the bleach, or just running them under fresh water, or my health fish able to fight of the little ich that comes on the plant, or plain luck.

I think the ich must be Gone at this point, it's been almost a week, I go to my dads tomorrow and don't come back until Monday. I could have my mom or brother keep dosing them but I really don't want them to accidentally kill my fish. I'm pretty sure my oranda has fin rot god why now???? When I can't be here to watch them?! His fins are turning somewhat white and look slightly rugged. I have melafix, para guard, rid ich plus, and aquarium salt. I have an old 15 gallon tank I could treat him in, it's got a curved front and is a taller tank. But I'm going to my fathers house from Thursday-Monday. I don't even know how he got it?! I keep up with 10-30% water changes every other day since I've been medicating and do it twice to three times when I'm not. you would think they would be healthy. My fantail does not have it but isn't the bad bacteria in the tank? Should I just treat my whole tank? Ugh this is a mess.

 

Sorry I’m just chiming in here to say that ur goldies r suuuuper cute

 

Sorry I’m just chiming in here to say that ur goldies r suuuuper cute

Thank you! I managed to nab some cuties from petsmart other then having to treat ich and what looks like minor tail rot, they are both happy. It's weird that one of them got fin rot because my water parameters are perfect. And I do small water changes throughout the week, I'm thinking it's the stress from the meds maybe. They act perfectly happy despite everything though and constantly want to eat.