The continuation of my goldfish journey.

[fishywoo]

Hello everyone!

I thought it would be a good idea to start a journal on my 40 gallon fancy goldfish tank.

This isn't a new tank, but what better time to start than now?

This will be my first tank journal on fishlore.
(And I only have just the one tank)

I had some pretty lofty goals of having a tank with no issues and I already made some major mistakes which completely defeated that purpose.

So now I want to compile the goings on and hopefully this will help me be more organized and successful with my goal of just having the best environment for my fancies.

I just realized that from now on when something happens, I shouldn't think, "Oh, this, I know what this is. I know what to do. I got this."
Instead I should reframe that to, "I think I know what this is. I think I know what to do, but first I will get advice from others."

Being on fishlore for the short time I've been here I've already learned so much more than I expected to. I've noticed too that everyone here is super helpful and freely donates their time to help each other out and that's the kind of fish keeping community I want to be a part of and contribute what I can to. Very happy to be here!

So let's begin with my tank:

A little background - I've had one lionhead (Nepheli Loux) since January of this year from not so great of a place. Luckily she had no issues when I got her. She's doesn't look like she's a lionhead, but the store insisted that she was. Either way we absolutely love her, she just doesn't look like a lionhead to me. Maybe someone can share their thoughts on this?

This summer we got our Thai Oranda (Hekate).
I quarantined her and now she is in my main tank with Nepheli Loux.

I had gotten a butterfly tail telescope, named Nyx, who I added to my main tank way too soon and complications arose soon after that.

In short - she did not make it. (And this was the fish our kid picked and they are devastated about this. I said no more fish after this and got many protests, so at the very least I want to sort of start over with the way I do things, do them right, do them better, quarantine better, and most importantly right now - make sure my tank is safe and my other two fish stay healthy).

The details of that disaster is in another thread I posted which mentioned that she looked like she had Epistylis and so I had asked to put that into the title in case anyone wanted to reference that. I myself had never heard of it before and had trouble finding and understanding information on it initially. (It looks almost like ich, but isn't ich).

So here's where I'm at right now.

I removed all my sand. I thought I had moonlight sand by caribsea, but after getting a new small bag of moonlight sand to replace the old I realized I actually had what looks like crystal river from caribsea, I think. Right now I'm waiting to add it, but when I do, this time it will be moonlight sand.

I also have jasper stone from fluval, multiple java ferns, pothos plants growing at the top with their roots in the water, eventually going to be adding frogbit I've gotten and is hanging out right now in another room growing its roots out. I had already dipped out in potassium permanganate which worked out well.

For filtration I have two aquaclear 50s and one sponge filter. I had just recently gotten the second aquaclear 50 and I'm personally very happy with this investment. Extra basket, extra media, extra filtration, and in the long run if my other older aquaclear kicks the bucket I'll have the newer one in the meantime.

I've got ich-x on the way to make sure my current fancies didn't catch anything from my other one. So far though they still seem to be in perfect health so everything that happened before completely baffles me, but I know I should have quarantined my butterfly for at least a month.

As I move forward I'm planning on doing the treatment, keeping on eye on them, adding sand, changing up the placement of plants, adding floating plants, and once all is well, possibly getting another butterfly tail in the future per family's request.

The addition of another fish is something I want to detail here. One month quarantine with some supervision, I hope. Anything that comes up I want to be able to consult with fellow fish keepers. I've owned fish since 2012 (although the first couple of years with our first fish I had literally no clue what I was doing) I know there's a lot more I could learn and much more knowledgeable and experienced fish keepers here.

I'll include some photos I took the other day of the state of my tank now. I think I like having the plants pushed to one side instead of being spread out. Gives my goldies the option of being in a foresty section or big open space. The only thing they seem to not like is the absence of sand.

Hopefully I can get future advice as I continue to care for them on this rather unexciting and boring thread - but I promise to include as many cute Goldfish pictures and I can to make it work while.

If you made it through all that text and are reading this now - you're awesome. Thanks for being here!

 

[Cardak]

It looks like you have an Oranda and a Ranchu (calico) Your Ranchu is still young so it may not have started to develop it Wen yet. Some times some Ranchus don't even develop one. I have attached a recent picture of my Ranchus. And some have not developed and Wen at all. But the best chances to develop the Wen is a high protein diet, and a lot of water changes. I feed mine 3-5 times a day. One feeding with steamed egg, one feeding of Brine shrimp eggs, one feeding of Hikari Premium sinking pellets, and 2 feedings of sinking Veggie Pellets to keep their digestive tract flowing at night. I had plants too, but they destroyed all of them.

Good Luck!!

 

[fishywoo]

They are so cute! <3 <3 <3

Haha so I've been calling Nepheli a lionhead this whole time and she's a Ranchu! I had a feeling she was something else. Didn't look much like a lion either. Lol I'll make sure to correct myself in the future!

I feed mine 2 - 3 times a day. As much as they can stuff into their mouths each time. Temperature is at 75 degrees. I mainly feed repashy super gold made with water that I boiled garlic in and sometimes feed them the garlic chunks as well. I try to give them a little extra spinach or broccoli in the middle of the day, but I have not been able to most days. I've been on the hunt for some frozen brine shrimp in my area, but it's been awhile since i could find them. There's one more local place I can try, but they've been closed a lot recently. Do you think I'm underfeeding at that temperature? When you feed yours 5 times a day is that broken up into smaller portions?

And thank you very much! ^_^

 

[fishywoo]

I removed the tiny bit of sand that was left yesterday. I consulted the vendor and have given it a lot of thought and in the meantime am going to reframe from using ich x, but at least I will have it on hand.

I already treated the water with paraguard which I discontinued a couple of days ago because there were no signs of illness, no idea if that helped or not. I have done another large WC, and they are due for the final round off levimisole (expel-p) tomorrow. Both fishies are still in good health and happy, but are lacking their sifting activities. I can't wait to give them sand again!

The tank does look pretty as a bare bottom and cleaner, so I get the appeal, but watching their behavior and how much they like to sift i can imagine they are missing it. They peck at the plants still, but not the bare bottom.

Adding some pictures of them and the tank and a picture of the sand I got. This small bag of sand I'm hoping will be enough for a nice light layer across the tank. If not I may get one more bag of this size.

I'm thinking after the levimisole treatment on Wednesday and the the water change that is required after levimisole on Thursday, if both fishies still appear happy and healthy then i will add the sand.

I can't wait to see how they react when they have it again. ^_^

 

[Cardak]

as you may have noticed in my picture, I too have very little sand in my tank. I took out almost all of the sand in my tank. I just leave a dusting of it. The reason is, Goldfish are notoriously known for their big bioloads. They eat a lot and their poop is quite large and long. Sometimes they float. The skimmer gets them, but when they sink to the bottom they sit there till they are siphoned out or they decompose. The bottom stuff becomes very visible when there is no gravel or sand making it easier to clean.

Feeding is broken into smaller portions so they can eat more through out the day.

 

[fishywoo]

Finally had a little time to sit down and record an update. Both fish are, thankfully, still in good health with no signs of illness.

First, before I had removed the little bits of sand that remained I realized that I had a rare opportunity to take pictures of my fish from below.

First I did that with the aquarium light on. So bright! This is the reason I wanted to shade the tank more with floating plants. I was worried about how bright it is and the build up diatoms gets annoying. Looking at that picture makes me think I should get something to tint the light and put it beneath the aquarium light.

After I removed the rest of the sand I did another photo shoot of my fish from below, but this time without the aquarium light on which was quite fun.

Then I added their new sand! They didn't seem to notice it right away. I was definitely more excited than they were which was a little disappointing, but after a little while they finally began sifting away. I took a picture of what it looked like after it settled and the water cleared up.

Attaching my first video I've shared to fishlore in a link below to display their new sand and plant placement. I also wanted to record their behavior

The more I see the way they interact makes me wonder if I have the genders correct.

I also wonder if my butterfly's poor health had anything you do with bullying since she was smaller and the last one to be added. Would love others input on that and observations of the video.

I'm thinking that if things continue to do well after a couple more weeks I may try to get another butterfly. I think I will have a better chance if I get one that is larger than Hekate though.

I'll include that venture here on this post if/when that happens. I want to make sure they are quarantined well and are in good health and will be ok with my other two.

 

[fishywoo]

Update!

So it's been about a month and zero issues. I really don't know what went wrong before with our last fish. Not definitively anyway. I've racked my brain trying to figure it out, but everything is fine and I'm no longer going to worry.

I've rearranged the rocks and plants. Added Hornwort to shade some light. I'm also liking that it hides the filters a little. I have zero plans to put a background on this tank. I like the depth it gives and makes it feel less like a caged in wall, if that makes sense. I also like being able to see some of the filters running.

In fact, I love seeing all the filtration running on this tank tbh.

I figure 1 filter per fish, the last one yet to be adopted.

With much thought and discussion we've decided to look for another Ranchu.

The problem is where is the best place to do this? It doesn't have to be the "grade a" standard of a Ranchu. My Nepheli has no such label, but we absolutely adore her and since getting a buddy she is flourishing, and even growing more than she did before. My main objective is a well cared for, preferably USA raised to avoid the extra stress of importing, healthy Ranchu.

Ultimately I won't be doing the picking, but I do need to find the best source, and I'm honestly at a loss here. I wish I could have gone through East Coast Ranchu because I know how well taken cared of they were and they're in country, but sadly it seems they are not doing this at all anymore. =(

I'm really eager to hear others advice and experiences on this if anyone reading this has any.

Well, back to Nepheli - my SO did a bit of reading and allegedly goldfish housed with others actually effects their growth. I don't know how true this is, but it seems true. It might just be a coincidence, the fact that it was summer, who knows. I do know that I'm not purposely trying to grow my fish as fast as possible. No heater, no excess this or that for wen growth. I wouldn't be able to handle excess wen growth tbh. I don't want to see a Goldie go blind from their wen and I'm not the type to do wen surgery - so that's a definite no.

Something about being in the same water as other fish triggering their growth hormone to keep up, and I'm sure happiness being able to social plays a role in overall health, so it makes sense to me.

Been messing around with my camera settings, taking standard photos and adjusted photos. I don't have the magic touch to this so no real crisp photos atm. It might just be that my camera phone doesn't have it in it. Won't hurt to try though!

So below will be a photo bomb of my tank and Hekatos (formerly Hekate, but now assuming she is a he, but who knows, they've got an interchangable name that's close enough) - and Nepheli Loux (fun fact - she's named after the character in Elden Ring) When we thought Nepheli was a boy after thinking she was a girl we were going to just keep her a Nepheli. It suits her. Pretty sure she is a girl after all though.

Also included a couple of snaps of the sides of my tank where I'm letting the diatoms grow instead of fighting it. The theory, from what I read online, is that if they are allowed to grow in one spot, they'll build up there and stop showing up on the things I don't want it on and keep cleaning off. It makes sense to me - the diatoms are thriving off nutrients in the tank, so if I let them have at it in one place, eventually they won't be able to appear everywhere else, namely my rocks, plants, and the front and back part of the tank.

Or that could be complete rubbish, but I'm trying it anyway because, why not? Lol

 

[Fishfur]

Just be glad we don’t get Didymo diatoms in aquariums. They’re huge and they are, and I am not being unkind, incredibly ugly. They form mats as much as 8” thick and up to a half mile long in rivers and streams. Gives a whole new perspective to the small ones we encounter in our tanks.

 

[fishywoo]

I was originally going to put quarantine stuff here, but ultimately decided I should do a separate quarantine journal just for that "tank" tub.

We finally got a Ranchu! He/She will be arriving next week and I'm going to be getting everything ready over the weekend.
(⁠ ⁠◜⁠‿⁠◝⁠ ⁠)⁠♡

I can't share a picture though because of copyright and I'm not sure how to link back to the original post, but I will be taking plenty of photos when the little guy gets here. I can tell you that we decided to go through King Koi Goldfish!
^_^

Here is a link to that journal:
Thread 'Ranchu Quarantine Journal' Ranchu Quarantine Journal | Freshwater Aquarium Journals Forum

In the meantime thought this would be a good time to do an update on the main Goldfish tank. It's been awhile!

There was a Hornwort mishap of it not staying hung up on the airline suction cups. Easy fix, cut a little piece of airline tubing and stuck that in the clasps to keep the Hornwort on. It continues to grow new branches and I'm very happy with it! It's filling out nicely.

More diatoms recently spread on my Java Fern leaves and oddly enough it doesn't show up on my camera. I'm going to try rubbing it off during the next WC, but in the meantime at least you can't tell in pictures lol.

Not sure if I mentioned this on this thread - but still letting the diatoms take over the left and right glass panes in hopes that it will eventually leave my Java Fern and rocks alone. It's taking longer to spread on the glass than it is on the leaves though so it's taking some time. Only explanation for that seems to be that it's greatly effected by the florescent light that shines directly on it. I want to eventually switch to LED (not sure if that would make a difference), but after my recent Betta adventures and soon to be focusing on a new fin baby, that's going to have to wait.

Update on Hekatos, every once and awhile he seems to have buoyancy issues. I guess it's to be expected with such a deep bodied fish. Will be avoiding the extremely deep bodies in the future. As much as I love this dopey and clumsy fish I hate seeing them struggle with bouncy. Oddly enough it seems to happen less when I give him extra food so I'm continuing doing that, assuming he's growing, and maybe that has something to do with it. I have to look more into the whole bouncy thing though; I'm use to having fish with more slender builds.

Nepheli is the happiest little fish since getting Hekatos as a buddy so really excited to see her with another Ranchu. Hekatos is going to be out numbered, but I think he'll be fine as he loves hanging out with Nepheli. He's either following her or she's following him.

I think that's everything.
Now to share all the recent photos!
It's too early in the morning for pictures right now, but here's pictures from the last few weeks!

 

[kuhlkid]

If looking for tools to get the diatoms off your ferns, I'm a recent covert to appear scrubbers like . While the algae is still fairly new and hasn't done serious damage to the leaf underneath, these things swipe it right off like a charm.

 

[fishywoo]

If looking for tools to get the diatoms off your ferns, I'm a recent covert to appear scrubbers like . While the algae is still fairly new and hasn't done serious damage to the leaf underneath, these things swipe it right off like a charm.

Oh that's awesome! I didn't know about these.
Adding it to the shopping list. Lol
Thank you! =D

 

[Fishfur]

If you can increase the amount of current in the tank substantially enough it’ll help a lot with diatoms by preventing them from settling. They’ll just get swished around.

Your hope to trick them into settling where you don’t mind them instead of on the ferns is, I am sorry to say, doomed to disappoint you and allowing those diatoms on the glass to hang around is just making it easier for them to grow and reproduce.

I know the fish can’t handle strong currents but it really will help discourage the diatoms if you can push as much current as the fish are able to tolerate and wipe off the growth you’ve allowed to grow.

 

[fishywoo]

If you can increase the amount of current in the tank substantially enough it’ll help a lot with diatoms by preventing them from settling. They’ll just get swished around.

Your hope to trick them into settling where you don’t mind them instead of on the ferns is, I am sorry to say, doomed to disappoint you and allowing those diatoms on the glass to hang around is just making it easier for them to grow and reproduce.

I know the fish can’t handle strong currents but it really will help discourage the diatoms if you can push as much current as the fish are able to tolerate and wipe off the growth you’ve allowed to grow.

With two aquaclear 50s and a 50 sponge I'm afraid there's no more room for current. I've got the ferns swaying in the outtake already.
=\

I don't understand the mechanisms of how diatoms work. The more there are the more they repopulate even if they use up the extra nutrients?

The brown things are winning this battle. Oh well, at least it'll give the fishers something to peck at for right now.

 

[Fishfur]

With two aquaclear 50s and a 50 sponge I'm afraid there's no more room for current. I've got the ferns swaying in the outtake already.
=\

I don't understand the mechanisms of how diatoms work. The more there are the more they repopulate even if they use up the extra nutrients?

The brown things are winning this battle. Oh well, at least it'll give the fishers something to peck at for right now.

Fishers???

Annoying as they can be in fish tanks they are rather remarkable organisms.
I find it fascinating that diatoms collectively produce between 20-50% of all the O2 on Earth and they take up some 6.7 billion tonnes of silicon annually from the water around them. So there is truth to the idea that limiting silicon supplies may help slow them down but by itself it won’t be enough to get rid of them.

They also account for close to half of all organic matter in our oceans which is a bit mind boggling. They’re madly successful organisms so all we can do is try to make life as difficult as we can for the pesky things.

It is a fact that the more of them there are, the more new diatoms they’ll create - and that gets worse as their numbers grow - think of them like bacteria in this respect.

Given sufficient nutrients & light, they can double their numbers every 24 hours by multiple fission, an asexual method. Even though the life of any single cell is less than a week long, there are SO MANY more of them than is obvious - they range in size from a mere 2 microns to about 200 microns.

The finest human hairs are about 17 microns to around 181 for a comparison size wise.

Excepting for the male gametes of a few species, which have flagella so they can move under their own power to find female gametes, they rely on water currents or wind to move but they can only settle on a surface if they come to rest on a surface long enough to attach.

So current that won’t let them settle makes a drastic difference to their ability to spread. Trying to limit any light no matter how dim or subdued in the room where the tank is also helps some but current is the best defence and control measure.

 

[fishywoo]

Whelp, I guess I'm going to invest in those scrubbers that were recommended and go back to war with the diatoms the old fashion way since giving them some territory backfired very much so. Lol

I'm guessing the silica from the quartz in my substrate is feeding them? It will be a battle over the quartz then. I won't be taking it out!

It is cool how they are big part of the ecosystem in nature, but I don't want them a part of it in my tank. Lol

Other than current, is there anything else I can do? When my plants grow out more maybe that will help? Might be good to try to save the larger leaves with a scrubber at least instead of cutting them again, and again.

 

[Fishfur]

Whelp, I guess I'm going to invest in those scrubbers that were recommended and go back to war with the diatoms the old fashion way since giving them some territory backfired very much so. Lol

I'm guessing the silica from the quartz in my substrate is feeding them? It will be a battle over the quartz then. I won't be taking it out!

It is cool how they are big part of the ecosystem in nature, but I don't want them a part of it in my tank. Lol

Other than current, is there anything else I can do? When my plants grow out more maybe that will help? Might be good to try to save the larger leaves with a scrubber at least instead of cutting them again, and again.

I know what you mean .

In your case, the plants are not helpful because they are very slow growing. Even you had 2 or 3 x as many of them as you do, they’re just not enough competition.

Since goldfish and plants generally tend not to coexist in harmony, you’re probably too limited in what other plants you could add ( btw, just fyi, I think their tank looks really great with the ferns as you have it now) unless you wanted to try some floating ones that are excellent nitrate suckers, and shade out some light which won’t bother the ferns but would help reduce what the diatoms are getting.

Goldfish like to nibble some floaters and they are about as fresh and clean a vegetable course as could be provided for the fish - I know a few keepers who grow azolla, salvinias or duckweed as goldfish food.

You might experiment with using an AC70 filter, if it’s something you’d be willing to try out, to see if the current was too much for the fish.

I have an AC70 on the rimless tank which is about 31 gallons and the fish are fine with it but of course they’re also very agile swimmers. But they’re very small agile swimmers -.

 

[fishywoo]

I know what you mean .

In your case, the plants are not helpful because they are very slow growing. Even you had 2 or 3 x as many of them as you do, they’re just not enough competition.

Since goldfish and plants generally tend not to coexist in harmony, you’re probably too limited in what other plants you could add ( btw, just fyi, I think their tank looks really great with the ferns as you have it now) unless you wanted to try some floating ones that are excellent nitrate suckers, and shade out some light which won’t bother the ferns but would help reduce what the diatoms are getting.

Goldfish like to nibble some floaters and they are about as fresh and clean a vegetable course as could be provided for the fish - I know a few keepers who grow azolla, salvinias or duckweed as goldfish food.

You might experiment with using an AC70 filter, if it’s something you’d be willing to try out, to see if the current was too much for the fish.

I have an AC70 on the rimless tank which is about 31 gallons and the fish are fine with it but of course they’re also very agile swimmers. But they’re very small agile swimmers -.

Thank you! ^_^
I am very fond of my Aquaclears though. Will most likely not be switching them out. I've also already nearly maxed my fish budget for the rest of the year!

Which leads me to the next best alternative I've found for removing diatoms. I don't know why I never thought about this before, but thinking about those scrubbers led me to a happy no cost solution!

Quilt Badding! I've got a whole bag of it. I cut out a square of it and used that to clean the glass leaves and rocks. It worked so well! No damage to the leaves and was very easy. I'll finally get to keep my big Java Fern leaves which I am really excited about seeing more of!

Did a WC last night too and cleaned my oldest Aquaclear parts and motor.

The rock arrangement and plants ended up being a bit more compact than before and more than what I'd like, but I can fix that later. I also haven't mastered the art of taking good tank pictures. My substrate is so bright white in the photos. I did only use the standard photo setting though. Was quite tired last night to mess with the pro settings. Took a closer photo of the substrate though. It's much more an off white color with bits of orange in there which I just love.

Took one of the small plants and sponge filter out for my quarantine set up then added an air stone.

I'll probably rearrange the plants with my next week's WC, I'm not too sure about it compared to the way I had it before. Also have to fix one of the cords on the left too, one of the suction cups may have fallen that keeps it from being across the back corner, but all works for now.

 

[fishywoo]

No booming diatoms as of yet, but I know there's a little bit here and there. Hard to get it all and should've wiped everything down again. I'm wondering if persistence could fix this problem.

Video and pics of last night's water change. Was a day late again, but was a day late last week, so not truly late, just more off schedule than I'd like. Decided to leave the plants bunched up. The extra room for my goldies on either side has grown on me and looks more appealing for them.

Can't wait for this couple to become a trio! It'll be three scaly musketeers. If all goes well that will happen at the end of the month right before Halloween.
=D

 

[fishywoo]

I had the grossest thing happen with this tank yesterday. I did my usual 50% WC and decided to wipe the underside of the lid. I had taken the whole thing off a couple of months ago to get the hard water deposits off of it. That's all that's ever built up on this lid. I don't usually see the part beneath the aquarium light, but there's never been anything concerning underneath it before. When I went to wipe it down I didn't remove the whole thing this time, just reached my arm under it and ended up wiping thick layers of brown sludge off of it, assuming diatoms. I almost wish I took a picture of it to show how bad it was. The only thing that's changed is that I have the lid pushed back half an inch to lift the front since the handle slid off. My best guess is that the moisture is building up too much in the back now. I might have to remedy that sooner rather than later. I don't want that being a recurring issue.


Other than that though the Hornwort is getting bushy. Very happy about that. Pretty surprised how it's reaching up towards the light despite being under the outtake of the HOBs. Can't wait to see it bush out at the top fully. Going to try to add water lettuce to the front on both sides when I get enough growing from my Betta's tank. I'm picturing a big bushy top and long roots hanging down on each side to frame the whole tank.
=D

Taking some time for this tank to be what I want it to be, but very happy to see it start to get there. Another couple of weeks, if all goes well, and our final Ranchu will join the group. It just better work out - a little nervous, but overly convincing myself that everything will be fine at the same time because it has to be!
:/

Quick tank photo from today with my new camera:

(Had to edit a load of typos out of this, lol.)

 

[fishywoo]

Major work done on this tank today!

I took filter floss and wiped down every leaf, every rock, glass, nook and cranny. I did a good gravel VAC removing a couple cups more of the very fine sand that was mixed in there and added a few more cups of Caribsea's Carolina Creek.

Seeing the mention of floss in filters here on Fishlore led me to put some in my HOBs. I'm thinking that could help catch the free floating diatoms I wiped off. Here's hoping. The battle continues!

I finally fixed my lid handle with aqueon silicone. Hopefully I won't have to worry about it now.

Decided to rearrange my rocks and plants. It's a little in between what I had before I bunched them up and them being bunched up. There was far too much debris getting stuck between the rocks when they were close together and I didn't like it, but I also want my Fishies to have a lot of space, so I arranged the rocks like I did when I was putting them together, but spread them out a little and lined up the plants in a sort of half circle so it looks full, but not too spread out and they have ample space behind the plants as well.

Everything's a little uneven on this tank, I'm very much aware, but I don't mind it. Not about to even try to make it perfectly symmetrical, but did my best to.

Also found a single hitch hiker snail which was a major surprise. I've set him up in a temporary container while I decide what to do with him.

I'm exhausted, but very happy with all the work done
^_^

 

[fishywoo]

Added Water Lettuce to their tank. Original plan was to hook the stems that the new shoots came out of to an airline suction cup, but the stems were gone by the time I moved them. I guess those bits don't stick around? I put them in the tank anyway and they probably have less of a chance of getting along than my Frogbit did, but maybe the Hornwort will help keep it steady eventually this time. In the meantime the plant insists on swimming to it's death beneath the filter outtake. Anytime it's leaves get wet they die. The filter pushes the water down with enough force to make the Water Lettuce gravitate towards it no matter where it is in the tank. I'm just going to leave it's survival to chance. May the odds be ever in your favor, Water Lettuce. The good news is that my goldies couldn't care less that it's there and just wanted me to give up the food, so maybe they won't annihilate it before the filter does.
¯⁠\⁠_⁠(⁠ツ⁠)⁠_⁠/⁠¯

I also gave them a piece of Gold Anubias from my Betta's tank. That one I think will do better in there. Planning on getting Hekatos a terrarium cave in hopes that it might help when he's having buoyancy problems resting at the top. He hasn't gotten injury or air exposure, but I certainly fear it. The terrarium has a hooked eye at the top for hanging and I'm going to stick the Anubias roots through that. How cool would it be if the roots grew all around it? Another thing I can picture, but only time will tell if I can manage it.

Our nameless Ranchu is joining the group this weekend. After seeing her? do so well after nearly 4 weeks in quarantine I'm feeling more confident she'll do fine. I'm unexpectedly more worried about Hekatos and his swimming issues. Luckily our new Ranchu is more like Nepheli's body shape and not so bulbous as Hekatos. She worried me in the beginning seeing the state she was in, but after recovering I think she has a good chance to live happily for a long time and hopefully the same will be for Hekatos. Hopefully she'll have a name this weekend too! Hekatos will be the last deep bodied fish I have. It's no good to see them struggle with buoyancy that's all too common. That defeats the purpose entirely!

 

[fishywoo]

This happened better than I could have hoped for!
Added our little Ranchu from quarantine after 30+ days. They became instant pals and swim together in a group! I'm SO HAPPY! They're perfect together!

We still don't have a name! The one who is naming has still not decided, lol.
Will update when I find out!

(⁠ ⁠◜⁠‿⁠◝⁠ ⁠)⁠♡

 

[kuhlkid]

Wow, look at them with the new guy! Imo you did a great job selecting this fish, size-wise your new fella looks right at home in here. Nepheli looks like she's getting some good growth too-- I feel like Hekatos used to dwarf her much more in pictures! Lovely trio of fish.

 

[fishywoo]

Wow, look at them with the new guy! Imo you did a great job selecting this fish, size-wise your new fella looks right at home in here. Nepheli looks like she's getting some good growth too-- I feel like Hekatos used to dwarf her much more in pictures! Lovely trio of fish.

Thank you ^_^
I wasn't even the one who picked her, but very happy. (Our youngen had the final say).
It was a rough start, but all worked out. Phew!
I will pass on the compliments though!
<3

 

[fishywoo]

Photo dump of our finally named Ranchu...
Nebula <3

 

[fishywoo]

I've come to know some revelations about my Goldie group that are unavoidable. A little embarrassing even! So, I was very wrong...

Nepheli is without a doubt a male, but he will always be Nepheli. A male Nepheli. I just can't imagine him having any other name! By January of next year we will have had him for one year.

So Nepheli and Nebula paired up, it was definitely them, they wreaked havock on the Hornwort and laid eggs. In a flurry of bad decisions I collected said eggs that I could find after I realized what happened. I put them in with my shrimp and snails. I think most of them were eaten.... I have two remaining. If they hatch and survive I have zero issue converting my tank stand to house a 30 gallon on the bottom for two Nepheli and Nebula babies. Their genes are definitely far removed and I can't think of anything better than that. Not planned, not guaranteed, but decidedly prepared for anything. Lol

In any case, aside from the duo's escapades, they are still three musketeers and doing well. I got Hekatos a terrarium for his occasional buoyancy issues, I just have to glue a crack on it... And I'll deal with the Hornwort mess tomorrow during their WC.

I absolutely love these fish! It was really heartbreaking here and there being worried about their health, but they seem very happy and healthy, so what more could I ask for?

 

[fishywoo]

Hornwort take two! Hopefully this doesn't encourage more breeding. I tried telling them it's not spring and this madness has to stop, haha.

Aside from trying to fix the Hornwort, minimal maintenance tonight. Just the weekly routine WC and intake sponge clean. I'm out of fight with the diatoms and I'm strongly considering employing a couple Ramshorns* and just sticking a piece of cuddle bone in the filter. It just needs to be rubbed off a little with each water change and the calcium efficiency shows.

They got brine shrimp after the WC. I defrost a cube and spread it out in the tank. This gives them a chance to "hunt" and gives them good exercise as well. It's also entertaining watching them frantically trying to catch each shrimp in their mouth like hungry hungry hippos, lol. Only downside is that this makes it so much harder to get a really good picture of them. I'll keep trying though!

 

[fishywoo]

Mini update... They knocked down the Hornwort, again! I don't want to fight them on it. Going to take it down, trim it a little and see how it does free floating. I don't want to take it out completely on them. I do feel silly though because I didn't think they'd use it to breed and lay eggs.

There's no eggs this time at least and I can't make egg saving a habit. I don't have the means! I can however try this once to raise the few fry I have now, could be 2, 3, 7? I have no idea... and have plenty of time to plan and find them homes. There's a LFS here that I like that might buy/take them. I honestly would just want them to get to good homes at least... Assuming I can raise them and they survive. I'd really want to keep a couple too though, but I really have to think about that and how/if I could swing it.

It sucks when you fall in love with your fish and then they have babies and you just want to keep the next generation. How awesome would that be to eventually continue that line further down the road by occasionally adding (marrying in, lol) one more Ranchu when there's room and be like, these are the great grand babies of Nepheli and Nebula!

A girl can dream, ok?

 

[fishywoo]

Probably going to be removing the Hornwort seeing as there's little thought or self control when I see Goldfish eggs.
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In the meantime I have goldfish fry with my shrimp and no idea what to do. I considered getting a 20 long or finding a way to fit a 30 gallon, but this really won't do and this is so not planned. Just wasn't supposed to happen.

I feel like I messed up, and I thought my S/O would have sobering advice, but nope! He's encouraging this madness. What am I going to do with more goldfish? They can't go in the 40 gallon even when/IF they grow - all this worrying and I'm not even sure they'll survive.

And what's worse - I really want to keep them. This was after a WC tonight. Just look at that face! That's the face that killed me! Ugh! I can see the eyes and little flippers and I melt into an irrational being.

Well whatever happens with these guys I'll update it here, seeing as they originated from this tank and the fact that I have no idea what's going to happen with them. I can keep them with my shrimp for now, but how long and then what?

I guess I'll just see how it goes and continue to explore options.

 

[Fishfur]

Fry are always ridiculously cute or so it seems to me. I can understand wanting to keep them all.

 

[kuhlkid]

Sounds like the household needs a pond

 

[fishywoo]

Sounds like the household needs a pond

I wish! It's probably better that I don't, lol.
But if I could, best idea I've seen for a pond was someone that converted an old bath tub with feet into a pond. I'm not sure how many gallons that would hold, but if I could have a pond I'd do that!

Added the terrarium, Nebula thinks it's for her, but I like the look and hopefully it will help Hekatos. Still have not removed the Hornwort, that's coming out next. Just did a 75% WC. Needed to move the stand out a little more. Since the floating plant thing didn't work out, all the water lettuce is practically gone, I decided to put up a back ground after all. I went looking for poster paper and ending up finding a pale green wall paper for cheap so I got that.

The Java Fern is a mess! I'll figure that out later too. I wanted there to still be open space for them.

In the meantime I can't tell if they mind the changes or not. They keep swimming around and then stopping to look at me for a second, judgingly perhaps, and then swim on. If fish could give them stink eye that might be it, lol. I'm probably just worrying and not too sure about the changes I've made.

So, thought I'd do a recap for some reason - Hekatos (formerly Hekate, goddess of witches/Greek mythology, but turned out to be a male), Nepheli (named after the female character in Elden Ring, but turned out to be a definite boy and the name just suits him regardless), and Nebula (female, after the star and a nod to Guardians of the Galaxy).

Once I get this tank looking decent and am sure they're all happy with it I can focus more on trying to take better pictures of them!

 

[fishywoo]

Boy did I make this journey more complicated! Soon the Ranchu fry will have the tub they're in all to themselves. Maybe then I can figure out just how many of them are actually in there to see how much trouble I'm in, lol.

Picture from a few days ago!

 

[fishywoo]

Getting things ready to be moved around and got a glimpse at several different goldfish fry. Most are still very small. There's one monster sized one that has already turned dark (that one is always in the back and hard to get a picture of), and a few medium sized ones that look like Nepheli and Nebula. I still don't know for sure how many will survive. However many do if more than 2 I will have to re-home them. I don't know where I'm going to put a 30 gallon, but there's no way I'm not keeping two at this point and I think my family knew that before I did, lol. Will figure that out when we get to that road!
¯⁠\⁠_⁠(⁠ツ⁠)⁠_⁠/⁠¯

 

[Fishfur]

Getting things ready to be moved around and got a glimpse at several different goldfish fry. Most are still very small. There's one monster sized one that has already turned dark (that one is always in the back and hard to get a picture of), and a few medium sized ones that look like Nepheli and Nebula. I still don't know for sure how many will survive. However many do if more than 2 I will have to re-home them. I don't know where I'm going to put a 30 gallon, but there's no way I'm not keeping two at this point and I think my family knew that before I did, lol. Will figure that out when we get to that road!
¯⁠\⁠_⁠(⁠ツ⁠)⁠_⁠/⁠¯

Gotta love those big dark eyes.

 

[fishywoo]

One of the fry is developing a dorsal fin! I can't believe it. I'm not sure what that means yet.

One thing I do know is that I saw Nepheli spawning with Nebula, but I did not see Hekatos participating. I'm really not sure what that means either because I was so certain before that Nepheli was a girl until the spawning behavior, and not just chasing, but the whole swimming up into the floating plants and rubbing against Nebula to release the eggs, which I unfortunately did not get to see the part where the eggs were released.

Not sure what I'm going to end up with. Been having so many mixed emotions. Excited, but cautious - I've never raised fry before, absolutely thrilled, but anxious - not being planned or prepared for this.

At the very least I know I have the emergency back ups. I've got a 10 gallon rectangle storage tub, as well as a 10 gallon barrel shaped one, a 15 gallon tub, and the big back up in case anything happened with my 40 gallon - a 40 - 50 gallon tub in storage, all empty, and I still have the clamp I made for it. That's all worst case scenarios.

If things continue to progress I'm preparing to get a 30 gallon in the future, that will be my fourth and final tank. There's only one place I can reason it being and where a 30 gallon will fit. This is where I have the temporary tub right now, but there's one major problem - the stand.

It's currently on a cube shelf that contains my CPAP, a cube tote with office supplies, one with crafts and the other notebooks and there is absolutely no where else I can move these things and there's no way this shelf can hold the weight capacity of 30 gallons. I'm going to have to do a lot of brainstorming, looking, and saving to get something that can still hold those things and withstand the weight of 30 gallons.
><
...

Edit: added a quick video! Hopefully will get a better longer one once everyone is separated and what not.

 

[fishywoo]

Thought I'd do a little update.

Let the diatoms run rampant with plans to add MTS soon. Just want to make sure they're ok first. In the meantime cleaned some off the front glass, intake filter, and leaves. Hopeful about how these MTS will help out in this tank.

Frogbit isn't working out, I should've known. Looks like my Goldies are the roots off! Well at least they got some veggies. Going to move it out next, but too tired to tonight. Really wanted a floating plant to block the light, but I don't think it's in the cards for this set up. Going to be changing the lighting soon and hopefully that will be better.

Before and after photos. I also put a little bit of green Cryptocoryne in there to see how it does. Very small piece that detached. Hasn't died yet at least.

Can only add so many photos! Fry update and photos with the next comment...

...
Next group of photos... Goldfish babies are by themselves now with just a few bladder snails. The one fry that still kinda looked like a mosquito larva actually started catching up and looking like a fish like the rest! Didn't think he was going to make it. 8 of them last time I counted. They're so darn cute! Some of them look like nacreous scales, a couple appear to be solid metallic, most of them have button eyes so far, and a few have freckles! I thought this was going to be a disastrous extra responsibility with all the things I've got to get done, but it has turned into the opposite. Loving watching these guys grow. Could never be an intentional breeder or anything like that, but glad I get to do this just once. I just hope they continue to thrive!

 

[fishywoo]

Quick fry video!
=D

 

[fishywoo]

My mind is blown by this. 12 dollars, two lamps, dimmable warm led bulbs, completely changed the atmosphere of this whole tank, and the entire room. I couldn't be happier!

Cleaned the diatoms off, had to clean my HOBs out a second time this month after that - not going to be leaving those diatoms alone again, cleaned the glass lid, put these lights on and I'm throwing the old fluorescent hood light away! Good riddance! Lol

Beyond words happy, it's brighter yet softer and only shining down in two corners of the tank limiting the brightness above my Goldies.

Eeeep! I'm like a little kid on Christmas morning right now ha ha. It feels so different looking at it now. I'm just going to sit here for a time enjoying how much more pleasant it is with these lights and watch these goofballs wiggle around. They seem excited about this change.
(⁠ ⁠◜⁠‿⁠◝⁠ ⁠)⁠♡

 

[fishywoo]

Crazy size difference update. Yikes! Some of these guys just took off on the growth chart! Can't believe one of them has the one regular eye and one button eye like Nepheli. They're so gosh darn cute, but this growth is nothing compared to what they'll (hopefully) grow to. I have no idea what this is all going to look like from now and which ones I'm keeping yet. I'm also not sure at what point I'll get to try to find homes for these guys, but if you know anyone who might be interested down the road, lemme know! I might have a fish for them! Lol

 

[fishywoo]

Goldfish fry video from this morning. It feels like I blink and then they're a bit bigger than before. Some of them can now fit a whole piece of a bug bite in their mouth.

Shopping around for a stand for a 30 gallon and found one for 130 at home Depot and that's the regular price. I'm hoping it goes on sale after Christmas or has a new year sale because I could swing that. It's a cabinet aquarium stand with shelving and an open back. Just what I needed!

The 30, or rather 29 gallon aqueon tank is no longer on sale either, so I'm hoping that price will go down too. Right now it's 60. Does Petco even do their 1 dollar per gallon sales anymore? So sad if they don't. It was on sale for 40 not that long ago, so hoping it will drop down to that at least. I'd like to be able to get a substrate for them so every bit I can save will make that easier to do. Right now I'm eyeing caribsea midnight sand, but I'm having a hard time finding a place I can buy it. I'm weary of these online aquarium stores I've never heard of and I can't find it on Amazon which is really weird. It's on the caribsea website product list though so I know they're still making it, but doesn't look like I can purchase directly from the site.

I'm also thinking of adding the granite rocks I had gotten outside seeing as I didn't use them for my shrimp tank.

Pretty soon I'm going to have to take that Cholla Wood out too so they don't grow big enough to get stuck in it!

 

[Fishfur]

So lively. And I would remove the cholla- I’ve seen snails and fish get stuck inside that stuff.

 

[fishywoo]

Removed the Cholla Wood and added in some fresh algae via Hornwort. It looks like a right mess, but the WC are done and this is how it's going to be for now.

I have not spotted the smallest fry that was in there, so I'm not sure he's still there. There's a few other small ones doing good just looking runty, but one has me worried because he's staying at the bottom and does not appear to be able to swim up at all and is just sort of dragging along the bottom.

The few medium ones and few large ones are doing good at least! Tried to get pictures. The photo quality in this tub is terrible though.

I was able to get an aquaclear 50 and sponge filter on sale so I snatched those up!

Now just hoping the tank and stand go on sale. Would like to be moving them into more suitable living quarters ASAP.

The substrate I want might take awhile longer though. Found out it's brand new and being released slowly. I have a feeling I won't be getting that on sale.
=\ I'm picky about my substrate. Lol

 

[fishywoo]

I got the filters in the mail!

I also was able to get the stand. Was really frustrating because I found one that was a different model on sale, but it was sold out! The company gave me a small discount though on the one I was originally looking at so I took it and it will be here in the first week of January.

I also got the tank! 50% off at Petco right now!

So excited it's all coming together.

Little update on the fish, I have now spotted two fry with the mismatched regular and button eye! What are the chances? I am so excited to see these guys grow and find out what they're going to look like.

Will get more pictures soon.
^_^

 

[fishywoo]

Can't believe I'm setting up their tank within the next couple of weeks! I thought it was going to take a lot longer!

WC tonight. Tried to get some pictures of the two mismatched eyes pair, they each have a button eye on a different sides of their face! Will have to get a video tomorrow.

 

[kuhlkid]

Love seeing these little bubs every time. Those faces are to die for.

 

[fishywoo]

Video!

Never had a tub/tank look so dirty the day after WC and cleaning. Since moving the bladder snails out the inevitable diatoms have started to take over and I ended up having a few remaining pond snails that are snailing around.

The first fry in the video is actually my favorite. Medium size button eye with a dorsal fin.

I got one little silver doing good and one massive silver eating all the foods!

The largest button eye is thriving, but appears to have a some sort of tail deformity or one side is under developed, but it's otherwise healthy and the second biggest.

Then there's the yin and yang pair of mismatched button and regular eyes. They're almost like twins!

The last two runts are still there. One just doesn't look like he's growing, but swimming ok. The other is still dragging around the bottom unable to swim properly. This is the part I'm really apprehensive about and partly why I'm not cut out to be a breeder. I will most likely have to at least euthanize the one dragging along the bottom. It's not a good sign for him to be so small and struggling and his struggles will only worsen. =(
I'm not too sure about the other one. Going to give him time to hopefully catch up without issues. The way I see it now is that there's still a chance at least with that one.

So that's all eight!

Attached a picture of everything I have so far for them. Lid and stand is on the way.

I also decided on the substrate that is also on it's way. I wanted to do something a little different and got flourite (regular, not black) sand. Down the road if caribsea midnight river becomes more available and in a smaller bag I think it could look great mixed up with that and I'd like to try to have more plant options in the substrate eventually. If I can get my Cryptocorynes in my Betta's tank to take off I could add offshoots of those too.

 

[fishywoo]

Had to wait for the dust to settle.
The road so far!



Splurged a tiny bit this weekend. Ordered a purple knight sword, Cryptocoryne brown, smooth black agate stone, and a certain shade of tissue paper I wanted to give a try.

To be continued!

 

[Fishfur]

Had to wait for the dust to settle.
The road so far!

View attachment 895386

Splurged a tiny bit this weekend. Ordered a purple knight sword, Cryptocoryne brown, smooth black agate stone, and a certain shade of tissue paper I wanted to give a try.

To be continued!

Do keep us posted.

 

[fishywoo]

Was able to sit down to take more pictures. I can see them so much clearer now!
(⁠ ⁠◜⁠‿⁠◝⁠ ⁠)⁠♡
Family is in love with the big silver so looks like that one's a definite keeper!