# hi everyone. new person aboard



## glen_c (Oct 20, 2009)

hi everyone, just want to say i've been lurking around this site for a few months and decide to jump in and introduce myself because i just cant get enough. i started out with a 10 gallon goldfish tank and bumped up to a 33 long, and slowly it might be turning goldfish planted. i have 2 black moors, a calico fantail, a calico ryukin, and 4 zebra nerites in there. some java moss that was sold to me as christmas moss (though there might be some christmas moss mixed in, i dont know. some anacharis that was supposed to be the fish's food and i just put in an anubia today, dont have a picture yet. it's running a old used t10 single fixture with some blue light in there from a saltwater guy and a diy 18g wet dry filter sump thruglass overflow type of deal.

i tried to do an artsy fartsy pick of my tank for a few kicks for my buddies. i'm just trying to do a goldfish friendly low tech planted tank. this is what i have so far. its an outdoor tank in the back patio, so it gets some daylight but my light on there sucks. i'd love some suggestions for my low tech low budget tank.


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## Seattle_Aquarist (Mar 7, 2008)

Hi glen_c,

Welcome to APC!


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## Bert H (Mar 2, 2004)

Welcome to apc! Goldfish are not the easiest of fish to keep with planted tanks, but people do them. I'm sure a search will yield lots of good links. You might also be interested in the 'el natural' forum for low tech type set ups. 

Again, welcome to apc!


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## Tex Gal (Nov 1, 2007)

:yo: Glad you decided to join. Sounds like you're hooked - just like the rest of us!  

Have you thought about trying some amazon swords in there? I've seen some goldfish tanks with those and anubias.

Your fish really look pretty!


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## glen_c (Oct 20, 2009)

thanks for the warm greeting everyone. and your right about being hooked, if i wasnt already attached to my fish theyd be out on the next trip for strore credit. haha.


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## glen_c (Oct 20, 2009)

sorry to double post, but i'm learning that i have no idea what i'm doing. i can keep reading and reading but i dont know what info is more directed towards my application. and it seems even the beginners guides go right through me. so as i said i have a 33 long that sits outside. it gets a few hours of good direct sunlight in the afternoon as the sun angles under the roof of the patio. and i leave the blueish 40watt t10 tube fixture on for 12 hours. i've only had the tank running for around a month. i've had half a cup of java moss for about 3 weeks, 4 nerites for about a week and a small anubia as of yesterday, oh yeah, and theres a small bunch of anacharis floating in there. 

my main concern is all this algae, i photoshopped it out of the picture up there, but as you can see from the rock i have a pretty good amount. i just upgraded to a dual 37w archaea t8 light (got it slightly used for $40) but i'm not sure when to use it now. i'm really confused on the whole algae thing between co2, fertilizing, lighting? all i really need is to be pointed in the right direction which is setting up a low tech, fancy goldfish medium planted tank. 

too much light?
need co2?
need?

sorry for being such a newb but i can't sort my brain to find the answers.


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## davemonkey (Mar 29, 2008)

You need enough plant mass to take up all the nutrients from your goldfish so the algae don't get it. To avoid spendin gmore money on lights, CO2, ferts, etc... I would recommend planting some Anubias (attach to the rocks or plant the roots in gravel with the rhizome ABOVE the gravel), or some Java Fern. 

Other plants that might do well with your lighting and fish could be: Sword plants, cryptocorynes, hygrophila....

-Dave


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## Cliff Mayes (Jan 29, 2007)

You are fortunate that Goldfish are almost foolproof; they will live in almost any water you provide and will eat just about anything that is small enough to fit in their mouth that will sit still long enough.

I once thought that Amazon Swords and Java Fern were invulnerable to Goldfish until one day the Golfish ate them down to the nubs. I have been trying for decades to get Goldfish and plants to co-exist and it hasn't worked yet but I keep trying. Maybe some Moss or Hornwort will work?

Sunlight is great light except that you cannot control it. The bluish light sounds as if it is Actinic which is not as good as other types for fresh water. Getting a tank from a SW setup means some new stuff probably the light bulb and the gravel are more than likely not correct for your species but should be OK for the moment.

If the Fantail is very quick and the Moors and Ryukin are slower they may not get enough of a crack at the food but Goldfish being pretty good foragers will get enough to get by with. The Aacharis or Elodea probably looks like a salad snack for them. I have seen Goldfish folk buy a bag of duckweed for their Goldfish tanks and the fish seem to really enjoy the duckweed.

I do not know if we have helped or not but you have been given a lot of good advice to work with. A low budget is a difficult hill to get over or around because most of us never add up the costs for fear of finding out what this Hobby really costs.


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## glen_c (Oct 20, 2009)

thanks, things are a little more clear now. so what i'm understanding is to add more plants to suck up the excess nutrients for now? should i still turn on my light? also, with just java moss, anubias, and anacharis, do i need to start looking into co2 or fertilizers?

cliffmayes: yeah, goldfish are awesome, i can already see their different personalities, the ryukin is actually the food hog, its bigger too. maybe thats because the fantail has one regular eye and one small eye? hehe. my fish barely even touch the anacharis, and i dont think the light is actinic, just on the cooler side, i've seen my buddys actinic and it doesnt even come close. but i'm not using it anymore since i got that new archaea light.

thanks everyone, yeah i pretty much realized this isnt going to be cheap, the only low budget part is the actual fish. but i'm going to clean up the algae on the glass today and at least pick up somemore anacharis and duckweed. then i'll see how that helps. thanks.


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## davemonkey (Mar 29, 2008)

glen_c said:


> thanks, things are a little more clear now. so what i'm understanding is to add more plants to suck up the excess nutrients for now? should i still turn on my light? also, with just java moss, anubias, and anacharis, do i need to start looking into co2 or fertilizers?


Yes, more plants. You can keep the light. No need for CO2 or ferts for your set-up, unless you want to get a good light fixture that's putting out 100 or so watts (and you'd need to plant heavily if you go that route...meaning if you looked into your tank from the top, you'd see only plants, no substrate).


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## glen_c (Oct 20, 2009)

thank you very much, that helps a lot. and yeah, i'm not trying to fill the whole tank with plants, my original plan was to just do a third or half at the very most. thanks for all the help


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