Goldfish + Plants?

[Platiesareawesome]

Hello! I will hopefully be starting a 50 gallon planted goldfish tank soon. The substrate will be Seachem Flourite black sand, and the light fixture will probably be the Aquatic Life 36" T-5 HO Dual Lamp Fixture. Will amazon sword, jungle vallisneria, cryptocornyne parva, and possibly some anubias nana or wisteria be compatible with 3 ryukin or pearlscale goldfish? Thank you!

 

[Fresh2o]

These plants sound fine, though I am not sure about the crypt parva. It is one of the smaller crypts (maybe the smallest) and depending on the size of your goldies, they might make a snack of it. Its a tough plants just not very big. Plus it is a slow grower.

Perhaps a larger species of crypt might work better. Not sure of goldfish find them tasty though.

 

[Platiesareawesome]

These plants sound fine, though I am not sure about the crypt parva. It is one of the smaller crypts (maybe the smallest) and depending on the size of your goldies, they might make a snack of it. Its a tough plants just not very big. Plus it is a slow grower. Perhaps a larger species of crypt might work better. Not sure of goldfish find them tasty though.

Ok thanks! I just wanted a smaller crypt, as I would use it as a foreground plant. Do you know of any crypts I could have in the foreground?

 

[Fresh2o]

Ok thanks! I just wanted a smaller crypt, as I would use it as a foreground plant. Do you know of any crypts I could have in the foreground?

As for low growing crypts, aside from parva you might be limited. I have wendtii red growing in low and medium lighting and in the former they stay pretty low (2-3") whereas in the latter they are 6-8" tall. In both cases they are healthy and sending out runners.

Hoping others will chime in regarding their experiences with Crypt parva + Golfish. It may work out well for you. Don't mean to dissuade you.

Here is a link that describes one goldfish keeper's experience with plants:
http://goldfishkeepers.com/forum/showthread.php?t=3590

Here is another site that lists various plants and a 'Goldfish Proof' note for each:
http://www.kokosgoldfish.com/Plants.html

 

[Rivercats]

The goldies could possible nibble on the wisteria and val. Mine wouldn't leave my corkscrew val alone and wisteria make for a nice salad. I found swords, crypts, anubia's, jungle val, and bolbitus were always left alone. Most everything else would be nibbled at. Parva would work fine if you can get them to leave it planted.

One thing I found that helped keep goldies from plant nibbling was giving them a lot of veggies and some fruits. I gave some type of veggie daily and added in cooked, deshelled peas at least 2 or 3 days a week. If I slacked off giving them enough veggies that is when they would really pick up on plant nibbling.

 

[Platiesareawesome]

Ok thanks!

 

[Platiesareawesome]

One thing I found that helped keep goldies from plant nibbling was giving them a lot of veggies and some fruits. I gave some type of veggie daily and added in cooked, deshelled peas at least 2 or 3 days a week. If I slacked off giving them enough veggies that is when they would really pick up on plant nibbling.

How often do you feed them?

 

[Rivercats]

I fed veggies daily and sometimes they would get a bit of fruit also.

 

[Platiesareawesome]

I fed veggies daily and sometimes they would get a bit of fruit also.

Sorry I should have been more specific. How many times did you feed daily? As in pellets/flakes and vegetables/fruit.

 

[Rivercats]

I fed a small amount of pellets then I would add whatever veggie alittle while later. But a couple times a week I would only feed the cooked, deshelled pea's in the morning. Some people like to feed goldies 2 or even 3x a day since they have no stomach. I always had great results using pellets then veggies alittle later on. If you opt to feed multiple times a day just be sure to feed small amounts each time.

 

[jlk]

Sorry I should have been more specific. How many times did you feed daily? As in pellets/flakes and vegetables/fruit.

+1 to Rivercats

Feed lots veggies daily to minimize plant nibbling. Feeding a couple of small meals spread out over the course of day instead of one or two big meals also helps. Also, opt for only ryukins or only pearls- mixing the two breeds does not always work due to ryukins potential aggressiveness and pearls physical swimming handicaps.

 

[Platiesareawesome]

Is it required to feed them twice a day? Would feeding veggies every day have any negative effects?

 

[Rivercats]

It's best if you can feed them at least twice daily although many don't. Feeding veggies is very good for them and will help keep them from getting constipated especially if you feed peas a couple times weekly. I would usually feed a good brand of sinking pellets like Hakari or Pro Gold in the morning and then add my veggies or fruit later in the day.

 

[jlk]

Is it required to feed them twice a day? Would feeding veggies every day have any negative effects?

Required to feed them a quality staple food twice a day or veggies twice a day?

No negative effects to feeding veggies daily or more often. In natural environments, goldfish consume over 80% of their diet in plant and algae matter. Although mimicking this exactly in manmade aquaria is a bit difficult, veggies help tremendously to fill this dietary gap. I generally feed in them in the evening and clean up anything remaining the next morning but there rarely is anything left.

 

[Platiesareawesome]

Required to feed them a quality staple food twice a day or veggies twice a day? No negative effects to feeding veggies daily or more often. In natural environments, goldfish consume over 80% of their diet in plant and algae matter. Although mimicking this exactly in manmade aquaria is a bit difficult, veggies help tremendously to fill this dietary gap. I generally feed in them in the evening and clean up anything remaining the next morning but there rarely is anything left.

Is it required to feed a staple food twice a day?

 

[Rivercats]

I usually had a couple days a week that I only fed fruits and or veggies but most days I did feed some high quality sinking pellets.

 

[Cdsdave]

I have 2 Anacharis plants and two grass like plants(sorry I lost the card that came with them). There are 3 koi and a goldfish in my tank and they do go after the plants. What I did for the grass plants was cable tie a rock around their base and plant them in a small plastic container with gravel. The Anacharis I just have in the gravel. They eat at its leaves but don't pull it out of the gravel. It hasn't affected the plants growth.

I feed them koi/goldfish sticks twice a day with one feeding soaked in garlic juice.

I say go for the plants!!

 

[Rivercats]

I have 2 Anacharis plants and two grass like plants(sorry I lost the card that came with them). There are 3 koi and a goldfish in my tank and they do go after the plants. What I did for the grass plants was cable tie a rock around their base and plant them in a small plastic container with gravel. The Anacharis I just have in the gravel. They eat at its leaves but don't pull it out of the gravel. It hasn't affected the plants growth.

I feed them koi/goldfish sticks twice a day with one feeding soaked in garlic juice.

I say go for the plants!!

Not on subject with the OP's post but I feel I need to say koi get way too big to be kept in an aquarium. Even when we imported 6 fingerlings during the winter I only kept them in a 220g heavily filtered tank till temps warmed up enough in the spring. Koi also grow very quickly. We keep our koi in a 4000g pond.

 

[jlk]

Is it required to feed a staple food twice a day?

Fry are fed 4-6x a day, younger fish get fed typically 3x a day, older fish 2x a day and outside fish 1x a day (when its warm enough to feed). I would not say its 'required' to feed a set number of times a day but goldfish fair better with small meals spread out over the course of a day versus one big meal due to how their digestion system is designed. They have fewer digestive issues and problems related to digestion such as constipation, buoyancy issues, etc and better growth.

 

[Platiesareawesome]

Okay thanks for your help guys! I appreciate it!