Salvaged 10G Coldwater Tank Journey

[daileene]

Hello ladies and gentlemen.

I have not been here for awhile and I apologize. With all the times I haven't been here, one of those days I have salvaged a 10G tank from a friend who wanted to throw it with a 3-4 inches goldlfish and an african clawed frog as a resident. She had it for over a year so I assumed that she had it cycled already. I figured out I can keep them while my 20G long is cycling. I was gonna transfer the ACF there after. But then he climbed out from the tank 2 weeks after I got the tank and he died, much to my amazement. My friend told me that he never tried climbing out before.

Anyway, the last snowstorm, we lost our power in Massachusetts for almost a week. The goldfish was fine since he can tolerate cold temperature but my other tropical fish died, but that's another story. I wanted to ask all you guy's opinion about the goldfish's future days in this tank. Here are some of my concerns:

1. He is alone, but am I overstocked since he is 3-4 inches already?
2. I wanted to put plants in the tank but I already know that my plants will not stay put because goldfish always dig the substrate. Are there any plants that are goldfish friendly?
3. Because he is alone, I read somewhere that they would be lonely. Is this true? Can I add another coldwater fish with him/her?

Thank you for all your help in advance....

 

[jlk]

Good for you for taking care of the goldfish-im sorry your other guys didnt survive the power outtage!!! What type of goldfish is he (fancy with double tail or comet with single tail)? A fancy will be fine by himself in a 20gal. A comet can grow to be 18inches in length & ideally belongs in a pond environment. The 'general' rule for goldfish is 20gal for the first, 10gal for each fish there after. Plants are possible with goldfish (others may disagree) and i have yet to have an issue with my guys eating or digging up my plants. Caveat, i also feed them veggies daily (in addition to a commercial food) so they have no interest in the plants. I do have the plants weighted with anchors as well. Im still learning about plants here but i have anubias, swords, wisteria, tiger lotus, & some water lettuce. Please keep asking questions!

 

[daileene]

Well, I thought he was a comet but his tail is not as long as the comet pictures I have seen online. He is not fancy. I used to have 2 fancy goldfish and 1 koi in my first 10G but I transferred them to my father in law's pond knowing after that they would outgrow the 10G. But since this one is just alone, I thought he would be fine in this tank for now. He does have a white and orange color combination to him. He looks like a normal goldfish but with that color instead of the whole orange coloration. How big does a common goldfish grow?

When I had my fancy goldfish and koi, they ruined my plants because of excess digging. This one is doing the same thing, digging the substrate when he/she is looking for food. I only have a plastic plants in here attached to a plastic log. But I still want to try plants if I can.

So I really can't let him stay here in this tank? I was planing on a tropical community tank in my 20G, not a coldwater tank. :-(

 

[jlk]

If he is a single tailed goldfish (most likely a comet-not all of them have long tails & there are variations of breeds of comets/commons) and you are looking for a tropical tank, you best option would be to rehome (your dads pond?) him. He is fine for now but he will outgrow the 20gal fairly quickly. Rehoming sounds like its going to be your best option here especially if your not interested in a coldwater tank.

 

[daileene]

yes, he is a single tailed. so maybe he is a comet. maybe I will rehome him again. Although I am beginning to get attached to this baby. But I have to look for his best interest. My father in law's pond is still available but I think I have to give him to my other friend who have a pond. In the summer I will.

I kinda have an idea what to keep in this tank. I found some good looking coldwater fish that is not in the goldfish family. So I will keep you guys updated. I actually should get a picture of the tank soon.

 

[daileene]

Hello gals and guys...hope you all had a blast with the final days of the year.

Well I have a bad news for this tank. The single comet goldfish I had salvaged died last Dec. 25. I didn't know what had happened to him. He didn't show any signs of disease until dec. 24. I noticed that both of his eyes were both cloudy and his whole body looks like it is peeling powdery stuff. He was just staying in one corner and never even move when I tried feeding him, which was strange because he was a piggy. The day before that he was very active. Then the next day when we waked up, I saw him in his side in one of the fake plants. I refused to believe that he was dead because he was with the family who gave him to me for more than 1 year, almost 2 years and they never even take care of him ever. And now that he is with me and I took care of his water and feed him regularly, he died. Weird. They used to say that they haven't fed him almost 2 months and I was like, what??? How did he survive?

I almost thought he was hibernating, but I don't think the way he looks when he was dead, was the look of hibernation. I had researched on goldfish hibernating and most of the answers said yes, they can hibernate when the temp lower down to 50 deg. But they only shuts down part of their system, not looking like dead.

So, I finally admitted that he is dead. So what I did to this tank is, I transferred it to my son's room, where I had my 4.4G flatback hex (I am selling it), and making it a somewhat planted and heated tank instead of being a coldwater tank. I had one blue gourami here right now. Will post a picture tomorrow.

 

[jlk]

Im sorry about your goldie! But, I wish you luck with your new tropical setup & hope everything goes well!!

 

[daileene]

I know. I loved that fish. Jonathan is what my son loves to call him. RIP Jonathan. He got so fat even though I only fed him once a day. I am going to miss him. :-(

 

[daileene]

and thank you jlk. i greatly appreciate it.

 

[jlk]

Your welcome! Perhaps, in the future, you can do another goldie tank for your son-they really are wonderful, comical creatures! Good luck!

 

[daileene]

maybe..thank you. they are..

 

[daileene]

Okay so now, this tank is really not a coldwater anymore. It got transferred to my son's room so the look of it is kinda tacky now. Well, when I say tacky, I meant childish style. Although I am determine to have it somewhat moderately planted since I added the eco-complete substrate on this tank from the 4.4G FBH. Right now, the only plant in here is the rosette sword from my other 10G in my bedroom, which is in the living room now in placed of this tank. (My 4.4G FBH that used to be in my son's room is for sale now).

Last December 18, 2011, I got 3 blue gouramis and I put each one of them in my 3 10Gs. I think the one that I put in this particular tank is an opaline gourami. It changes its color (the 2 spots disappear occassionaly) once in a while. I know it said in my research that they do these when they are under high stress situations or not kept under good condition. The only times I see it change color is when I changed water.

Anyway, I finally got the chance to get a picture of this tank since yesterday it was kinda cloudy, with all the addition of the substrate and other stuff. In this tank, this are the following things in it:

1 x 10i whisper filter
1 x small world penn plax internal sponge filter
eco-complete substrate and some colorful gravel on top of it
greek structure and fake log with fake flowers decos
1 x mini hydor heater (I will change it after)
1 x rosette sword
1 x spongebob deco

Fish: 1 x opaline (blue) gourami

Picture Time (please note that the lights are 2 diff. bulbs, hence the weird coloration, I have to buy new ones tomorrow):

 

[daileene]

Full tank shot:

Side View:

The lone plant (rosette sword):

Decorations:

 

[daileene]

The resident:

 

[daileene]

Hello everyone. I just want to share with you some new development with this tank. When I got my new tank (20G long), the owner of the tank had a lot of extras (plastic decos) that my son wanted to be put in this tank. He will not want a NO for an answer. So, so much for my planted tank. I can still have area for some live plants but not a whole lot. But here is what it looks like right now:

 

[jlk]

Looks good!!! Isnt it fun having kids?! LOL!

 

[daileene]

LOL. I know. My 5 3/4 year old son named the blue gourami in here "pirate sammy". LOL.

 

[daileene]

Okay, another update for my tacky tank. I had changed the plastic decos around here again since I transferred the greek structure to my new 20G for now. I had added 5 neon tetras in here too, which the 2 died (I didn't notice that the guy in Petco gave me the ones in the quarantine area tetras), 3 are still alive until now. I will hopefully add more soon so they won't be so lonely. Although they don't appear lonely with Pirate Sammy around in the tank. They kinda hang out together.

Here are some pics:

My lone rosette sword:

 

[daileene]

The 3 neon tetras are hiding in the back being shy. Maybe later I can get a close up of them after.

 

[daileene]

Okay, this tank is back to being a fully planted tank. I took all the plastic plants even the silk plants that was attached to the plastic log. I was thinking I will cover that log with moss later.

In here now are the following:

aponogeton (sp?) bulb
rotalas
water sprite
italian val
rosette sword
very small moss attached to the plastic coral
cornutas
dwarf water lettuce

more room for more.