29g high - help introducing Fantail and driftwood

[StepanLevin]

Some backstory: I inherited a Fantail goldfish from a friend of a friend, have been keeping it in an Aqueon 10g starter kit for past few months. I have invested in a 29g high SeaPora tank to move them in to but decided to try introducing some tank mates and plants beforehand.

I have added 10 gold White Cloud minnows, 10 Ghost shrimp, Hornwort and Elodea Densa. It turns out some Pond snails hitchhiked on the Hornwort so I have at least a few of those in the tank currently, I have confirmed the Hornwort was not grown in a tank with fish and am told therefore shouldn't carry anything dangerous to my guys. The next steps I would like to take are introducing my Fantail and driftwood:

My current plan is to give the tank at least another week to hopefully further establish my shrimp, minnows and plants then try introducing the Fantail when I can keep a close watch for the first couple hours. I figure if my Fantail goes into a feeding frenzy and my little guys can't hide or out swim them I could try putting my minnows and shrimp in the 10g.

With respect to driftwood I've read a bunch but have run into conflicting information. I understand that ideally I should purchase aquarium-safe driftwood from my FLS but am on a budget and think creating my own pieces would be more rewarding. Some sources say not to use any outdoor wood or specific species such as coniferous, softwood, spruce, pine, yew, etc...

Here is a link to some more pictures and a video if curious: https://imgur.com/a/Gj36sv4

 

[Dallascowboys16]

Some backstory: I inherited a Fantail goldfish from a friend of a friend, have been keeping it in an Aqueon 10g starter kit for past few months. I have invested in a 29g high SeaPora tank to move them in to but decided to try introducing some tank mates and plants beforehand.

I have added 10 gold White Cloud minnows, 10 Ghost shrimp, Hornwort and Elodea Densa. It turns out some Pond snails hitchhiked on the Hornwort so I have at least a few of those in the tank currently, I have confirmed the Hornwort was not grown in a tank with fish and am told therefore shouldn't carry anything dangerous to my guys. The next steps I would like to take are introducing my Fantail and driftwood:

My current plan is to give the tank at least another week to hopefully further establish my shrimp, minnows and plants then try introducing the Fantail when I can keep a close watch for the first couple hours. I figure if my Fantail goes into a feeding frenzy and my little guys can't hide or out swim them I could try putting my minnows and shrimp in the 10g.

With respect to driftwood I've read a bunch but have run into conflicting information. I understand that ideally I should purchase aquarium-safe driftwood from my FLS but am on a budget and think creating my own pieces would be more rewarding. Some sources say not to use any outdoor wood or specific species such as coniferous, softwood, spruce, pine, yew, etc...

Here is a link to some more pictures and a video if curious: https://imgur.com/a/Gj36sv4

Tank looks good. Your goldfish should play nice with the white clouds and the shrimp as long as it isn't enormous. For using driftwood you collect yourself, a good rule of thumb is to not use wood that is soft enough for you to dig your fingernail into. Avoid pines of all kind. Otherwise you should be ok.

 

[SaraB]

I'm also making my own driftwood, I was lucky enough to see a neighbor throwing out a bunch of trimmed maple branches. Use hardwoods to be safe and remove the bark so it doesn't rot in your tank.

 

[earhtmother]

Not much to add to the information already given you other than you should bake the wood to make sure you kill anything living in it and since this will dry it out you will have to weigh it down in your tank until it becomes waterlogged enough not to float

 

[StepanLevin]

Interesting, I hadn't read about baking the wood, only soaking and boiling. Is there a temp and time you'd recommend it go in the oven for?

Thank you for making the note about the size of my Fantail here is an image:

It's a bit tough to tell it's size from the picture so here's a video: https://imgur.com/a/Jw0yE32

The body measures roughly 3" or 5.5" including the tail. I've been given conflicting advice but some have said it'll eat anything that fits in its mouth, I'm not certain how to determine what that includes, do they mean the width of the mouth or the depth of it?

 

[Dallascowboys16]

Interesting, I hadn't read about baking the wood, only soaking and boiling. Is there a temp and time you'd recommend it go in the oven for?

Thank you for making the note about the size of my Fantail here is an image:

It's a bit tough to tell it's size from the picture so here's a video: https://imgur.com/a/Jw0yE32

The body measures roughly 3" or 5.5" including the tail. I've been given conflicting advice but some have said it'll eat anything that fits in its mouth, I'm not certain how to determine what that includes, do they mean the width of the mouth or the depth of it?

If the width of a fish's mouth is big enough they may attempt to eat a smaller tank mate. However, do to white clouds quickness and the docile nature of most goldfish this is not likely to be an issue. If we were talking a 2 foot koi and tiny minnows then that could be a different story.

 

[StepanLevin]

Introduced my Fantail to their new tank last night and I'm down at least one minnow, shrimp are harder to count. I can't say for certain my goldfish is the culprit, I'm still waiting on my lid so one of em could have tried jumping out of the tank, though I can't find the body anywhere so I assume it got devoured.

I did keep an eye for the first few hours last night and they seemed to be getting on fine. My shrimp are willing to scavenge pretty close to the Fantail, though they aren't as out in the open in terms of resting on top of my plants. The minnows stick together in the top third or half of the tank depending where the goldfish is. It's a shame because both seemed more active and willing to explore all parts of the tank prior to me adding the goldfish.

I figure my options are either to add additional plants and/or decorations to give my little guys more places to hide or relocate them to my 10g.