Just signed up, initially to find out something about my crazy goldfish, but I found the answer after searching through the threads (poor guy just didn't like the water and needed a friend).
My dad had above-ground outdoor ponds when I was a child. He kept Tiger Oscars mainly, with one pond holding like hundreds of these tiny orange fishes (probably platys).
As I grew and his last Oscar died...we got rid of the ponds. When I decided I would set up a tank in my room, his love was rekindled and he built more ponds and restarted keeping his own fish. (EVERYTHING DIY, including creating his own filters from cotton wool, activated charcoal, empty paint containers, and PVC pipes.)
His ponds:
- koi and goldfish, they are pretty big, almost a foot long for some of the bigger koi and 8-10 inches for the goldfish. I call it his "big fish" pond.
- Albino Oscars
- Tiger Oscars
- Zebras (both the regular ones and the neon variety...as well as a few mixed through breeding, which I love...it's nice to see a pink neon zebra with black stripes, or a black zebra with white stripes that have a hint of yellow)
- smaller goldfish (2-3 inches) and black moors, with one 7 inch black moor who's actually quite social (he got too large for my tank so I moved him outside)
- 1-2 inch goldfish as well as some platys
- angelfish, a couple scavengers
All tanks have a couple snails as well as vegetation. He actually has 9 ponds, I think one of the remaining two may have smaller oscars and the other one is kept empty for breeding pairs. Of course he thinks any fat goldfish is pregnant...but we've had some success in the past with it.
My tank is pretty much a mixup. It's about 25 gallons and I've successfully kept goldfish, angels, zebras (at the same time for months on end)...
I have 2 goldfish (2-inches), one old, one new (well...from my dad's pond). The old one has quite a personality. It took him a few days to get used to my tank and me, and he'd go hiding behind some rocks whenever he saw me until he got used to me. Recently my water quality took a downturn when my filter stopped working for a couple days. The poor guy almost went crazy as he repeatedly tried to jump out. Thankfully after searching on here and with a fixed filter and a partial water change, he calmed down. I brought in one of my dad's goldfish for him to have a friend to help him calm down and so far it's been working well. They're swimming together and exploring and look like quite the pair.
I also have 2 angels (1-inch). I know they're going to get huge and I'll have to move them outside eventually, but I love how graceful they are. They're practically babies, but they have taken to each other very well.
One zebra, yellowish neon but not bright, a leftover from cycling my tank last time I did. His friend died some time ago but he's never let up with his energy. His favourite thing to do is swim under the overflow from the pump and let the water push him down...like over and over. I call it his version of a roller coaster.
One baby snail that I seem to have gotten inadvertently while transferring the goldfish...and a couple of plants.
Now I've had as much as 3 black moors, 4 goldfish, 2 angels and 2 zebras in my tank at once and they thrived but...I think this is a decent enough setup for me for now.
EDIT: Oh, how can I forget...my neighbour has an outdoor pond with koi and an artifical waterfall (he stole my idea...hmph) and an indoor saltwater tank with your typical Finding Nemo critters. He travels often, so we usually fish-sit for him and I must say, it's quite relaxing to sit and watch the clownfish laze amongst the polyps too.
My dad had above-ground outdoor ponds when I was a child. He kept Tiger Oscars mainly, with one pond holding like hundreds of these tiny orange fishes (probably platys).
As I grew and his last Oscar died...we got rid of the ponds. When I decided I would set up a tank in my room, his love was rekindled and he built more ponds and restarted keeping his own fish. (EVERYTHING DIY, including creating his own filters from cotton wool, activated charcoal, empty paint containers, and PVC pipes.)
His ponds:
- koi and goldfish, they are pretty big, almost a foot long for some of the bigger koi and 8-10 inches for the goldfish. I call it his "big fish" pond.
- Albino Oscars
- Tiger Oscars
- Zebras (both the regular ones and the neon variety...as well as a few mixed through breeding, which I love...it's nice to see a pink neon zebra with black stripes, or a black zebra with white stripes that have a hint of yellow)
- smaller goldfish (2-3 inches) and black moors, with one 7 inch black moor who's actually quite social (he got too large for my tank so I moved him outside)
- 1-2 inch goldfish as well as some platys
- angelfish, a couple scavengers
All tanks have a couple snails as well as vegetation. He actually has 9 ponds, I think one of the remaining two may have smaller oscars and the other one is kept empty for breeding pairs. Of course he thinks any fat goldfish is pregnant...but we've had some success in the past with it.
My tank is pretty much a mixup. It's about 25 gallons and I've successfully kept goldfish, angels, zebras (at the same time for months on end)...
I have 2 goldfish (2-inches), one old, one new (well...from my dad's pond). The old one has quite a personality. It took him a few days to get used to my tank and me, and he'd go hiding behind some rocks whenever he saw me until he got used to me. Recently my water quality took a downturn when my filter stopped working for a couple days. The poor guy almost went crazy as he repeatedly tried to jump out. Thankfully after searching on here and with a fixed filter and a partial water change, he calmed down. I brought in one of my dad's goldfish for him to have a friend to help him calm down and so far it's been working well. They're swimming together and exploring and look like quite the pair.
I also have 2 angels (1-inch). I know they're going to get huge and I'll have to move them outside eventually, but I love how graceful they are. They're practically babies, but they have taken to each other very well.
One zebra, yellowish neon but not bright, a leftover from cycling my tank last time I did. His friend died some time ago but he's never let up with his energy. His favourite thing to do is swim under the overflow from the pump and let the water push him down...like over and over. I call it his version of a roller coaster.
One baby snail that I seem to have gotten inadvertently while transferring the goldfish...and a couple of plants.
Now I've had as much as 3 black moors, 4 goldfish, 2 angels and 2 zebras in my tank at once and they thrived but...I think this is a decent enough setup for me for now.
EDIT: Oh, how can I forget...my neighbour has an outdoor pond with koi and an artifical waterfall (he stole my idea...hmph) and an indoor saltwater tank with your typical Finding Nemo critters. He travels often, so we usually fish-sit for him and I must say, it's quite relaxing to sit and watch the clownfish laze amongst the polyps too.
