So, in August my girlfriend came home with a common goldfish from the fair. We rushed out to the store and bought a small tank for it, honestly expecting it to die shortly and to replace it with a betta.
Somehow, despite my ineptitude and lack of research (I was overfeeding it, giving weekly full water changes and biweekly filter changes), that fish is still alive and quite vital four months later. So, as an additional short-term measure we went out and purchased a 10 gallon tank and a whisper 20i filter for him, set it up... and (thanks, wal mart!) moved him in the following day. So now we're fish-in cycling, with him and a bristlenose pleco, which is going fairly well.
Now, this tank will not be the final home for either of these fish. I now know better and am looking at a 40 gallon tank for them when they outgrow the 10g. My current plan with this tank is (once it's done cycling) 30-40% water changes every friday. I'm looking for advice regarding additional tankmates for the pair. The goldfish is near exactly two inches long, and the pleco is just under an inch. I understand that both of these fish are fairly tough on the bioload of the tank, but I was hoping that I could fit a school of (five or six) white cloud mountain minnows as well as - less importantly - three Amano shrimp to clean up the bottom of the tank (apparently they're social). I've read that white clouds are compatible with goldfish while they're small, but my concerns are that a) the shrimp will be eaten and b) the tank will simply not remain stable under this load.
Thoughts?
Somehow, despite my ineptitude and lack of research (I was overfeeding it, giving weekly full water changes and biweekly filter changes), that fish is still alive and quite vital four months later. So, as an additional short-term measure we went out and purchased a 10 gallon tank and a whisper 20i filter for him, set it up... and (thanks, wal mart!) moved him in the following day. So now we're fish-in cycling, with him and a bristlenose pleco, which is going fairly well.
Now, this tank will not be the final home for either of these fish. I now know better and am looking at a 40 gallon tank for them when they outgrow the 10g. My current plan with this tank is (once it's done cycling) 30-40% water changes every friday. I'm looking for advice regarding additional tankmates for the pair. The goldfish is near exactly two inches long, and the pleco is just under an inch. I understand that both of these fish are fairly tough on the bioload of the tank, but I was hoping that I could fit a school of (five or six) white cloud mountain minnows as well as - less importantly - three Amano shrimp to clean up the bottom of the tank (apparently they're social). I've read that white clouds are compatible with goldfish while they're small, but my concerns are that a) the shrimp will be eaten and b) the tank will simply not remain stable under this load.
Thoughts?
