My new 55 gallon goldfish tank

I have some rescue goldfish and I could finally get a 55 gallon tank. I want to update this post when i add new things, but i have a general plan for this tank. My goldfish are super small, only 2-4 inches, and they are 5 years old. We took them from our neighbors who took horrible care of them. I will try to do a fish-in cycle for this tank.
I currently have 2 bug sponge filters (probably not the best for a goldfish tank but they were being sold for only $9) and some water sprite, driftwood, java moss and java fern. Today or tomorrow i will add ghost shrimp, because i really want to add shrimp and the goldfish’s growth is so stunted that they are too small to really fit a shrimp in their mouth and probably wont get big enough to do so. If the ghost shrimp survive then I may add some other kinds of shrimp, like cherry shrimp. Once the tank seems to be stable and mostly cycled, i want to add bristlenose plecos and ember tetras. I dont want anything too exciting, but i really want the tank to be well planted. I want some lilypads of some sort and a carpeting plant, or maybe just a plant that can cover the ground mostly in some way. I might also make my own background to save some money. Money is a bit tight so im just going to add things more slowly now, maybe mow lawns or something in my small amount of free time for a couple extra dollars. Are there any recommendations for this tank? I know shrimp will be a bit controversial but i think they will do just fine, but are there any other kinds of fish or plants you recommend adding sometime in the future?


UPDATE: our aquarium lights finally arrived but one of them is broken so we have to go back to petco to exchange it… I added some water sprite to the tank and im planning on adding a dwarf sagittarius carpet. Im just worried that once the goldfish go in they will uproot EVERYTHING. I doubt even my java moss is safe lol. The whole tank needs at least another week but it looks so nice right now!

Good on you for taking on the fish

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Don't add any other fish or shrimp until the tank has finished cycling.

Feed the fish 2-3 times a week and do a 75% water change and gravel clean the substrate 4-8 hours after feeding. You should also monitor the ammonia and nitrite levels and do a 75% water change any day you have a reading above 0ppm.

Once the filter has cycled (in about 6 weeks), you can feed more often and do a 75% water change and gravel clean the substrate once a week.

You can add some more fish and shrimp a few weeks after it has cycled.

Make sure any new water is free of chlorine/ chloramine before it's added to the tank.

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Tetras and bristlenose catfish come from soft acid water.
Goldfish come from harder water with a pH above 7.0.
The 2 types of fish should not be kept together because they need different water chemistry.

Finn1231 said:

I have some rescue goldfish and I could finally get a 55 gallon tank. I want to update this post when i add new things, but i have a general plan for this tank. My goldfish are super small, only 2-4 inches, and they are 5 years old. We took them from our neighbors who took horrible care of them. I will try to do a fish-in cycle for this tank.
I currently have 2 bug sponge filters (probably not the best for a goldfish tank but they were being sold for only $9) and some water sprite, driftwood, java moss and java fern. Today or tomorrow i will add ghost shrimp, because i really want to add shrimp and the goldfish’s growth is so stunted that they are too small to really fit a shrimp in their mouth and probably wont get big enough to do so. If the ghost shrimp survive then I may add some other kinds of shrimp, like cherry shrimp. Once the tank seems to be stable and mostly cycled, i want to add bristlenose plecos and ember tetras. I dont want anything too exciting, but i really want the tank to be well planted. I want some lilypads of some sort and a carpeting plant, or maybe just a plant that can cover the ground mostly in some way. I might also make my own background to save some money. Money is a bit tight so im just going to add things more slowly now, maybe mow lawns or something in my small amount of free time for a couple extra dollars. Are there any recommendations for this tank? I know shrimp will be a bit controversial but i think they will do just fine, but are there any other kinds of fish or plants you recommend adding sometime in the future?

Click to expand...

Good for you, rescuing the fish. What size tank were they in previously? I have 3 fat goldies, ~3 inches. They are in 40 G long breeder tank. Lots of plants which they munch on. I feed troptical flakes twice a day. One is a black moor & 2 comets. Very active little fish. No appreciable growth in the 3-4 months I’ve owned them.

Colin_T said:

Good on you for taking on the fish

---------------------
Don't add any other fish or shrimp until the tank has finished cycling.

Feed the fish 2-3 times a week and do a 75% water change and gravel clean the substrate 4-8 hours after feeding. You should also monitor the ammonia and nitrite levels and do a 75% water change any day you have a reading above 0ppm.

Once the filter has cycled (in about 6 weeks), you can feed more often and do a 75% water change and gravel clean the substrate once a week.

You can add some more fish and shrimp a few weeks after it has cycled.

Make sure any new water is free of chlorine/ chloramine before it's added to the tank.

---------------------
Tetras and bristlenose catfish come from soft acid water.
Goldfish come from harder water with a pH above 7.0.
The 2 types of fish should not be kept together because they need different water chemistry.

Click to expand...

I actually already added some shrimp before i saw your post . Im already doing water changes a lot (it takes forever with my little 5 gallon bucket, especially with my dog trying to drink from it) and its not going too terribly. If the tetras and plecos dont go well with goldfish, what does? Ive been trying to do my research and I hear bristlenose plecos are goldfish safe as long as you feed them enough but im pretty new to the tetras.

JennySolano said:

Good for you, rescuing the fish. What size tank were they in previously? I have 3 fat goldies, ~3 inches. They are in 40 G long breeder tank. Lots of plants which they munch on. I feed troptical flakes twice a day. One is a black moor & 2 comets. Very active little fish. No appreciable growth in the 3-4 months I’ve owned them.

Click to expand...

They were in about a 3-5 gallon tank (its pretty hard to tell) and they actually used to have a sibling. The whole reason i have them is because i was dogsitting for neighbors and i saw one goldie half dead. It didn’t make it, and since i did a full water change and cleaned the filter the neighbors basically said that they dont take care of the fish anyway and I can have them. I feed them some omega one pellets and the silver one is turning a bit orange now, its so nice to see these poor fish so much healthier.

How’s the tank coming?

JennySolano said:

Good for you, rescuing the fish. What size tank were they in previously? I have 3 fat goldies, ~3 inches. They are in 40 G long breeder tank. Lots of plants which they munch on. I feed troptical flakes twice a day. One is a black moor & 2 comets. Very active little fish. No appreciable growth in the 3-4 months I’ve owned them.

Click to expand...

I think I'm going to keep 3 in my 55 gallon. It currently houses 1 medium sized dude. I have another medium sized dude in quarantine and 2 dinky PetSmart dudes in quarantine. They're all doing well. In the spring, I want to boot one of the tiny dudes to the outside system and just keep the 3 Orandas in the 55 gallon.

Your goldfish may grow more if you fed them a high quality goldfish pellet. Tropical fish need different diets than goldies.

foxgirl158 said:

How’s the tank coming?

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I just got some new plants today from my pet store (its like 30 minutes away so i dont go as much as id like) but here is the progress along with a bonus picture of my favorite shrimp!