46 Gal, Getting Ready To Go Goldfish, Some Advice?

[transposia]

I have a 46 gallon tank that I recently cleaned out and I finally got the filter running, so I'm getting ready to fish it. I'm reading bout fishless cycling and need to find some ammonia.

So among all that, I'm trying to find some basic information about keeping goldfish. I'm thinking I'd like to keep 3-5 fancy goldfish, and I'm looking into some of the different options. I think I like the ryukin and Shubunkin, but I'm most attracted to anything with a fan tail.

I guess some of the things I'm wondering include water temp, any small tankmates? Will they eat things like ghost shrimp? Can I keep, (or try to keep) some live plants in there, too? I've been quite detached from fishkeeping for a while now and it's a little overwhelming trying to get back in the groove.

Thanks for any advice!

 

[Tokis-Phoenix]

Most fancy goldfish grow to 6-8inches long, with fancy goldfish stocking its generally recommended that you have 20gals for the first goldy and 10gals for every one after that- of course a lot also depends on the tanks actual dimensions, in general the length and width of the tank is more important than height or the overal gallons the tank holds.
You must have strong filtration for goldfish tanks as they are big waste producing fish, substrate doesn't really matter although personally i would go for sand substrate as it is much easier to keep clean than gravel in goldfish tanks. Most fancy goldfish are sub tropical going on coldwater, temps between 17 and 23 degree's are good for most, they cannot tolerate freezing temps though. If the tank is a bit on the warm side, i'd definately advise having some bubble pumps to help increase the oxygen content of the water .
Goldfish are omnivores, a varied diet including some veg is good for them- try to avoid feeding them solely off dried high protien or flake foods as these foods can sometimes like to digestive problems in goldfish when fed to goldfish all the time. With my experience of goldfish keeping so far, i have not been able to grow plants successfully in goldfish tanks, the plants were always been nibbled at by the goldfish or uprooted as the goldfish looked for food so i gave up on trying to achieve a planted goldfish tank- some people have had more success with goldfish and plants though than me.

The bristol aquarists society has a lot of pics and info on many types of goldfish if you are interested ;

http/www.bristol-aquarists.org.uk/goldfish/goldfish.htm

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[transposia]

Thanks for the info! I actually put some black gravel in yesterday but I was so tempted to do a black sand. My problem is that I've never had good luck vacuuming sand


And by those numbers, and considering that my tank is a bit taller than long, (hex) I should probably go with fewer fish and look forward to the day that they're ready for a bigger tank

 

[GoldLenny]

I wouldn't go no more than three in a 46 Hex. Even those will get too big eventually but by then, you'll be suffering from MTS and you'll get a big tank for the goldfish and turn the 46 into a grow out tank for new fish... or a tropical tank. LOL

You will also need to have your filter-return water agitating the surface so that there is better gas exchange since you will have less surface area then is normal for goldfish. You could also accomplish this with a bubbler that puts out bigger bubbles, rather than the micro-bubbles.

You can get the plain 10% ammonium hydroxide (plain ammonia) at Ace Hardware Stores. It's their private label and it's $1.99/qt according to their website... but the website only sells it by the case so get it at the store. Other mom/pop type hardware stores may also sell the plain ammonia.

 

[rdd1952]

Walmart also sells plain ammonia. The brand name is Sea Mist.

 

[GoldLenny]

Bob,

Do you know if that "Sea Mist" is actually a Wal-mart brand or is it something only certain stores sell? Have you seen it in more than one Wal-mart? I've never seen it down here. Is it in the cleaning section or elsewhere? I'll check with my local Wal-mart again. Thanks for the heads up on that. It's always good to have multiple sources for the stuff.