70 gallon tank

[J_acon]

I am starting a 70 gallon tank for cold water fish. What can i use for decoration and what fish should i get in? (worry about compatability) Can i put life plants in?

 

[black angel]

Is it going to be for goldfish you buy in the store as some people when they say coldwater are going to go for more native fish?
Commons,comets and shubunkins and wakins can go together and any fancy body type can go together, such as fantails, orandas and telescopes. The more delicate fish such as celestials and bubble eyes need to be kept on their own. Ranchus and Lionheads can go with fancy tailed as well.
Single tailed fish you could easily get 3 to adult size in that size tank or for the fancy types you could get 6. With the fancy types you could keep white cloud minnows as something a bit different or rosy red minnows.
Filtration must be able to cope with all the mess, so filtration needs to be around 10 times tank capacity.
Decoration is entirely up to you. Some have none but goldies love to have something to root around in and if you use gravel it must be the smallest you can get. Do not use sand as it clogs the gills and will make a mess as the goldies root around. River rocks and a handfull of gravel or two in a corner keeps the bacteria down as you will need to regularly gravel vac if the whole tank has gravel.
If you want to put ornaments in then make sure they wont get stuck in them as they grow. Terracotta pots are a good idea as well.
Planting really depends on the temperature of the water. If you keep the fancy types then they like the water a little warmer so you could get the lower range tropical plants such as amazon swords and java fern. The fish tend to stay away from broad leaved plants. Some elodea is neccessary though as they need greenery in the diet. Common types will devour any plants you put in, and with being in colder water again look for the broader leaved types though they do need the elodea as well. Plants are easily uprooted by the fish as they grow, so putting them into small containers such as tea light holders and filling them with gravel will help keep the roots down. Check all plants for snails though before placing in the tank. You can sterilize them before they go in but ive forgotten how, someone in the planted section should be able to help there.
Hope some of that helped once i get going i have a tendency not to stop.
Anything else, then please ask.

Oh, and test kits are vital! and try to steer clear of flake food as much as possible for rounded belly types, especially Ryukins as they tend to fill with gas easy and taking food from the surface makes them gulp air. When feeding flakes, soak for a couple of minutes and try to feed by putting it under the water. Sinking pellets are a better idea and feeding thawed out frozen peas squashed up a couple of times a week helps digestion as well.

See what i mean, waffling again )

 

[debiasir]

with a 70 gallon i would go for 3 fancy tails and about 10 WCMM. decorated with false plants natural gravel . 2 are bubble rocks and river rocks..hmmmm my future tank

 

[RandomWiktor]

Just a quick word of advice - if your house is not climate controlled, and gets very hot in the summer, you'll want to buy a standard mesh-type hood in addition to the plastic or glass one your probably allready have; it allows for better cooling. You will also want to keep the light off in hot weather, crank the oxygenation way up, and increase the frequency of water changes. My goldfish produced much more waste in the heat (^ metabolism), and became oxygen-hungry very quickly.

Everyone else's advice sounds great; like they said, a few commons, or a ~ 6 fancies. Some of the very fancy species of goldfish stay reasonably small at adulthood - 6-9 inches as opposed to the well over 12 inches the commons get.

Or.... buy a bunch of "rosy red" feeder minnows and have the biggest friggen rosy red habitat ever

 

[debiasir]

I find i have the above problem in the summer re the temp. i have siliconed pond mesh where the feeder slot is on my jewel tank so it is open but nothing can jump out also i have a small internal filter as well as the jewel filter in my tank and raise the spout above water for greater surface movement

i would actually go for 4 or 5 fancy tails and maybe a chinese plec too

 

[J_acon]

Wow Thanks for all the replies. I will prefer some real plants as they can help bring down ammonia .


Another question.
What are the names for some of the fancies? I only had Tropical fish b4. This is my first cold water tank.

 

[black angel]

Heres a good topic that the wolf did a while ago, you should find it usefull and covers the most common fancies you can get.

http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?showtopic=96537

Dont go for Ryukins as they are badly bred and get gut problems quickly.
Try to stick with the slimmer bodied fancy, such as fantails, orandas and ranchus. These are hardier fish and i would say the easiest to keep.

As for the plants, they dont take ammonia out the water only nitrates.

How are you going to do the cycle, i hope its fishless?

 

[J_acon]

Heres a good topic that the wolf did a while ago, you should find it usefull and covers the most common fancies you can get.

http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?showtopic=96537

Dont go for Ryukins as they are badly bred and get gut problems quickly.
Try to stick with the slimmer bodied fancy, such as fantails, orandas and ranchus. These are hardier fish and i would say the easiest to keep.

As for the plants, they dont take ammonia out the water only nitrates.

How are you going to do the cycle, i hope its fishless?

[snapback]899541[/snapback]​

Thanks for the answer, and yeah plants for nitrates got confuse there.

I am using some of the gravel from the other tank and one of the bacteria colony holders you have in the filters. There are a couple of cory's in the new tank swimming happily.

Should i take them out? and add ammonia?

 

[black angel]

Try and half fill it with old tank water and add as much old gravel as you can. Having already an established filter pad means the tank is practically cycled anyway.
You can add the goldish but I wouldnt add them all at the same time though.
Get two to begin with and leave them for a couple of days then test for ammonia and nitrites, then get another two for 4 days, test again and then the other. Hopefully that will give the filter enough time to establish as the tank fills.
After you have all the fish in check for ammonia and nitrites again to make sure everything is stable. Do a water change of 30% and hopefully there shouldnt be any problems and you can then go on to weekly changes, but keep a regular check for any rise in the ammonia and nitrite levels.

 

[J_acon]

Coolies, thanks a lot

Now all i need to do is pick the fish.

Commons or Fancies.

 

[black angel]

Let us know what you get

 

[bribones]

Commons or Fancies.

id go for fancies ,commons are IMO more suited to a pond ,as angel has pointed out you will get more fancies in the tank than commons and they do look better

even 3 commons if they reach full size ,the width of the tank would have to be wider than the standard 12 inches add into this your plants filter etc it doesnt give the fish a lot of swimming space a few years down the line

 

[J_acon]

Well i got myself 2 Moores and 2 Fancys.
They will enjoy the 70 gallons for themselves for a while before i decide to get them more friends. can't wait though