Odd couple, and then some...

 

I like goldfish, and there is a misconception that you can't keep them in planted tanks. But I don't see your goldfish in the photos.

 

It was hiding during the photo shoot because we had just done a water change.
It's in the "odd couple" photo.
I'm not big on goldfish myself, but my son has been begging for one, and since it's really his tank...I went with it. 😁

 

Goldfish are really nice fully grown. I'm not impressed with them under 2-3 years old. The comet type do best out in a pond.

 

Totally missed the goldfish! My new glasses were supposed to fix that problem, LOL.

 

Added some foreground (locally sourced dwarf hairgrass). Now we wait. Got a handful of plants that are probably not suited, but I figured I may as well find out now while everything else is transitioning.
Overall tank shot, with the 2 groups of my “probably-nots”.

 

Re: Josh and Dave's 29 gallon

I'm looking forward to watching this fill in and I love the driftwood.
What is that white circle thing on the left side?
And please update on goldfish behavior with the plants...that seems like a frightening idea to me, as all I have ever heard about goldfish is that they eat plants.

 

I'm looking forward to watching this fill in and I love the driftwood.
What is that white circle thing on the left side?
And please update on goldfish behavior with the plants...that seems like a frightening idea to me, as all I have ever heard about goldfish is that they eat plants.

So, the white circle is a "hoop" Josh made to train the goldfish...to swim through a hoop.

But yeah, so far it's been eating algae and gunk. They do eat plants, but not all, so I selected mostly plants they won't eat (Anubias, crypts) and some plants I don't care much about (cheap or freebies from local collections). I'll definitely update as things progress.

 

All of my herbivorous fish (livebearers, otos, plecos) prefer blanched squash and cucumber to aquarium plants. I haven't given any to my goldfish since they are all in outdoor ponds, but it might help to keep the goldfish from prohibited grazing.

 

Update. Added a couple more locally collected plants.

 

Some of the plants are filling in. I added some locally collected Ludwigia and some hairgrass (some dwarf, some not so dwarf, so will have to trim regularly). I pulled out the pondweed and Veronica sp. because they didn’t seem to like my conditions. There are a couple Amazon Swords in the back , but so young that the Apons still hide them. The little Crypts are still in baby stage. The goldfish does pull the occasional stem or hairgrass clump, but it hasn’t become frustrating yet. 😉

 

Here’s another tank. 5.5 gallon. Not sure what will become of it yet. I was about to order a decent light (current one is next to nothing, 3 LED bulbs that came with the tank...don’t be fooled by how bright the camera makes it look ), but then started thinking about whether I really want to maintain a high light mini-scape. Probably not.

 

Re goldfish, I think the best way to have a planted goldfish tank is to establish the plants first, then introduce the goldfish.

The tank is looking better and better. Have you been able to determine species of the the different hairgrasses?

 

Re: Josh and Dave's 29 gallon



I have not been able to tell which species they are. Next summer I can go back out and look at seeds, or see how they are growing. That will give me more time to become familiar with the more common species here, so I can narrow down the search. I am fairly confident now that I did not find E. parvula, given how tall my foreground is wanting to grow (between 2.5 and 4.5" so far). The above photos were after I had trimmed a bit to get them to send some runners. The ones I collected were largely going dormant and I didn't bother to key them out while they still had seed heads on them.

 

Prepping for a rescape. The water has never cleared since setting up (multiple water changes, used Clarity a couple times, time...).
Ignore the taller stuff in the foreground...those are locally collected Lymisachia nummularia I am growing out for Mudboots. Immediately after taking these photos (from front, then from side) we tore it all out, dumped the substrate into the garden, and replaced with OilDri. Rescape photos will come later (be at least tomorrow before we finish).

 

Oh, I know why it's cloudy all the time. It's the goldfish. They're always sifting through the substrate. If you have the same problem with the oildri, cap it with gravel.

 

Yes, it’s mouth is a nonstop gravel grinder, lol! If it comes down to it, the goldfish will be rehired before I mess with substrate again.

 

Much better!
Much of the stuff in the foreground is still only temporary, but this shows how much cleaner the water is. And my son found a new home for the goldfish!
Will post updated shots when the scape is finished (will be a month).

 

A little cleaner this morning, and decided to give the goldfish another chance (rehoming fell through). Now I just need to tackle my nutrition deficit. Have Ferts on the way from GLA.

 

If OilDri is like STS, it is rather soft. The goldfish might be breaking it up during bottom feeding. Maybe you could cap it with a harder substrate to help with the cloudiness.

 

Ironically, the softer OilDri isn’t clouding the water at all right now, even with the goldfish sifting it. The Flourite, despite being “harder”, just would not clear (or broke into finer particles perhaps).

 

Another black mark for Flourite. I have only used it once, several years ago. And even then I didn't buy it new, but got some used from another hobbyist. I wanted to see if the high price was justified by superior performance. It wasn't. My batch was hard and didn't cloud the water, but it had no advantage over STS and didn't look as good to my eye. I should add that this was in a Walstad tank.

 

Instant reaction to dosing dry Ferts (1/2 the EI dose). This was a couple weeks ago...been like this ever since. I created a floating mat to help (that will stay as a group, by poking stems through a cut-out bottom of a styrofoam bowl).
But I also ordered a UV sterilizer that arrives tomorrow. Pretty certain I will be doing as much substrate fertilizer as possible in the future.
First experience with green water since I was a kid, though....

 

Now you know how to grow green water for the daphnia

Without CO2 injected in the tank, the ferts in the water will be taken in by algae instead of plants.

 

Did a water change, added the UV, then dosed 1/4 EI just to see. After 2 days it’s still clear (would be pea soup again without UV).

Yeah, I’m not ready for doing CO2 or soil substrate yet. May have to reduce light so less Ferts are needed.

 

Re: Josh and Dave's 29 gallon

I think you just need two more aquariums so you can try three different management styles all at once...hee hee hee...

 

I think you just need two more aquariums so you can try three different management styles all at once...hee hee hee...

Yes! But no, lol.
I trimmed the light back to 3.5-2-3.5 (siesta) and after 10 days away, and a home visitor to dose 1/2 EI and feed fish, I came home to a surprisingly clean tank. I unhooked the UV and things seem fine. Bumped light to 4-2-4 and will see how this goes. My guppy tank (5.5 gal) has less light, and is on 5-2-5 and doing well with only minor algae).

 

Finally have time for an update. Jungle look still going. I picked up some beautiful Anubias and some other random plants in Texas (thanks Mudboots)! Those will grow in in due time. I’m excited for my foreground plants, Crypt. beckettii, and can’t wait for them to fill in. I’m afraid to rush them, though, because I have read that pushing them will only lead to melt.
Also have a tiny Lagenandra meeboldii (pink?), also from Mudboots. That will eventually command the left rear corner.
I am still not convinced that my swords are “Amazon” swords. Have root tabs under them and am dosing 1/2 EI with only moderate lighting, and 8 hours per day with a 2 hour rest mid-day. Past swords in similar conditions set off huge long leaves by now.

 

Oh, and no more green water. Been without the UV for a solid week now, and no issues.

 

Re: Josh and Dave's 29 gallon



It's looking good; I don't see much algae in there so evidently the plants are outcompeting everything.
Just to make sure I understood, your lighting is a single Fugeray P+ and on a 4-2-4 schedule, and you are doing daily EI dosing?