Planted Goldfish Tank

[dipsydoodlenoodle]

Well I've been saying I'm going to try it and now I have. My LFS sell bunches of plants for 40-50p each so I thought I'd take my chances.

I planted the tank nicely yesterday within half an hour it was destroyed and the plants all floating. One trip to pets at home later and some lead weights attached, another planting session. It lasted over night; there was only one plant pulled out . But they now sink so I can live with that.

I got a mixture of plants to try; whether they survive or get eaten is another matter. I got twisted vallis, amazon sword, fountain plant and elodea. The elodea should be fine; it just depends if they eat much of it or not. It looks like one of the leaves on the amazon sword has been chewed a little too. The fsh seem more interested in the roots than of the plant.

The plants are direct into gravel; what type of fertilizer do I need? Would those root tabs work or would liquid fertilizer be a better option for digging fish?

 

[SimoUK]

Well I've been saying I'm going to try it and now I have. My LFS sell bunches of plants for 40-50p each so I thought I'd take my chances.

I planted the tank nicely yesterday within half an hour it was destroyed and the plants all floating. One trip to pets at home later and some lead weights attached, another planting session. It lasted over night; there was only one plant pulled out . But they now sink so I can live with that.

I got a mixture of plants to try; whether they survive or get eaten is another matter. I got twisted vallis, amazon sword, fountain plant and elodea. The elodea should be fine; it just depends if they eat much of it or not. It looks like one of the leaves on the amazon sword has been chewed a little too. The fsh seem more interested in the roots than of the plant.

The plants are direct into gravel; what type of fertilizer do I need? Would those root tabs work or would liquid fertilizer be a better option for digging fish?

I have Java ferns in my goldfish tank, my black moor has never touched them, must just be down to fish personality again

 

[anshuman]

Dont add root-tabs, if goldfish are big, they will be strong enough to toss the gravel upside down from time to time (they eat algae growing on itand clean it ). Try to add something like TPN+ which is complete macro/micro in 1 bottle and so get some liquid carbon source like seachem excel or easy-carbo, does moderately and sparsely so that you don't harm fish and waste the ferts.

 

[dipsydoodlenoodle]

Dont add root-tabs, if goldfish are big, they will be strong enough to toss the gravel upside down from time to time (they eat algae growing on itand clean it ). Try to add something like TPN+ which is complete macro/micro in 1 bottle and so get some liquid carbon source like seachem excel or easy-carbo, does moderately and sparsely so that you don't harm fish and waste the ferts.

On my fishies are big lol. Most are about 10-12" lol.

None of them seem to have taken a big interest in the plants; except one; but then it looks more like he is trying to see if is edible without actually eating it. We'll see.

I went for a selection of plants that people have said "my fish eats this XX but doesn't touch YYY" so I thought for the price I'd try lots

 

[dipsydoodlenoodle]

I thought I'd update on how it was going since it's been a week today.

Twisted vallis was growing fine; but I kept finding leaves around the tank (yet it didn't look like it was loosing any) - I moved it yesterday to a different tank where it's growing really well (but it didn't appear to be eaten).

Fountain plant - has been left alone. Elodea has been munched a little but nothing too seriously and the amazon sword has been munched a lot lol. I don't know it's just "melting" in the tank of if it's being eaten; it looks to be eaten. I love amazon swords but none of my other tanks are big enough to take it when it starts to grow; so it'll be goldfish vegetables for a while.

 

[waterdrop]

I'd place a bet that carp had certain roots that were tasty to them over the eons. As plant eaters, they probably have a wide mix of plant leaves, bodies and roots that they like to varying degrees and it may vary by individual fish. It does go to show that individual observations in your own tank can certainly be useful!

Swords come in all types and sizes, so you might keep an eye out for a type that wouldn't grow too large but that you like.

~~waterdrop~~

 

[dipsydoodlenoodle]

I'd place a bet that carp had certain roots that were tasty to them over the eons. As plant eaters, they probably have a wide mix of plant leaves, bodies and roots that they like to varying degrees and it may vary by individual fish. It does go to show that individual observations in your own tank can certainly be useful!

Swords come in all types and sizes, so you might keep an eye out for a type that wouldn't grow too large but that you like.

~~waterdrop~~

I thought it was quite useful; hence I got a selection (after all they were 50p per bunch).

ooh do you know the names of the swords (smaller ones)?