What type goldfish for my setup?

[ssFishHead]

Hi!!! I just got a 29 gallon tank with a hang on back power filter and an undergravel filter. I've got about 2 inches of substrate and lots of hiding places and plants (plastic though). Anyways, the question is, what type and how many goldfish can I keep in my tank? I don't want to use a heater and my room stays at about 65 degrees constantly cause of the a/c, so that's why I decided on goldfish (that and some of them are neat looking). I've tried to do a little research beforehand, since I'm new to aquariums, and right now I have no fish in my tank, since it was just set up tonight. Thanks for any suggestions !!!

ssFishHead

p.s. Also some gravel got underneath the plates when I installed the undergravel filter. Is that going to be a problem?

 

[FroggyFox]

The gravel underneath the plates probably will be ok as long as there's not much. You'll find that goldies are really messy...so you're going to need to do a lot of water changes and a lot of gravel vacs.

First thing you should read up on is in the stickies at the top of the beginner forum about how to cycle your tank. You dont want to get fish quite yet.

When you're at a point to get fish...I think you could probably get...two or three goldies in that tank, I'd probably stick with two.

 

[ssFishHead]

Thanks for the info. Also what kind of goldfish? I like the ryukins for sale at petsmart. Will 3 of those be ok? Or maybe two and an algae eater/scavenger of some sort. Are there any coldwater bottomfeeders that can go in there? And the girl at the store said that aquarium salt is good for all breeds of fish, even freshwater. How is that if they're freshwater fish?

 

[Steph_D]

I don't really know about cold water bottom feeders because I don't have cold water fish. Maybe an apple snail? I never really liked snails until I got mine and now I love to sit and watch them.

Aquarium salt and marine salt are different. I don't know the exact differences, but marine salt is what goes into the salt water tanks and I've heard that aquarium salt helps to prevent some illnesses, but I've never used it. Hopefully some of the more experienced folks will help with this one. I do know that petsmart, petco, and wal mart all put aquarium salt in most of their tanks to help with stress (or so I was told).

 

[charleyevette]

Aquarium salt is used in freshwater tanks to build a 'slime coat' on the fish. This basically builds up the fishes skin to be more resistant to diseases. I currently have salt in my fry tank, but not my 10 gallon. Also, my lfs told me not to use salt with snails. Snails eat some waste, and do fine in with goldfish and no heater. I started out with goldfish and snails, and the snails are the only thing that lived! (They are very hardy if they are healthy! Never buy walmart fish is my other misteak!) My favorite goldfish is a regular fantail. The come in such great colors. The bigger the tail, the more beautiful they are imo! But goldfish are pretty all the same!! Congrats on your new purchase!*twirlysmi

 

[Orion]

Aquarium salt is sold as a general tonic, and doesn't do much of anything that will benifit the fish in anyway. Fish naturaly make their own slime coat, and if it builds up to much it will eventualy suffocate the fish. But agian, I really doubt that aquarium salt affects this. No need to mess with nature.

For a 29 gallon tank your not going to have a lot of options in keeping goldfish. They are extreamly messy. I wouldn't put anymore than 2 or 3 fancy's in the tank, even at a small size.

 

[angelmom]

And the girl at the store said that aquarium salt is good for all breeds of fish, even freshwater. How is that if they're freshwater fish?

I read somewhere I think it was a goldfish book that said NEVER use salt with goldfish. Other fresh water fish are ok but it is bad for goldfish. I don't remember why but I do remember it said that.

I agree with Charley on fantails those are my favorates also. I found this site a while back and found it very useful. Lots of info.

http://www.kokosgoldfish.com/ftypes.html

Have fun picking them out.

 

[Pure]

OK Snails do not eat waste. Nothing eats waste. They will scavenge looking for bits of left over food, but the will not clean up fish poo.

Salt is another useless urban myth. It really doesn't do anything but drain your pocket.

IMO 3 fantails would work, but is still overcrowded as they can each or should (if provided the right home) get to be the size of a cantaloupe.

Your undergravel filter is a major point of concern. Hooked up the way most people do using an airstone to power it, it will collect mass amounts of waste under those plates. This will require constant cleaning and every time you clean it you basically have to tear the tank apart to get at it.

If you really want to keep the UGF get some reverse flow power heads that will make the UGF work backwards, this helps prevent the accumulation of waste under those plates. IMO you will still be better off with a powerful HOB filter. They are much more easy to clean and keeping 3 goldies in a 29....maintenance is going to be high.

 

[Seleya]

You can get any sort of fancy -- 1 would be best for this set-up, two would be ok. I'm not a ryukin fan just because ime they can be punks. If you get more than one, try to match them up as far as type (ryukins, imo, should only be with ryukins or single tailed goldies or koi if we're talking about a pond; telescopes w/ telescopes, celestials and bubbleeyes; orandas w/ fantail types, ranchu w/ other dorsalless fish) This rule isn't hard and fast but is a good guideline -- I have kept ranchu with telescopes and orandas with no problems. YMMV

I would get the undergravel filter out of there and remove about 1 1/2" worth of gravel. Goldfish are much easier to keep with less gravel and ugfs are just going to be overwhelmed. You'll want double the typical filtration -- with goldfish, I wouldn't do less on a 29 than 2 Aquaclear 50's.

As far as tankmates, you can consider Corydoras paleatus. I have some ancistrus in a couple of my goldfish tanks. I've also kept rosy barbs, dojo loaches and hillstream loaches (I gave them nice roots right under the filter outflow which they loved) with goldfish as well as white clouds, which are very cool little fish but fit too well in goldies' mouths.

 

[ssFishHead]

Thanks for the feedback everyone !! I appreciate all the help, Seleya said Ryukin fish are punks, how so? Are they aggressive? Another point that I was wondering is that since my tank is heavily (though plasticly) planted, will a ryukin get stuck? It seems like he might get tangled up with those long flowing fins.

 

[Seleya]

Ryukins are sort of the 'bad boys' of goldfish. They are known to be eye-biters and can very well hold their own with single tails. They'll have a tendency to dominate a tank. I wouldn't wory about a ryukin getting stuck in plants, either real or plastic, they're actually relatively strong swimmers. Ryukin don't tend to have particularly flowing fins unless they're broadtails.

 

[Fishckabibble]

Ryukins are sort of the 'bad boys' of goldfish. They are known to be eye-biters and can very well hold their own with single tails. They'll have a tendency to dominate a tank. I wouldn't wory about a ryukin getting stuck in plants, either real or plastic, they're actually relatively strong swimmers. Ryukin don't tend to have particularly flowing fins unless they're broadtails.

i have to disagree with this, because i have 1 ryukin, and 3 comet goldfish, the comets were the ones who are the eye biters, they completly tore out my ryukins eye, and the ryukin is the most docile and lazy fish in the tank.