# My tanks



## goldie1212 (Mar 5, 2010)

im considering selling the 4ft tropical tank as im just not happy with it. to be honest, im in half a mind to possibly sell both. just not into it at the moment for some reason.









































before and after, the first picture is when we first got dinkyfish at less than 1" long. the 2nd picture is her a year later at over 4" long.


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## repibabe (Jan 3, 2010)

lovely looking tanks and some lovely looking fish :no1:


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## Barnacle (Sep 16, 2010)

Goldy, don't sell them! They are brilliant! :mf_dribble:


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## berry1 (Sep 25, 2010)

deffenatly dont sell them :gasp: their amazing : victory: but i can understand you getting a bit ??? with them as for me small community fish are more boring but thats just my opinion the fish look great thought :no1: but an idea you might think of is selling the goldys and trops and getting some realy cichlids like maby a red devil, oscars, other large cichlids and oddballs like bichires, B/G/knifes trust me if you do the swap youl never regret it but their agen i like agressive, terratorial fish


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## goldie1212 (Mar 5, 2010)

berry1 said:


> deffenatly dont sell them :gasp: their amazing : victory: but i can understand you getting a bit ??? with them as for me small community fish are more boring but thats just my opinion the fish look great thought :no1: but an idea you might think of is selling the goldys and trops and getting some realy cichlids like maby a red devil, oscars, other large cichlids and oddballs like bichires, B/G/knifes trust me if you do the swap youl never regret it but their agen i like agressive, terratorial fish


small communities really appeal to me as there is always something going on in their little world. watching a school of neons enjoy 100gallons of space with plants etc is more fun that a big fish mooching form 1 end of the tank to the other :lol2:

selling the goldfish would end my fish keeping hobby, they are what im in it for. i love how visitors come in and ask what type of fish they are, and when i say goldfish they look so confused and simply reply with 'wow, i didnt know they could get that big'. goldfish are so badly treated in the main part by most fish owners, they are seen as boring throwaway fish just because they can cost so little to buy. i love that my 7 fancy goldfish enjoy 150gallons and not some dingy bowl. i love how they have gotten to 6/7/8/9 inches and are all still growing. their personalities are awesome too. much better than any cichlids ive owned :2thumb:

if i sell them, it would be the tropical tank 1st, then see how i feel just having the 6 ft tank with my goldie babies in it. ive thought often about selling the big tank too, but i just worry about what would become of my goldfish as i figure theres not another person out there that would be dedicated enough to the welfare of a few goldfish to allow them to live out their lives in this tank as most people see it as a waste of a big tank :bash:

sometimes, with the amount of money this hobby sucks up, its difficult to stay really into it. ive put hundreds into these 2 tanks, everyone thinks im nuts :lol2:


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## CPT BJ (Oct 30, 2010)

Both tanks looks great dont sell them lol but ive been in the same position having a lot of tanks setup can take some of the jow out of it when you have to do all the maintainence etc... so it might be worth you selling one but id definately keep the goldfish tank .


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## goldie1212 (Mar 5, 2010)

ive already cut right down, i only have these 2 up and running, i did have 6 at one time, that was a chore. maintainance isnt too bad to be honest, once a week usually a friday or saturday its water change day for goldies, everyother week i do the tropical tank aswell. 

i tend to go through phases with them, i find if i kind of ignore them for a week or so (obviously feeding still and checking all are well) then i get a bit more into it again. i think as ive recently been battling illness in the tropical tank and lost a few ive not been so into them. my husband likes them though and i grasp at anything when it comes to him being interested in the fish :lol2:

i dont think i could ever part with my goldfish :flrt: im a sucker for them, i will do anything to keep them happy, my whole family and all my friend really do wonder why though :blush: 

thanks for saying they look good :2thumb:


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## CPT BJ (Oct 30, 2010)

goldie1212 said:


> ive already cut right down, i only have these 2 up and running, i did have 6 at one time, that was a chore. maintainance isnt too bad to be honest, once a week usually a friday or saturday its water change day for goldies, everyother week i do the tropical tank aswell.
> 
> i tend to go through phases with them, i find if i kind of ignore them for a week or so (obviously feeding still and checking all are well) then i get a bit more into it again. i think as ive recently been battling illness in the tropical tank and lost a few ive not been so into them. my husband likes them though and i grasp at anything when it comes to him being interested in the fish :lol2:
> 
> ...


 I did a similar thing last year i had a tropical pond, two 6x2x2 tanks, two 5x2x2's a 4x2x2 and others and i cut down to one 6x2x2 and still decided to sell that last one as i found myself losing interest and didnt think it was fair on the fishys but its all upto you lol but i get where your comming from, both setups are gorgeus though especially like the aquascaping of your trop tank!


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## goldie1212 (Mar 5, 2010)

one day, when im not so broke and have more room, i hope to have a tropical pond, i really want to keep lemon fin barbs again but they just grow too big for an aquarium. i did own 3 at 17, 18 and 19 inches each a year or 2 back, i recued them from someone housing them in a cichlid tank, they had no fins and tails left when i got them but they soon grew back. they smashed the top of my tank, the heater, and broke the filters too. i rehomed them to a tropical pond.

aquariums done right do cost a lot, and take up a fair amount of time too. i enjoy playing around with the tanks, they keep my busy when im not at work and husband is, and the kids are in school, but sometimes i do stand back and think are they worth it. i am seriously considering selling the 4ft tank though. could do with the extra cash too to be honest :blush:

i think my goldfish are here to stay though, i just love em too much :flrt:


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## xvickyx (Jul 21, 2009)

they both look great!!


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## matty_boy (Nov 19, 2010)

*what a waste of a 6ft tank ive got that many goldies in my two foot 
*


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## hippyhaplos (Jan 12, 2010)

matty_boy said:


> *what a waste of a 6ft tank ive got that many goldies in my two foot
> *


Please do pass my condolences onto your poor fish...

Goldie when I die I want to come back as one of your goldies... even if I can't swim:blush::blush:


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## matty_boy (Nov 19, 2010)

whats wrond with my fish they have been perfectly happy for the last five years


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## incrisis (Jun 15, 2008)

matty_boy said:


> whats wrond with my fish they have been perfectly happy for the last five years


Nice to see that all four posts made by this moron are insulting....

Bravo.


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## berry1 (Sep 25, 2010)

matty_boy said:


> whats wrond with my fish they have been perfectly happy for the last five years


 
have i just read right you have that many goldys in a 2ft tank well you shore do need help fancy gold fish should get 8-10" and common goldys should get 14"-20" so try and picture 7 10" fish in your little 2ft tank get real but the main issue is that the fish wont grow and they will get stunted and that means a unmature death of the animals and a painful one as well its not about filling the tank to its max with fish its all about having a nice attractive spacious aquarium for the fish


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## goldie1212 (Mar 5, 2010)

poor poor goldfish. like i havent heard before that people think my 6ft tank is a waste of time, good job they dont have to look after them and put up with seeing happy healthy goldfish instead of poor stunted little guys like that muppet has in his tank. i feel sorry for his animals, what a sad little man!

hippyhaplos, feel free to join my goldies when you are reincarnated as one :lol2: il give you little inflatable 'fin' bands to keep you afloat if you havent learnt how to swim by then :lol2:

my tank is quite overstocked at the moment though, have taken in a couple of rescues and now i have 9 fancies, a small yellow common and a small shubunkin, all came from those god awful starter tanks :censor: theres also another 4 that ive been asked to take but i simply dont have the space, poor guys are over 6" long and stuck in a 2ft tank  i just need more tanks.....wish i could help them all!

at least the ones i have will be happy for life, they are enjoying some sweetcorn right now :2thumb:


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## Paul Butler (Mar 7, 2010)

I am not a fancy goldfish person at all. But I can see that these are getting really good care and are a credit to you. The tanks look very well maintained and are both nice pieces of furniture. 

I think we all go through a "I'm fed up with ..." period, I know do  I once got rid of my discus and went to a reef, biggest mistake I made.

If you do decide to change the large tank with the goldfish in, would make an excellent altum or discus (or both) tank .... but then I am biased.


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## goldie1212 (Mar 5, 2010)

thank you, i do love having them, but sometimes, i just get a bit...well, blah, about them. i dont think i would ever give up my goldfish, id be constantly worried about where they went and how they were being kept, i would drive myself nuts with it :lol2:

i have considered changing the smaller 48x20x28 tall tank into a discus tank, but just dont think i have the time to put into them, or money for that matter. plus, my husband hates them :gasp: no idea why, i think they are stunning fish.

ive considered going reef aswell in the past, but just havent gotten there, and the costs are very high for set-up too. dont think il ever go salt now. 

am still considering selling up the 4ft tank, i just dont have the wow factor going on with it for some reason. its just set-up as a planted community at the moment. it never has a finished feel about it and its driving me crazy.


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## Paul Butler (Mar 7, 2010)

Don't know why your hubby doesn't like them, they are stunning!! tbh they are not as difficult to keep as some would have you believe, I reckon if you can keep goldies ok then discus are not any harder, particularly if you don't overstock.

Maybe adding a few extra plants to the community tank would help? a couple of nice swords e.bleheri or e.macrophyllus would look great, don't need masses of light and are easy to grow.


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## goldie1212 (Mar 5, 2010)

i keep trying plants, but im really struggling to get them to grow. the anubias is the only one in there really thriving,until it flowered a few weeks ago it was putting out a new leaf every week, since the flower it hasnt grown any new leaves at all. the java fern and moss are just about living, the vals are not growing but not dying, the wisertia is really struggling, the baby tears is growing but incredibly slowly.


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## _simon_ (Nov 27, 2007)

How about converting the 4ft into a Malawi tank. It's a good height so you could have some nice high rock work in there for them to use. It would be a very lively and colourful tank.


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## goldie1212 (Mar 5, 2010)

odd you should say that, but i initially bought this tank for that exact purpose. i went out to buy a tall tank so i could have some nice high rock work in there. the only thing that really put me off was the thought of the algae growing on all the rocks. i know it sounds daft, but i really didnt want to end up with a brown/green block of stone in the middle of the tank. i love the planted look, which made way for the planted community. i even got as far as figuring what fish would be best suited to it etc.


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## goldie1212 (Mar 5, 2010)

http://www.ratemyfishtank.com/images/thumbimg/650/4425_1.jpg

i like the look of this one, though for me i would want some bright orange or red coloured fish in there too :2thumb: but the rock work i like in this one.


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## _simon_ (Nov 27, 2007)

Algae isn't usually an issue as the fish graze on it. Most malawi keepers see it as free food!


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## _simon_ (Nov 27, 2007)

This is my very old 4ft malawi. Think I was still adding fish at that point hence there not being many in shot. Can't find any other pics at the moment.


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## goldie1212 (Mar 5, 2010)

that is gorgeous. :lol2: i see me trying to convince my other half of yet another tank change! i never realised they snacked on the algae. could i leave the black gravel in the tank? just wondering as it makes the swap around much cheaper if i do manage to convince him. im sure hes sick to death of my swapping and changing with ideas for this tank. then again, so am i! hmmm, best way to let him know i want to swap it around....


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## goldie1212 (Mar 5, 2010)

what kind of stocking would you recommend for a tank measuring 48"long, 20" wide, 28" tall? its filtered with an fx5.


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## _simon_ (Nov 27, 2007)

I wish I could help with stocking but I wasn't in the malawi hobby long enough to gain enough knowledge. There are a few malawi forums but this is the one I used: malawiforum.co.uk

I should think the black gravel would be fine. As you can see I used to keep mine on sand and they would shift around in their mouths.


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## goldie1212 (Mar 5, 2010)

ok, thank you, will take a peek :2thumb:


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## berry1 (Sep 25, 2010)

well ive rounded your aquarium up and it is 453 litres i would do

5 red top zebra 1 male 4 females 
10 p_seudotropheus elongatus 2 male 8 females_
_12 _melanochromis johannii 2 males 10 females
_10 labeotropheus trewavasae_ 

this would be a nice agressive malawi set up or 

3 c_opadichromis azureus_ 1 male 2 females
6 taiwan reef malawi 2 males 4 females
8 _topharynx lithobates_ 3 males 5 females

or 

10 red zebra 4 males 6 females
5 yellow lab 1 male 4 females
10 _Labidochromis chisumulae 3 males 7 females _

_hope this helps just some ideas _


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## goldie1212 (Mar 5, 2010)

thanks for that, will check them all out :2thumb:


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