# 6 foot goldfish tank



## goldie1212 (Mar 5, 2010)

thought i may introduce myself and show everyone my fishtank. im kelly, and i drive my family mad with keeping fish  i love goldfish over most others, and my 6 foot tank is home to 11 goldfish-
1 female shubunkin
1 female white/red common 
2 female yellow common 
1 male red cap oranda 
1 female black moor 
1 male white/orange/blue fantail 
1 female orange/white oranda 
1 male calico fantail 
1 female calico fantail 
1 female blue oranda 
i have 4 filters running on my tank-a fluval fx5, 2 fluval 4+ and a fluval 3+.

http://i253.photobucket.com/albums/hh42/kelshay_photos/goldfish tank march 2010/fishtank.jpg

http://i253.photobucket.com/albums/hh42/kelshay_photos/goldfish tank march 2010/fishteatime.jpg

http://i253.photobucket.com/albums/hh42/kelshay_photos/goldfish tank march 2010/tankshot.jpg

http://i253.photobucket.com/albums/hh42/kelshay_photos/goldfish tank march 2010/brucecoco.jpg

i also have a 65l tank with 2 goldfish fry i saved from the last spawn, they are growing well.

plus a 70l in the bedroom with some male guppies and a male dwarf gourami.

oh and we also have 2 furry pets, a dog and a cat.


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## cnella (Feb 24, 2010)

hi and:welcome: Nice big tank you got there.


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## Graylord (Jul 17, 2007)

I don`t think i`ve ever seen goldfish so well looked after.

Hats off to you :2thumb:


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## Shellsfeathers&fur (Jan 18, 2009)

Lucky fish! - super tank.


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## lolly (Apr 2, 2008)

:2thumb::2thumb:

love it!the last picture is sweeet!

how do you find the fluval fx5.... we have broke our filter (the OH got in a strop with it and ....) and are lookign at getting one as we preffer the fluvals


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## alex09 (Oct 31, 2009)

THIS TANK IS THE BEST!!:notworthy: I keep tropicals but i have always had a soft spot for goldfish :2thumb:


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## goldie1212 (Mar 5, 2010)

thank you for all the comments,as i recently rehomed 2 of the male fancies as when the females started to spawn and the 5 males were overwhelming, i have just added a trio of dojo loaches instead of anymore goldies,and they are fantastic fun  ive owned them before but in smaller tanks around 3feet, in the bigger tank they are so fast and always active, never hiding.

as for the fluval fx5, i love it, best thing i ever bought. mine is 2nd hand and the impeller is a little rattley, so i am saving to buy a replacement.ive found the filtration to be 2nd to none. also helps with water changes as i can do my gravel vac, then i hook up the outlet of the fluval to a hose to the garden, switch it on and out it pumps. it even came with an extra connector to do this. cleaning the filter is easy, i do mine once a month by removing the filter from under the tank, and putting it outside, open the valve at the bottom and let it drain the sludge away. i only open the whole filter maybe once every few months to clean the sponges out. the flow rate is fantastic, and the air purging every 24 hours, although it makes me jump turning on and off of its own accord, is brilliant.


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## xx-SAVANNAH-xx (Jan 9, 2010)

LOL I WAS GONNA SAY Y ARE YOU WASTING A SIX FOOT TANK ON GOLD FISH BUT AFTER SEEING IT IT DOES LOOK PRETTY WELL DONE. :2thumb:


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## RhianB87 (Oct 25, 2009)

Thats such a nice tank! Its nice to see a goldfish tank looking good!


I cant wait till I have enough room to get a tank like that for goldfish (me and the OH both have soft spots for them!)


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## goldie1212 (Mar 5, 2010)

savannah most people comment on 'wasting' a 6 foot tank on goldfish, but i had goldfish before i got the tank, i got the tank especially for goldies (although for a short period i did have 3 18 inch lemon fin barbs living in it, and then went into a planted community when the lemon fins found a new home in a tropical pond). i am wanting a 5x2x2 or thereabouts for an oscar in the near future, but i need to convince my husband before i can get one, he isnt as crazy about fish as me :lol2:


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## x Sarah x (Nov 16, 2007)

I agree with the FX5, we have one on our marine tank, like you say it can make you jump when it suddenly turns off and on again and the bubbles pound out :lol2:

Best filter i've used, and if we didn't have a sump on, we'd probably have a second FX5 on it


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## lolly (Apr 2, 2008)

i really want one now!
lol 


**goes mooching for second hand ones**


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## Marinam2 (Sep 4, 2007)

Its so nice to see someone who obviously understands goldfish need more than a bowl!!!!


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## Trillian (Jul 14, 2008)

Wow, it's great to see a proper large tank setup for goldfish and it's very nicely laid out. : victory: 

At least, you've saved a fortune on keeping a tank that size heated for tropicals! :whistling2: :lol2:


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## Raych (Mar 1, 2010)

Hey can you tell me roughly how much this all cost? My partner is NUTS about pond fish, so I bought him two goldfish and I've never paid much attention to fish, I'm more in it for my 10 bunnies, and I really want to surprise him for our engagement by getting a large tank like this. I'll be holding in a sharsha commet a usual red/white goldfish, a yellow goldfish (I think they look pretty... :blush and maybe some shubunkins though I love the fancy goldfish too :flrt:, as his true love is kois, but we're not getting them until we're older. I was going to build him a pond outside, but I'm just too worried the bunnies will chew the wires or our nephew's fall through the top.


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## imitebmike (Jun 22, 2008)

there is someone selling a 6x2x2 in the aquatics classifieds...i think its free for collection actually...


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## goldie1212 (Mar 5, 2010)

my costs have tolled up a lot. i got the tank 2nd hand from ebay with the wooden stand, infact most if it is 2nd hand. 

tank with stand-£75
hood (homemade but wood etc cost us approx £40)
fluval 4+ filters £30 each
fluval 3+ filter £10
fluval fx5 £80 (2nd hand)
gravel £40
plants £10 a month as the goldies love them
light starter units (i run 5 tubes in the hood so 5 starter units) £10 each 2nd hand
whisper 2nd nature 4 way air pump £30 2nd hand
driftwood £50
fish range from £2.99 up to £30 in my tank.

to cover the tank and stop condensation form gathering on the lights and in the hood we use prismatic sheets from an electrical wholesaler, they are meant to cover large shop fitting flourescent lights but they come in 2 sizes (4ft x 2ft and 2ft x 2ft) and can be easily trimmed with scissors to fit around pipes etc going into the tank.

the bottom wrap around to cover the wooden stand and hide the filters etc we used the side panels from an old wardrobe.

you can pick up the large tanks relatively cheaply without a stand or anything, a lot of people arent interested in them as they take up a hell of a lot of room in the house, and take 3-4 people to lift them. ive worked out how much my whole set-up weighs while full, and its approximately a ton. so make sure you have a concrete floor to base it on.

dont put koi into a tank, they will grow way to large and will end up stunted, wait for the pond for those. in a 6x2x2 tank, with lots of filtration, you should be able to comfortably house 7-8 common/comet/shubs goldfish. if you plan on mixing commons/comets/shubunkins with fancy goldfish, you need to be able to sex goldfish. if you add male commons/comets/shubs to a tank with female fancies, come spawning time, the females will be run to death by the faster swimming stronger males. in my tank, my 2 yellow commons, red and white comet, and shubunkin are all females. the 3 males i have are all fancies, and even they shove the females around plenty. in a tank this size, you will have spawning. you will also need to hand feed and watch to make sure all fish get a fair share of food every time as the commons may well be faster to snatch up all the food.

i definately say to keep an eye on http://www.aquarist-classifieds.co.uk/ as there are often free for collection 6ft tanks.


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## Raych (Mar 1, 2010)

Thanks, I'll keep my eye out, I can't get a one just yet, as we've got most of the rabbits inside the house and they take up most of my bedroom :blush:

I was thinking keeping two tanks, one for him, one for me. What would be the minimum size for 5/6 goldfish (1 commet, 1 red/white common, 2 shubunkins, 1 yellow) and a one for 2/3 fancies. And what filters would I need? 

And I would never put koi in a tank, I've seen how big they can grow, :gasp:

My OH just can't get over how lovely your tank is by the way, :flrt:


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## goldie1212 (Mar 5, 2010)

thank you, it drives me mad with how scruffy it looks a lot of the time but ye i still enjoy it. 

i would say for 4-5 commons/comets/shubs you will need a minimum 4x2x2 or better still 5x2x2. for 3 fancies, you could probably get away with a 4x1x1 or 5x1x1, they dont swim as fast and dont grow as large. saying that they can still easily top 8 inches, and are very bulky messy fish. 

rule of thumb for proper growth in goldfish is 
30g for the 1st fish then 20g per fish added after that for commons/shubs 

20g for the 1st fish then 10g per fish added after that for fancies.

mine is over stocked but i run huge amounts of filtration on the tank and i do 60-70% water changes weekly (crazy as im on a water meter and this isnt my only tank :gasp: )


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## Raych (Mar 1, 2010)

Thank you, I'm keeping my eyes pealed on that section of the forum. Would so love to find two tanks that size.
Can I have some links to decent filters, I havent got a clue :whistling2:


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## goldie1212 (Mar 5, 2010)

Aquatics Warehouse UK Fluval FX5 Aquarium Filter

Fluval FX5 External Filter. New UK Model on eBay (end time 27-Mar-10 15:29:39 GMT)

i got mine for much less than these but i got mine 2nd hand. theres always some on ebay.


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