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So I'd taken in interest in goldfish at the beginning of the year and did a lot of research then but did not buy any. I'd had different plans than what ultimately happened.. mainly putting them in a 55g not a 40g breeder with diy in tank sump/riparium system. A little over a week ago I went to a non chain petstore to buy some live black worms as I needed to restock and my husband was drawn back tot eh goldfish section. He was drawn in by a 'vert inelegant looking' blue oranga that was probably 5" minus fins. Sadly the only other goldfish in its size range there were not types my husband or I liked. But the hubby was really into that oranda but wanted 2 goldfish. We left the store after buying black worms talking about getting them next week and my husband told em to turn around in less than 5 minutes and buy a smaller blue oranda and a calico we were eyeing. I already had a tank set up at home that had several large anubias going through a 1 month quarantine period in (anubias is susceptible to a contagious disease called rhizome rot-its already good to qt any new anubias for a month). The tank has substrate, filter with media, heater, all we needed was a lid so my husband and I stopped by home depot on the way home and grabbed some Lexan (great cheap minimal lid-doesn't bow like thin acrylic, and doesn't shatter like glass). Hubby cut the lid to fit while I acclimated. I scavenged some media from other cycled tanks to help kick start the beneficial bacteria colonies for the goldies and was/am doing 15 gallon water changes every day and every 4 days about 25-30 gallons. Dosing Seachem Prime daily to bind ammonia and nitrite during cycling too. First 2-3 days the oranda was a bit shy and would go into the anubias when I took the lid off to feed. Now its more bold and will come take food from y hand, both it and the fantail will peck at my hand, and the oranda also lets me it gently pet its fins.. fantail isn't quite at petting comfort level yet. But I'm surprised how quickly they go to this, some of my bettas let me pet them but usually. Still no names for them until I can be sure on gender.. fantail I'm 85% confident is female.. the oranda not so sure (hubby says its a he.. because he wants it to be male) Current diet is Hikari sinking goldfish pellets (purple bag), repahsy soilent green, in frequent Hikari blood worms or brine shrimp, and a rarer treat of live black worms. There is always some cucumber in the tank for them to nibble on, and I am hoping to grow lettuce and spinach for them on the tank to change that up a bit. Tank Info: Tank: 40 gallon breeder Heater: Ehiem Jagar 150 watt Filter: Aquatop submersible pump- 315 gph (with lots of foam and ceramic/bio media) Lights: Finnex Planted + LED 36" + 1x 14 watt 6500k cfl in reflector lamp Substrate: Black Diamond Stand: re-claimed 40" table Fauna:1 Oranda and 1 Fantail goldfish Submerged Flora: Anubias barteri 'broad leaf' Anubias barteri 'wrinkle leave' Water Sprite Riparium?Aquaponic Flora: Ornamental Sweet potato vine Freindship palnt coming soon(all organic): Black seeded simpson Lettuce Palco hybrid Spinach Greek Oragano Ferts:Seacehm Flourish line Various tank and fish photos from first several days lettuce seedlings floating on foam rafts in black worm culture tank until they get a little bigger Ornamental sweet potato vines and friendship plant Oregano and spinach elaves waiting to sprout Fantail finger nibbling+ both food begging. just got the first riparium plants set up after a 1 hour submerged dip in water to drawn out any possible pests.. They are not my first fish or plants. I've been keeping planted aquariums since 2012 including various tropical community fish, dwarf shrimp and dwarf rainbow fish, white cloud mountain minnows, and lots of bettas (each with their own tank). Enjoying the goldfish a lot in this first week+.. might have to sell off my tropical community fish so i can convert that to a goldfish tank.

Here they are! I recently have rehomed my large orandas to a local school that works with autistic and special needs children like I do. Most of the children in this school have severe behavioral issues that don't allow for regular school to work for them. One amazing science teacher contacted me about fish for his pond - He wanted some big ones. I decided to sell him the large ones at a discounted price and donated just as many. Here is the result. The 300 gallon pond/aquaponics system. The kids get to test the water, feed the fish, and observe the pond in the science classroom as rewards for good behavior. He has done an awesome job at so many things and the smaller fish I gave him are growing fast. He taught them about the nitrogen cycle, clean water, varied diet, etc. It's nice to know that I can visit them still and that they are part of something so wonderful. Here is a video for anyone who is interested