The ramblings of a fishkeeper

[colley614]

Hey peeps,

So, seen as I have not long come back and am currently locked in because of this virus, I thought I would have a bit of a ramble about Goldfish. It's probably going to be quite long winded and I thought it might give people something to read.

Anyway, I found this forum in 2010. I had been keeping common Goldfish since about 1994, but never had any long term luck. This forum was an absolute epiphany moment for me as I'd suffered years of bad advice and never really looked into information other than what my LFS had to say. It was after all this time I first found out about the nitrogen cycle and this blew my mind. Before this I had literally put my fish in a bucket and cleaned everything with dish soap every few months. Just picture it, completely emptying my tank using buckets and carrying my tank outside to scrub stones and glass with a pad and soap. I must say, I would have never admitted to this back then. I was far too ashamed. This forum made me realise fast that most of the fish stores in my area didn't have a clue or didn't seem to care. For example, if I remember rightly, the day I joined I had about 10 goldfish, such as Commons, Shubunkins and Sarsa in a 100 litre tank. Within a week I went out about bought a 4 foot tank and separated the fish. That summer I also started to build a pond and I can't remember if I started a thread on here about it. I definitely did a thread for my second, it's here - 

 This was about 5 years after me finding this forum. But the knowledge I gained from here has set me up for success. I learned as much as I could about everything and have since branched out into other types of fish keeping. There's a thread on here about my saltwater tank. I didn't have much luck with it at first but soon got it going well. I've kept marine tanks, planted tanks and all sorts of different types of fish. I always find that I find something in the hobby that is supposed to be extremely difficult to do and then do it. However after about 2 years I get fed up and start another project. But recently I've realised that of all the tanks I've kept and all the fish, I always want to get back into goldfish. They are my absolute favourite. 

I moved out of the house I built the pond in as my ex wife wanted to separate and she knocked my pond down out of spite. But I'll soon be moving into a house with a garden so I will be building new pond mark III and I'll start a thread for that. I also own an 80 litre, a 100 litre, 2 400 litre and 2 500 litre and a 7 foot, 300 litre tank. I plan to make a fish house with all these aquariums and I'll start a thread. I'm thinking of Oranda and Ranchu. I would also love to build a massive centralised filtration system in the fish house that I could filter the pond and tanks with. I would isolate the pond in winter and keep the fish house at room temperature. I already own a big linear piston air pump big enough to run air to all the tanks and the pond. 

So, peeps, whats your input?

[koko]

My dream home was a pond that's in the middle if the house. 

I think you could build something really cool. I would love to see the progress. I had SW tank with coral and fish. This was like 20 years ago, and it was hard. I thought if I can do goldfish I could do them. I was successful until the dreaded pink slim stuff moved in and bristle worms!!!! 

[colley614]

8 minutes ago, koko said:

My dream home was a pond that's in the middle if the house. 

I think you could build something really cool. I would love to see the progress. I had SW tank with coral and fish. This was like 20 years ago, and it was hard. I thought if I can do goldfish I could do them. I was successful until the dreaded pink slim stuff moved in and bristle worms!!!! 

Cyanobacteria? I hated that stuff. After trying different types of aquariums. I've decided I'm not a fan of coral or plants. I'm a fish keeper and get more enjoyment out of a bare bottom tank with a couple of big fish in. 

I will definitely build a fish house and new pond. I love the idea of keeping a quarantine tank and then building a central filtration system for the rest. I would like to buy an RO system and strip it down to just the pre filters and just run it as carbon so I could drip freshwater into the system and then have an overflow to the drain. I also like the idea of having a large refugium of either elodea densa or hornwart and crushed coral sand to buffer the Kh. 

When I start I will create a thread.