Goldfish Part II, What separates my tank from others

This picture features(from left to right) Tom, Schmitty and spastic. This was taken when I tried marble tile for the bottom of the tank and before the plant was eaten.

Goldfish, epically the feeder fish that I have, on there own are not that great. But with any fish it is truly the tank that makes them worth having. My fish tank is a standard fifty gallon tank set up in such a way to make it truly unique. What goes into that is the choice of fish, water management and décor. Now know that décor is were I spent the least amount of time. I focused more on the fish and how water management affects them. My décor only consist of a collection of gravel and a couple of odd shaped aquarium rocks. It is well lit with a natural toned light fixture.

First comes the fish, I went with four because this results in more natural behavioral pattern in the fish. Understand it is better to have 4 or more of a particle kind of fish as this will cause them to act as a school. Ultimately a school of fish is far more interesting then four random fish; as four random fish will not know what to make of each other simply sit there and stare at each other. A school of fish will swim around the tank in formation and have a noticeable pecking order. They also form up for protection from, as well as to investigate and try to eat the glowing red dot, my laser pointer, which occasionally shows up in the tank.

Water management is vitally important. And it’s the corner stone of my fish tank. When I started this tank I wanted to grow GAINT goldfish. So I went with a moving water tank. That means that my fish tank has a current. This is created as the bubble bars sit along the one side of the tank. A moving water tank causes the fish to swim constantly, like they do in nature. This causes the fish to grow to huge sizes. It also causes fish to grow past normal tank limitations. The constant bubbling also provides the fish with well aerated water. The gravel is a part of water management as well. My tank has a filter as well. To play it safe my filter is meant for tank larger then my own. Although it is easy to over look the gravel provides natural organisms a place to grow. These natural organisms help to keep the tank healthy as a mini ecosystem is formed. I once lined my aquarium, as seen above, with marble tile. In the absences of gravel my water quality went way down and filter cleaning went way up. Adding some live plants will add to mini ecosystem effect and improve water quality. Also know that these plants will provide a nice snack for your fish. My fish enjoyed them completely, which is why my tank has none.

A note to those Beta owners, DO NOT PUT MORE THEN ONE IN A TANK TOGETHER. No matter how many you put in, you will end up with, at most, one fish.