HELP! Newbie here! Info/Tips on Big Tanks?

[ponder]

Hello there!

We've grown too fond of our koi and comets and can't bear the thought of them disappearing from our outdoor pond.  So, we're planning on getting them a new aquarium!  (They've been living the past several months in a home made pond that my husband crafted in the basement.)

Sooo .. we're both inexperienced with aquariums.  We figure, based on the size of the koi, we'll need a biggish tank - around 100+ gallons.

Just wondering if knowledgeable someones can chime in with any tips and techniques that'd be helpful for the setup.   It'll be a regular water tank - not salt water.

Suggested topics?
- new tanks - recommended cleaning?
- what kind of gravel stuff on the bottom?
- what kind of lights for the canopy?  fluorescent or ..?
- what do you do if you have an aggressive koi and meek, wee comets?  Do you have to separate them?  or will the koi potentially chase the comets until they die?  (We've kept the bigger fish in one pond downstairs, and the smaller ones in a second pond - we were worried that the bigguns' would chase the little guys.)
:roll:
- real plants are better, aren't they?  
- do you put any toys or whatnot in there for the fish?  (I was reading posts about the plant-pulling, gravel-spitting goldfish)
- ... anything else you'd care to share ...

Thanks for your help!

Cheers,
ponder

[ambushman2j]

Hello there!

We've grown too fond of our koi and comets and can't bear the thought of them disappearing from our outdoor pond.  So, we're planning on getting them a new aquarium!  (They've been living the past several months in a home made pond that my husband crafted in the basement.)

Sooo .. we're both inexperienced with aquariums.  We figure, based on the size of the koi, we'll need a biggish tank - around 100+ gallons.

**The bigger the better, especially for fish similar to goldfish.

Just wondering if knowledgeable someones can chime in with any tips and techniques that'd be helpful for the setup.   It'll be a regular water tank - not salt water.

**Salt water would kill them anyways.

Suggested topics?
- new tanks - recommended cleaning?

**20-30% waterchange every 2 weeks.

- what kind of gravel stuff on the bottom?

**Any kind of gravel should be fine, avoid crushed coral however, I beleive koi/goldfish like lower pH's

- what kind of lights for the canopy?  fluorescent or ..?

**Florecent is best.

- what do you do if you have an aggressive koi and meek, wee comets?  Do you have to separate them?  or will the koi potentially chase the comets until they die?  (We've kept the bigger fish in one pond downstairs, and the smaller ones in a second pond - we were worried that the bigguns' would chase the little guys.)

**I do not think there would be a problem, but don't quote me on that.

:roll:
- real plants are better, aren't they?  

**They will just eat real plants, so I would suggest fake ones if any.


- do you put any toys or whatnot in there for the fish?  (I was reading posts about the plant-pulling, gravel-spitting goldfish)
- ... anything else you'd care to share ...

**They do not need to play with anything, but any decoration is completely upto you and mostly for your benefit

Thanks for your help!

Cheers,
ponder

[tanksalot]

Hi Ponder,
we were in your shoes last year! :-)  We realized it would be too expensive to house all of our gold fish in tanks (with filters, canopies etc) , so we ended up keeping only our favorites in a tank, and the rest over-wintered in a laundry tub in the basement. The experience of keeping the pond-fish in a tank over the winter spawned a whole hobby of tropical fish keeping (and tanks keep multiplying!).  

Depending on the size of tank you do find, you'll find gold-fish are very poopy and need frequent water changes. Ammonia builds up quickly with gold-fish.

You'll need a 'vacuum' a siphon type tool available at fish stores to vacuum the bottom of your tank (s)

You'll need good filtration.

Gravel size will depend on the size of your fish. They do like to mouth their gravel (so nothing sharp). I've heard of gold-fish choking on their gravel if it's too small).

Give them peas every now and then. It is healthy for them, and really fun to watch them play/eat them.

Fake plants and some large stones and/or driftwood will help give them hiding places. Gold fish love to eat plants, there are unpalatable plants (like java ferns), but I haven't tried it with them. We put in some duckweed once and they ate it all.

Any kind of light or no light (except ambient room light) is fine. Since you don't have plants the light is for your benefit to watch them. People like fluorescent because it doesn't heat the water, but we've used incandescent and it has been fine. The lights are for you to view the fish (they look prettier).

If the tank is big enough and there are enough hiding spots you might try mixing the fish, but be ready to remove some if there is too much aggression. Are they all together in the outdoor pond?

Good luck

[ponder]

Gosh!  Thanks so much!  this is very helpful!

When you say peas .. do you mean like Jolly Green Giant peas?  I'm sitting here trying to imagine them playing with a couple of peas!  It sounds like fun!  I'm tempted to go down stairs right now and throw a few in to see what they'll do!

We first purchased a couple of plecos to place in the outdoor pond.  They were very small - about 1 1/2 " or so.  They never had a fighting chance.  They got sucked up in the filtration system of the pond (1800 gallons) ... my husband found one stuck in one of the pump pipes, one disappeared .. and the other .. well .. he didn't look like he died a happy death when we found him.  So, we knew that small fish wouldn't last in the pond outside.

We wanted fish ... and we have tropical plants in the pond outside that in order to live through the winter, have to go to their winter destination -- our indoor basement ponds.  They're a couple of ponds ... around 800 gallons in total.  So, I went out to pet smart and bought a couple of 3" koi and a couple of 3" comets, and then several wee comets.  We lost one of the wee comets right away.  Our plan was to "grow" them through the winter in the indoor pond .. and then move them outside this Spring when the outside pond was back in working order.

Well, of course, over the winter, these little fishies start taking on personalities .. and they're fun to watch.  Our favourite koi was named Flash .. he's a golden colour with a fan tail - very lovely to watch.  Our other koi has the imaginative name of Spot .. because he's spotted.  The comets all look a little similar - especially the small ones .. so we just like them .. but haven't named them.

We've noticed that while they've bided their time in the downstairs pond, they've attacked some of the plants.  We believe Flash is the main culperate.  He's the biggest fish down there now .. and always gets most of the food.  He's very good at getting there first when it's meal time.  His nickname is Pig now.  ;-)

Anyhow, I'm blathering.  Just wanted to say thank you both for your input and the comments.  

Any idea where to buy some driftwood?  Is it readily available and I'm just not going to the right haunts?

Cheers,
ponder

[ambushman2j]

most petstores that sell fish will have driftwood (anywhere with a decently large fish section) however, the prices of driftwood can be high to be forewarned

[ponder]

We're off on our first serious look for the aquarium over this coming week.  Called through to Petsmart and they have a 100 gallon tank .. just sold a 130 gallon one.  They say they can order 'em in about a week!

So on our city tour of tank sources, I'm sure we'll come across the drift wood!  Thank you !!

This may be stupid to ask .. but I know if you walk along a river edge or whatever body of water, you come across drift wood.  I just assumed that stuff on the side of the water should be steared clear of ... I presume it'd have nasties in it or something.  Maybe I'm just paranoid.    ... Is that my question?

[DARKPHREAK]

Ponder,

If your around a SuperPet(Merivale). They have a deal going on, no tax and free filter, if the tank is Oceanic or Hagan. My wonderful girlfriend bought me a 72G Oceanic bowfront show tank. So I got the tank, stand and Fluval 404 for 799.00$.

As for driftwood, you can take anything from local waterways. Try and get something really old so that most of the tannis(wood color) has leached away.  Just soak it in bleach to get the nasties out and then soak it in fresh water thats been treated to remove the chlorine. This way, picking your own, is alot cheaper and you can get something big enough for your tank.

Good luck and keep asking questions, the people on this board are great at helping us newbies out.

James

[Stevie]

You will often find large tanks advertised in the Pennysaver, at www.ottawapennysaver.com and for considerably cheaper than you would pay in a retail store.

[tanksalot]

Jolly Green Giant or no-name ...the frozen peas in bags. I defrost them now, but I didn't use to! (I think they got 'played' with longer when they were frozen ;-)

It is a riot to watch them chasing them when they hit the current of the filter (looks like basketball).  And when they sink they sort of 'bowl' them along the bottom until they get gulped!

You indoor ponds sound amazing!!!