Chelseanr

Update : got some tiger vals and that other green plant intertwined into the driftwood from the lovely nanmer, I can't get over how good it looks :] I'm looking into getting some low ground cover for the front there by the ozelot sword, but am not sure what yet. Things are coming into balance, and the army of snails she gave me have been working hard!

Aye they have always been my favorite fish. When I decided to redo my tank I considered getting different fish, but they just pull my heartstrings too hard. And yea, you wouldn't believe the amount of changes i've made over the past few months trying to drive the algae back. This is like 50x's better than it was a few months ago, and I still have a few things to change. You can see the die-off happening on the log if you look closely, so I have my fingers crossed! I don't mind a little for the ottos and snails, and my fish love it too! I would never say no to free plants, that's very nice of you to offer! Let me know wherer/when I could pick them up :] I come into calgary for work. Thank you! Thanks everyone else for your kind comments. I hope that it just keeps getting more beautiful :]

Hello all, I thought I would share my aquarium with you all. I started this tank back in July following the alberta floods. I was evacuated for several weeks and the animal rescue team poured an entire container of food into my tank, so I had to tear down and bleach the whole setup and start over again. I didn't have anything special prior to the flood, just an empty tank with 2 giant goldies and some substrate. I've always wanted a beautiful planted aquarium so I set out to fulfil that wish. It's been an interesting journey so far. I've learned a lot and still have much to learn. You can see some of the changes I've made quite obviously, and the horrific algae outbreaks that I've been fighting. It's still not perfect but it really truly makes me happy. I don't mind working on it, so the algae s just been a good excuse to hang out for hours cleaning. Here is a link to the album of my tank http://imgur.com/a/BsDvH#0, any thoughts, constructive criticism, advice, all are welcome. Thanks for taking the time to check it out! Here it is as it stands today: 55 gallon tall Flourite black substrate Penguin biowheel filter 1 powerhead for flow Dosing excel daily Flourish 1x week 2x T5HO bulbs - 1 12000k, 1 rossette (2 6500k's are in the mail this week) Home made co2 Small heater for otto central over there Have flourish trace and a few other goodies coming later this week. Fish: 1 oranda 1 blue oranda 1 telescope calico 4 otto cats 1 nerite snail Plants (from left to right): Amazon sword Jungle vals (front) Anubias x2 Java fern Junctus repens - they are looking very sad, which is very sad because I really wanted them to do well. We'll see though. Barcopa carolina Willow moss on wood ???? not sure but it is pretty with pink/purple undersides. I.D would be lovely! Ozelot sword Wisteria Junctus repens Looking for specific advice/thoughts on: I added the blue background which matches my wall paint nicely, however I feel like the tank lost something when I added it... Junctus repens are yellowing/browning, very sad looking. Anubias plant leaves are developing brown patches and yellowing.

Well I'm one for taking risks! Just kidding, I did research on which plants goldfish can't eat due to the toughness of their leaves or disliking the taste and planted those. Turns out my fish don't have any interest in the plants (so far - they are babies) anyways, and they just graze on the algae all day. Hopefully it will stay that way since I've added more delicate plants over time.

Wow, your tank sure has come a long way! It's beautiful.

Just wanted to pop on here and say hi! I'm a long time goldfish keeper (had them at least 15 years now) and have started a new planted - my dream - aquarium following the flooding this summer. Its a 55g currently stocked with 3 fancies, 4 oto cats, and a new nerite snail. Will have to post some pics soon, until then happy to meet you all!