Plants: nothing with small leaves which goldfish can get in their mouths.
Java Fern is highly recommended. I had a goldfish rip apart a piece of
hornwort in seconds but I think she was possibly after some baby snails and
not the plant itself. I had wisteria in my tank and the fish left it alone,
too, but the snails wrecked it. It is pretty, but requires alot of light.

As for other fish, you don't want to mix tropicals with goldfish since the
GF produce so much ammonia, and they have different dietary needs. Also, a
common one to put in there is an "algae eater", but this is also a mistake
since some will suck on the slime coat of a GF. Besides, goldfish will
graze on algae so you don't need one.

Most of us just keep our goldfish by themselves, or with a snail or 2. I
have a little swordtail in with my goldfish, but he thinks he is a goldfish.
LOL. He was among plants which the LFS put in the tank with some fantails,
and when he scooped water into the bag to catch my new fantails, he scooped
up 2 fry, and this little guy is the surviving one. He's now 5 months old
and I don't have the heart to separate them. When I first got my big tank
set up and moved the goldfish into it, I left the swordtail in the little
tank by himself and he was "pacing" and swimming frantically around, so I
finally gave in and put him in the GF tank. He hangs around my smallest
fish and eats goldfish food, etc. he's healthy and happy so I haven't
bothered to move him, but other than that, I have guppies and Angelfish and
they have their own tanks.

Good luck with your new fish, and don't hesitate to ask if you have any
concerns. Sometimes people here can be blunt, but it doesn't mean you
should take it personally. Unfortunately, many people don't do their
homework, nor do they bother to ask about the fish, and us folks dedicated
to the hobby get upset when this happens, that's all. But we are here to
help, and you have a delete button for posts you don't like...



--
} Tammy {
Support the Canakin Project with me, by linking to your favorite store from
this address:
http://www.geocities.com/ontario_canakin All Proceeds will be used to
purchase equipment, fish, etc for the Canakin Project

Watkins Business Opportunity
www.tsginfo.com Enter code TD3796
Me and my fish Thank You!!
"ste mc ©" wrote in message
...
Hey there,

First of all, thanks to Mel, Ingrid, and Deanna for your replies. I was
going to come back here and tell you that I thought your advice was a bit
over the top, and that my fish tank would be fine as it was. I was going
to
say, if you want such a big tank for your fish, why don't you do the right
thing and let them back in the ocean where they belong, rather than
keeping
them trapped in some aquarium, which no matter how big, will never compare
to their natural habitats.

But I then started reading more after your advice, so I've followed it.
:-)
I bought a new tank today to replace the large goldfish bowl which we had
beforehand. The new tank came with a Fluval 2 filter. Hopefully, it will
do the job. If not, we'll just get a bigger filter later on. The tank
also
came with a light in the hood, and the tank is 80cm x 30cm x 40cm, which
holds 96 litres, or 21 gallons.

I've got two fish in this, a Blackmoor, and something else - I will take a
photo later in the week and upload it to my webspace so someone can
identify
it! ;-)

If anyone can recommend any real plants that will look nice in the tank
and
be okay with my fish, then please feel free to do so. We've currently got
some of those plastic plants, but they look ever so tacky. Also, if
anyone
can recommend any other aquatic life that would work well within our
aquarium, then please let me know.

So thanks to everyone for their help, it's much appreciated - not by me or
my bank balance so much, but my two little fishies! :-)

Thanks,

Stephen



"ste ©" wrote in message
...
| Hi there,
|
| I've got a small goldfish tank with two goldfish. To clean it, I've
been
| putting the fish into a bowl of clean water, then cleaning out their
tank
| and gravel in the bath.
|
| The tank is probably too small to bother with a filter, but is there any
| other way to keep the water clean without changing it every week? Are
there
| any small water creatures I can get that will keep it cleaner for
example?
| I've also read somewhere about some sort of 'water hoover,' would that
be
| any good for what I'm talking about?
|
| Thanks for any advice.
|
| Regards,
|
| Stephen
|
|