ah i love the fx5 coz its self priming, fill it up with 8l of dechlorinated water or tank water, push the valves back on, and switch it on. if its not been cleaned out just switched off and left while the water change was done, just plug it back in and off it goes, runs for 2 mins, turns off, purges itself of any air and starts up again

bet you cant wait to get those big beautiful fish into a pond hey, can understand why they may be going a wee bit nuts in a 200l bless em, at least they are well cared for and its not permanent

we were at the pet shop last night, and there was a woman there stocking her 25l tank. she chose 2 common goldfish and a comet goldfish and would have kept chosing had the assistant said 3 was enough...for another 2 weeks i was having a mini-rant at hubby and the manager came up to us to ask us if we were ok, i said yes im just a bit annoyed at people who dont know any better. he said whats wrong, so we told him what they were doing, and he agreed it was wrong, but said its company policy that no matter what size the tank is, that they can sell to any filtered tank he even said he hates doing it and started talking about how big their tank was, it was 18 inches long, and even though they heard us talking about goldfish growing to 18 inches, they carried on regardless!

naughty as i am, i came away with a stunning 4 inch common white and red goldfish, it was just too pretty to leave there to a possibly awful slow death on someones tiny so called tank splashing out on goldfish at £2.99 good job im massively over filtered hey

They're only about a year old, they have the potential of growing to 18" inches or more. Very active fish, def not tank fish. They can be very skitterish though. I don't light the tank very often as they're not used to it & there's no plants to worry about. Daylight is adequate for them. It's their home (for now), not mine lol.

Tank looks a bit grimy but I'm leaving most algae on it for some baby trapdoor snails we're growing. Due to the lack of competition for nutrients from plants, the algae does really well so it keeps the snails happy. Weekly 50% changes keep nitrates around 40ppm. It would soon rocket up if we didn't keep on top of the changes though.

I'm thinking of keeping the Common in that tank & getting her a friend. She's about 2 I think & probably won't grow much more so that tank should be ok for her. I got her from a colleague at work who kept her in an Aquastart 30L lol. She has more than trebled in size since about last January. She can tolerate floating pellets nicely, my Orandas don't & so I give them some Hikari Lionhead which sinks. I love Hikari foods, but get it off ebay as it's hard to get locally. It's expensive, but keeps the water clear & they absolutely love it. I give them chopped prawns too which they go mental for.

Water turnover is around 10* an hour on that tank so it's well filtered. I grow duckweed as well for them so they do get some veg lol

I'm waiting to get a replacement intake stem for one of the filters as I cut it too short like a douche I'll put on the new hosing & keep the other as a spare.

I tend to stay away from the pet superstores now. I don't have the time for their lies & lack of basic knowledge.

I get my hay for our bunnies from Asda (believe it or not lol) & order their food online. I am not going to add to their profits anymore. Sick of them selling fish to people who can't be arsed spending just 5 minutes on the internet getting basic care advice. It would just take a few minutes to learn how to cycle a tank & while it's cycling they can research the species they want to keep.

Most people want everything handed to them on a plate & are too lazy/stupid to care properly for their pets. Not just fish, all pets.

Your tank is very boring isnt it?

Wheres the plants and little rocks, castles etc? Fish love them.

Boring for who?

Decorations just pose a hazard to these fish. There's no point in planting the tank, they're not going to be in it for long. I feed them vegetation.

fish do not like castles etc, they enjoy a variation of plants,wood and stone, but it needs to be right for the type of fish, for example fancy goldfish should not have anything with any sharp edges, and although most fish do enjoy having things to swim around etc, some fish may infact get trapped in holes etc in ornaments and holey rocks.

imagine fish the size of rubusroos swimming that fast and hitting a piece of driftwood or an ornament, not only could it smash a panel of the fish tank, the fish could easily scrape itself and come to harm. these are pond fish being kept short term in a large tank until a pond is sorted for them. the fish are happy and healthy and its best to keep them in a bare tank until a larger home is ready for them.

something tells me you are the type of person to put a goldfish in a bowl and give it some crappy little ornament to swim around while it lives out its immense several weeks of life

the tank is perfect for those fish rubus, and im sure 2 commons would easily fit in there once the orfes have moved into a pond. i wouldnt think twice about it

i dont see the point in avoiding all pet shops, i dont like the way they are, but if i see a fish i like, il save it from the bowl life it will more than likely end up in. even the aquatics centres near me never ask for tank info

I wish I could keep them all in a tank, they have an appetite like you would not believe & are so beautiful to watch.

The only time we really saw them when they were in their pond was when they jumped out to grab any unfortunate insects that happened their way. Fly vs Orfe...a safe bet!

They instinctively change direction when they make a grab for the pellets so they don't present a target to any predator. Unlike the Common that just sits at the surface hoovering up the pellets lol

I have already seen them lose scales when they get behind the filter intakes. They are way too active & agile for an aquarium.

Goldfish are hard to breed as well. lucky you lol

try informing mine that they are hard to breed...please! they were at it again all day yesterday, and through the night, then my little common was spawning this morning with the red cap and the panda male. eggs everywhere, and cloudy water time for a water change-again, they have made a right mess. i have another 20+ eggs which i think may possibly be fertile but will need another couple of days to see. if they are, then the mum is the panda oranda female, and the dad is the red cap, as i caught all the eggs right after she expelled them and he had done his thing should make a nice mix.

my fry from the last batch are growing strong, i have 2 i think, possibly 3, they are in the planted QT tank, they are picking off all the little bugs and stuff in there and are growing well. they both have little fantails now and are turning a bronze colour.