Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

Hi - have been lurking for a long time, getting a ton of great information, and searched carefully before posting this question, I hope

I just got fish in my system (no plants yet) and I have a bunch of comet goldfish in a 100 gallon stock tank. The goldfish are basically lively and healthy after 2 days; but my sweet wife is a big believer in the intelligence of goldfish and she doesn't want them to be so bored.

Does anyone have suggestions for features or shelters that they can hang out in, without creating any stagnation or other problems? Right now they are congregating under the submersible pump. I was thinking about stacking some carefully rinsed slate stones to create some hollows, but one thing I've learned in my reading is that there are lots of unintended consequences in the world of aquaponics!

Thanks in advance for any advice!

I recommend getting one of those sets of prenatal headphones, and put them around the goldfish bowl, while playing classical music. Your goldfish should be the smartest in their school.

Hmmm... that sounds good, but I want them entertained, not intelligent - the last thing I need is an Animal Farm situation in my stock tank!

I was thinking that a few different tubes of PVC, maybe sawed down the middle and set flat on the bottom, would create a nice hide and obstacle course for the little guys without endangering the water or anything. I really just don't want them to be so stressed that they get ill or stop feeding!

Build a castle for them.

how about this setup http://vannihagen.no/attachments/uc_fishsex-jpg.3029/

cheers

Waterproof TV on the cartoon channel and pickup a few re-runs of Nemo

Throw a trout in there... that will keep them busy.

Put the multiplication tables up on the walls of the tank?

You people are so mean.....


You can throw some pvc cutoffs in if you like, not too many though as they will help trap solids.

Goldfish love to play in currents, so if there is no "stream" of water flowing back in they can swim in, maybe get one of those going too. you will usually find they rather eat the food this delivers to them than the stuff floating on top too. It gives them something to chase.

Hang a couple of mops in. My goldfish are mainly interested in food, looking for food, eating etc. Occasionally some roots start to hang into the pond and then its food,food food and occasional sex.
I am assuming this because tiny goldies appear.

Put fishtank out of view from the kitchen....out of sight out of mind

Thanks for all the tips!


Hmmm... I was just thinking to add a spray bar to my drain pipe outlet, but I think I will leave it as just a round stream into the tank (from about 300mm up), since I noticed just what you mentioned - the little guys don't really want to come up to the top for food and they've been eating what gets washed down by the stream. Thanks!

I guess I'm going to get some 6" PVC, cut it in half, drill some goldfish sized holes for them to swim in and out of, and set them in there and watch for algae.

Teach them to paint? http://www.news.com.au/travel/world/bel ... 6722472400

Whew! I had a hard time finding large diameter PVC that wasn't foam core (which floats) locally. So I just got lazy, bought a 4" PVC sanitary tee, and dropped it in the tank. The goldfish love it - they dart through it, hide under it, hide in it. In fact all 15 of them were hanging inside at one point.

But now that the tank is running well, I bought 4 small (3-4" long) koi. They seem even more curious! To the point of seeming a little frantic. They don't quite fit under the tee either. I think it's back to the hardware store, I don't want these guys to run themselves ragged looking for cover in a stock tank!