How funny...I came here to learn about goldfish plants after just seeing some for the first time in years & Lilpanda only yesterday was looking locally for a store that carries them. Home Depot in East Palo Alto (101/University Ave., by IKEA) had about five goldfish plants in stock earlier this week - hanging in the plant section inside the store, on the aisle that's closest to the outside garden center. Listed at $18.99 - which might sound pricy for a houseplant, but this is one that (in addition to being hard to find) is completely foolproof. I got one as a gift 20 or years ago, & it's hardy, healthy & has happily continued on, no matter how little attention it gets. (I think it's actually still in its original pot.) It's understandably a bit branchy - but I now know that's an easy thing to fix. p.s. HD has a 10% price beat guarantee policy, so if you go there by 7/1, bring along an Orchard Supply ad, as they're having a 25% off all plants sale this weekend.

Nick, the 25% water changes certainly do help in keeping the water conditions better - do you also vacuum the gravel when you do that? If you were to go by the 1" per gallon rule, which is really intended for slim bodied fish, then your little tank is already overstocked. Now consider that goldfish are not slim bodied fish, you are even more overstocked. The fish, once you have provided them larger quarters, will grow more. They are probably a little stunted because of the cramped quarters. I have 3 which are each 3" not counting the tail, that spend the winter in a very large rubbermaid type container. They inhabit my 60 gallon outdoor pond when the weather warms. If you decide they need more space until you can get the larger aquarium, you could use a plastic container. They would probably enjoy the extra room. And goldfish are alot more fun to watch from above rather than from the side - that's just my opinion tho. Meanwhile, you might check wetwebmedia.com for the best accommodations for them once you decide to give them a bigger home. Hope your cory does ok, or you find him a home where he can be a happy fish. While your water temp seems to be in the right range for him, the fluctuation of almost 10 degrees from morning to night could also be causing him some stress. And even though I have kept cories singly, they really are happier in a group of 3 or more. Consider this: Move your goldfish, as you will need to anyway, get another cory, and possibly 1 or 2 small colorful fish like male guppies, platies, cherry barbs for the 5.5 gallon.

I have noticed this behavior in my two fan tails. One is about six inches the other about three. The bigger bullied the smaller so much he got swim bladder disease. I separated them and when SBD went away put them back together. It was only then I noticed the aggression of the bigger. He kept pushing the little guy against things, coming up underneath him and biting. I have looked for the sex indicators but can't pick them out. I don't know if I am going to be expecting or if the bigger of the two is just a jerk. My little guy is missing some scales as well and I noticed an abdominal fin has been chewed off but there are absolutley no other signs of illness. I've googled everything. My tank water sits anywhere between 72 and 76 degrees at all times and for the last five months we've had them there have been no other issues. They got along just fine. I guess the question is would a male be aggressive enough to a female to chew fins off? He leaves our little catfish bottom feeder alone. I also read to put more hiding spots in so I plan on adding a ton of plants during the next complete water change. We tried live plants but they got so expensive as the big one kept eating them all!

All I have is a rigid plastic pond liner. I drain mine and then cover it so that the snow and rain doesn't get into it. It's easier than pulling it out and flipping it over I think. As for tadpoles I never saw any, I put the fish and an aquarium inside the house. Being that they're goldfish I didn't need to heat the water although I can if I want. All but one frog left on its own. So I released it in the garden near the compost heaps. I heard they like to burrow into them for the winter.