Recommendation for a cold water goldfish

[AverageWhiteBloke]

I have inherited a 90l coldwater juwel set up containing four gold fish. It has already got a piece of bogwood in with a large java growing on it. Any recommendation for other cold water species I could try to keep to make the tank a little more interesting?
The tank is low lighting low tech I may add a bit of liquid carbon but I find a lot of ferns etc which are probably the more likely species to get suggested don't get on with it at times maybe just me. I will have to set the tank up at my office at work which at times is not heated for extended periods while I'm working away on site so at times it will be freezing in here. So I guess I need genuine coldwater species as opposed to ones that will tolerate slightly cooler than tropical that you would probably get away with in a centrally heated house.

Has anyone came across any sites for cold water planted so I could get some inspiration on some scaping ideas, I'm thinking bamboo or something being involved.

 

[amy4342]

I've got a cold water setup with 5 Goldfish. Currently contains a hygrophilia of some sort, Windelov Java fern and moss on some wood, an amazon sword with some Vallis at the back and a carpet (of sorts) of various crypts. It's healthy enough, running on Yeast Co2 and some EI mix to perk it up whenever it looks like it needs some. I've tried loads of other plants but found these were the ones that work for me. Some just died, and the Goldfish ate loads too lol.

Sounds interesting, I find it quite nice to have the low-tech set up, it's challenging but in different ways.

 

[AverageWhiteBloke]

Thanks I have some of them plants in my tropical planted at home so I'll try some in and see how they get on, probably be a fair amount of die off until they get used too the temp. Another site recommended anubias as they don't like to eat them. I'm thinking here using plastic egg crate on the base of the tank and somehow tieing the plants to them before filling with gravel :?
I tried putting some crypt wendti in after thinning out my own tank but they just uprooted it all within days.

It's healthy enough, running on Yeast Co2 and some EI mix to perk it up whenever it looks like it needs some

I would prefer a diy set up than liquid carbon I'm going for minimum expense here but I would say the temp would be too low to get a decent out put. It's ok this time of year but in winter it gets really cold in here. It's just a workshop with a small office in, I've seen me sat here at the pc with a fleece and wooly hat on with condensation coming off my breath

 

[amy4342]

Sounds good. If you already have some of those plants, then like you say, no harm in seeing how they go. Maybe if the plants go in soon, the temperature difference won't be too big, so they won't have to adjust now.
The anubias on the egg-crate sounds interesting! I don't know if the Anubias will rot if the rhizome is submerged though???

I tried putting some crypt wendti in after thinning out my own tank but they just uprooted it all within days.

Lol, yea, patience is a virtue with Goldfish! Maybe if you tied some lead weights around them they wouldn't come up as easy?

With regards to Yeast Co2, I run two bottles at a time - one isn't enough and I get algae, three is too much with faster plant growth than I'd like and gasping goldfishes at times. You might be ok with it even at that temperature - mine is in my bedroom without a radiator - ok in summer but freezing in winter! I do find that the yeast Co2 has a lower output over winter but the plants don't seem to have any problems adjusting. Could give it a go and whip out the liquid carbon at the first sign of algae?

 

[AverageWhiteBloke]

Could give it a go and whip out the liquid carbon at the first sign of algae?

Yeah worth a shot I guess at least I have a bigger room for error with the co2. The Java fern that's in there does pretty well without.

I'm looking at a few of the bigger crypts as well that have a decent thickness root system rather than lots of fine roots. These should be easier to tie down to the crate system.

 

[greenjar]

I would prefer a diy set up than liquid carbon I'm going for minimum expense here but I would say the temp would be too low to get a decent out put. It's ok this time of year but in winter it gets really cold in here. It's just a workshop with a small office in, I've seen me sat here at the pc with a fleece and wooly hat on with condensation coming off my breath

I've seen DIY yeast setups with a standard aquarium heater placed into the yeast bottle, or you could sit the bottles in a covered (and even insulated) DIY water bath heated by an aquarium heater. I'm sure you could use one of these methods to help keep output more constant.