I agree with Dragonii, it's a little over the top And the goldfish will eat anything as delicious as that!
On the chunk of driftwood where the Anubias and java fern are taking over there was also a little patch of java moss (grass like, pretty thready moss) and that was gone and eaten within a few weeks, I had to keep picking out those annoying moss threads floating about everywhere... xD

You could get the dwarf anubias and plant those on the gravel, they will spread out to the sides rather than growing upwards, creating a little kind of lawn on the bottom Mine are growing like mad... then you could add the Barter's Anubias (middle-size) to the wood and keep the java ferns growing as a background?

Most rocks collected from outside may have some harmful chemicals or dirt on them, so bleach would be a good thing to clean them in. But you can also go to garden shops and supermarkets and buy some pebbles from there, they're usually a lot cheaper..

If you'd be cutting in the plastic pot it might get sharp edges that could hurt Lucky, in general everything you put with a goldfish needs to have rounded edges and rather not be something they could swim through. It happened to another member here that her goldfish had grown a lot since she bought the ornaments, and one of them got stuck in it, losing a few scales and getting scratched in process. In case the fish will get stressed, it will be happy just hiding in the plants too They most likely won't get stressed since you're headed for a more natural look on your tank which will keep the fish more comfortable than if you'd have neon pink gravel and blue plants...

We did a test one time at a fish store that I worked at. We set up a 55 gallon tank, one half we decorated with all natural colors like green plants and brown gravel, the other end we did in all fake colors, pink, blue, neon green, etc. You would have thought that we had an invisible force field in the middle of the tank. All of the fish stayed on the natural side. If by chance one crossed over it turned around immediately and swam back to the natural side. It was so odd to see.

Wow Dragonii, that is pretty interesting! I guess they really prefer something more natural!

Ah thanks Nossie, I'm only thinking of having 2 goldfish, I worry that 4 would push it a bit XD
I may possibly get a 3rd fish (I'm thinking a yellow comet), depending on how Lucky and future Shubunkin settle in

Skwishee if your local petstore has tank stones you could put one in. I have one in my tank and it looks great!

There's no problem keeping the commons etc in aquariums, the only thing that separates them from fancy goldfish is that they're a lot faster, so they need more space to be able to swim around You won't stunt them if you give them a tank no smaller than 80 liters.

The reason why they grow bigger in ponds is because they get more protein rich food in the bugs that fall into the water, and of course that it's a more natural way for them to stay since the seasons change and bring on breeding behavior, and the sun does their colors good

That sounds familiar, I've heard that before I'm flattered But I think reading books is more my thing (I don't have glasses though D8)

Completely normal with black eyes Sometimes the color will spread to the eyes and make black patterns on them too. Freya has pretty strange patterns on her pupils, somehow the black has "splattered" around them giving them weird shape. And my recently deceased calico baby had one black eye as well. It's not a wanted trait in show fish and they'd lose points on that, but I think it's adorable!

You're right. Java ferns are among the most hardy plants ever! So they'll be just fine

I have a kind of drift wood that won't release any tannins, it's really easy to scrub clean before you add it to the tank and you don't have to go through half the trouble that you do with bog wood. It's called Mopani drift wood and has a very gnarly and round, knotted look to it. It also sinks on it's own and is really heavy so it'll stay in place (Some other woods may slide around in the tank sometimes)

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Okay!

So I went to the shop about driftwood, he had this odd looking driftwood for £4 a piece! I'm pretty sure I saw some drift wood for £1.99 in this shop called The Range, so may buy it from there instead. I asked about java fern and he had some on driftwood already for £5 or individual pieces for £1.75, but was getting more in tomorrow.
They were quite small and didn't look 100%, do plants get 'better' if you buy them in a potentially poor condition? I'm not sure what their meant to look like, so I could have it all wrong XD

I also asked about external filters, explained it would be 125 litre with 2 or 3 goldfish and he recommended an Aqua one 700, that's on sale for £40 at the moment. He also had various other Aqua one's and said they also stock Eheim.
Now I would rather buy a filter from a shop down the road, so if something does go wrong, I don't have far to go, compared to buying on the internet!

I know you guys mentioned Eheims, but have you had any experience with Aqua One filters?

I also found an Aquarists Society in North Wales, so will be asking there about substrate for plants, maybe they could post some to me!

Well I looked up the Aqua One 700 and it only seems to do 700 L/H (hence the number in the name I guess!), so that rate might be a little low....

That Eheim looks pretty awesome

If I had the money, it would be great to buy two Aquaone 700's, 1400 L/H

Hmmm yeah, I guess the tank would be okay on 500 L/H less, if any fish needed to be quarantined and the smaller filter removed? Hopefully they never will, but I'm just keeping a back up plan, in my head, so I know what to do in an emergency

Also my mum's come up for the weekend and brought my dads filter with her, so I can get pics of that when I take it apart on Wednesday/Thursday The top of the filter says 3 Fluval

I've never seen an Aqua One, they don't sell them in the US. I did go check out their website, the designs look pretty solid.

Eheim is of course tried and true. They have been around forever and make rock solid filters... but they are very expensive.

I have an Aquatop canister that I have been very happy with, and in fact plan on buying another one.

In the US they are sold as Aquatop, but in the UK they are labeled as Eagle Aquatics.
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2000 L/H, UV sterilizer, prime button, surface extractor, plenty of room inside. I have been running for about 8 months and it has been nothing less than perfect. I don't think you will find anything as powerful and effective for the price.
You should buy some more bio media for it. They give you some but you also end up with a bunch of empty space in it. They do that so that you can add what ever you want. I added plastic pot scrubbers. They make great bio media and are dirt cheap.


Ignore that reviewer on Amazon, I think that was just someone that didn't know what they were talking about. I had no problems with mine and I know several people that use them and none of them have ever had anything bad to say about the filter.

Yeah, I still can't believe how cheap it is!

My only apprehension about it, is what if something goes wrong?
I can hardly post a massive external filter back, or get face-to-face help and also it's a brand that you just never see over here, so if something were to happen I'd be a bit stuck really I don't get how a 2000 L/H filter can be so cheap when 1000 L/H ones here are so expensive?
Although it does have a 12 month warranty...

I asked in the local market about Eheims and I almost keeled over when the man told me an Eheim 2217 would be around £180/190 Might ask in the LFS down the road about what they have/or can get in for 1000L/H.

I think I'll carry on asking around, just so I have a complete picture, as I won't be getting the money until christmas (still no idea how much I'll be getting either), but thanks for the help guys, will be posting pics of my dads filter soon x

What Nossie there was a price? Omg I'm so dazed right now.