Not new to the hobby, kept tropicals for many years before I went to university, gave up my two tanks to family and never got back into it. I loved silver dollars and angel fish back in the day, real characters.

Recently while browsing local garden centres aquatics I have seen the magnificent Orandas, withere there big flobbling wens and lovely tails. Real character fish. Decided I must have one, or two, thinking three is pushing it?

Current plan is to obtain a trigon 190 (190 litre aquarium) remove the built in internal filter and fit a decent external. Currently thinking Eheim classic or Fluval 205. I used to love the Fluval internals on my tropical tanks. Had a number 4 for 10 years and it never once went wrong.

Can't decide on tank media, gravel, sand, bare bottom! Seems alot of conflicting opinion. Im leaning to bare bottom, with several clay pots planted with real plants. Do amazon swords survive in cold water? They are silver dollar proof, so I imagine goldfish proof too?

What water testing kit is best,do the strips work? I never had water issues with tropicals, and my local fish shop used to check my new fishless cycled tanks.

Last question, I really want some quality fish to stock my tank with. Ive seen varying quality, tbh, pet smart seemed to have a really healthy looking stock in three different sizes last time I went there. But I never rated them for there tropical stock and still don't. Are there any breeders on here based around the midlands who have some quality fish? Really want at least one red cap.

Anyway thanks for any and all help, I look forward to chatting with your all more.

1) You want to look at larger/more filters. Its generally recommended to go at least double the usual recommended filtration if you want to house messy fish like Orandas.

2) If you like the idea of bare bottom why not put in a very shallow sand layer to give a less clinical feel to the tank. it will also give the goldies something to rummage in.

3) Strips are unreliable. you would be better with the API master test kit of similar. Also be careful with local fish shops as many will give poor advice and bad tests.

4) Back to number 1. Bigger is better with goldies, if you can afford/fit a bigger tank then it would be appreciated and easier to keep. Lots of people here have the all pond solutions 350l. Its both large and cheap :)

5) There are some really nice planted goldfish tanks out there but it looks like a case of trial and error as to which plants get destroyed. You may also want to look into the drinks bottle plant protectors. Basically the screw part and shoulders of a fizzy drink bottle with the plant coming out of the top. It stops the fish getting to the plant roots and pulling them up.

You may want to ignore all advice above. Im a bit drunk.

Thanks for feedback. 205 is bare minimum then. Eheim 2217 seems to get good reviews for reliability and has much higher rated tank size. I do like the Fluvals though, with there baskets seperating the media, so maybe have to splash out(parden the pun) on a bigger Fluval.

190 litres is as big as I can go. Will not be overstocked, decided on two orandas have read the advice in the caresheets.

I had considered sand, but I have read some people complaing that it effects the fishes gills when there snuffling about in it.

Nice advice about the bottle to protect the plants.

So much for the old misconception about goldies being beginners fish, they seems to have much higher requirements than angels/silver dollars.

That's great that you've done your research first!

I've found orandas to be fairly tricky to keep, they're pretty inbred so they come with all kinds of dodgy breeding problems, and their internal works seem to be badly designed, but they are my favourite fish and have loads of personality.

I use dorset pea gravel on the bottom, not too deep, while sand looks lovely, it's not their natural habitat, the gravel is much closer.

Be careful when using pots etc to protect plants, the water in these doesn't get circulated and can get dirty faster.

Another thing you will need is a heater, orandas are not really coldwater as such, more a temperate water fish, so around the 18-22 degrees mark is what they prefer. Also, temperature fluctuations can affect fancies more, so you want to keep it fairly constant.

The higher temperature can also help with digestion which fancies can have issues with (they get floaty). I'd recommend you look into the threads on here on suitable sinking foods as many seem to find they prevent the digestive issues. Im on a iPod otherwise I'd link you straight to them.

Just a quick one...if you are looking for good quality fish try http://www.goldfishgala.com, I think they are in Manchester. Not sure if this is too far for you? They have a Facebook page too, with a catalogue showing actual fish in stock, but can order in pretty much anything!

And if you want to go completely mad, you could try Star Fisheries.

Very expensive fish, but very beautiful.

I have looked at that star fisheries site, seems to carry every type! But I would like to see the fish and bring it home rather than have it shipped.

Hikari Oranda food, frozen bloodworm, spinach, leafy lettuces, pea cores etc?

So you think a heater set to 21 degress would be ideal?

Yep all that Ripples at Tamworth is very good for goldies. A5 Aquatics at Hinckley os good for tropical, but their goldies are often a bit rough.

Ripples is probably the best bet and worth the drive tbh.

JON

That Ripples place is just down the road, thanks! Will have a look. I was suprised to find that pets at home/petsmart or whatever its called now had a very nice selection. Would sooner give my business to the little guys though.

I did go a ride over to Shirley aquatics. There koi are simply amazing, there big koi display with £2k monsters is something to behold. However, im no expert but they seemed to be selling wenless orandas... which im pretty sure are not orandas. They were pretty large, maybe twice the size at which you would normally see a wen forming. Maybe just a mislabelled tank. Was going to have a word but they were packed out with people.