Hi, new here, but not new to fishkeeping. I'll admit though that the only time I've ever kept goldfish before was as 'cycle fish' (that was about 20 years ago). Of late though I've had a growing desire to keep some 'permanently'.
I thought I'd come to understand that they get big and messy and need to be provided for accordingly, but only upon reading on sites such as this one have I gotten a glimpse of just how big and messy... There seem to be a lot of very responsble keepers here, so I trust you'll beat me up properly before I do anything seriously wrong...
I don't have a pond; would like one but that won't happen for a couple of years anyways, and is not to be counted on. I do have a 150 gallon tank that I could free up (currently full of African cichlids that I'm re-homing) and was wondering how many comets would be do-able. Tank is 72x18, filtration is 3 Rena XP3s (room to add an AC110 if needed). All spraybars angled for surface agitation, + there is a powerhead for further surface agitation. I do a 50% water change weekly.
I was hoping 5-7 comets, but have seen some folks recommend no more than two! Is that the consensus? I am not looking for someone to tell me 'what I want to hear' but at the same time feel that my filtering & maintenance habits are sufficiently beyond the 'beginner' level to warrant re-validating that advice...
All replies welcome. Thanks,