Re: Goldfish tolerant plants--my summary

[Brown_D at kids_wustl.edu]

I've had two goldfish in a 29G planted tank for two years now, and we've
found a lot of plants to make very tasty expensive salads along the way.
The tank has moderate lighting (originally 36W, now 73W regular
fluorescents); compressed CO2; temps mid 70s to mid 80s (only heat from the
lights); soft water; PMDD dosed daily; and  a pair of spoiled piggy
goldfish who are now 6-8 inches long and very rough on plants even when
just swimming around.

I started out with some lists found on the web and in plant books of
goldfish tolerant plants, but quickly found that my relatively well-lit
tanks get too warm for some traditional "cold water" plants, and that some
plants not usually recommended (like crypts) flourish.

A summary of our experience:

Plants currently thriving in the tank:
?Anubias, all varieties
?aponogeton crispus (one even flowered once)
?crinum calamistratum
?crinum thianum
?crypt retrospiralis
?cryptocoryne wendetii red
?cryptocoryne willisi
(I didn't try crypts initially after reading about crypt melts, and that
they liked higher temps than are typical in GF tanks, but I agree with
previous suggestion that crypts must taste bad--they get uprooted,
occasionally torn, but never ever eaten)
?echinodorus v. compacta (species?)  they haven't touched it--maybe it
tastes bad?
?microsorium pteropus (java ferns)
?val ("tiger val" & "jungle val") survives occasional uprootings and broken
leaves, sends out occasional daughters

Plants hanging on:
?ceratopteris  thalictroides (water sprite) (small floaters get broken up
into smaller floaters, never really establishing big growth, but not eaten;
can't root because it breaks too easily, even if roots are protected by
potting from uprooting)
?echinodorus amazonicus (amazon sword) (kept trimmed to a compact 6 inch
"bush", but strong roots keep it going)
?egeria densa (elodea) (grows fast enough to survive, barely, but not
pretty)
?hygrophila augustifolia/willow hygro (they have trimmed the leaves
shorter, but haven't yet managed to uproot or destroy the almost woody
stems)
?marsilea (uprooted because of shallow root system; flourished when
protected in a mesh cage, but uprooted when cage removed)
?sagittaria platyphylla-broad leaf  (leaves are torn, not eaten)


Plants that did well at times but eventually gave up the ghost:
?bacopa mannieri (moneywort) (snacked on intermittently, slow to die but
never grew)
?bolbitis heudelotii-(african fern) (not eaten, but just collected algae)
   ?Ceratophyllum submersum (hornwort) (held its own when the fish were
much smaller, but now couldn't begin to catch up with their appetites)
?cabomba caroliniana (not eaten, just uprooted; didn't do well in summer
high temps)
?cryptocoryne crispatula (recovered after crypt melt in other tanks, but
never came back in the GF tank)
?e. tenellus (uprooted before it could be established)
?hygro polysperma (occasionally outgrew their appetites, but not
consistentllyl)
?limnophila spp ("asian ambulia") (uprooted, snacked on sometimes)
?mayaca fluviatilis (mayaca)(initially good but oft chewed & uprooted)
?nymphaea daubenyana
?nymphoides aquatica (banana plant) (uprooted, "bananas" broken off)
?rotala "narrow leaf" (small bunch persisted for a long, long time, solidly
rooted, but finally was moved to gentler tank--barely grew in GF tank)
?sagittaria subulata [dwarf sagittaria] (survived under a mesh basket,
rooted, prospered until uncovered after a month and being immediately
uprooted)


Plants that never had a chance:
?acorus gramineus (bog plant--oops)
?Alternanthera Ficoidea (Green Hedge) (another bog plant oops)
?Alternathera sp.--pink stems and leaf (never could be sure of the id
because it was shredded in less than a day)
?echinodorus 'ozelot' (ocelot sword)
?egeria najans (much too tasty and more delicate than the egeria
densa/elodea)
?hydrocotyle sibthorpioides-(pennywort) (much too tasty)
?hygrophila difformis  (water wisteria) (ditto)
?limnophila sessiphila-(ambulia) (uprooted)
?lobelia cardinalis (eaten)
?ludwigia repens (red ludwigia) (eaten!)
?lysimachia nummularia (pond penny) (eaten)
?[marsh mermaidweed] (so tasty it was trimmed to nubs in <12 hrs)
?rotala macarandra (just melted)
?shinnersia rivularis [sp? = mexican oakleaf] (tried 2X by mail order,
arrived sickly, couldn't recover before thrashed by the GF)
?zosterelia dubia (shredded, not really eaten)

Plants raised/tolerated in other tanks just because they make such nice
goldfish treats
?duckweed
?salvinia

Hope this helps someone avoid feeding expensive plants to their fish....

Diane Brown in St. Louis