Ranchus in my urn

**Fei Miao** · 18th May 2006, 12:05

I bought 5 small ranchus for my urn(cheap ones), probably will be reducing it to just 3 when they grow bigger. Anyone else kept ranchus before?

just to share this site on ranchus--japanese
http://rankuwa.web.infoseek.co.jp/ra...0ranmein2.html

**alanyeo99** · 18th May 2006, 16:35

I do. How big is your urn? And how small is small???

**Fei Miao** · 19th May 2006, 11:42

Size of urn, those old dragon urn which they used to import century/salted eggs, I think it holds about 80-90litres. It had an internal filter but I find I still have to make about 70% waterchange twice a week , perhaps if I reduced the bioload to about 3 fishes it would be better, size of the fishes about 4-5cm.

**alanyeo99** · 19th May 2006, 12:14

Dragon urn comes in small, medium, large. Suppose yours is the large one. Yes 3 would be ideal, also good feng-shui numbers

Goldfish never stops munching, so inevitably they shit as much. Feed them once a day is good enough. Water change as much as you can every alternate days. If you do it at your current rate (3-4 days), the water is likely to get murky by day 3. Alternative is to install an external filter.

**bclee** · 19th May 2006, 12:37

I am wondering whether lotus or floating plants can survive the munching of the goldfishes.

BC

**Jungle-mania** · 19th May 2006, 12:52

Never. learn it the hard way. No plant is safe from a goldfish, unless it looks like a cactus.

**Justikanz** · 19th May 2006, 14:38

Plants would be good for controlling the water quality and hopefully reducing the amount of water changes....

Maybe you can try placing a raised pot (on bricks, for example) with the intended plant to be grown emersed in the center of the urn. Cover the base of the plant as much as you can with rocks, but be careful not to injure the plant or to suffocate it.

Good plants would be lotus/lilly, but these fellows grow big, so an alternative would be pennyworts (already emersed plants can be easily bought from LFSs). If you are advanturous, you can try an Echi... or a large crypt...

**Fei Miao** · 19th May 2006, 15:23

Originally Posted by Justikanz

Plants would be good for controlling the water quality and hopefully reducing the amount of water changes....

Maybe you can try placing a raised pot (on bricks, for example) with the intended plant to be grown emersed in the center of the urn. Cover the base of the plant as much as you can with rocks, but be careful not to injure the plant or to suffocate it.

Good plants would be lotus/lilly, but these fellows grow big, so an alternative would be pennyworts (already emersed plants can be easily bought from LFSs). If you are advanturous, you can try an Echi... or a large crypt...

That's a good idea! I might even try Pandan plant.

**Justikanz** · 19th May 2006, 15:27

Oh ya... I was thinking about aquatic plants, I forgot that a good plant to use is the pandan... They love water, takes in a lot of nutrients and their leaves are useful... That would be a good choice!

The only thing is they don't flower...

**alanyeo99** · 22nd May 2006, 10:16

Pandan gives out a nice fragrance. Only problem is that it can be difficult to manage thus turning unsightly. Soon your urn will be covered with pandan leaves and no way to view your goldfishes. So this is a tricky balancing act - to see plants or fish?

btw, I've tried all sorts of plants but still not successful in preventing pollution in urn. Urn is simply too small. 2-3 days water change is a must.

**cairocks** · 22nd May 2006, 15:25

One thing came in mind, Goldfish prefer cooler water while lotus love the sun. Might be a problem there. The water temp under the sun could be quite warm. Used to plant lotus in my urn too,with small fishes to control mosquitoe. Find the best survivor are longkan fish and feeder mollies.

**guan** · 24th May 2006, 00:23

brother,dont try pandan, if your are placing it submersed, the pandan will be covered with algae very fast.
unless you had got filter to prevent the water from becoming stagnent water, if not, the pandan roots will accumulate those kind of slimy substances.

besides, pandan is usually used for those koi pool, where the water current is strong, and the pandan is grown one polyform float, to prevent them from sinking into the tank.

if not, you will see alot of problem coming out.

besides, i had tried pandan leaves in a fiber tank of about 5 ft, with mostly ranchu inside, and the fishes seems to die out after few days, but with the pandan removed, the fishes seems alright.

thus...don't try pandan..they harm the goldfish

**Fei Miao** · 31st May 2006, 13:55

Originally Posted by guan

brother,dont try pandan, if your are placing it submersed, the pandan will be covered with algae very fast.
unless you had got filter to prevent the water from becoming stagnent water, if not, the pandan roots will accumulate those kind of slimy substances.

besides, pandan is usually used for those koi pool, where the water current is strong, and the pandan is grown one polyform float, to prevent them from sinking into the tank.

if not, you will see alot of problem coming out.

besides, i had tried pandan leaves in a fiber tank of about 5 ft, with mostly ranchu inside, and the fishes seems to die out after few days, but with the pandan removed, the fishes seems alright.

thus...don't try pandan..they harm the goldfish

Thanks for the advice, I'm leaving the urn bare at the moment, easy maintenance.

**guan** · 31st May 2006, 20:24

welcome, by the way, u can put have water hycine to the urn, it can absorb the dirts from the water n prevent the water from turning cloudy, besides, it is a good plant for providing shades to the ranchus

**Fei Miao** · 1st Jun 2006, 11:35

Guan, the urn is in the shade all time, will be water hycine survive in such conditions?

**guan** · 1st Jun 2006, 16:50

hi fei miao. they will survive, but will not be as green as u you expect. the leaves will be come small n and the stem will become long, instead of short n and sturdy.
since it is in shade. maybe use duck weed instead. duck weed is much more cheaper to replace also.

EDIT: Guan, please spell properly and not use SMS lingo. Thanks.