goldfish keeping has become pretty complicated these days , remember cousin of mine used to have a concrete tank 8x3x2.5 cemeted to the floor in his backyard way back in Lorong Ah Soo kumpung days.

There isn't any need for filtration, it is just like throwing the fish in & it will survive. Left in the open you have green water, so green that you can't see the occupants at all not until it surface for food . I remember they is no Hikari or Tetra food, just humble white fish bread, only 0.30 cent. a package & the goldfish wahsay man puipui sweeswee one.

Water change is about once in every 2 months, no drainage system just the tradition way of removing all the fishes, scoop out the water & re-introduce the fish & bingo! .

Can anyone explain why such a method of fish keeping is possible those days & why can't it be the same today?

erm.. i'm doing something on a smaller scale
a 4ft tub, no filtration, throw in 4 fish
quite green, but still can see very faintly the color of the red fish
water change once every 2 weeks

its still possible ah, y not?

$0.30 for a pack of the bread? You're probably talking about the mid 70s...

Let's put it this way. Way back in the old days, you can have a dozen kids even when you're a blue collar workers. You didn't have to take care of the small ones; they seemingly grew up by playing around the longkang.

These days 2-3 years old babies are already taking lessons, chauffeured around by mom in her MPV. Kiasi dad call the specialist doctor once the little prince and princess sneeze. Yawn.

It's all a matter of changing time, and better knowledge and modern science are allowing more people to keep fishes in their small flat and hectic lifestyle.

That outdoor pond has green water, a much sought after luxury for flat dwelling goldfish keepers. It may seem old fashion but it's actually the preferred way to raise goldfish. The fishes were pui pui becoz your cousin provided, perhaps unknowingly, the best environment for them.

As for all the fancy food available in the market, they really cater to consumers with deep pockets. We call those gimmicky products "Dragons and Phoenixes". No harm having them to spice up your life but wise keepers knows... they are not necessary. Going back to bread may be fine but hey pal, pellets are a lot more economical!

So look back and have a good laugh. Imagine if your cousin had the knowledge we have today on green water alone, his pool of goldfish could be even more pui.

goldfish kept in green water is known to have faster growth & rounder body maybe due to the presence of algae pores floating around which they can feed on. I don't have green water in my tank but I've thick algae growth on the glass which I see the goldfish constantly nibbles on, will the result be the same as green water?

Those thick alage growing on walls and floor are excellent in another way I know of. First of all, they thrive in nutrient rich filtered water. Now we know the end result of bio-filtration is nitrate. Although relatively harmless compared to ammonia and nitrite, high concentration is still not good. However, plants and alage has the ability to used up nitrate. Your filtered tank is thus superior compared to one without any plants/algae.

I'm not entirely sure if eating the algae is good. It's harmless for sure but the quantity the fish is able to nip on is very small. The benefits of consuming the algae is thus quite limited.

My point is the algae being presence in the tank helps give you good water parameters hence providing an excellent environment for your goldfish.

I've been dying to have some in my display tank! You're so luck to have them.

HB, are you refer to the hairy type of algea?? those that is long enuff to actually swing from left to right to left if there is water current?

can anyone tell me if these are different from patches of green algea on glass wall?? from my observation, my goldfish never nipped on green algea patch.. .. in fact .. they seems uncomfortable with it (if its filtered water)...

i dun have facts to support my claims.. damn .. shall do so when i have more time aprt from work.

Oh yes, I was refering to those that swings. I believe they are commonly referred to as carpet algae. Seah's main display tank used to have a thick coat of it. Recently when I popped by I noticed he have trimmed them away. Maybe they were too thick and robbing essential DO from the fishes?

I ever say I'll ask Seah to pass some for me to seed my tank; wise ET was quick to point out it will not be possible since I can't "plant" them securely and my fishes would just nip them away. So I guess i have to start from scratch... somehow.

Wa... another type of green water?
Will it grow in a fishless tank? Or like the green water, must have fish inside one?

I think there is one very important element ... environment. The environment in the early 70s is pristine as in no human intervention, where now the water are treated, the pipes are treated even new water are recycled / created (not sure which word to use).

Besides that the air is very different, the whole season thing is all wrong.

So to some extend I think that have an impact.

The other I'm wondering if the strand which is in its continuous mutation made a difference.

yup

I can't help but agree with HB especially the part when he say a child consulting a Specialist even when it is only just common flu bcos I am also guilty of that sometimes.

HB, are you refer to the hairy type of algea?? those that is long enuff to actually swing from left to right to left if there is water current?

"Hairy" algae is undesireable, you will noe what I mean if you ever have a planted aquarium, it is actually those hairy stuff almost dark in color that stick to the leave which will eventually kill the plant. The gleen algae which I'm having is like a soft fur that adhere to the glass panel like carpet.

My fish actually love them judging from the hugh amount of green poos at the tank bed

Sori I'm actually quoting brudder Mountain on my first paragraph of my previous post, sori for the misleading post.

your fish gets huge amount of green poos just from muching on those mats of green algeas? !! hmm ...

anyway.. if u refer to my other posting in the Poo thread, my indoor green poos are intense green .. unlike those i saw in Competition is vegetable green .. i don't know which is good though .. maybe others who own outdoor green water tubs can share their poo ..

To reduce the amount of ammonia, competitors usually starve their fish to clear their tummy.

So those little bit of green colour poos are likely to be left-over and not an accurate representation of green poos from green water...

Allan's fishes hasn't eaten since monday morning; are you surprise they are still so actively swimming around?

u feel them with ketamine issit??
but the black splashes of color on its tail is still there since he bought them ..
hmm .. will it go away??

I must confess that when allan bought that fish, I had the impression those are stress marks which are common in many new arrivals.

Both of us held on to that belief for a few days... until a wise young boy causually mention "hey oldman, that's an unusual Tie Bao Jing!"

He's right! Allan was like while I went . Go back and observe carefully, the orange body is the Tie Bao Jing trademark matt yellowish orange!

After viewing your poo thread, I must somehow admit that brother Mountain's poo is the CHAMPION of POOS..BIG, GREEN & THICK, absolutely POWER!