I wouldn't bother with any of the fracted clay substrates with goldfish as the constant sifting will throw up clouds of dust. I would consider just using natural gravel and root tabs or just column dosing (you probably won't even need that as goldfish produce so much waste).

 

As Gary suggested, natural gravel is best you could lay some nutrient rich substrate like abbot of Ada on the bottom layer then fill the rest with gravel at least then the plants get a constant supply of nutrients and you won't have to dose anything, I have abit of Ada mixed with gravel that you could spread for the first layer, if you are still getting plants then you could grab it together just pm me if you're interested!

 

When you get plants, aim for the thicker leaf plants as goldfish loves to eat plants.

You will probably may want to consider mixing in some agronite in your gravel to help buffer the water as the large amount of waste (nitrificaiton process) will drive your PH down.

Another thing to consider is to do some researh on bio media to help with the (nitrifiaiton and denitrificaiton process)

 

the previous two suggestions are sound.
My sister and I set up a planted tank for her goldfish using play sand and river gravel (from a landscape outlet). We planted vals and overlaid the planting area with large gravel. So far it's working. The vals are tough enough to resist the fishes nibbling, and the rocks are keeping the plants in place.

 

It may depend of the size fo the fish... i would think (dont know for sure) but a bottom layer of florobase and larger river stone to anchor the plants and prevent the fish from digging and lifting the florobase (causing a mess).. I agree that vals are very hardy and will produce more shoots which means less plants requred for purchase..

altho hornwart grows easy.. i hate it in tanks with plant eaters because it always gets shredded and makes the tank look awful after

the downfall of larger river rocks is that waste can get caught in the crevases and foul the tank.. also if the fish are able to move them about the will gain access to the florobase with will cause a mess

 

It may depend of the size fo the fish... i would think (dont know for sure) but a bottom layer of florobase and larger river stone to anchor the plants

Putting large stones on Florabase would crush it and compress the clay rendering it unaccessible to the plants for rooting an nutrients. You would end up with a hardpan layer beneath the stones. Not a big deal, but it would just be a waste of money.

 

Thanks for the advice! I think I'm going to go with the gravel alone for the substrate and tie the plants to the driftwood or weight them down/surround them with rocks to make them harder to dig up.

Take THAT, you little aquatic lawnmowers!

I'm going for stuff that's worked previously (crypts, java fern, elodea, corkscrew vals and anubias), although I'm hoping for better luck with the wisteria this time if I plant lots of it. Feeding them veggies in the screwcumber seems to keep them off the plants. I might also add some duckweed as a distraction...anyone looking to get rid of some?

I haven't had any nutrient issues with the plants in the current tank, but I was thinking of trying root tabs to help things along and keep the growth ahead of the munching.

 

The limitation in a goldie tank is the availability of carbon. Since you're not going to want to inject CO2 in a goldie tank and you can't use Excel/Metricide because of Vals, no matter what you do, the carbon source is going to be your limiter.

 

I'm not planning on CO2 or anything high tech...I've seen some really nice low-tech setups that work without it, and the goldies need too much O2 to run a CO2 setup. Plus if I did put in anything that needs special care it would probably get eaten immediately...Murphy's Law of aquascaping.

 

Yeah, that's kind of my point. So you have to pick what works for you, since it's a fish first tank. My new tank will be non-CO2 for that reason, as I want have some fish that need higher temps and high O2/lower CO2 saturation. You should consider Java Fern and Anubias. They've held up remarkably well to my Cichlid/pleco onslaught, and they don't need substrate.

This is a bit excess (and is currently CO2 inject, but this is almost all Java Fern, Anubias and Jungle Val):

 

if your in my area i can give you some frog bit.. i got it for free and it had grown some.. i can spare some if you would like.. it grows fast (or at least for me).. tho i do have pond snails so you will have to look through and pick them out or treat it to enure you dont introduce them.. the snails are a pain in the butt once you have them just as a forwarning

 

That is a gorgeous tank! What size is it?

TCR, I'm on the North Shore but work downtown.

 

That is a gorgeous tank! What size is it?

Thanks, it's a 125 gallon. It was my dream tank until I recently got the 100 gallon square tank.

 

well if you know anyone who is coming out with way i can get a sandwhich baggy set up with your name on it.. sometimes i go out to burnaby and sometimes i go to charles place which is in vancouver (I think lol).. not a city folk myself but i have made my way out there from time to time