# Goldfish and Aquatic Plants **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [August 27, 2001, 5:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/goldfish-and-aquatic-plants/78356 "2001-08-27T17:28:33Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Deimos](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Deimos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Deimos)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2001, 5:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/goldfish-and-aquatic-plants/78356/1 "2001-08-27T17:28:33Z")
I just bought a 15 gallon aquarium with one of those eclipse filter/light thingies and to go along with it, I also picked up two goldfish: a bullhead and one of the those with the big telescope eyes. I want to put some plants in there but the petsmart guy said that goldfish eat the plants. Is there anything I can do to get some green in there? ---
**Author:** ![NotMrKnowItAll](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/6bbea6/32.png) [@NotMrKnowItAll](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NotMrKnowItAll)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2001, 6:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/goldfish-and-aquatic-plants/78356/2 "2001-08-27T18:22:06Z")
I think it would be cheaper in the long run to sterilize $20 bills and float’em in the tank. There is plastic vegetation that looks quite plastic. I’d go for some real plants and just see what the goldfish do. The goldfish and Koi I have, while plant eaters, seem content with their super expensive fish num-nums. You understand your tank will be filled with green algae in a few days anyway, right? I was just in PetSmart yesterday. I asked the fellow for a couple dozen large crickets, and, in a few minutes time, saw him leave in street cloths. What a jerk! ---
**Author:** ![dolphinboy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dolphinboy/32/330_2.png) [@dolphinboy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dolphinboy)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2001, 6:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/goldfish-and-aquatic-plants/78356/3 "2001-08-27T18:23:15Z")
You can put in plants… just don’t be surprised if you have to replace them now and again. Goldfish will chew on most aquatic plants… not pond plants like Water Lillies, but the kind you find at a fish store (Anachris) but that’s okay. They need some amount of vegetation in their diet and it gives them something to do. I would get whatever plants you fancy and put them in… have lots of good light and circulation to keep them growing… and make sure the fish are well fed too. They will chew on some of the plants but it’s not like they will eat everything in sight in two days. My guess is that the plants will be growing a lot faster than the fish can eat them… ---
**Author:** ![mmmiiikkkeee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/edb3f5/32.png) [@mmmiiikkkeee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mmmiiikkkeee)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2001, 11:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/goldfish-and-aquatic-plants/78356/4 "2001-08-27T23:45:33Z")
My goldfish have never eaten my plants… much to my annoyance in some cases. I’ve thrown duckweed (small bite-sized floating plants) into their tanks only to find it still there weeks later. They have been known to eradicate such plants, but it depends on how well they are fed. Feed them enough twice, or even once a day, and they shouldn’t devour your plants. They will however, uproot most plants eventually. They will dig around in the gravel looking for food, and the next day your plants will be floating on the surface. They may nibble plants too. Find some big plants, and put some small rocks around their bases to discourage the goldfishes’ underwater bulldozing. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2001, 12:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/goldfish-and-aquatic-plants/78356/5 "2001-08-28T00:55:08Z")
Koi eat plants, goldfish do not. I imagine they would pick at them in an aquarium looking for food though. My larger goldfish in the pools outside like to eat the small floating duck weed. Their stomach is about the size of their eye, really just a big large intestine. Soak their flake food before they get it to soften it for them. ---
**Author:** ![mmmiiikkkeee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/edb3f5/32.png) [@mmmiiikkkeee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mmmiiikkkeee)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2001, 1:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/goldfish-and-aquatic-plants/78356/6 "2001-08-28T01:02:53Z")
My koi wouldn’t eat duckweed either… I guess they preferred the taste of their pellets and flakes. However, most koi and some big goldfish do tend to eat small plants, so mine were probably the exception… ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2001, 1:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/goldfish-and-aquatic-plants/78356/7 "2001-08-28T01:13:39Z")
Where do you keep Koi? ---
**Author:** ![mmmiiikkkeee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/edb3f5/32.png) [@mmmiiikkkeee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mmmiiikkkeee)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2001, 2:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/goldfish-and-aquatic-plants/78356/8 "2001-08-28T02:06:41Z")
Back when I had them the were in the pond over summer (3 month season here), and in a 35 gal tank over winter. When they got bigger they went into a stock tank. They expired of unrelated causes at about 8". That’s not exactly full-sized I realize. However, I imagine if there were a lot of bugs/aquatic larvae and worms in the pond, plus supplementary feedings, the plants might be safer. ---
**Author:** ![Duck\_Duck\_Goose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/50afbb/32.png) [@Duck\_Duck\_Goose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duck_Duck_Goose)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2001, 3:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/goldfish-and-aquatic-plants/78356/9 "2001-08-28T03:48:28Z")
Goldfish will eat softer plants such as _elodea_, but the plants with stiff or hairy leaves they just uproot. Ruthlessly. [eh, N.M.K.I.A., your remark is marvelously enigmatic: > [@](#): > > I was just in PetSmart yesterday. I asked the fellow for a couple dozen large crickets, and, in a few minutes time, saw him leave in street cloths. What a jerk! I am tantalized by trying to figure out how the two statements are related. 1. Crickets are requested. 2. Employee leaves. Question–is the issue of “street clothes” important, or not? Discuss.] 😃 ---
**Author:** ![BingoBurringo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/43a26b/32.png) [@BingoBurringo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BingoBurringo)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2001, 4:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/goldfish-and-aquatic-plants/78356/10 "2001-08-28T04:01:10Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by NotMrKnowItAll \* > \*\* > I was just in PetSmart yesterday. I asked the fellow for a couple dozen large crickets, and, in a few minutes time, saw him leave in street cloths. What a jerk! \*\* PetSmart is one of those rare businesses, along with Walgreen’s, which has never given me anything approaching acceptable service. And yes, I’m speaking franchise-wide. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2001, 12:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/goldfish-and-aquatic-plants/78356/11 "2001-08-28T12:58:53Z")
Why do I have a vision of Reinfield going into a Petsmart and asking “for something freash!”? Maybe it was the stakes I saw in the hallway this morning. ---
**Author:** ![NotMrKnowItAll](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/6bbea6/32.png) [@NotMrKnowItAll](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NotMrKnowItAll)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2001, 2:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/goldfish-and-aquatic-plants/78356/12 "2001-08-28T14:01:53Z")
I wanted crickets for my African tomato frogs. The clerk took my order then, instead of fetching crickets, changed cloths and left for the day. I didn’t know it was him at first since pimply-faced, surly, weirdo hair-dooed teenage boys are a dime-a-dozen here. ---
**Author:** ![BingoBurringo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/43a26b/32.png) [@BingoBurringo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BingoBurringo)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2001, 4:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/goldfish-and-aquatic-plants/78356/13 "2001-08-31T04:38:05Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by NotMrKnowItAll \* > \*\*I wanted crickets for my African tomato frogs. The clerk took my order then, instead of fetching crickets, changed cloths and left for the day. I didn’t know it was him at first since pimply-faced, surly, weirdo hair-dooed teenage boys are a dime-a-dozen here. \*\* How DO they get the crickets out of that glass box, anyway? I’m assuming a vacuum device?