goldfish
I had my beloved goldfish for about three years in this 170 gallon water trough, which also moved into the basement last year. Unfortunately, in the spring of 2026 I lost both goldies, back to back. One struggled with temperature swings and succumbed to a poor immune system, and one was predated despite no knows predators or cats nearby. Needless to say, when I keep goldies again, it will be inside year round. The pond currently houses water lilies and a bright pink-blooming lotus plant.
The basement setup is pretty simple:
this trough (lined with pond armor),
this pitcher filter (currently used as a planter for the peace lily), and a filter similar to
this one. In the warmer months when this setup is outside, the filter pumps through the vase (also full of a lot of filter media) that trickles into the pond and it sounds beautiful.
Keeping goldies is not as straightforward as you might think if you don't keep fish. They require a ton of space and filtration, and they have eaten any plant I put with them besides the lilypads. Outdoors, my two orandas were taken overnight by raccoons even with tons of floating plants and hiding places.
That being said, they're my favorite fish and give me a great excuse to grow lily pads and floating plants. The big peace lily in their habitat is from my father-in-law's funeral - he would have loved the memorial basement fish pond. Behind the peace lily is a cool piece of wood used as a base for an aquarium light - the one on the near side is pointed at the water lilies.
medaka aka japanese ricefish
I will flesh this area out more, but medaka are the only fish I will be keeping outside going forward. They're so cute, breed easily, and are fun to just sit and watch. I
blogged quite a bit about them this summer, and produceed a whole
care guide for the world's easiest fish! I'm an evangelist.
goldfish & medaka links
betta
I've kept a betta in a 10g planted bedroom tank for a few years, and this giant plakat (short-finned) is my newest one after my last betta passed away from a tumor.
This is currently my only traditional planted tank after I moved states, and it's kind of nice after a lot of years with lots of tanks to maintain. I was able to rehome my tropicals (platies, rummynose tetras) to a friend with a 120 gallon, and brought my betta and goldfish on the very stressful multi-day drive up north.
These days I like having just Amazon swords and anubias with my stones in the tank instead of stem plants and jungle val. My substrate is aquasoil with root tabs around around the swords. I need to take a photo that doesn't have a diatom bloom going on like it did in this photo! Although my tanks usually have some algae and that doesn't bug me or the fish.
betta links