10 Gallon Tanks With Goldfish

[IloveGouramis]

I was thinking of starting a 10 gallon tank with gold fish. Here are some of the stuff i need/want

No questions about:
10 gallon tank
Hood with light
Black/Blue background
Stand
Bubble wall


Questions:
Fake Plants
Should i use fake plants such as plastic ones? or do gold fish need real ones to survive?
Tahitian Moon Sand
So should i keep sand with goldfish? i dont really know if that is a good idea because i heard that goldfish give off a lot of waste and so if i wanted to filter out the muln, i would also suck out a good about of sand. And that sand does not compact.
Filter
I want to keep sand so i dont think an under groud filter would work =[. i dont think canister filters go to as small as 10 gallons so the only thing left is hang-on filters. Should i use 10 gallon ones or 20 gallons so that more of the tank is filtered? Or should i go higher?i just dont want to get one too high that will give off to much water current which in turn will maybe damage the fish or stir of the sand. And does anyone know a good style i should use as in a certain company that makes good products but are still cheap?
food
Does flake food work ok for gold fish? or should i buy pellets, maybe even both? :3
hideouts (clay pots, drift wood, rocks etc)
Do i really need it? im not saying that i dont want to buy it but are goldfish very timid?
Heater
I live in FLorida and it can get burning in the summer so should i get a heater (or coolerXD)and put it on whatever temp goldfish need. What is it anyways :3 ?

and last but not least, the fish themselves
Is 10 gallons to small to keep gold fish in the first place? i hope not because i really like the color of some. And do goldfish require other goldfish to live with or do they do ok by themselves? I was also thinking of getting one clown plec but if i shouldnt because they grow up to 4 inches and if you use the 1gallon per inch rule, thats only 6 left lol. I dont want the regular comet goldfish because in all my lfs's, they are sold as feeder fish and are very unhealthy. I was thinking somewhere in the margins of fantail or butterfly goldfish because i admire their fins. I was thinking something like this

which is a Calico Fantail goldfish but i dont know how big they grow. I have read up on the fishless cycle already so that wont be much of a problem with the ammonia/nitrites/nitrates.

I would love it if someone could post different pictures of gold fish.

Thanks in advance for any help

*researches some more*

Edit: i just found this fish, anyone know what it is? on the pic, it says its an American Fantail Goldfish, is that its real name? Heres a pic:

 

[K.J.]

Fantails need a 20G minimum... sorry.

 

[IloveGouramis]

They Do? T_T

what if i keep just one?

 

[GoldLenny]

A 10G tank would not be enough for even a single goldfish. I personally think a 55G, 4' long tank should be the minimum starting tank for fancy goldfish but others say 20G is OK... and it would be OK for starting but not for long term success. Here is the pinned topic on the subject. http/www.fishforums.net/Gold-fish-in-tanks-t43980.html

 

[Yazan]

You could keep a couple in there for a while but when they grow large you will need to find a new home for then.

It would be better to have live plants as goldfish love to feed on them.

Sand is not suitable for any fish eccept saltwater fish.

There is no thing as 'under ground filter' there is ' Under Gravel filter' wich needs gravel not sand.

And thay will need aeration in the tanks like a stream of bubbles..


Good Luke...

 

[K.J.]

Yes, you could keep a juvvie goldfish in there but you'd need a bigger tank eventually.
Most sands are okay for freshwater fish. Playsand, pool filter sand, and other safe brands are good.

 

[IloveGouramis]

ok, i wont keep goldfish then because even if i keep a small one and change it to a bigger tank later, i dont want to stunt its growth


any idea for another type of fish that can be kept in that tank?

 

[Tokis-Phoenix]

Sand is not suitable for any fish eccept saltwater fish.

I'm sorry but where did you read this? This is completely untrue, there are also hundreds of people here on the forum who have sand in their freshwater tanks (including me), i would also go so far to say that sand is actually a better substrate for goldfish as it is easier to keep clean and the goldfish do not risk choking on it (which can happen with some types of gravel) when they look for food in the substrate.


IloveGouramis the "American Fantail Goldfish" is simply a comet goldfish, they need a 75gal tank minimum as they grow larger and are a lot more active than fancy goldfish like veiltails/fantails. For fancy goldfish, you need 20gallon long tank for the first one and 10gallons for every one after that- goldfish are sociable fish and its best to keep them in at least a pair, so i would start off with a 30 or 40gallon long tank tank with 2-3 fancy goldfish in it . Invest in as strong filtration as you can, its best to over-filter goldfish tanks as goldfish produce a lot of waste in comparsion to a lot of other fish.
How familiar are you with things like the nitrogen cycle and cycling tanks?

ok, i wont keep goldfish then because even if i keep a small one and change it to a bigger tank later, i dont want to stunt its growth


any idea for another type of fish that can be kept in that tank?

Are you looking at tropical, sub-tropical or coldwater fish etc?

 

[GoldLenny]

ok, i wont keep goldfish then because even if i keep a small one and change it to a bigger tank later, i dont want to stunt its growth


any idea for another type of fish that can be kept in that tank?

I have a list and stocking suggestions for a 10G tank on my blog at this link...
http/goldlenny.blogspot.com/2007/03/hail...cking-list.html

 

[Yazan]

Sand is not suitable for any fish eccept saltwater fish.

I'm sorry but where did you read this This is completely untrue, there are also hundreds of people here on the forum who have sand in their freshwater tanks (including me), i would also go so far to say that sand is actually a better substrate for goldfish as it is easier to keep clean and the goldfish do not risk choking on it (which can happen with some types of gravel) when they look for food in the substrate.


IloveGouramis the "American Fantail Goldfish" is simply a comet goldfish, they need a 75gal tank minimum as they grow larger and are a lot more active than fancy goldfish like veiltails/fantails. For fancy goldfish, you need 20gallon long tank for the first one and 10gallons for every one after that- goldfish are sociable fish and its best to keep them in at least a pair, so i would start off with a 30 or 40gallon long tank tank with 2-3 fancy goldfish in it . Invest in as strong filtration as you can, its best to over-filter goldfish tanks as goldfish produce a lot of waste in comparsion to a lot of other fish.
How familiar are you with things like the nitrogen cycle and cycling tanks?

ok, i wont keep goldfish then because even if i keep a small one and change it to a bigger tank later, i dont want to stunt its growth


any idea for another type of fish that can be kept in that tank?

Are you looking at tropical, sub-tropical or coldwater fish etc?

I heard it on a nother forum... So if you have sand insded of gravel is it ok to put a 'under gravel filter'.??

 

[OohFeeshy]

No, but why use an UGF? Old, innefficient, practically useless. Plus I don't think any fish prefer gravel to sand.

 

[*Fishkies*]

The closest you could get to having a type of goldfish you could have in a 10gallon tank would be the Bubble-eye goldfish. They get to be about 5-6 inches, however need special care. Although a 10gallon is not the most suitable aquarium, it would is barely possible to keep the goldfish or any goldfish in a tank that small. I would reccommend at least a 20gallon tank. Also if you have a bigger tank you can much more enjoy your fish and your fish will also thank you for the extra space that you have given him to thrive!!

 

[juicebox]

I heard that sand can erode gills over time, too.

I think goldfish do best in pairs or groups--my two goldfish seem to be very happy together; they are always swimming with each other, and Milkshake, who gets scared at the slightest movement or noise, always seems to take a great comfort in Bumblebee, my other goldfish (Milkshake always hides behind Bumblebee when she gets scared, heh).

But yeah, you won't be able to keep goldfish in a 10gallon tank. Why not consider upgrading to a bigger tank? The bigger, the better. You'll have more options, too.

 

[J4MES]

Why not have a few bitterling? If you can find them!


J4MES

 

[babybell911]

If you want coldwater maybe a few minnow thingys. They're pretty stay small ish but like to be kept in schools. Might be something to look into.