Adopt Goldfish

[awilson360]

Hello guys!

I currently have a 25g with two small fancy gf and I went round my mates tonight and I was shocked to see his common goldfish! He won it at a fair and it is about half a year old! At least 4 inches long in a 1 gallon plastic tank! I feel so sorry for the guy I'm thinking of adopting him! The best thing I could give him is a 10g tank on his own which would be an upgrade from his less than 1g plastic tank! Should I go ahead and accept him! My next door neighbour has a pond so when he get's older he could quite easily go in that! I just feel that I can't leave him to die in a less than 1g tank! I am surprised he even survived the cycle in that tank!

AW

 

[Jenste]

well....a ten gallon upgrade would be better than a 1 gallon - - pond would be ideal...

and just so you know (not trying to be the bearer of bad news) - -but 2 fancies need a minimum of 30 gallons...25 gallons is going to be a bit small for them as they get older...



but as for the common - - you should try and get him into your neighbors pond as soon as possible - - he would really grow to potential in an ideal environment

 

[Assaye]

At 4" he could probably go right into the pond. If you can get the fish out of there, do it.

 

[awilson360]

I'll upgrade the fancy goldfish tank in a year or so when they get bigger, still very small, however, wherever you look you get different information, I think as long as you have adequate biological filtration 5g is not much difference and some sites say 10g per fancy, 20g per common.

But anyway back on to the adoption.
I couldn't tell by looking at him last night if he was a Comet or a Common. Because admittedly he did have a larger than usual tail fin for a Common

 

[Assaye]

I'll upgrade the fancy goldfish tank in a year or so when they get bigger, still very small, however, wherever you look you get different information, I think as long as you have adequate biological filtration 5g is not much difference and some sites say 10g per fancy, 20g per common.

But anyway back on to the adoption.
I couldn't tell by looking at him last night if he was a Comet or a Common. Because admittedly he did have a larger than usual tail fin for a Common

Don't do it based on what websites tell you. Try to imagine an 8 inch goldfish in a 10 gallon tank - mad, right? Try to imagine an 18" goldfish in a 20 gallon tank - also mad, right? Go on the length and size of the fish and not some arbitrary "gallons per fish" rule that someone who doesn't know the adult size of goldfish made up. 5 gallons doesn't seem like much of a difference but in smaller tanks, it really is. If you have a 80 gallon tank, 5 gallons would just be the difference between filling the tank up and leaving an inch of so of air. In a smaller tank, it can mean 1/5 or more of the water.

When they are young they often have larger tails but if his tail is quite big and floaty, he'll be a comet. Commons have quite stubby little tails.