Death Of A Fish - What To Do Next?

[JMcQueen]

For the last four years or so I've had two Blackmoor Goldfish in a 120L tank and up until very recently they were doing fine. Both were about 5 inches in length and in general good health. Unfortunately one developed a cancerous growth and died last night. Now Im not sure what to do. 
 
I have one fish in 120L tank which is essentially a waste of space. To me my options are:
 
1.) I go out and buy another fish fully grown to add to the tank. This seems like a 'cheat' to me as part of the ownership experience is growing fish yourself
 
or
 
2.) Transfer the larger fish to a 60L tank and use the 120L tank to add two new fish. I was already planning on buying a 400L tank in the next year so when the new fish get to a reasonable size, I can introduce all three fish in to one larger tank.  I dont want to mix different size fish in to the one tank as I'm concerned that the older Goldy wouldnt take to them too kindly. It's eye's never developed in the way a true moors eyes do and so it always had an advantage over its tank mate which led it to being aggressive and dominant in tank during feeding times.
 
Any thoughts?

 

[Ny82]

Sorry to hear about your loss. In my opinion I think your single goldfish will be happy in the tank having all that space to itself. I would definitely not be putting a goldfish in a 60L tank, they are far too big for that. 
Maybe when you get your big tank you can add more and they can grow into that.

 

[JMcQueen]

Hi, thanks for your reply. The general rule of thumb (so I've always been told) is a minimum of 50 litres per fish with heavy filtration due to goldies being messy fish. I suppose I could go to a 75 litre tank for it. The concern I have is about mixing fish of different sizes. If I went out and bought new fish for the 400L tank I'd have to wait a year or so until they were big enough to be introduced to the current fish and with it being quite an aggressive little blighter, it might actually be better on its own than with others. As you say, maybe I should just keep the single one in the 120L tank and then buy new fish for the larger tank and just run two tanks. 

 

[N0body Of The Goat]

100l for one fancy goldfish, ~50l for each addition.

 

[fluttermoth]

In our goldfish guidelines, we say a minimum of 100l for one fancy, and that is a generally agreed consensus amongst experienced goldie keepers.

 

[JMcQueen]

As I recall most of the advice I had five years ago when I was setting the tank up was that it was 50L per fish but thats by-the-by now. I can only say that my 2 where seemingly happy in 120L and the water quality was fine. I had 2 Fluval U3 filters with a recommended tank size of 90-120L each and the water quality was never an issue. 
 
Going forward, I'll probably keep the remaining fish in the 120L tank tank and then get a new tank setup with new fish in a few months. This will avoid the issue of having to mix different size fish.

 

[Chad]

I will say that 5 years ago the advice you got was most likely considered best practice so those who told you that were telling you what they really thought was best.
 
However, the hobby has changed a lot in those 5 years, especially in regards to goldfish and their kin. I think that's why you are finding a different view than you once heard.
 
I think the ideas slowly started to change as people realized that the lifespan of a fancy gold fish is around 15 years and a common gold fish 25 with some living longer. People were pleased with 5 years but realized this was drastically short and there had to be a reason. That grew into a changed mindset about habitat and stocking criteria for the fish.
 
I agree with the idea of not replacing it.
 
Though I understand that 100L is a realistic tank size I am in the camp that feels even that is too small for a fancy.

 

[JMcQueen]

Not sure the surviving fish knows what to do with itself now its on its own. They'd been in the tank together for the last four years and now its just constantly swimming from one side of the tank to the other.

 

[Chad]

Try mixing up the aquascape a little. Move a plant or whatever you have or add something.

 

[biggerfish]

goldfish tend to be agressive to smaller goldfish, so i would recomend either keeping the one alone in the tank ( which might be boring and he could get lonley) or grabbing another close to full grown one and throwing him in there.

just realised you said L not Gallons. I would recomend getting a bigger tank (55G)throwing in some decor and getting another large black moor. lazy fish moors are but still need a good bit of room and a 55G would let you put some nice decor in for fun.