Getting A 55? Gallon Tank In My Basement?

[fry_forever!]

Hi. Once my basement is finished being built, (in a couple months) I'm going to be getting another aquarium. I don't know how big, but I told my Dad a 55 gallon min. would be good. The reason being is, I want to get some goldfish, but I'm new to taking care of them 'properly'. (I used to keep them in bowls when I was 6 years old... ) Anyways, the tank SHOULD be 55 gallons + , but at this point, we still have to do the measuring to see how much room we have.

So, I have a few questions:

1. How many fancy goldfish can you fit in a 55 + gallon tank?
2. Can you fit 1 or 2 feeder goldfish in that tank? (ONLY 2 feeders!)
3. What are the chances that fancies OR feeders will breed in an aquarium?
4. How do I take care of the eggs and babies if they do breed? Do I take the eggs out of the tank when they are first laid? Or would that harm the babies inside?
5. Can fancies crossbreed?
6. What's a good temp to keep goldfish at so they don't freeze, or heat up too much?

Thanks in advance for any help!

 

[aquila]

1. How many fancy goldfish can you fit in a 55 + gallon tank?
2. Can you fit 1 or 2 feeder goldfish in that tank? (ONLY 2 feeders!)
3. What are the chances that fancies OR feeders will breed in an aquarium?
4. How do I take care of the eggs and babies if they do breed? Do I take the eggs out of the tank when they are first laid? Or would that harm the babies inside?
5. Can fancies crossbreed?
6. What's a good temp to keep goldfish at so they don't freeze, or heat up too much?

1.) When fully cycled, with excellent filtration and weekly water changes, four would be ideal, five the absolute maximum.
2.) No - they are essentially pond fish and would eventually outgrow the tank. They are also not good tankmates for fancies and will bully them and outcompete them for food.
3.) Fairly high once they are mature (2 years+) and you've got a good male to female ratio and excellent water conditions.
4.) No, you move the goldfish to a spawning tank when you've got them into a breeding condition and then remove them once they've spawned, and raise the fry in the separate tank. The eggs are too sticky and high in numbers to be removed from the main tank, and the parents will eat eggs and fry.
5.) Fancies all are the same species (Carassius Auratus) so the different strains interbreed freely. You need to be careful when choosing fish to breed that you pick healthy and conformationally ideal individuals - fancy goldfish are prone to swim bladder disorders and deformities and many of thte fry will need to be culled, even with well-conformed parents.
6.) 18-20c is ideal for fancies but a bit higher or a bit lower won't hurt them.

I will add that to breed goldfish is quite an undertaking, involving a lot of hard work and many many spare tanks and outdoor growout tubs if you're to be successful.

 

[fry_forever!]

1. How many fancy goldfish can you fit in a 55 + gallon tank?
2. Can you fit 1 or 2 feeder goldfish in that tank? (ONLY 2 feeders!)
3. What are the chances that fancies OR feeders will breed in an aquarium?
4. How do I take care of the eggs and babies if they do breed? Do I take the eggs out of the tank when they are first laid? Or would that harm the babies inside?
5. Can fancies crossbreed?
6. What's a good temp to keep goldfish at so they don't freeze, or heat up too much?

1.) When fully cycled, with excellent filtration and weekly water changes, four would be ideal, five the absolute maximum.
Okay, sounds good, but I was thinking 2. Now I know.
2.) No - they are essentially pond fish and would eventually outgrow the tank. They are also not good tankmates for fancies and will bully them and outcompete them for food.
I meant having just common goldfish and nothing else, but the outgrow thing stops the other issue in its tracks.
3.) Fairly high once they are mature (2 years+) and you've got a good male to female ratio (being... what? More males to females, or more females to males?) and excellent water conditions.
Doubt I'll know which ones are male and female when I get them: The ones in my LFS are only 2-3 months old....
4.) No, you move the goldfish to a spawning tank when you've got them into a breeding condition and then remove them once they've spawned, and raise the fry in the separate tank. The eggs are too sticky and high in numbers to be removed from the main tank, and the parents will eat eggs and fry. (Can't you just cover most of the eggs with a big net or something, then wait for the fry to hatch, and once they get to free-swimming stage, move them to a seperate tank?)
I will try to breed them, but I'll have to get a couple more 14$ 10-20 gallon tanks to breed the fancies.
5.) Fancies all are the same species (Carassius Auratus) so the different strains interbreed freely. You need to be careful when choosing fish to breed that you pick healthy and conformationally ideal individuals - fancy goldfish are prone to swim bladder disorders and deformities and many of the fry will need to be culled, even with well-conformed parents.
Again, I will try to breed them successfully. (Doubt it though.) How long do fancies normally live for though? (If in good conditions?)
6.) 18-20c is ideal for fancies but a bit higher or a bit lower won't hurt them.
Okay, my basement is around that temp.

I will add that to breed goldfish is quite an undertaking, involving a lot of hard work and many many spare tanks and outdoor growout tubs if you're to be successful.
Okay, thank you very, very much for all the help! Will keep this in mind! May I ask though, do you know any other kinds of fish that are easy (enough) to breed in a 55 + gallon tank? (besides livebearers and goldfish, as we were just talking about.)
Thanks for all the help so far!

-fry_forever!