Getting my first gold fish

[ccg]

Hello everyone,

Hope you are all doing well today and enjoying your weekend.

I am interested in getting a few gold fish but know very little about keeping them at this point. I am reading article about them right now before I jump into this.

Anyways, I think I will be very limited to the amount of fish I can keep as my tank is not very big. I have a 45 US gallon fish tank that I plan on keeping a couple gold fish in.

My question is, how many can be kept in a 45 gallon tank? I was hoping to get 2-3. The tank has two aqua clear 200's, are these good enough?

Thanks everyone, I'm sure i'll have more questions shortly.

 

[black angel]

Being in the u.k i cant help with the filter, you are needing filters that can turn over 10x the capacity in an hour as goldies are really messy.
have you decided on which type of goldfish you want?
Single tails like the commons, comets and shubunkins need at least 20 gallons each for their lifetime, so you could get two of those types and keep them there for life or get 4 and be prepared to rehouse them further down the line.
twin tailed fish (fancy) are slower than singles so need less swimming space. You can get away with 10 gallons per fish, but of course more is better. So as a max you could get 4 of those. Dont mix fancy and single tailed as the sleeker bodied ones are faster and are more likely to out compete the slower ones for food.
hope that helps
any more questions please ask as we are all here to help.

 

[ccg]

Thanks for the advice,

These filters turn over 200 gallons per hour and are rated for a 50 gallon tank, I have two of thm so I am doing 400 gallons per hour... not sure if this is enough for a few gold fish or not.

I am not entirely sure on what type of fish I would like, i'll have to do some looking around.

I realize with a tank of only 45 gallons I will only be able to house a few fish, and I only intend on keeping a small number. The tank is full and the two filters are currently running on a tropical tank, which will be pulled and move to the other tank for the gold fish. I guess my next question is filtering a cold water tank the same as a tropical?

Thanks,
Colen.

 

[black angel]

Are the filters new? if so it will take a couple of weeks for them to get enough of the bacteria needed to go alone in the goldfish tank.
filtering the tank is just the same as with goldies, but you may find yourself cleaning the filters out more often than on a tropical set up.
the filtration you have will be good enough for the fish.

 

[ccg]

Thank you for the help,

The filters have been in use for months on a topical setup. I have all my extra filters running on my established tanks so I can cycle tanks easily.

 

[Sandusky]

400 gph only turns over 40 gallons, though I'm sure you can get away with this as long as water changes are kept up on. Good luck with them, I love hearing about people setting up big tanks. Hope you go with fancies, they do splendid!

 

[ccg]

Big tank?

I was worred I was going to be told it would be to small to even keep a couple. Thanks for all the advice so far. Maybe I will invest in some sort of different filters or swap some around, i'll have to see what I can do.

I'll let you know how I make out.

 

[Sandusky]

Big tank?

I was worred I was going to be told it would be to small to even keep a couple. Thanks for all the advice so far. Maybe I will invest in some sort of different filters or swap some around, i'll have to see what I can do.

I'll let you know how I make out.

Big compared to the majority who start off with 5 fish in a 10 gallon.

No problem, glad you took the time to do homework on goldies first. Many kudos and much respect to you.

 

[GSD]

if i was you i would go with some of the fancy goldfish types,theyre smaller but theyre abit less hardy.You cant keep fancys and commons together though.Its nice to see someone reserching for a change and not goin out and getting a 1gal bowl.Well done and let us know what you choose

 

[Iron Man]

Definately do not put any single tailed in that small a tank, they get HUGE and need a lot more swimming space than that tank is going to offer. These are STRICTLY pond fish IMO. But the fancy tailed should be just fine.

You can get up to 4 of them as long as you keep up on gravel/sand vacuuming and water changes. These fish can generate a lot of waste. Nothing you can't handle I'm sure, from what I've already seen (you actually researched this which says you're responsible enough).

What else....oh yea...NO PLECOS, please....as these will definately make the lives of your goldbabies miserable 24/7. Didn't know if you knew that already. He will chase them trying to suck off their slime coats....and will eventually suck off their scales.

Apple snails do wonders for algae (i have four), and trumpet snails do wonders for cleaning the poop out of gravel/off of sand (i have countless and never see them as they burrow into my sand during the day, but i never see poop either ).

Snails are your goldfish's best friends!!

Feed them a variety of foods for best growth/color. They will eat almost anything you feed them....but a variety of pellets, flakes, and greens is best. Greens are especially important as they are vegetarians originally. I also feed mine green peas every once in a while for regularity, sometimes some goldies can get prone to a little constipation. )

Although they are plant eaters you can keep them with such live plants as amazon swords, anubias, java fern, java moss, onion plants, and dwarf grasses. Some fish still may nibble on some of these plants but it should be nothing they can't handle, especially if you have enough of them in the tank.

I think your filters are just fine for what you are planning....just keep them maintained.

I have kept every type of fish you can legally keep, and I have to say that, as far as getting out of what you put into it, goldfish are the very best. This is out of tropical AND saltwater. They are the least fussy and most hardy, they are highly entertaining...and they have the best personality out of all of the fish I have kept.