Goldfish Question

[thehugdemon]

So.. I'm pretty determined to get a goldfish and I was wondering whether it would be plausible to keep one in a 20 or 25 gal high tank?

I'm prepared to do frequent water changes. I'm just wondering if the fish will be able to flourish in a 20 or 25 gal instead of the recommended 30 or more.

Any opinions?

 

[minxfishy]

20g is the minimum size for one goldfish, so you could, but being a tall tank as opposed to long, I would say go with the fancy variety as opposed to the common/comet variety who can reach 12"+, albeit it takes a few years for them to get that size, but they would need the space to be able to swim which a 20g tall doesnt give them.

 

[mwood2]

This is her boyfriend here. I am in the process of buying the tank right now. She kept wanting to know about what tank size and ask her own questions so I asked her to come here and ask. As of right now I may be able to find a regular 20 or 20 long for a goldfish. Her eyes have been set on a fancy for a good awhile now so that would be her main want. With the Fancy she wants to keep a small group of Golden Dojo loache as well. Her stocking in a 20/20 long/30 would be:

1 Fancy
5-6 Golden Dojo

and that would be it. I also plan to have a high GPH HOB filter (thinking 10-12X per hour) as well as keeping a side filter on purely for carbon. I would just buy a large container of it and swithc out weekly for her to keep water clear.

Would this work for her?

 

[minxfishy]

One fancy should be fine, as alread mentioned, if you can get a 20 long, it would be better, cant comment on the loaches, without looking them up first as Ive no clue what they are Are they coldwater?

Quick google for dojo loach (weather loach) suggests they can reach 14" and require a minimum of a 40g tank, so thats a definate no no, unless Im looking at the wrong fish.

 

[mwood2]

Well I posted in the coldwater section many many months ago asking about Goldfish and Dojos but was told that a Fancy needed 30 gallons for the first one and that Dojo would work so I am a bit confused as to who is right.

Also what coldwater specifies could go with said fancy?

EDIT: goggled myself, found an article here thats says 10 gallons per. The first Loach pic on the page is the one that my girlfriend wants.

http/badmanstropicalfish.com/profiles/profile103.html

 

[minxfishy]

Coldwater isnt my thing, however, I do have goldfish My understanding is 20g for one goldfish, 10g for each additional one. Fancies I assumed stay smaller (length wise at least). As I said, just did a quick google on the loach, as I know nowt about them.

In a 20g, no idea on what else could go with it, nothing really, WCMM, but I would assume they would be eaten by a large goldfish.

 

[Jpmc™]

Let me clear this up.

1 Fancy Goldfish = 10G
1 Loach = 10G

You could have 1 Fancy and 1-2 Loaches, just make sure if you are having 2 loaches, make sure you have lots of filtering.

 

[silverrabbit]

Hi, it is generally agreed that the minimum for a fancy goldfish is 20gals for the first, and 10 for each further fish.

I've seen somewhere that peppered corys can live with fancies because they prefer a slightly lower temp than other cories, and i've seen something really cute called a stone sucker in some shops.

As far as fish go, you are kind of limited - fancies are slower at reaching and seeing their food, so other fish like WCMM's might be too quick and snatch most of the food up themselves. Same with fish like zebra danios, but you could give it a try, esp if you have a special sinking type pellet for the goldie.

Fancy goldfish are great

 

[aquila]

I've seen somewhere that peppered corys can live with fancies because they prefer a slightly lower temp than other cories, and i've seen something really cute called a stone sucker in some shops.

Having seen goldfish die from attempting to eat corydoras and ending up with them wedged in their mouths, that's not a very good idea. The corydoras also won't thrive in an environment that's ideal for goldfish. Similarly, the 'stone suckers' (borneo loaches, hillstream loaches etc.) require a very specialist high-oxygen river set up and tend to starve to death in a goldfish tank.

Goldfish really are better on their own - they need cool water with a very high turnover, aren't compatible with plants and other nice decor that most fish need to feel secure and produce so much waste you don't want to add anything else into the mix.

At a push, Zebra Danios can work.

 

[Forestpisces]

I agree with aquilla

 

[silverrabbit]

Oooh bad bad MA for having them in together then - didn't realise they'd try to eat the cories!

I don't think those are the things i've seen as labelled up as "stone suckers" - the ones i've seen in MA are kinda butterfly shaped