Goldfish + ?

[michaelb_123]

Hey, just recieved 1st tank!!!! Anyone remember how that feeling felt? Watching your first goldfish swim into rocks and feeling the life? might sound sad but hey. . . .

This tank holds 25-30 gal and has a goldfish in at mo. At first when i heard i was getting a tank with goldfish i thought it would be a small 10 gallon with a puny 3cm goldfish swimming in, nevertheless i was thrilled at the thought. . .
Now here i am with a 2x2x1ft tank holding a 3-4 inch looking goldfish. it's flippin huge to what i thought it would be so u can imagine how thrilled i was!!!

Now excited to bits of course, but it looks kinda lonely!! Any suggestestions to tankmates? it's obviously coldwater so tropical suggestion would be kinda useless. .

Another goldfish? bettas. . . fish i get probz depends on ur seuggestions as u may have heard. . . .

Thanks a lot, Enthusiast. . . . .

 

[Chri$]

don't think you have room for another goldfish.

bettas need a heated tank

 

[Cheese Specialist]

Congrats!

Goldfish get very big and make lots of waste so I would maybe keep just the one in that tank. 30gallons is considered the minumum for 2 goldfish. What kind of goldfish is it?

A betta would not be good as they have different requirements but peppered cories might well be an idea (or panda depending on the tempature) or weather loaches. Otos could be good but again it depends on the tempature. I have also heard of people successfully keeping bristle nose and bulldog plecs in colder set ups.

 

[barbiedoll]

sounds like fun!
what about white cloud mountain minnows? school in groups
and if you want something unusual, then maybe a borneo sucker might be interesting to scoot around the glass. mine likes to suck on a large smooth stone too.

 

[catxx]

otos, corys and the vast majority of plecs are all TROPICAL fish, therefore need warmer water than your goldfish and would not be suitable.

to put anything in with your goldfish in a tank that size you need to be sure you have a very good quality filter to deal with all the poopy!

 

[Cheese Specialist]

Hillstream loaches aren't really suited to goldfish tanks, IMO. They need very cold, very clean, oxygenated and fast moving water. Common goldfish might well like the same conditions (fancy wouldn't) but would cause too much waste for the water to be clear enough IMO.

WCMM would be munched sooner or later I am afraid, especially if the goldfish is a fancy variety.

 

[debiasir]

white cloud mountain minnows are an option.

 

[CBTF]

minnows can go with goldfish. thats about it, you need coldwater creatures

 

[michaelb_123]

hey, i've got 2 fluval filters running (Fluval 1 and 2 funnily enough)
Thanks for the advice so far!!!!

wouldn't mind creatures, sound interesting lol. Might get white cloud minnows as i know they are easy and hardy to care for. . .

will visit LFS 2mora n c the variety, may list to ask which is more suitable. . . .

 

[barbiedoll]

Hillstream loaches aren't really suited to goldfish tanks, IMO. They need very cold, very clean, oxygenated and fast moving water. Common goldfish might well like the same conditions (fancy wouldn't) but would cause too much waste for the water to be clear enough IMO.

WCMM would be munched sooner or later I am afraid, especially if the goldfish is a fancy variety.

Interesting you say that. I wouldn't keep a hillstream loach in a coldwater setup with goldfish but my borneo sucker is very happy. I have kept WCMM in with one fantail for about 4 years now. All happy...

Enthusiast - are you in UK? water temp in unheated 'coldwater' setups with goldfish in the US is soo different to UK. I was assuming UK

 

[Cheese Specialist]

otos, corys and the vast majority of plecs are all TROPICAL fish, therefore need warmer water than your goldfish and would not be suitable.

There are actually a lot of catfish that are inbetween. Peppered cories for example prefer cooler water between 15-25C/59-77F and so are quite suited. Panda cories like a little warmer but it well within the realms of goldfish tempature. Not to mention the fact that a lot of fancy goldfish keepers actually heat the tank a little.

Min tempatures as by planet catfish guidelines (and my experience in parts)...

Otos: 21C/70F
Peppereds: 15C/59F
Pandas: 22C/71F
Bristle nose: 23C/74F

My coldwater tank sat naturally at 75F, so as I said it is dependent on the room tempature.

Hillstream loaches aren't really suited to goldfish tanks, IMO. They need very cold, very clean, oxygenated and fast moving water. Common goldfish might well like the same conditions (fancy wouldn't) but would cause too much waste for the water to be clear enough IMO.

WCMM would be munched sooner or later I am afraid, especially if the goldfish is a fancy variety.

Interesting you say that. I wouldn't keep a hillstream loach in a coldwater setup with goldfish but my borneo sucker is very happy.

You keep it in tropical?!!!

Each to their own I suppose.

I am surprised your goldfish hasn't eaten WCMM by now. They generally do as they grow. That and gravel and anything else they can almost fit in their mouths. lol

 

[michaelb_123]

yeah i'm from UK. Birmingham. . . Will get a tank thermometer, don't think it's a fancy one although it reminds me of a small oscar lol. it has like a pink streak down the back and isn't a dark shade of orange Looks strange the way it sucks gravel, swivels it in the mouth and spits it back out. Mildly entertaining watching redecorating going on. . .

Doesn't look too menacing like it would eat white clouds. Relatively slow in comparison so they should escape easily anyway.

 

[Cheese Specialist]

yeah i'm from UK. Birmingham. . . Will get a tank thermometer, don't think it's a fancy one although it reminds me of a small oscar lol. it has like a pink streak down the back and isn't a dark shade of orange Looks strange the way it sucks gravel, swivels it in the mouth and spits it back out. Mildly entertaining watching redecorating going on. . .

Doesn't look too menacing like it would eat white clouds. Relatively slow in comparison so they should escape easily anyway.

Well, if it's not a fancy it is actually a very fast swimmer and being closely related to koi, grows massive. WCMM are lucky to not get eaten. Not saying you should not try but I'd keep my eyes open. You should also be careful with gravel. On more than one occasion I had to use a screwdriver to remove gravel from one of my goldfish's mouths.

It's not really the colour that determins the type of goldfish but the shape btw. Common and comets are longer and thinner (comets have a flowing tail) where as fancy are short and fat, usually with nice tails

 

[tttnjfttt]

water temp in unheated 'coldwater' setups with goldfish in the US is soo different to UK. I was assuming UK

I'm curious as to how these are different? I'd assume everyone uses a heater (when necessary) in the winter. If you are talking about high temperatures in the summer time, that is a very broad statement. The entire US is not just southern california and Flordia.

 

[michaelb_123]

Fish doesnt look the long variety but the fins arent that great ? Not long lenth in comparison to height but not very fat either. . .

Anyone suggest lighting or does it not really matter much. . . tank is pretty dark from the lid that has no heating attatched. . . Possibly a new 2x1ft lid with light?