Mixing Tropical fish with Goldfish

[jackobean]

Hello all, Im only eleven and I got a 3ft fish tank (180Ltr) for my birthday and a mix of all different types of goldfish

ive got

2 black moors
3 turret goldfish
1 red cap oranda
2 larger black moors

and this is all the hardware ive got

4 out lets all with an air stone on the end
(3 with 5cm air stone and 1 15cm air stone)
1 fluval under gravel filter
1 sting ray 5
a 3 ft light tube

and this is my question

i want to get some tropical fish for my tank, and i know that goldfish live in room temp water and tropical fish live in heated water, so if i bought a heater for my tank and got some tropical fish, would the goldfish still be ok and if so can u tell me what wattage the heater would be and what tropical fish to buy

thanks
jack green

 

[gadazobe]

I know that some people do mix goldfish with tropical fish but it's not really advisable. Your tank is really just about big enough for the fish you have - goldfish need much more water per fish than tropicals. Also goldfish can carry diseases that don't affect them but are deadly to tropical fish. It sounds like you have a lovely tank so why not keep it as it is.

 

[OohFeeshy]

Well, TBH your tank isn't ideal for goldfish anyway. I don't know what GPH the stingray is, but for goldfish your generally reccomened to have a filter rated for 10 times your tank volume. Also its reccomended that you have 20g for one goldfish, and 10 for each additional. So in theory, you'll need a tank of 90gallons. I'd guess yours is about 30. As gadazobe said, keep with the goldfish. They get big

 

[GSD]

if i was you i would try anfd rehome the goldfish.......perhaps to a friend with a pond then you can have tropicals

 

[guppy_man]

my advice is kepp the setup you got with the fish and get a 10gal heated tropical tank then you can have quite a range of tropical fish like guppies.


but my other idea is if you want bottom dwellers for your golfish tank get a small catfish they can live in a range of temperatures like a bristlenose catfish.
i used to have a common pleco in a non-heated tank and hes doing fine.

 

[black angel]

your tank is way overstocked as you should only have 4 of those fish in it at the most.

undergravel filtration isnt going to be good enough at keeping the water clean and your best bet would be to get a couple of internal cannisters or an external if you can get your parents to help pay for it. In my opinion with goldies, external is the best, so maybe the external at say 750 litres an hour (my eheim pro cost £85) and another good internal at 1000 litres per hour (clearseal do a lovely little filter at this size very cheaply for around £15) would nearly give you 10 times filtration.

dont get any tropicals with your fish as you will be risking introducing disease as they will be unquarantined. common plecs too are a big no no with goldfish.
you should also invest in some water tests for ammonia, nitrite, nitrate and ph to carefully monitor the quality. An ideal level for goldies is 0 for ammonia and nitrites and depending on the test then nitrate should have a low value and ph between 7 and 8.4.

You should also have if you havent got one a gravel vac to keep the gravel clean. You will need to do lots of water changing as well to keep the bacteria count down.
hope that helps too

 

[Erised]

So in theory, you'll need a tank of 90gallons. I'd guess yours is about 30. As gadazobe said, keep with the goldfish. They get big

Actually, it's about 47/50G
I do agree that the tank is overstocked, but I guess the fish are still young. Just keep doing a lot of water changes, and don't add anything more ... for the time being, you should be ok.

 

[jackobean]

thx for ur time guys