Tropical With Gold Fish

[lawrie]

hi, i would like to know if its possible to keep gold fish with tropical fish? i have heard of people doing this but is it safe?

 

[The-Wolf]

define goldfish.
some of the fancy types actually prefer their water to be nearer tropical temps,
slim bodied goldfish such as the common, comet and shubunkin are true coldwater fish.

checkout the pinned topic on goldfish types (see sig) for the temp ranges of them.

Personally I think it doesn't look right, but each to their own.

 

[lawrie]

define goldfish.
some of the fancy types actually prefer their water to be nearer tropical temps,
slim bodied goldfish such as the common, comet and shubunkin are true coldwater fish.

checkout the pinned topic on goldfish types (see sig) for the temp ranges of them.

Personally I think it doesn't look right, but each to their own.

i was reading the pinned topic on gold fish, thats what i noticed. i just thought a gold fish could live in temps from zero to 20 degrees lol. i was thinking a gold fish in a tropical community tank would look out of place.

anyone got any pics of a gold fish in their tropical tanks?

 

[dwarfgourami]

define goldfish.

I'd say "define tropical fish".
There are lots of considerations here. Tropical fish have widely varying temperature ranges, a lot of them are small enough to be eaten by a growing goldfish, a lot would be outcompeted for food, a lot would be poisoned by the mess created by the goldfish, a lot would simply be traumatised by having to share their space with such a big active fish. The above should give you an idea of why it is not a good plan to simply bung a goldfish into your ordinary small tetra tank, but why there might be one or two fish commonly labelled as tropicals which could actually live quite happily in a goldfish tank.

 

[The-Wolf]

define goldfish.

I'd say "define tropical fish".

that is easy
Tropical fish include fish found in tropical environments around the world, including both freshwater and salt water species.

personally
any fish that can not only live but reproduce in waters up to 20C are cold water
from 20C to 26C are sub-tropical fish
and above 26C are tropical fish.

EDIT
then you have those weird little fish that live in the vents of underwater volcanoes where super heated water is ejected.
but they are aliens so don't count

 

[dwarfgourami]

define goldfish.

I'd say "define tropical fish".

that is easy
Tropical fish include fish found in tropical environments around the world, including both freshwater and salt water species.

personally
any fish that can not only live but reproduce in waters up to 20C are cold water
from 20C to 26C are sub-tropical fish
and above 26C are tropical fish.

Well, yes, all right. The question is how the OP defines tropical fish.

It is a fact that a lot of the fish commonly sold as tropical might equally well be defined as subtropical. This goes for lots of livebearers, danios, several species of corydoras etc. And a lot of fish are what you might call subsubtropical - 20 C might be a bit cold for them, but above 26 is going to be too hot for their real well being. They may reproduce but they will also be less healthy and wear out quicker. Like goodeids which will bravely keep on reproducing, but with each generation successively weaker than the last. Some can cope with a wide range of temperatures, while others are a bit fussier. In other words, definitions are all very well, but what really counts is looking at individual species.

 

[fuman_chica]

i was thinking a gold fish in a tropical community tank would look out of place.

anyone got any pics of a gold fish in their tropical tanks?

I have had my goldfish for two and a half years. I kept him with a pleco for about two years (before the pleco passed away) and he is now in with four mollies and two glow fish. He leaves the other fish alone, and they leave him alone. When I feed the fish, I put in both tropical flakes and goldfish flakes. So they get a mixture. They have been together for about six months now without any problems. I keep my water around 75°F (not sure what that is in C). I have a heater in the tank, but it's not plugged in. I have it there so if the tempature in the house drops to the point where the tank water falls below 74°.

Here's a picture of the goldfish in with the others (they were eating! ) :

And this is a close up of my goldfish, because I'm not sure what kind he is:

Keeping this goldfish with tropical fish has worked so far for me. I'm not saying it will work for other people, or other fish. But it has worked for us.