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I recently rescued a nice (about three and a half inches) double tail/fantail gold fish from a place I won't mention,
since all the fish in my 29 gallon either died off or were moved to another smaller tank, he has it all to him/her self.
Is this tank going to bee OK for a single goldfish. I am not using gravel, but have some if it would be better for "Sherbert" the goldfish. He/she is my first goldfish since I was about ten years old and my mom dropped it in the dishwater when we were cleaning its bowl....
Sherbert, seems to be doing well so far and is eating good.
Do you suggest any tank mates for him? Or, is he OK alone?

you could put more fancy goldish in there probably another three.. if you do get more fish, make sure the water is well airated as goldfish use ALOT of oxygen. use an airstone or if your fiter has a spray bar or a venturi use that.

about the gravel. goldfish like to peck at the gravel to look for things to eat and they poo alot so gravel would be good.



hi
woot woot woot woot woot woot

Hey two tanks

I'd definitely suggest keeping Sherbert solo for now, and probably look to upgrade the tank in the future to something larger.

The profile on this site suggests a medium to large pond for goldfish, and if you do a search of the boards you'll find numerous threads advocating very large tanks and / or ponds for goldfish.

I found this thread which refers to a tank the same size as yours.

As far as tank decoration... I'm not a fan of a bare bones set ups unless used for brief periods for hospital, egg hatching, fry raising or something like that.
As long as you keep up on your maintenance with water changes, gravel vacs etc there should be no issue with using gravel, ornaments or even plants as you would for most any other tank (although it's likely that live plants will at least be tasted, if not obliterated by a curious goldie). Go ahead and decorate that tank as you wish... Sherbert will likely thank you by being more active and generally happier and healthier with a bit of environment enrichment.

G_T


Never be afraid to try something new. Remember that a lone amateur built the Ark. A large group of professionals built the Titanic.

I would add some gravel, even if it's only 1 or 2cm. In that way, you can keep the tank more clean.

You also need an air pump, as they need alot of oxygen, especially on hot days.


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Member of the Malta Aquarist Society - 1970.
http://www.maltaaquarist.com

Thanks to all of you for your replys. I have found a lot of conflicting information on the internet. The goldfish shown in the profiles is a commet goldfish - can get up to 14 inches, is a fast swimmer and needs a lot more room than some of the other varieties.
Sherbert, the fantail, is considered a fancy variety. From what I have found, he can be kept in either a pond or an aquarium 29/30 gallons or larger. Since he is a slow swimmer compared to a commet, he should not be kept with commets (or Koi).
The best information I could gather (and there really isn't a lot that I have been able to find so far), suggest ten to twenty gallons per fish, or 30 square inches of water per inch of goldfish - would need a 45 gallon tank for one goldfish?.
I have added about a half inch of gravel to Sherbert's tank and have a fake peice of driftwood for him to swim under. I am running two filters and a bubble wand with air pump. I worry that he might get two warm since I have turned on the heater a few times. I will not add any other fish, but maybe a snail or two. Ottos are not recommemded -a large goldfish might eat them! The two tiny pond snails, I put in his tank today, seem to have vanished....
I would love to have an outdoor pond someday; a nice shady spot in the back corner of the yard, later on.
Thank you for the information.

WOW cant believe I missed this thread

Comet goldfish (the original goldfish) can actually reach close to 2' long. All other goldfish are genetic mutations of the original golden carp.

Even fancy goldfish get large. Here is bruce a few years ago in his owners hands (no he's not mine) from what I know of him, he's even larger today


Now, not only would he even fit in a 29 but he would never grow that large in a 29 to begin with. You've all heard the old story "a fish will never outgrow its tank" weeeellll it's true. In the fact that the fish dies before its time rather than bust the sides of the glass. A big problem with fancy golfish is that the mutations that make them desirable by some is the very thing that makes them difficult to keep. The deformed bodies often compress the swim bladder and other internal organs making them more likely to have issues with swimming, turn septic, and a host of other issues.

NO other fish can be kept in the 29.

You will need to upgrade to a 55 if not a 75 in the next year or so if you wish to keep him.

Good tank mates include a strong filter, a heater, gravel, some live plants.

Other fish to include with him are none.

You'll need to keep him on a very veggie friendly diet and make sure the tank gets weekly water changes of at least 20%.

I understand that you wanted to resuce him, but since you took the responsibilty on, you need to provide for him the best you can. If that means putting a pond in the living room do it (I did!) They make great conversational pieces.

^_^

Yes, I am not surprised by the size of that fish. My father used to have a concrete cattle trough out behind the barn. He had bought some bait fish and let them loose in the trough - after about a year, one of the commets, had grown to an emormous size, living on cattle feed (mostly cotton seed hulls) dropped in by the cows. I never did know what happened to it later on.
Goldfish are the most mistreated fish in the hobby, so I decided to try to give at least one a decent life. I would love to have a larger tank (have the perfect excuse to get one here), but there is a place near me that sells farm supplies. I am going to look into the price of one of those big plastic (preferably round) troughs used to hold water for live stock. I have a truck to haul it home in (or maybe they will deliver it). Keeping him cool in our hot NC summers will be the only drawback - don't they have coolers for those?

The rubbermaid stocktanks are great for goldfish

I used a 50 in my living room (that's all the room I had) and many LFS will use the massive ones for corals or feeders.

As for chillers, ya if you've got a spare thousand and don't mind an electricity bill the size of NYC's .

NC gets hot, try finding a nice spot in the shade. If there's any chance of submerging the stocktank that'd be even better. Important issues for an outdoor pond that gets warm will be to keep the surface moving. Not sure how expensive fountains would be but have a look around garden centers. Shade and surface movement will help keep temps down. Air temp and water temp wont always match (especially if you can get your hands on something to dig a big hole and submerge it, even part way). And gradual changes that occur with larger bodies of water are better tolerated by fish.

I'd love to see some pics if you get a big tank!

^_^

I just looked on the website for the farm supply store, and they have some nice tanks (Rubber Maid polly tanks). They are expensive, but still a lot less than a big aquaium set up would cost. It will be next spring before I can look into getting one - Sherbert is fine for now. I have been wanting to put a cover over the deck and screen it in for the cat and me. I will have to take some measurements, but think the 100 gallon might fit on the deck. I did not know chillers were that expensive, so will look into a big fan and pond fountain. So many projects......I wish my living room was bigger!

don't we all!

Actually I just wish I had a backyard so i could put in a decent sized pond. I love goldfish and can't have one yet.

Keep in mind when you're deciding the placement of the tank that the weight of water itself is 8lbs per gallon. That's not including the tank itself or any gravel or ornaments. Ripping the deck off the side of your house might not be the best way to make the living room bigger .

^_^

This is what I was going to use when I got my pond all set up.

http://www.goldfishconnection.com/shop/details.php?productId=156&catId=18

It's a filter and fountain together. There's also a link of how you can set up a 300g pond. I know that's a bit much for just one little goldfish, but you might want to get him a friend or two in the future.

I printed out the information - thank you! That is a lot of water, so think I will use brick pavers as a foundation and set it up in the back corner of the yard under the holly tree. I will need a screen to keep out debris from the yard and keep out the critters - racoons, stray cats and (maybe)a small falcon that lives in the neighborhood. Our winters can be unpredictable, snow and ice one year, and none the next. For now, he is fine in the tank and seems happy.

It'd be great if you could keep us updated on the project

I just adore ponds. Always wanted a nice big one for all the goldfish I had to rescue from people. And now I'm living in an area with severe 10 year drought ! Not to mention a lack of yard space for a pond!

^_^

We all got letters in the mail last week, declairing a state of emergency - no unnecessary water use until the drought ends. I don't know what I will do now, but if nothing else can be found, there is always the bath tub in the guest bath....we never use it (have a walk in shower in the other bath room). I will be glad when we get some rain.

I'll be glad when we get rain here too, if we don't get rain the whole city of Brisbane will be out of water in a year. We're already limited to 4 minute showers and get fined if a household uses too much (140l per person per day)

I wouldn't suggest a bathtub, while it'd be nice (they're designed to hold water after all) unless it's a brand new never once been used tub you run the risk of contaminants in the water due to cleaning chemicals.

Try looking for a stock tank if you cant find a store that might carry them, check with your LFS, a lot of them use them for keeping live rock or feeders and might be able to point you in the right direction.

^_^

You live Fayetteville Two Tanks? Cool, I live in Apex, and am planning to re-do the Goldfish pond (more like a hole in the ground with a tarp in it) in the backyard of the new house I am moving into. The neighbors said it used to look really good, so I am bringing it back to life. Once I get a digital camera for Christmas, I will start a log on it here on Fishprofiles.

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