Goldfish Tank Size

[linux44]

my tank is 20l and have three goldfish, bubble eye, blackmoor and common.

the last2 are small 4-5 cm and the bubble eye is about 10 cm


I have heard the saying that fish don’t outgrow their aquarium , is this true?
In addition how long or in length each gold fish grows every year. My grandmother had a goldfish for 6 year on a simple 5-6 liter fishtank so not sure how it survived , with the way you guy are saying it it sounds like they are going to die today if the tank is not changed

My grandmother used to change the water every few days and leave the fresh water for couple of hours before replacing it as she did not have de-chlorine( I don’t think she was aware that such thing exist )so it really makes me wonder how they survived


please note that i had another topic asking different questions including this but thought i should create its own topic

my tank is the one pictured below

http/www.aa-aquarium.com/catalog/product_info.php?products_id=381

 

[sadguppy]

my tank is 20l and have three goldfish, bubble eye, blackmoor and common.

the last2 are small 4-5 cm and the bubble eye is about 10 cm


I have heard the saying that fish don’t outgrow their aquarium , is this true?
In addition how long or in length each gold fish grows every year. My grandmother had a goldfish for 6 year on a simple 5-6 liter fishtank so not sure how it survived , with the way you guy are saying it it sounds like they are going to die today if the tank is not changed

My grandmother used to change the water every few days and leave the fresh water for couple of hours before replacing it as she did not have de-chlorine( I don’t think she was aware that such thing exist )so it really makes me wonder how they survived


please note that i had another topic asking different questions including this but thought i should create its own topic

my tank is the one pictured below

http/www.aa-aquarium.com/catalog/product_info.php?products_id=381

There is some kind of truth to the old saying that fish only grow to the size of their tanks. This is not a good thing however; they will be stunted, deformed, ill and they will die early - in most cases decades earlier than nature intended.

Goldfish are some of the messiest, biggest and longest living fish you can have - and are really suited to a pond with hundreds of gallons. 20l tanks in my opinion are only good for hospital, quarantine and nursery tanks, although there are some small fish you can keep in there like endler's, micro rasbora and pygmy cory. All will need a heater - i don't know a lot about coldwater fish.

At the moment I have a single juvenile krib in a 23l (she is on the naughty step as she was too bitey so had to be taken out of my 200l and put in solitary!) and I felt so bad I have gone out and bought a 125l! It just isn't fair to keep fish that way.

 

[fluttermoth]

my tank is 20l and have three goldfish, bubble eye, blackmoor and common.

the last2 are small 4-5 cm and the bubble eye is about 10 cm


I have heard the saying that fish don’t outgrow their aquarium , is this true?

As sadguppy says, there is some truth in that, but they will certainly become deformed; a bit like this common plec;

(it's six inches big, and has lived in a 5 gallon tank all it's life. It should be around 18 inches long and look like this;

In addition how long or in length each gold fish grows every year.

They should be around six inches long by a year old, and gain half that again the in next year; so roughly nine inches long by two years old (that's estimating from the growth of them in my mum's pond).

My grandmother had a goldfish for 6 year on a simple 5-6 liter fishtank so not sure how it survived , with the way you guy are saying it it sounds like they are going to die today if the tank is not changed

My grandmother used to change the water every few days and leave the fresh water for couple of hours before replacing it as she did not have de-chlorine( I don’t think she was aware that such thing exist )so it really makes me wonder how they survived

Well, goldfish are remarkably tough; they do survive conditions that would make more sensitive fish keel over dead in a matter of minutes. but as with all animals, some are more sensitive than others, so even though your gran's goldfish survived that treatment, a lot of other goldies would have been dead. Six years is a very short lifespan for a goldfish anyway; they should be living for at least ten, and maybe 12 or 15 years.

Also, there's more to it than just keeping them alive. You should want your pets to be happy and healthy, and be giving them the best conditions you can. To use my examples from your other thread; you could keep a Great Dane in a downstairs toilet, or a shire horse alive in your back garden, but it wouldn't be right to do so. In the same way, it's just not right to keep those fish in a tank where they can't grow properly, move freely, or express their natural behaviour.

my tank is the one pictured below

http/www.aa-aquarium.com/catalog/product_info.php?products_id=381

Is that the actual tank you have? Because that one is only 10l
It's also a terrible shape for fish, as it's got very little surface area for oxygen exchange, and that filter is going to be totally inadequate for the needs of messy fish like goldies.

Plus, look at the measurements; 13.6 cms wide, and you have 10 cm fish in there? That's like you living in a room where you don't even have the room to spread your arms out at full stretch. Fish need tanks that are at least five or six times their adult length long, and twice the fish's length in width. So for an eight inch/20 cm goldie, you need a tank that is about 40"/1m long, and 16"/40cms from front to back.

 

[linux442]

thank you fluttermoth, the poor pet has deformed significantly.

just to confirm that the length of my aquarium is around 40 cm on middle and 20ish in button and top as it is rounded and looking at my biggest fish ( bubble) the tank is almost 20/30 times bigger than the fish so have the 5/6 times margin if i understood that correctly

in another word it can swim 5-6 times its length horizantaly and vertically

my filter is a chemical one and would go for buying another one, what is the filter type that you guys recommend for my tank

thanks

 

[fluttermoth]

Yes, but tank size needs to be based on the eventual, adult size of the fish; not the size they are now.

I've honestly tried to explain this is as kindly as possible, but I honestly don't think you're understanding.

You cannot keep goldfish in that tank without seriously shortening their lifespan. It is NOT big enough for them to grow properly, stay healthy or behave in anything like a natural way. If you manage to keep them alive, in a few weeks they will be so big they cannot turn around.

I'm afraid there is no nice way of saying this, but keeping goldfish in a 10 or 20l tank is cruel. Even the RSPCA, who aren't known in the aquarium world for their good advice with regards to fish, say that goldies need a minimum tank size of 40l/10 gallons.

If you care about these fish, as I'm sure you do, and you want to keep them, you need to get them a larger tank. It really is as simple as that.

I'm not saying this because I'm some kind of animal rights nutter, or because I want to have go at you, but I've had over thirty years active in the fishkeeping hobby, I'm well aware of goldfish and their needs, and the tank you have is no way, shape or form suitable for those fish.

 

[linux442]

i do understand but i am in a bit of messy and sticky situation otherwise would love to get a bigger tank. i will do my best to get a tank for then as soon as possible

would something like 180l be enough for their life time such as

http/www.argos.co.uk/static/Product/partNumber/079723/Trail/searchtext%3EAQUARIAM.htm
or
this
http/www.juwel-aquarium.co.uk/Juwel-trigon.html

 

[fluttermoth]

Yes, both of those tanks would do the two fancies for their lives, and the common for a good while.

I do understand how difficult things can be, financially. Have you thought about buying a large, plastic storage box? You can pick 80/100l boxes up very cheaply at most home stores/supermarkets, and that would be much better for your fish while you sort out a new tank for them. Fish don't have to be in glass boxes; that's just for our convenience.

Then you want a decent internal power filter; something that will turn over somewhere between 500 and 1000 lph and with as big a compartment for 'media' (that's all the stuff, like sponges, or ceramic rings, that lives inside the filter) as you can find.

Best of luck; keep up the water changes in the meantime, and feed the fish no more than one or two flakes each, every other day, until you get them into a bigger tank; you can't risk any pollution in the tank you have right now.

 

[nessar]

Just to add on to what fluttermoth is saying, which I agree with, I think you can get a tub of over 100 litres from argos for around £20.

You could still use that tank in the future - if you get a heater it is a good size for a betta, although if the flow of your filtration is strong or disturbs the water at the top you'd have to get a different filter. (bettas need to get to the air to breathe and are also very poor swimmers, easily stressed by currents).

Remember though, you can always take those fish back to the shop if you feel you've made the wrong choice of fish and want something that will be okay in that tank.

I'd rehome that common to a pond, if you can, as they grow stupidly big, even bigger than fancies.

 

[sadguppy]

Additionally, and I didn't know this until I read the sticky topic 'goldfish in tanks' at the top of the coldwater fish and ponds forum, you shouldn't keep fancies and common goldfish in a tank together.

Have a read and see what they say. Very useful stuff.

 

[linux442]

Additionally, and I didn't know this until I read the sticky topic 'goldfish in tanks' at the top of the coldwater fish and ponds forum, you shouldn't keep fancies and common goldfish in a tank together.

Have a read and see what they say. Very useful stuff.

well i made a mistake, i have three fancy goldfish which are fantail, moor and bubble eye so no commets, i mistaken commet for fantail which further search reviled that it is fantail

once thing that i have asked few times but no response , is do goldfish do most of their growth in their first year and thus the following year do not grow in size ? i am asking because someone mentioned that their goldfish was 7 inch after first year and googling around fantail normally grow to 10 inch depending on the type but usually under 8 so i guess after the first year they will not grow

 

[fluttermoth]

They grow most quickly during the first year/18 months. After that they will continue to grow, but at a much slower rate.

That's good news about your third fish; that means a 180/200l tank should be fine for them as a permanent home

 

[linux442]

i bought the 190 liter juwel trigon

i am tempted to put another fish( lion head) with my other 3 in it and make it permanent home for them, is 4 goldfish to much for 190 liters of water?

if yes what is the alternative, what can i place in the tank that my other fancy goldfish would get on with them?

btw, does goldfish eat smaller fish in the tank for instance if i buy some small tropical fish will they get bullied by my bigger goldfish or even become their meal?

i would have thought that goldfish never eat meat but my impression was changed after been at petsathome in the UK whereby they have few goldfish tank full of 100 or more goldfish some of which were dead. the buddy of those dead ones looked like they have been bitten by other goldfishes


what about snails or algea eater, would they have ammonia so thus same story as goldfish thus no no?

i love getting few algea eater as long as they don't eat fish or otherway around

i want to keep my tank peaceful and no cruelty or ...

 

[fluttermoth]

People do try and keep other fish with goldies, but it is rather fraught with hazards.

Most algae eaters, for instance, are really tropical fish, so you'd need to get a heater and raise the temperature. There are some that will live at lower temperatures (bristlenoses for instance) but it's not really ideal for them.

You could think about adding some of the more 'temperate tropicals', like platies, I suppose, but they might out compete the fancies for food; as you might have noticed, fancy goldfish aren't exactly the most streamlined, fastest swimmers in the world!

Then there's White Cloud mountain minnows (WCMM); they do do well in unheated tanks, but goldfish will eat them if they can catch them, and they soon learn to stay still and snatch the WCMM as they swim past

Personally, I've only kept goldfish with other goldfish and wouldn't try keeping anything else, but you have to weight up the pros and cons for yourself.

I think you'd be fine to add a lionhead; none of your varieties get terribly large.

Best of luck with the new tank; I hope you'll take some pics for us (we do love nosying at other people's tanks )

 

[FishLover4+1]

People do try and keep other fish with goldies, but it is rather fraught with hazards.

Most algae eaters, for instance, are really tropical fish, so you'd need to get a heater and raise the temperature. There are some that will live at lower temperatures (bristlenoses for instance) but it's not really ideal for them.

You could think about adding some of the more 'temperate tropicals', like platies, I suppose, but they might out compete the fancies for food; as you might have noticed, fancy goldfish aren't exactly the most streamlined, fastest swimmers in the world!

Then there's White Cloud mountain minnows (WCMM); they do do well in unheated tanks, but goldfish will eat them if they can catch them, and they soon learn to stay still and snatch the WCMM as they swim past

Personally, I've only kept goldfish with other goldfish and wouldn't try keeping anything else, but you have to weight up the pros and cons for yourself.

I think you'd be fine to add a lionhead; none of your varieties get terribly large.

Best of luck with the new tank; I hope you'll take some pics for us (we do love nosying at other people's tanks )

by platys you mean variatus platys - normal platys are tropical.

 

[pablothebetta]

Just thought I'd add that it's really nice to see people actually asking about what's right for goldfish. Today in my local pets at home store (I called in to get a new siphon), I saw two people asking a store worker about them. They intended to keep goldfish in a bowl without a filter. Thankfully, the store person wouldn't sell them a goldfish for a tank without filtration - but they said the minimum size was just 10L. IMO it should be nearly 100 or so. It was truly saddenning, but I knew that me intervening probably wouldn't make much difference. Someone really should campaign for better, especially in these larger chain stores.

Anyway, I'm really glad to hear you've got a nice new tank for the goldies, no doubt they'll have much better lives now