Hello! Can Someone Help Me Out?

[stinkerthefish123]

Hello! I need some help from some experienced fish people. I have just 1 goldfish. .....I know your probably thinking what?!? But I would like to have a fish tank. Are you able to keep molly fish, fancy goldfish, danio fish, cichlids, angel fish, and bala sharks together? I would like to have a fish tank with some variety in it but I don't want the fighting or whatever. Any help? Thanks

 

[GoldenRoses]

Hello, and welcome to TFF

Fishkeeping is a wonderful hobby. It's fun setting up your first aquarium! I'm sure you'll find this to be a very rewarding experience. Great job researching before setting up your aquarium.

To start, what size tank is your goldfish in? Do you know what type of goldfish he is? Goldfish grow to massive lengths, requiring very large aquariums.

Do you know what size tank you are looking to purchase? A lot of the fish you mentioned grow very large, so a large aquarium is necessary. A good tank size for a beginner is 20 gallons. A larger volume of water is easier to care for, as it allows more room for error.

Goldfish are coldwater fish, thriving I'm temperatures 65°F-72°F. This makes them incompatible with almost all other tropical fish. Goldfish do best in species only tanks.

There are dozens of different types of cichlids, angel fish are one of them. Most cichlids are quite aggressive, intolerant of other tankmates. There are a few that can be mixed with community fish though, these Include rams, apistogrammas and kribensis.

Bala sharks should be avoided at all costs, unless you have the space and funds for an enormous aquarium. Bala sharks can easily reach 18 inches in length, require a school of their own species, and a tank at least 7 feet long.

We can't help you much more until we have more information. Please let us know, and we will do our best to help you.

 

[sawickib]

Hi welcome to TFF! 
 
As mentioned above we need more information about your tank. 
 
Also you mentioned wanting to keep these fish >>> "molly fish, fancy goldfish, danio fish, cichlids, angel fish, and bala sharks"
 
Goldfish can only be kept with other cold water fish that are compatible with them behavioral wise.
 
Mollies are live bearers and will over stock your tank eventually unless you have all male or female.  
 
Danios are very active and schooling fish so they require a standard 55 gallon aquarium or larger.
 
Angelfish are cichlids btw and most cichlids are not very well with community fish. Angels are usually the best choice for a community, they have been known to sometimes eat neon tetras though. Some other quite peaceful cichlids are South american cichlids, which get quite large though, a good and quite beautiful species is geophagus red head tapajos, which prefer groups of 8+ and a 55 gallon minimum tank. I would say most if not all african cichlids are best for a species only tank, with other cichlids, that can be housed with them safely, or some species of catfish.
 
The bala sharks are a no no unless you have a 8ft+ tank and can have 6+ of them in the tank.
 
We can definitely help you with a nice looking tank, we just need the size of the tank, and whether or not you will be rehoming the goldfish, because im just going to be honest goldfish cant go with many other fish because they are cold water.

 

[stinkerthefish123]

Thank you for the quick replies! My goldfish is just the common goldfish. He isn't a fancy one. My goldfish is in a large fish bowl right now because he is very small. So I thought if I got him a tank I could get some more fish. All the fish I mentioned were ones I have had my eye on. I will definitely take the bala shark off my list! I saw one in the pet store and thought it would be cool but now that you say they grow very large that's a no no. I really like the dalmation mollies but I don't want babies swimming everywhere in my tank unless I know what the sex is. And I love angelfish and fancy goldfish. But I don't want huge fish and fighting. So, do you guys know of some species of fish that I can keep together? Sorry I'm not that experienced!

 

[sawickib]

Well, first off you will need a much larger tank than a bowl unfortunately and very soon. It depends on what goldfish you have if it is a fancy you will need a 29 gallon just for the one goldie and i think its an extra 5 gallons for each extra fancy goldfish could be wrong easily. If it is a comet goldfish then it would be best to rehome it because it needs an even larger tank.
 
Not many fish can go with goldfish unfortunately because it is a coldwater fish. 

 

[Ninjouzata]

to TFF! Hope you enjoy it here.
 
I agree with all that has been said above, and really hate to tell you hun but your goldfish will get very large, over a foot, at least if kept in proper conditions (not a bowl).
 
They are best in 75g+ tanks or really they should be kept in ponds.
I would re-home him unless you have a pond or want to upgrade to a much larger tank soon. You still would only be able to keep other coldwater fish (more commons) with it.
 
Do you have a tank yet? If so, what are the dimensions so we can figure out the volume? Is your water soft or hard? What is your pH?

 

[stinkerthefish123]

Ok thanks! Well this is disappointing

And no I don't have a tank yet. I guess I will have to rehome the little guy. I'm gonna have to pass on fancy goldfish because I cant keep a 29 gallon tank for just one goldie! My main goal is to just have a really cool tank with oddball and cool fish in it. Sorry to keep asking, but I am new to fish keeping. Do all goldfish reach that size? Or is there some that stay small? I like fish that aren't tiny but average.

 

[Ninjouzata]

The smallest goldfish are the fancies which still get 8-10"
 
It's hard to advise you on what fish to get since we don't know what tank size you'll have.
Is there an area you want to put the tank in? If so you can measure it and we can get an idea of the tank size that would fit there.

 

[stinkerthefish123]

When I get a tank it will be a 20 gallon tank. Since I am all new to this I want to start small. Possibly a 30 gallon if I decide otherwise. But I want a community tank. Thanks for the help.

 

[Ninjouzata]

Alrighty Well, when you get the tank be sure to cycle it by following THIS. You'll need a liquid test kit and some ammonia.
API is a popular brand of test kit that you can usually find in PetSmart/PetCo or online (usually cheaper online too). Ammonia you can find at Ace Hardware.
 
Be sure to fully read the article, don't skim it. It can be a bit confusing at first but after you read it a few times it should click. Everyone here is happy to answer questions as well if you have any!

 

[Mamashack]

I've read that even the fancy goldfish need 20G for the first one and then 10G for each one after that.
You can't go wrong if you heed Nin's advice!

 

[Byron]

Aside from all the good info above, another issue is your water parameters.  The hardness, which refers to the level of dissolved "hard" minerals like calcium, magnesium and a few others, is important for fish; we refer to it as GH (general hardness).  Some fish are relatively adaptable at least to some degree, while others are more exacting.  The pH is connected to the GH, but generally the GH is the more important.  Knowing what your tap water is with respect to GH and pH will be important data in selecting fish.  It is always advisable to select fish that are suited to your water because you will have fewer problems with fish health.
 
You can ascertain the water parameters of your tap water from the city water supply folks, who probably have a website.  If you find it and can't fathom the data, post the link and one of us can check it out.
 
Another suggestion is to always get the largest tank you can manage.  For instance, you mention a 20g or possible 30g.  If you have the space for the 30g, it would be the better option.  The more water there is, the more stable it will remain.  And obviously you can have more fish, depending what they are.
 
Byron.