Keeping Fantails

[Fish beginner]

After losing three Goldies (standard) in less than four months (unaware of fishless cycling), have now restocked my tank. Now have 2 small Fantails, any special requirements/hints/tips for me would be greatly received.



Many Thanks.

 

[Fella]

After losing three Goldies (standard) in less than four months (unaware of fishless cycling), have now restocked my tank. Now have 2 small Fantails, any special requirements/hints/tips for me would be greatly received.



Many Thanks.

The size of the tank is a big factor. How big is yours? Goldfish typically need filtration that is rated for being greater than twice the size of the tank they are in.

 

[sylvia]

And the minnimum tank size for the two fish you have is 30 gallons. A lot of people may claim 20 as the minnimum but I disagree as, though fancies do not reach quite the same length as commons, I just think the minnimum tank size for commons is too small (would you keep an oscar - which grows to the same length - or a bala - also the same length - or a clown loach - also the same length - in a 10-20 gallon?). Anyway, the general rule with goldfish is meant to be 20 for the first fish + 10 gallons for each additional fish - so 20 for 1, 30 for 2, 40 for 3, 50 for 4 etc. Also avoid feeding only flake - feed live and frozen foods like brine shrimp, dapnia, bloodworm and blackworm as well. If you do feed flake as the staple diet (or pellets for that matter), soak them beforehand so they don't float and to reduce the amount of air in them and soften them. This should enable you to avoid encountering the dreaded swim bladder problems so common in fancy goldfish. Feeding some blanched greens like zuchinni, even cucumber and, a favourite, de-shelled green peas is also a good idea as it's both a good supplement and helps clear out their system. Make sure your filtration is adequate, don't over-feed (the general guideline is just enough to cover the fish' eye and ony as much as they'll eat within five or so minutes). You can feed several times a day but make sure you do frequent partial water changes with de-chlorinated water at room temperature (or whatever the tank temp. is) to compensate for that extra waste load. Just a note, as you are new to fish, NEVER replace your filter's media or wash it out under tap water. You'll only ever need to replace it if it starts disintegrading. Otherwise, a rinse now and then in OLD TANK WATER from a water change to un-clog it should suffice.

 

[black angel]

10 gallons is fine per fancy goldfish imho just make sure the filtration is 10 times the tank capacity.

 

[sylvia]

Take a very close look at the first picture: http/kd.mysearch.myway.com/jsp/GGimg.jsp...earchBtn=Search That's a FANCY goldfish. Would you put that in a 10 gallon? Think about it.

 

[black angel]

Come on Sylvia thats a fish *and i know its Bruce* fed on steroids to make it bigger. The average fancy grows no more than 8 inches long including the tail, they are the most inactive fish when they get that big and dont do much because their bodies wont let them.

 

[J_acon]

OMG i want that little black and yellow oranda from the link silvia provided

Anyway good luck with the new guys

 

[sylvia]

Ok fine so that's a 14" fish . I'm just trying to get a point across. It's all well saying they aren't active and only get to 8" - but 8" is still pretty big and you have to realise that these particular 'fancy' goldfish are also wider and deeper-bodied than the torpedo-shaped commons or comets. You don't put 8" fish in a 10 gallon. That's like saying you can keep an 8" common plec in a 10 gallon (same sort of waste load and they don't move all that much) - nobody would agree to that. I don't see why we should treat goldfish any different than tropicals - in fact, biological filtration is more efficient at higher temps. so we should be suggesting the opposite (though perhaps oxygen levels would counter that effect without adequate mechanical filtration/aeration). Like I said originaly, I know people disagree with my view but I know for a fact that fancy goldfish CAN get larger than 8" (BTW - 'fancy' goldfish are those with double tails - it says nothing about body shape or length). If you then consider that most also are more fragile (and thus need better water quality) but are also poor swimmers (and thus don't like excessive water flow) and, furthermore, are more susceptible to swim bladder disease (and so should be fed more of the messy live/frozen non-flake/pellet foods), these fish need just as big a tank as any other goldfish. I could even argue they need a bigger volume than commons in order to keep water params stable without increasing water flow by much and so as not to compromise water quality due to all that messy food - but I won't.

 

[black angel]

But i think fancy goldfish should be kept in warmer water, low tropical region. I dont think you hold with that either do you?
Trying to get my head around these gallons is doing me in.
10 US gallons is the eqivalent to 8 Uk gallons as the US gallons are smaller.
So if i said 10 uk gallons then that would be 12 US gallons wouldnt it, which is what im working with. UK not US.
I'm confused now.
So if i told someone with two fancy goldfish that 20 uk gallons is fine then is that around 24 gallons US?
Need to go think about this now.
Or can someone else work this out??

 

[sylvia]

Actualy, I have nothing against keeping fancy goldfish in slightly warmer water as this is what they have been bred in for several generations and they do actualy do a little better if the water temperature doesn't drop too low. In other words, I would not reccomend keeping fancy goldfish in an outdoor pond - though they should be fine in an indoor aquarium. However, I also would never suggest keeping a fancy goldfish with tropicals.
The temperature thing I mentioned earlier incoroporates two main factors - the fact that the efficiency with which bacteria convert ammonia to nitrites to nitrates increases with temperature AND the fact that water with a higher temperature holds less oxygen. As the difference between room temperature (approx. 68 deg F/20 deg. C) and low tropical temps (up to 73 deg F or so) is only slight, the former is less evident (as it takes 15 deg. or so to show a significant difference) whilst the difference in oxygen levels is more so. Again, this supports keeping fancy goldfish (that you may wish to keep at a slightly higher temp.) in larger tanks.
Anyway, the gallon conversions are entirely beyond me so I won't bother Realy though, the difference between UK and US gallons is not that great. Still, maybe what we've been saying is not all that different - or at least not as different as it appeared without mention of the gallon differences.
Regardless, it's up to each fish-keeper to work our what's best for their fish as what works for me or black angel may not be the same as what works for you.
Good luck Fish beginner with your new goldies.