Large gold fish in 10 g., seem happy

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Designer14

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I have 2 good size gold fish in my 10g tank, they were out in a pond and it started to get cold. The pond is only about 10gallon also. I brought them inside and I have been enjoying them. They haven't shown any stress. I also have a 29 g with 12 multiple fresh water fish. Plus, I have a 2.5 g with 4 tiny neons.

The question is, am I terrible fish owner to keep the gold fish in the tank? They were only an inch when I got them.
 

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Goldfish, especially single tailed goldfish, grow HUGE. If they are really small now, they may be OK in the 10 gallon with plenty water changes, but they will need to go into a much bigger volume, tank or pond, within a few months. Since they are single tailed, if you can't provide a much larger pond by spring, you need to rehome them. A 10 gallon pond is way too small for single tailed goldfish, I'm afraid.
 
I have a 1,500 gallon pond. We brought several koi and goldfish who weren't doing well in the winter temps indoors. At one point we had 2 small koi in the 10 gallon (they were about the size of your two goldies) and 8 small fancy goldfish in the 29 gallon. I was having to do water changes every other day just to keep the ammonia in check as the tank hadn't been cycled before. In my case, the 2 koi were literally dying in the pond so it did save their lives. Anyways, my point is, if you monitor the water quality they should be just fine for a few weeks. 10 gallons is not sufficient longterm housing though.
 
You have been on the forum for long enough to know common thinking is 100 gallons for one common goldfish. A goldfish is basically a (colourful) 30cm carp with an appetite to match. What goes in must come out so in a tank it will be a constant battle against nitrate levels with constant water changes and filter cleaning. The conditions can quickly deteriorate leading to stress and disease.
The fish needs horizontal swimming space as well as adequate width to enable turning and backing out of corners. They currently won't be able to swim at anything near the speeds that they are capable of.
Factor in that there are two of them and you introduce the possibility of breeding behaviour or bullying which requires even more room.
They should live for 20 years, could anyone say that a little tank provides enough stimulation for that kind of lifespan?
 
If your pond is too shallow to support their lives overwinter, you're stuck. But you are providing terrible conditions, and happy is hard to define. You need a deeper pond so they can prosper outside.
I had to care for some goldies bought by a school for a too shallow pond, and had to buy a 20 gallon tub per fish (3 fish), with 50% water changes twice a week. It was not fun, for me and probably not for them.
Goldfish have cow-like digestive systems, and produce large amounts of poorly digested waste. They pollute their own tanks fast.
meanwhile, a 2.5 is a temporary container. Your neons will be in trouble soon enough. You seem to lack resources to even come near to your ambitions.
 
At the very least, goldfish need enough swimming room to avoid muscle atrophy. They should have enough space to swim a few body lengths in a spurt. The slim bodied fish are faster so require more horizontal space than the deeper-bodied fancy golds. They also need enough room to provide some mental stimulation. Research I’ve read suggests that they are smarter than typically thought: they have memory that can last up to 6 months, they can be taught to do tricks, they can even distinguish between different types of music. A small space provides little in the way of mental stimulation and can lead to boredom. A larger space to explore, hide and provide things with which to interact will make for a healthier fish. It is true that goldfish release a growth-inhibiting hormone that can keep them from out-growing their environment. This doesn’t seem to have any ill effect on their health; in fact, some of the longest-lived specimens stayed on the small side in relatively small tanks. This makes it difficult to definitively say whether or not your 10 gallon tank is qualitatively good enough for your fish. Although cramped, they seem to have swimming space, and they have a couple things (including each other) with which to interact. But if you choose to care for an animal, do you really only want to do the bare minimum for its survival? In my opinion, it’s pushing the boundaries of good husbandry and I wouldn’t feel good about it.

One thing I can say with certainty is that you must ensure that there’s adequate filtration. Goldfish are big waste producers so this is no easy task in a tank with such small volume. Even if you have enough surface area in the filter and tank to accommodate sufficient quantities of beneficial bacteria needed to process the ammonia/nitrite, you must monitor the build-up of nitrates which can cause health problems. You should perform water changes to dilute nitrate levels- the frequency would have to be dictated by how fast they accumulate. The problem with this is that they also dilute the hormones secreted to keep the fish from growing. So the more frequent your water changes, the less effective the growth-inhibiting hormones. Your fish will continue to grow- leaving little doubt about their being too big for the tank.
 
Good info above...10G is much too small for GF

All I would add is that 2.5G is too small for neons, as well
 

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