Please Help!

[netty-x]

I have four common goldfish that have lived their whole lives in a tank. They're about 3.5 inches from nose to the base of their body (not the end of the tail). All the goldfish I've known have been this big or smaller. They're six years old, give or take. Someone on another website told me I'm killing them, and they need to be able to grow to a foot long. But I've never know a goldfish in a tank to be a foot long! Please help, I can't afford such a huge tank (I'm only 13) and I love them so much. They've always seemed really happy... Help me?

 

[Colin_T]

I have seen a few common goldfish grow to a foot long in huge ponds but not in tanks. None of the fancy varieties get that big. Fantails, black moors, bubble-eyes, etc only get to about 6inches long (not including tail).
If your fish have been in the tank for 6 yrs and haven't died then they are not going to die from being in the tank. You are obviously doing something right to keep them alive that long.
As a general rule goldfish do like a bit of space and big tanks will allow them to grow to a reasonable size. However, they will not grow to full size in a small tank, but neither will they suffer a horrible death as long as the water quality is kept good and they are fed a well balanced diet.
Don't worry about it. Buy a bigger tank when you can afford it. In the mean time just enjoy them as they are.

 

[mark.w.jones]

Ideally that many goldfish need around a 40 - 50 gallon US tank. About 10 gallons per fish is what is generally quoted, usually with 20 gallons for the 1st fish although I think that's a bit of an over kill. Goldfish are relatively slow growing but as mentioned above only reach around 6" full adult size. The main reason for allowing so much tank space per fish is that they produce a hell of a lot of waste for their size. With gold fish you should be doing larger the normal weekly water shanges 30% give of take and ideally will be over filtered. Its good that you're concerned for their welfare but make sure you get the same opinion from a number of people before you take it to be true. Many people on this forum rehash what they've heard from others without true understanding of what they are on about, including me