New Fancy Goldfish Owner

[Hannah Parker]

Hello Everyone!

This is my first post to this forum; I was formerly a member of the Facebook Group "Aquarium Group Support". I've been keeping freshwater fish since 2018, and have at one point had 5 separate tanks! I usually keep single bettas with community tanks, and have kept pea puffers at one point. I've been having bad luck with my last couple bettas because I wasn't buying them from a breeder, and decided to take a break from buying any more. I currently have a Giant male I got from a breeder and he's great. So when my last one died, I refreshed my memory on on the individual species in my 2 community tanks and was happy to find they could all co-exist, so I combined them and freed up my 20 gallon long. I decided to buy my first fantail goldfish to put in it! I just had a few questions on goldfish specifically so I can give it the best care it can have:

• Do I really have to feed it everyday? I've always fed my tropical fish every other day to cut back on waste, but online sources for goldfish were telling me once or twice a day. Is that what's best for it?
• How do you sex goldfish? I'd really like to know what it is 🙂
• Is a consistent temperature good? I know they don't need a heater, but I left the existing heater in the tank and set it to 68 degrees. For some reason leaving in the heater made me feel better, since I've always kept tanks at a consistent temperature. 
• Can I house two fantail goldfish in a 33 gallon long (dimensions of a 55 gallon tank cut in half horizontally) tank? This tank is my other community tank, but I don't plan to replace any of the community fish that die off at this point. Eventually I would like to downsize to only 1 tank, and I know goldfish can live a long time, so I was wondering if it could be moved into the 33 gallon with a tankmate eventually?
• Could I put a mystery snail with it in the 20 gallon currently? Online sources were very clear about no tankmates in a 20 gallon because of goldfish waste output, but I was wondering about the opinions from this forum. 
• Is it going to eat the gravel? I've seen him put it in his mouth and spit it back out, and do the same thing with pest snails. Do I need to be concerned?

Thank you all in advance for your time and opinions!! I look forward to participating in the forum 🙂 

 

 

 

 

Edited April 7, 2022 by hannah662parker

[Jeff]

• Can I house two fantail goldfish in a 33 gallon long (dimensions of a 55 gallon tank cut in half horizontally) tank? This tank is my other community tank, but I don't plan to replace any of the community fish that die off at this point. Eventually I would like to downsize to only 1 tank, and I know goldfish can live a long time, so I was wondering if it could be moved into the 33 gallon with a tankmate eventually?

33 is on the small side for two fish. I understand it's your only other empty tank; but I would go bigger - like a 40 breeder if you can. Cory recommends the more surface area - the better for these swimmers.

 

Edited April 7, 2022 by Jeff

[Kathy F]

Goldfish can get things stuck in their mouth.  I have seen the video of a goldfish breeder having to dislodge a snail from a goldfish's mouth with tweezers   How often it happens I don't know but I find it is easier just to avoid this issue entirely then deal with the after math.   

I would feed at least once a day during the warmer months while it is a baby to help it grow properly.  I prefer to feed mine twice daily and every 1-2 weeks I will fast them for 2 days.   A mature female's abdomen is much bigger than a comparable male abdomen, boys will get breeding stars on their gills and girls anal opening sticks out rather than in.   If you observe breeding behavior than the female will be the one being chased, and the chasers are the males.   Goldfish aren't as easy to sex so I tend to look for multiple indicators rather than just one.   

33 gallon is technically the bear minimum for 2 fancies, but I would not use it for fancy goldfish.   The tank size will cause a lot of work due to the amount of water changes you would need to do in order to maintain water quality.  You will be doing it at least twice weekly if not thrice weekly due to how poo and pee these goldfish put out.   Yeah, sure you may not run into water quality issues right away due to it being a baby but they grow fast and will be close to full size in a few month's time unless you manage to stunt its growth. 

 I have always preferred to keep mine in species only 18-inch-wide tanks.   I have a used a 40 breeder and 75 gallon the 75 so far is my favorite.   I may eventually upgrade the 75 but for right now my goldies are totally rocking that tank and have yet to outgrow it like they did the 40 breeder.   The 40 breeder drove me crazy because I was doing twice weekly water changes to keep on top of water parameters.   The key to staying on top of goldfish waste is large water volume so there is lots of dilution.   Now if you had an auto water change system you might be able to fudge things a bit more BUT a 12-inch-wide tank is still too uncomfortably narrow for a full-grown goldfish.  

[Flumpweesel]

My goldfish would protest (pull up plants and knock over decor) if I didn't feed at least once a day with mini tantrums if I was late home from work.

The mystery snail might be fine or might be a pricy snack, if it is to big to eat it might just get played with to death.

I used a heater only when my fish got quite old to prevent the tank getting below 20C as it was in a cooler part of the house and I don't heat my home at night. Overall heaters often unnessascary.

I was doing bi weekly water changes on a 60gal long with just two fish and lots of filtration. And periodically more frequently, smaller tanks were tricky you might be ok with one in the 33 but I would wait and see before buying number 2

 

[Hannah Parker]

Thank you all for your input! I think I have a better idea of what the little guy will be needing from me 🙂 I'm totally fine not adding a tankmate with it, but is it going to get lonely if it lives alone it's whole life? I'd be perfectly happy moving him by himself to the 33 gallon in the future, but will he be happy? I love my 33 gallon tank because it's 4 feet long and very shallow so it's super cool looking, and would love to be able to keep it. I also was wondering if he's going to be happy if the tank has decorations? I have driftwood and anubias and fake plants, is this okay for him? I also have a sponge filter in his current 20 gallon long tank. Would anyone recommend extra aeration or a second sponge filter, would that be beneficial? Thank you all again.

[Flumpweesel]

I would be thinking about the 2nd sponge filter extra filtration is always a good thing and it lets you do alternate cleaning so you don't strip out all the good bacteria each time so it could help a lot with keeping the tank established and not to high maintenance. 

Plants and decor all sound fine - I had fake plants with my Goldies because nothing much survived with them for long but try them and see.  If you can get plants going in there it will help you a lot as well, Maybe look at the pathos or lucky bamboo set ups if your tank is suitable. 

I wouldn't worry to much about tank mates clean water and space are  probably more important when you do the transfer you can make your own mind up about what will work in there. 

[Hannah Parker]

Thank you so much, that's very reassuring 😄 I have bamboo in my 33 already so I will definitely check out some possible pathos for the 20!!

On 4/8/2022 at 10:56 AM, Flumpweesel said:

I would be thinking about the 2nd sponge filter extra filtration is always a good thing and it lets you do alternate cleaning so you don't strip out all the good bacteria each time so it could help a lot with keeping the tank established and not to high maintenance. 

Plants and decor all sound fine - I had fake plants with my Goldies because nothing much survived with them for long but try them and see.  If you can get plants going in there it will help you a lot as well, Maybe look at the pathos or lucky bamboo set ups if your tank is suitable. 

I wouldn't worry to much about tank mates clean water and space are  probably more important when you do the transfer you can make your own mind up about what will work in there.