Goldfish in 75G Tank

[EVoyager31]

Okay so I am thinking of dipping my toes into my first saltwater tank— and I need to consolidate my two goldfish tanks so I can use the 55 for my saltwater venture...I don’t have the space for another large tank in my fish room/office 😅😅

Problem is, I am very partial to my goldfish and right now I have 4 medium-large boys in the 75, and 4 small-mediums in the 55. I am comfortable getting rid of my Ryukin (he just doesn’t have much personality and doesn’t fit in with the fantails, orandas, and ranchus. 
 

I have a spare 20 tall I could maybe put the smallest guy into (a ranchu who I believe is already stunted— about 2.5” in length who I refuse to part with).

 

Now realistically, how many goldfish could I get into my 75? It has two canister filters on it (sunsun 304B and sunsun 704B) and I generally do a minimum of 50% changes every week. Sand bottom with a few crypts as decor so lots of open space.

I was of the opinion that 4 was a max limit.. but now I’m not sure if that is because of swim space or because of bioload. 
 

I want to make sure they have happy fish lives.. and will send a couple away to new homes if thats what it takes but I’d like to keep as many as possible. The 75g is well established and I have not had any issues with spikes of any variety.
 

I’ll list out the specs of each fish below:

75 Gallon currently:

6” fantail - Buddy

6” oranda - Crusty Rusty

5” oranda - Punk

4” fantail - Rooney

 

55 Gallon Currently:

4” Ranchu - Artie

3.5” Ranchu - Benny

3” Ryukin - Wally

2.5” Lionhead Ranchu - Pip 

 

Thoughts? I imagine the answer is “no more goldies in the 75” but I’d like everyone’s opinions!

[xXInkedPhoenixX]

I''m not a goldfish keeper but I do love them. When I got into the hobby and heard 1 goldfish per 50 gallons (I realize this is probably at the least a slight exaggeration depending on several factors) I knew that this is probably a serious thing. 

I guess the question you have to ask yourself is, do the set ups you have now have any maintenance/water parameter issues. My understanding is goldfish are HIGH polluters, if you add to a high maintenance tank you're going to reach that tank's threshold. If you're not even close eh, I would try it but that does not mean that I would immediately then change the empty tank to a saltwater. I'd wait- and I'd probably wait quite a while before I knew whether or not that set up worked well - that the fitration is correct, that the fish have enough space to move around and they are healthy and the tank doesn't go over my preferred maintenance levels. 

I'm a rebel. I have 60+ Otocinclus in a 20 gallon. Per ALL of the internet this would be wrong. But my tank is triple filtered, I do daily light maintenance to clean up foods and weekly water changes. The fish have plenty of space to move around, are healthy and spawn. So. Maybe I'm wrong but some things are just crazy enough to work. It's a high risk though. So beware. 

Edited November 28, 2022 by xXInkedPhoenixX

[Patrick_G]

I have very near that stocking level in my 100 gallon patio pond. I know a cold water pond doesn't necessarily generate the same amount of waste as an indoor tank, but I don’t have any problems with water quality.

I have:

2 Medium Sarasa comets

3 Medium commons

1 Small comets

1 Medium Shubunkin

It's ok for now but I plan on building a 200-300 gallon for their long term home. 

[EVoyager31]

On 11/28/2022 at 8:19 PM, Patrick_G said:

I have very near that stocking level in my 100 gallon patio pond. I know a cold water pond doesn't necessarily generate the same amount of waste as an indoor tank, but I don’t have any problems with water quality.

I have:

2 Medium Sarasa comets

3 Medium commons

1 Small comets

1 Medium Shubunkin

It's ok for now but I plan on building a 200-300 gallon for their long term home. 

Hm, I wonder how bioload doffers from fancies to comets and other streamlined goldfish. I may go for it and if maintenance gets to be too much then Ill part with one or two of them

[Patrick_G]

On 11/28/2022 at 5:31 PM, EVoyager31 said:

Hm, I wonder how bioload doffers from fancies to comets and other streamlined goldfish. I may go for it and if maintenance gets to be too much then Ill part with one or two of them

I've been really surprised how low maintenance these fish are. I do keep them in the shade and feed fairly lightly so in my climate there's not to many months where their metabolism is fired up. They don't even eat from October-March!