Do goldfish jump out?

[Peter L]

Hi All - 

I have a 30 cm [1 foot] comet goldfish. He is just beautiful and I am crazy enough to move him from to new 500 L [140 gallon] tank that I bought just for him. Are these guys jumpers? I love the reflections from lights on an uncovered tank but the thought of finding a dead fish on the floor horrifies me. Thanks for any help/experiences. 

Peter L

BTW - any suggestions for tank-makes?

[Chris]

Any fish can jump - even bottom dwellers, like plecos. Goldfish aren't huge jumpers IME, but I wouldn't risk going without a lid. I once lost a very expensive clownfish thinking she couldn't jump out of a tank with the water level down 3" from the top. I was wrong. 

Lids also help with evaporation, which may or may not be important to you. 

Hillstream loaches, dojo loaches, Hoplo Cats, and Platies all come to mind as fish I've successfully kept with goldfish in the past. In this case, you'd have to purchase adult fish to avoid them being swallowed by the goldfish. 

It may be that your best tank mates are other large goldfish of the same type (comet) and sex.

[mynameisnobody]

I keep an outdoor stock tank with 11 wakin goldfish that are very similar to comets. I’ve never had 1 jump out. I did find one on the floor once but that was my neighbors cat being a cat. Luckily I caught it in time and tossed it back in. The goldie lived and she never let her cat back out so win win. Indoors, evaporation will be your biggest issue. 

[Vital]

stay safe, it's always sad to lose one of your fish. prevention is better than cure

[CoryWithAKatana]

What ive seen is lots of fish like to "swim upstream" in a sense so if you have a hang on the back filter (in a 140 gallon you probs wont but just fyi) they might try to jump/swim up the stream to see where it goes. 

Some good tank mates would be other goldfish bcs they are kinda a social fish. 

[Peter L]

Thank you all!