Calling out goldfish keepers!

[kurare]

I get all my information about goldfish either from my personal experience, or when that fails, from the experiences of the goldfish experts here in the US- Ken Fischer of Dandy Orandas and Rick Hess of GoldfishConnection.com......

Sifted through both websites for some information, while one has a WEALTH of info, it did not consider to list the water temp. for survival.
http://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/entry/Goldfish
You can find it under wildlife... and the sources appear to be creditable.

Since we're kinda off topic from what I want, NOT to discuss goldfish care, but types of interesting fishes that'll not fin nip my fantails pls
And I WILL be getting a pleco! Had a pleco with my Ranchu/Black moor for 5+ years many years ago, and there wasn't a problem. Cant remember what kinda pleco it was though ^^

List! Suggestions! BTW: those bleeding tetras were like 4$ each @ my LFS, i gotta find a new store or something :S

 

[knifegill]

Around here the LFS sell bitterlings, garra pingi pingi and dojo leaches with their goldies. I will say that I love garra species. They chase each other but never nom the goldies. They are also omnivores who will happily eat algae throughout the day between feedings. And they stay small enough for the typical 40gallon goldfish tank.

 

[reptileguy2727]

I would never trust any pleco except a bristlenose.

For tankmates I have done the following: many danios (giant, zebra (all color forms), pearl, white cloud, etc.), platies, bristlenose plecos, many barbs (gold, checkerboard, cherry, etc. (not tiger)), and many others. Different goldfish will be more or less vulnerable to pecking, and certain fish will be more or less likely to try. I suggest to select tankmates carefully, be willing to remove ones that don't work out, and always watch for signs that things aren't working.

 

[Carch]

We have a medium sized (4" body) goldfish at my workplace that we move around from tank to tank as snail patrol, he loves little snails. Unfortunately, one of the new employees didn't know about his appetite and put him into the danio tank to clear our it's snails. He literally ate all the danios (around 12 fish over a two day span), you could even see them within his mouth.

While I think goldfish + other species can manage to work in a large tank (and I mean large), I wouldn't do it. In my opinion it's best to keep goldfish with goldfish.

 

[Lupin]

Bristlenose plecos and dojo loaches are a few of those that are very much compatible with goldfish. I never had issues keeping both of them with goldfish. Apple snails are a hit or miss though.

 

[kurare]

Knifegill: Thanks for the suggestion, looked them up. They're a sucker fish and i like plecos more maybe 1-2 later on for kicks, as for the dojo's they're to Snakey :|

Reptile & lupin: Alright! A bristlenose is like 5$, great to know! I'm looking at the golden nugget too (28$ though :S)

 

[warmouth]

Alright before everyone starts saying things that I shouldn't I ask you just keep it to yourselves, my goldfishes are doing just perfect sitting in 25C water is just as active [if not more] as their tank mates. The tank is very well aerated and filteration is like 5x turn over an hour.

So, now the question, I wanna get some cool interesting to look at fishes that'll go with my fantails, has anyone ever tried anything that works in terms of schooling barbs/tetras or anything of sorts?

Right now they're with:
1 ID shark (yes i know they get really big, i plan to give him away once he gets to about 16-18" or so, dont worry)
and a few Bala sharks.

I threw 12 tiger/green/albino (4 of each), it was working out ok for the first 2hrs, they even swam together, then the barbs got nippy so i returned them. and now i want another bunch that'll nip less, anyone got any successful attempts at getting cool randoms to share with goldfishes? Any suggestions will prolly be tested

might try some blackskirt tetras later today and see if things get nippy ^^
Thanks in advance.

I had a friend in Minnesota who had Yellow Perch in with his Goldfish.....even trained them to eat flakefood.

 

[jclyde13]

Goldfish do best in species-only tanks. All types of plecos have been known to attack on occasion. Some are safer than others, but none are 100% safe. Check out this article:
http://goldfishconnection.com/articles/details.php?articleId=144&parentId=1

Goldfish do best alone because:
1. They will try to eat anything that fits in their mouths, including smaller fish. Smaller fish often get lodged in the goldfish's mouth causing either or both fish to die.
2. Differing diets. It's difficult to make sure the goldfish get their food and the other fish gets their food.
3. Goldfish are a fairly peaceful species, and other fish are often tail-nippers and cause stress to the goldfish.
4. Water quality. Goldfish are one of the most messy fish out there for their size. Other species of fish who are extra sensitive to water quality should not be kept with them. Also keep in mind that double tail goldfish require at least 10 gallons of space to themselves. Single tails require at least 30 gallons each.

That being said... I have never heard anything bad about keeping Dojo Loaches with goldfish. I believe they require similar temperatures (around 74 F). They are also peaceful, like goldfish, and they are generally not small enough for goldfish to try and eat. The dojo loach is the only other fish I think you could safely keep with your goldfish. Keep in mind though, that each dojo loach requires 10 gallons of space to itself, and they prefer to be in pairs.

Actually now that I think of it, there are also accounts of Platies being okay with goldfish. I guess they tend to be less nippy and more passive. But if your goldfish are very large, they may try to eat the platies and choke...

I agree with most of this, except what I highlighted in yellow. You really can't say that one fish needs X-gallons to itself, because in an aquarium, every fish uses all of the tank's volume (they don't just stay in their own little cube). A more accurate way of suggesting the space needed for a species would be to say something along the lines of "For this number of fish, you will need this many gallons". And also, I wouldn't put platies with goldfish.

 

[reptileguy2727]

Why wouldn't you put platies with goldfish?

How would you determine how many gallons x many fish need? It sounds like the same thing, just rewording it.

 

[ScatMan]

Why wouldn't you put platies with goldfish?

How would you determine how many gallons x many fish need? It sounds like the same thing, just rewording it.

i agree, plus i always thought it was more about water quality than volume. obviously fish need room to move but if the water is good then the fish should be too.