Goldfish and tropical tank

[Drewz12000]

Hey guys and gals.
Been reading here for a while, picked up alot of good info! This one I am stuck on though. I have a bigger 200L tank set up for freshwater fish, big cannister filter etc, natural gravel, plants, heater etc. I have some clown loaches, neons, angel fish and some kind of little shark thing, cant member the name.

I also have a small 40L tank just with some fake plants etc and 2 gold fish in it. This is also filtered by an external cannister filter(just a small one). However it is a pain in the ass to maintain, filter does not do a very good job no matter what I try with it. And just becomes smelly, and constant work. More annoying thing is, i keep this tank in my bedroom.

Im just wondering if it is ok to put the goldfish in the bigger tank, the freshwater tropical one. My only worry was whether they would eat the same food as the tropical fish, or vice versa. And whether they tropical fish would attack them?

Thanks

 

[syndicate]

gold fish are cold water fish the prefer cooler water in warm water there more lazy like a trop fish in cold water they are lethargic

yes theyll eat flakes / pellets

Welcome to mfk

 

[Lupin]

to MFK, Drew!

First of all, I am sorry but the 40 liter tank is too small for all your tropical fish to fit in. Could you please tell us exactly the number of each tropical fish you have? Your best bet for all those tropical fish would be a 75g as the minimum. Give the clown loaches ample time and space to be able to grow properly.

Secondly, what variants are your goldfish? If you have comets, shubunkins or common goldfish, all three are categorized as "pond" types along with the rarer watonais, wakins and jikins. All six variants reach 12-18 inches in size. A 75g should be the minimum and you could keep at least 3-4 of those only. Allow at least 20g for the first fish and 15g per additional goldfish. That does not however mean you can keep them in a 15-20g tank because that will never work at all.

If you have fancy types such as ryukins, orandas and lionheads, then allow 15g per fish. Assuming your two goldfish are fancies, then a 40g should be the minimum although your 50g (200 liters) will work just fine. Your 200 liter tank could accommodate at least 3-4 fancy goldfish in it.

You need a much better filtration system. Aim for a filter that can do more than double turnover rate of the volume of the tank and add filter floss to help collect the finest particles that are often responsible for clouding up your tank water. There are plenty of fine suggestions for goldfish tank filtrations here.
http://www.aquariacentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=202413

Concerning the food diet, if it were me, I would never give your goldfish the same food that the tropical fish get. There are plenty of rubbish in it that the goldfish cannot fully utilized. Many fancy goldfish have greatly compressed internal organs that make them quite prone to buoyancy issues especially by foods that contain too much starch-based ingredients. The starch causes production of gas as the bacteria lining the GI tract digest it. Aside from that, many food products tend to expand quickly and float, both of which are also responsible for the buoyancy issues of most goldfish. That is just aside from genetics.

My goldfish are fed with homemade gel foods, bloodworms, shrimps, Hikari Lionhead, veggies and aquarium plant cuttings. They are in this essence, omnivores and should be fed natural foods for the most part although the use of gel foods and commercial foods give them additional nutrition that they require. You could also buy Mazuri 5M70 from Goldfish Utopia owned by Ed. All it takes is mixing the powder and boiling water together by 50:50 ratio and place the gelatin in the fridge until it becomes firm. Make sure to do 1/4 inch thickness of gelatin. Cut them into cubes and place them in plastic ziplock bags and then the fridge. It should last you at least 2 months and be sure to keep them refrigerated all the time.

My goldfish tanks are barebottom with plants on containers. This makes maintenance much easier for me since I feed my goldfish multiple small meals a day considering their young age. When you feed, make sure you are not feeding too much as they do not need to be fed big meals. Their digestive systems are not designed to cope with such food intake as they do not have a stomach. What makes up their stomach is a rather long intestine hence most of the wastes they produce have undigested food portions which they sometimes chew for the second time and segregate it thus digesting the food all over again. Gorging themselves on big meals will only make them more prone to bloat and constipation.

If you have any more questions, please do not hesitate to ask.

 

[spiff]

The water parameters for goldfish and tropical fish do overlap, so as long as you account for the extra mess that the goldfish make, it can work. I keep both together using temp ranges of 75-79F, 7.0ph and they're all one big happy family.

 

[Redearsunfish]

Can it work? Yes. But, I prefer my goldfish in a strongly filtered coldwater, bare bottomed tank - goldfish produce an enormous amount of waste product - they're like swiming grazing land animals. Otherwise they always seem sick when I see them with tropical fish. Hope this helps.

 

[Lupin]

Can it work? Yes. But, I prefer my goldfish in a strongly filtered coldwater, bare bottomed tank - goldfish produce an enormous amount of waste product - they're like swiming grazing land animals. Otherwise they always seem sick when I see them with tropical fish. Hope this helps.

I think the reason they are often seen sick with tropical fish is because the temperature is compromised in the tropical fish's favor. Goldfish may indeed be hardy in most cases however many people fail to realize the fancy ones are quite prone to health issues and may become a challenge to keep in perfect health. Fancies do like their temperature a little warmer but go with a temperature bracket of 72-76 degrees. Pond types prefer it a little cooler although their tolerance range is 68-80 degrees. The fixed set should be 70-76 degrees for long-term upkeep.

 

[cvermeulen]

Everyone has seen a feeder that got away... I had a 10" goldfish in my tropical tank cuz my oscar was supposed to eat it, but he's not much of a hunting prodigy and prefers food that doesn't flee. What's been said about the amount of waste they produce is true - they are pigs. 50gl may be too small for all your fish together, but in terms of temperature, I've never had a problem keeping a goldfish in tropical temperatures. While I tend to bow to Lupin's expertise, my experience with goldfish becoming 'lazy' in warmer water has been opposite - Buddy, the 10" feeder I had was VERY active, and would consistently annoy all the other fish in the tank with his nudging and constant swimming.