Goldfish are staying small

[Reygan2]

I've had 2 of my current fantail goldfish for a few years now, and I'm curious if anyone here has a clue as to why they are staying relatively small. They have doubled in size, but seems like they should be quite a bit larger by now. I bought one from walmart (I know..) which was one of my very 1st goldfish, and the other from a local pet shop. They are housed with 2 other fantails in a 75 gallon planted tank. I keep a strict weekly water change schedule of at least 80% or more, I feed a variety of foods such as Repashy Soilent Green and Super Gold, NLS pellets on occasion, frozen mysis shrimp, frozen bloodworms, and fresh greens. Their bodies are nearly the size of a small egg. Not sure why they aren't larger by now. Any ideas?

 

[Autumnsky]

General first thought would be the water change issues, but as you say you do water changes religiously and of large amounts.

My thought is 2 main reasons.

Poor stock /genes

The second is more explaining. Several times I had fish which were said to be large-ish (to me) 4+ inches average adult size. I had some fish in a 35G tank, received a couple fish from other keepers mentioning that the fish had stopped growing / had been the same size for a good period of time year / more than a year, etc. 36 & 46G tanks and interestingly, when they were added to my 72G after a few weeks to months they grew much larger.

Angelfish / A Southern Purple Spotted Gudgeon / Clown Loaches / GF & Koi from tank to pond / Odessa Barbs.

You may have already have seen this
http://www.aquariumadvice.com/forum...uire-big-tanks-visual-perspective-265871.html

My thought is if you move them all to a much larger tank, or added an additional tank, of the same (or larger) size, you would divide the fish, and chances are you would see them increase in size, somewhat. Can't do miracles with bad genetics.

 

[BBradbury]

Hello Rey...

I love the fancy types of Goldfish and have quite a few. I can tell from what I've learned over the years of keeping them, that they don't get nearly as large as the Commons. Some are small naturally, could be they aren't very aggressive at meal time and don't get as much as the larger Fancies. I wouldn't fret over the smaller size. As long as you're taking good care of the water, your fish will be healthy. I add standard fish food pellets to my Goldfishes' diet. This food seems to get to all the fish more than other types of food.

B

 

[enrgizerbunny]

In addition to the other sentiments - give it time. Goldfish can live up to 10 years. But probably just genetics though. Quantity over quality is the name of the game at Walmart.

 

[BBradbury]

Hello Rey...

Your Goldfish will grow according to it's particular genetics. I have some Fantails that haven't grown much in a couple of years, but they get good food and large, weekly water changes. I'm guessing they're just naturally small. Their tank is large enough for them to have enough room to swim too. I've found that the Fancies are slower growers than my Commons. Just continue taking good care of their water and you'll have your fish a long time.

B

 

[Reygan2]

Thanks for the input. They seem to be in good shape, with the exception of one who has developed a nasty tumor/growth on his side. According to what I've been told there is really nothing that can be done about it. He is active, eating and acting perfectly normal. I wish I knew what it was though.

 

[King Fisher]

It looks like Lymphocystis. Not much you can do about it as it's viral. Could be a tumor as well which you also can't do much about.