Goldfish help

[Just Wonderin]

My college aged daughter recently gave me a goldfish to care for. It is in a 10 gallon tank with a filter. It is fed fish flakes and has thrived for over a year with my daughter. Now that the fish is in our home, we are occasionally away for a week. I have an automatic fish feeder that seems to work very well. My question, however, is what should the water temp of the tank be? We live in the Northeast and when we are away, turn the heat down in our house. I know this will drop the tank water temp as well.

I had been told that goldfish are not as temperature sensitive as other fish. I would prefer to get input from some of you. With the winter just around the corner, should I buy a tank heater? If so, what should I sent the temp at? Do you recommend a specific heater? Or will the goldfish be fine...

Thanks for all of your help! I have become very fond of the fish and want to do the right thing.

 

[jsoong]

What kind of goldfish is it? A single tailed (such as common, comet, or shubunkin) should be in water of 70ish, but can overwinter by hibernating (water temp is around 40). There are things you need to do if you were to hibernate a fish (such as not feeding at temp less than 60) & I doubt it is worth while doing if you are away for a week or 2. <Actually it take weeks to bring them in & out of hibernation.> Single tails however, would be OK in water down to low 60's without any additional measures.

If it is a double tailed fancy, you should keep it in warmer temperature. Hardier varieties like Moors & Metallic fantails can do well down to 70 (may be high 60's). Other fancies (esp. really round ones like Pearlscales) need to be in temp of 75-78 year round. They get into digestive & swimbladder problems at lower temps.

 

[Just Wonderin]

Goldfish Help

Thanks for your help! It is a single tail common goldfish. When we do go away, if we do turn the heat in the house lower than 60 degrees, would you recommend turning on a tank heater for the period of time that we're away? Since we're using the automatic fish feeder, I wouldn't want to continue to feed it if the water temp drops...I'm on a big learning curve right now...

Do you think the TetraFin fish flakes are the best way to go with an automatic fish feeder or would you recommend another food? Using fish flakes doesn't allow for consistent food dispensing.

Thanks again for all of your help...it's good to know there's a place where I can get help

 

[mike47517]

The heater being on is always better but gold fish are cold water fish and as long as he's not frozen he will be fine.

 

[jsoong]

Personally, I think it would be simpler to get a small heater & keep the water temp in the 60's while you are away. Then you don't have to worry about over feeding when the temp get too cold. Plus, having a temp swing do impair the fish's immunity, and there is away a chance of disease or mortality when overwintering a goldfish in cold water.

As for feeding, I use pellets. Flakes are not nearly as nutrient dense, and goldfish are much heavier compared to tropicals (since they are thick bodied fish), and require more energy (and oxygen). Feeding flakes, the goldfish gulp down so much air that they get into digestive problems .... this is esp. common with fancies.

How big is the goldfish? A 10 gal is going to be too small for a common. You might be able to keep the fish in the 10 while small, but eventually you will need to move him to bigger digs. Commons are basically pond fish, as they get to be 24" or so when full grown. Long before that, the small tank cannot handle the waste produced even with frequent water changes, and the fish get stunted & die an early death. <Commons should live 10+ years - the record is 43 years.> I know that not everyone can afford to upgrade to large tanks or build a pond, but at some point, you will need to consider re-homing the fish.

 

[Just Wonderin]

What size heater would you suggest? 25W/50W? I was looking at a few and 68 degrees seemed to be the lowest setting...are there others that can be set a bit lower? Is there a particular brand that is more reliable?

Do you recommend any particular brand of pellets? How much should I feed for a single goldfish?

The fish is approximately 3+" long right now and a little over a year old. At what point should I consider upgrading to "bigger digs"?

I can't thank you enough for all of your help so far...I knew that this would be the right place to go to have all of my questions answered...and yes, I vote every day to get AA back to the top of Aqua Rank!

 

[mike47517]

What size heater would you suggest? 25W/50W?

I have a 50W in my tank (my house goes down to about 60F and it keeps the tank stable at 78F0 and it does just fine.

 

[jsoong]

A 50W at its lowest setting should be fine. Most of the temp markings are "suggestions", so the actual temp can be a bit off. It is best to check with a thermometer to know what the setting is. At any rate 68 is just fine for the goldfish.

A submersible heater is generally better, regardless of brand. Jager is considered one of the best, as is Visitherm.

There are lots of good goldfish pellets out there. I use Hikari Gold for mine. You can also supplement with veggies (blanched, shelled chopped peas, zucchini, cucumbers) & the goldies favorite food - chopped up shrimp. How much to feed - an amount that is approx. the size of the fish's mouth.

As to how long you can keep the fish in the 10, let your water parameters guild you. If you are doing 25% water changes weekly, you should be able to maintain low nitrates (20 or less) & no ammonia or nitrites. If the nitrates start to creep up (or you see any ammonia or nitrite), you are exceeding the capacity of your system. You can temporize by increasing the frequency of water change (some do it daily), but you need to move up at that point. As a guess, I would think that 5-6" size would be max. <Ok, purist will get mad at me .... they think that a 3" common should be in a 20 or 30 gal & a 6" should be in a 100 gal+ pond .....>

 

[Just Wonderin]

Thanks again! I'm learning more and more with each post.

 

[OldMan]

My own thought on that 3 inch goldfish is that I would expect it to be bigger at a year old. I keep tropicals but have seen comet goldfish, under good growing conditions, get quite a bit bigger in their first year. If at all possible, I would suggest upgrading the tank now, just like Jsoong said I would. As far as temperature, I would not worry about a comet in a tank at 65F or a bit lower so a 50W would be plenty to hold the temperature in a 60F house.

 

[Sombunya]

<Ok, purist will get mad at me .... they think that a 3" common should be in a 20 or 30 gal & a 6" should be in a 100 gal+ pond .....>

I have three 2" Golds and a Betta in a 10 gallon tank. I just recently added a 2" Bluegill to it.

I do a 50% water change each week (that's how much is removed when I'm done vacuuming) and the water param's have always been excellent. Nitrates barely hit 10 ppm.

I know what people say about Goldfish being massive polluters. These fish are fed quite well; flakes and/or worms. I haven't had any trouble keeping the water perfect. I'm trying to grow them big...

 

[jsoong]

Sombunya ... the purists will have a heart attack!!

If you have 2 2" fancies, then a 10 gal would be OK for a while .... but mixing in the Betta & Bluegill? I think you are asking for trouble sooner or later ....

 

[mike47517]

Sombunya ... the purists will have a heart attack!!

If you have 2 2" fancies, then a 10 gal would be OK for a while .... but mixing in the Betta & Bluegill? I think you are asking for trouble sooner or later ....

Specially if its a wild bluegill. Do you know how many diseases that thing could be holding!?

 

[Sombunya]

If you have 2 2" fancies, then a 10 gal would be OK for a while .... but mixing in the Betta & Bluegill? I think you are asking for trouble sooner or later ....

The Betta is the dominant fish in the tank. The water is in the low 70's. The Bluegill hides at the bottom in the fake plants most of the time. I'll be taking it out soon because it does that. It didn't hide nearly as much when it was in the Sculpin tank.

Specially if its a wild bluegill. Do you know how many diseases that thing could be holding!?

My six other Bluegill are as healthy as can be. I've had them for about 6 months now. According to some folks in other forums the Goldfish present a danger to the other fish because of parasites etc.

The water parameters are always good. NO2, NH3, NO3 = 0, 0, 10 ppm. Those measurements are obtained just before I do a regular weekly 50% water change.

I've read what others say about Goldfish being "gross polluters". Can someone else comment on this "disaster" tank?

 

[mike47517]

Oh yes i know gold fish are very messy fish. Now that i think of it they might be the messiest, but a wild bluegill could be emmune to lots of things that your other fish might not be.

 

[Sombunya]

I actually moved the little Bluegill back into the Sculpin tank, for feeding reasons.

Not an expert by any stretch, as many will guess. But let me just say that my past experience with Bluegills suggest these fish are among the hardiest.

I'm still wondering just what exactly is the extreme mess or waste that Goldfish produce? They don't seem any messier than my Bluegill.

 

[jsoong]

Goldfish are "messy" only when compared to tropicals. Because of the thick body, a goldfish may weigh 10x more than a tropical of the same length. So they eat more & make more waste compared to tropicals.

Goldfish are no more "messy" compared to other cold water or thick bodied fish. So, they are prob. not too different that blue gills. At any rate, 2" golds are not that messy. It is a different story when they get to be 6 or 10 or 12".