Ideas for good freshwater fish

[Monkeyrazzar]

I just got a 20 gallon tank and am letting it cycle. I need some advice for fish I could get. I have a 1inch black moor that's defiantly going in and I want 2-3 orandos. I want some relatively colorful schooling fish that could live happily with he others, and not eat all the food before the poor sighted black moor could have his share. And how many shrimp could I have with this? I was also wondering what is that white jelly stuff in the plants plastic base? Should I get all the floating bits before my fish go in? Also it go every where when I opened the plants and my car ate a tiny bit, is this a serrious problem? Thanks.

 

[jetajockey]

Hi and welcome to the forum. I think with having a fancy goldfish in there your options for tankmates is severely limited. Most recommend 30g minimum for a single fancy goldfish and then 10g per additional one.

 

[tarpon]

The white gel is fish safe. And there is no possible way i would recommend putting 4 fancy goldfish in a 20 gallon. Especially with more fish on top of that. Maybe 1 goldfish, with no other fish in the tank. But even thats pushing it. And also you could have alot of shrimp. However many you want (within reason)

 

[Alyxx]

Jeta and tarpon are right, that tank would be ok for the moor, and that is it. 20 gallons for the first fancy goldfish and 10 gallons for each after that is what is generally recommended. Also, most schooling fish that are readily available are tropicals and need water that is too warm for the goldfish. If you want to keep 5 fancy goldfish you should look into getting at least a 60 gallon tank with excellent filters. You need at least 100x filtration with goldfish, they put out a lot of waste. So for a 60 gallon, you would need a filter rated at at least 600 gph. For the 20 with one goldfish, make sure your filter is at least 200 gph.

 

[barterking85]

I say 20 gallons for the first fancy goldfish 10 gallons for each additional 1 they get pretty big and 2 they produce a lot of ammonia which will poison the fish

And basically no schooling fish will live with goldfish because they are cold water fish and most schoolers are tropical I say do your goldfish or do a tropical tank your gonna have a hard time finding an appropriate temp to keep both healthy and happy

I have a 120 gallon that I keep my 6 fancies in with 2 fluval fx5 and 2 bio wheel 150's

 

[tarpon]

I disagree about not being able to mix goldfish with tropicals. But anyways i kept a fancy goldfish in a ten gallon by itself for all of its life and by the time i figured it was unacceptable it had already been 3-4 years so i never changed it. It only stayed around 3 inches and it died after like 4 years which is way too short. fancy goldfish can get like baseball size (their body) and need to have enough room to be able to grow to that size. Also im not sure exactly how long they live but i think its around 18 years.

 

[Mumma.of.two]

They can live 10-20 years and can reach 1 foot long.

 

[barterking85]

I disagree about not being able to mix goldfish with tropicals. But anyways i kept a fancy goldfish in a ten gallon by itself for all of its life and by the time i figured it was unacceptable it had already been 3-4 years so i never changed it. It only stayed around 3 inches and it died after like 4 years which is way too short. fancy goldfish can get like baseball size (their body) and need to have enough room to be able to grow to that size. Also im not sure exactly how long they live but i think its around 18 years.

There are a few exceptions some danios are on the lower side of the temp range but will out compete a moor all day long for food so there are two factors temp and what will let the moor eat goldfish is what I do I keep many many tanks of others but my prize is my fancy tank I even have a 12 year old Oranda who recover from a tumor removale they are tough but I like to keep them as comfortable as possible and with their own kind and not adjusting temp to keep other fish and a proper size home is the best way to do so

 

[Monkeyrazzar]

Jeta and tarpon are right, that tank would be ok for the moor, and that is it. 20 gallons for the first fancy goldfish and 10 gallons for each after that is what is generally recommended. Also, most schooling fish that are readily available are tropicals and need water that is too warm for the goldfish. If you want to keep 5 fancy goldfish you should look into getting at least a 60 gallon tank with excellent filters. You need at least 100x filtration with goldfish, they put out a lot of waste. So for a 60 gallon, you would need a filter rated at at least 600 gph. For the 20 with one goldfish, make sure your filter is at least 200 gph.

The Orandos and moor are very small, (1 inch) would tetras be okay with the goldfish? I could put planes on one side for them then put sinking pelts on the other side for the fancies?

 

[barterking85]

Tetras and Goldie's won't mix I really advise against it temps are too far off I really think something like minnows or danios are your only option

 

[Mumma.of.two]

No you can not keep tetras with them. They need different temperatures and your goldfish will grow and eat them. 1 inch goldfish are practically infants! Goldfish grow fast if healthy. They won't stay small for long.
As said above 5 fancy goldfish need a 60g tank and 600g/hour worth of filtration. They also need large weekly water changes (1-2 50% per week on a correctly stocked tank). They are messy fish. They produce A LOT of waste. I keep tropicals and fancy goldfish and I can tell you the goldfish require more work to keep the water clean and the fish healthy.
Please don't over stock your tank. It can lead to stunting and disease if the waters not kept pristine which is next to impossible in an overstocked goldfish tank.