Tank mates for 4 fancy goldfish

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Lumberjack

Aquarium Advice Regular
Joined
Sep 2, 2014
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65
Location
Apex, NC
Hello, I have 4 fancy goldfish in my 55 gallon aquarium, I was wondering what would be good tank mates without over stocking? My filtration consists of a emperor 400 filter and a sun sun 303-b canister filter (770 gph combined) and a pool filter sand bottom. Thanks! ImageUploadedByAquarium Advice1456933010.021474.jpgImageUploadedByAquarium Advice1456933033.190653.jpgImageUploadedByAquarium Advice1456933050.001038.jpgImageUploadedByAquarium Advice1456933082.988062.jpg


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Hi, to be honest I'd call it done at that. Else white cloud mountain minnows spring to mind assuming you have a cool water tank.
 
I agree - I think you have enough fishies in that sized tank already.


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Hello, I have 4 fancy goldfish in my 55 gallon aquarium, I was wondering what would be good tank mates without over stocking? My filtration consists of a emperor 400 filter and a sun sun 303-b canister filter (770 gph combined) and a pool filter sand bottom. Thanks! View attachment 285205View attachment 285206View attachment 285207View attachment 285208


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I also agree


Fishobsessed7

Money Can't Buy Happiness, But It Can Buy Fish Which Is Pretty Much The Same Thing
 
As other members have already mentioned, the stock you have now is more than enough.

However, I just wanted to share my experiences with fancy goldfish "tankmates."


As I am sure you know, goldfish are coldwater fish and should be kept with other coldwater fish in cases where an owner wants a mixed species tank/pond big enough and filtered enough to support the fish. Now, fancy goldfish generally are said to be kept with other fancies, and for good reasons: Fancies are NOT very able-bodied, especially compared to their sleeker, single-tailed cousins, the common goldfish and koi. They will have a much harder time reaching food before the more agile fish sucks it all up, slowly starving to death if not properly monitered/managed. I could argue that a telescope and a normal-eyed should be monitored because bulged eyes are enough of a disadvantage to lead to starvation when housed with other fancies.

And perhaps you aren't wanting another big showcase fish, but consider perhaps...rosy minnows, like I did at some point. They don't get terribly big, they are cheap, and they add more visual interest to the tank. But man. This would be a terrible idea. Maybe with some larger goldfish they would be ok, but miss feeding them one time and it is almost inevitable that they will go after the easiest meal they can find. In my case it was tiny pearlscale I had purchased just the previous day. Round, tiny, and slower than their other goldfish siblings, they did not stand a chance against the small school of hungry rosies.

So please be careful with any "compatible" fish that you come across if you still feel tempted to add more.

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As an alternative to the Mountain Minnows, I would like to suggest Galaxy Rasboras. They are a very tiny cold-water schooling fish that might not look like much as babies in the store, but really color up as they mature into a brilliant speckled blue-purple (the males are darker). They like plants and places to hide, but if you are keeping some live plants such as anubias and java fern with your goldfish (they won't eat them) and have some driftwood/decorations they will be fine. I have kept a small school of 6 successfully with my solo fancy goldfish for over 2 years.
I wouldn't recommend adding a school with these to your current tank due to them needing at least 6 fish to school, preferably 10-12, but if you upgrade your tank in the future and are looking for a more colorful, non aggressive, coldwater fish they might just be for you!

PS: They are not nippy fish at all and are infact quite timid. When I kept them in a species only tank I never saw them they were too scared to leave the plants, however as soon as I put them in with the braver goldfish they started free-swimming in the tank and schooling like they ought to do. So a brave slow-moving dither-fish like fancy goldfish with these guys is great if you actually want to see them and they don't bother the goldies fins at all :)
 
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