Goldfish and tropicals together

[Tetra98]

Now how does this work I have had 3 goldfish and at least 30 other tropical fish in the one 55 gallon tank and I have had no casualties? Am I lucky or is this ok..... I have 3 rummy nose tetras, 6 neon tetras, 4 angelfish, 1 bumble bee goby, 1 killifish, 2 golden pencil fish, 1 zebra loach, 8 yabbies, 1 kuli loach, 2 black tetras, 3 dwarf Childs, 1 Cory, 2 guppies and I think there is more.......? Leave a comment

[jcolon]

I'd have to say that tank is way overstocked because goldfish themselves have very large bio-loads. What kind of goldfish? What type of filter and how long have you had this setup?

The fancy-tailed need 20 gallons alone for the first fish, 10 gallons for each additional. The comet / common goldfish are better placed in a pond.

[Revenantwing]

no goldfish are cool water fish

[Fishguy2727]

Goldfish are eurythermal, which means they can thrive in a very wide temperature range, not just cool. They are as tropical as our other tropical aquarium fish.

What is the nitrate concentration?
What is the water change schedule?

[Tetra98]

Water change every 1 week

[Tetra98]

Nitrate low

[Mr. Limpet]

I wouldn't say you're lucky, I have danois and otos with my 3 goldies (2 Moors, 1 Panda Fantail) and they get along quite well in 74 degree water temp. When I first introduced the danois, my young Panda chased them a bit, but gave up in 2-3 days since they're so quick .

The only issue I have is during feeding time, since my goldies make our dog look like she has refined table manners when inhaling her meal . I'm currently working on a solution to this issue, beyond having to overfeed the tank so everyone one gets a fair share.

As for goldies being cold water fish, I agree in the sense that they can survive in low water temps that would kill most fish, but after extensive research found that they actually live a longer, better life in temps of low to mid 70's.

FYI: Bumblebee Gobies are a BW species, that are only introduced to a mild FW environment to induce spawning. Please consider rehoming them.

[jsoong]

Originally Posted by Mr. Limpet

The only issue I have is during feeding time, since my goldies make our dog look like she has refined table manners when inhaling her meal . I'm currently working on a solution to this issue, beyond having to overfeed the tank so everyone one gets a fair share.

Feeding is prob the biggest problem when mixing tropicals & goldies. The temp is not that much different as fancy goldfish are actually sub-tropical, so will overlap quite a bit with many tropical fish.

Since goldies & tropicals have different diet requirements, it is difficult to make sure each get the correct food in a mix tank. <The goldies will eat everything, sometimes getting into gut problems when they eat too many tropical flakes.>

One way is to have separate feeding area. It is possible to train the goldfish to go to one spot for food. <Just feed them at the same spot every time.> If you use say sinking food for the goldies, then while the goldies are busy at the bottom feeding, feed the other fish their flakes at the opposite corner of the tank ... they might get some before the goldies finish ...

Now if you have commons & small tropicals, they will have the tropicals for lunch when they get bigger.

[Mr. Limpet]

Originally Posted by jsoong

Feeding is prob the biggest problem when mixing tropicals & goldies. The temp is not that much different as fancy goldfish are actually sub-tropical, so will overlap quite a bit with many tropical fish.

Since goldies & tropicals have different diet requirements, it is difficult to make sure each get the correct food in a mix tank. <The goldies will eat everything, sometimes getting into gut problems when they eat too many tropical flakes.>

One way is to have separate feeding area. It is possible to train the goldfish to go to one spot for food. <Just feed them at the same spot every time.> If you use say sinking food for the goldies, then while the goldies are busy at the bottom feeding, feed the other fish their flakes at the opposite corner of the tank ... they might get some before the goldies finish ...

Now if you have commons & small tropicals, they will have the tropicals for lunch when they get bigger.

I'm working on a feeding box for the danios today, so we'll see if that helps (I have to get them to go in it first ). My big Moor considers the whole tank his feeding area lol, so I give them the NLS sinkers and when they're distracted, put flakes in for my top dwelling danios.

They get peas (shelled) each week and I can safely say there's no gut problems .

[Fishguy2727]

They do not need different foods. Their nutritional needs are identical. This doesn't mean that you can feed either anything, it means that a high quality food cna provide the needed nutrition without any problems to either. I feed allmy fish the exact same food, whether they are goldfish, tropicals, mixed, etc. regardless of species or temp. Depending on what you feed each this may not be the case, but it is not necessrily a problem depending on exactly what you are feeding.

FYI long bodied goldfish do not tend to have the sensitive digestive systems or swim bladders the way fancy goldfish (round-bodieds) can. The compressed body shape of fancies alters the arrangement of internal organs so that they may not function the way they would in their natural arrangement (as in long-bodieds). Not all fancy goldfish are prone to these issues either.