Goldfish Housing Question

[Greg]

I've heard that for 2 fancy goldfish, 30 gallons is ideal. Would I be able to properly support 2 in 20 gallons? 20 gallons is more realistic than 30 gallons in my situation. I'd be happy with one, but I want to buy him a roommate so he isn't lonely. Not that I wouldn't be his friend or anything.

 

[CatatonicBug]

What kind of filtration will you have? Goldfish are very messy fish, so it's important to have enough filtration to keep the water clean.

 

[kimo]

I have bred a pair of 6" comets in a 15g before. Water quality is important!

 

[dskidmore]

Putting them in the smaller tank may reduce their lifespan, but you can keep them there a little while. Might you be able to upgrade as they grow?

 

[kimo]

They lived a long and useful lifespan (14 yrs+). But they didn't remain in that 15g tank. Only used it temporarily for breeding (more than 800 fry... that went into other tanks too).

btw: do you know that "gold"fish are all born green colored (for camoflage)?

 

[jsoong]

It is not just tank volume that you have to consider, but also surface area, water flow rate, etc.

You can house 2 fancies in a 20 gal if you have adaquate water circulation. I would overfilter the set up (aim for something like 200 gph) to ensure adaquate oxygenation. A shallower tank (with bigger surface area) would also be better although I don't know if they make those in a 20. <These are called breeder tanks & I think the smallest standard size is 40.>

But even in a standard 20 gal setup, you should be able to keep the pair for years before you need to upgrade. <Just start with the 1 or 2" juvies & you can prob keep them till they are 4 or 5".> However, with smaller tank, you would need to do more monitoring & water changes to keep up with the water parameters. A bigger tank is generally less work & more forgiving of mishaps.

 

[kimo]

"A shallower tank (with bigger surface area) would also be better although I don't know if they make those in a 20. <These are called breeder tanks & I think the smallest standard size is 40.>"

They make 20g's in two sizes. 20g tall (24 x 12.5 x 16) and a 20g long (12.5 x 30 x 12.5).

 

[Greg]

Thanks for all the info.
Ihad heard of overfiltering and such, but really 10g would be the ideal tank size.
I will try to manage a 20g but would 10g be okay for one fish?
Is it possible to overfilter too much?

 

[dskidmore]

Is it possible to overfilter too much?

Diffrent fish species have diffrent tolerances for current. As long as you're not sucking up or blowing away tank inhabitants, overfiltering won't hurt anything. There is still the matter of swimming space, and the fact that the immune system doesn't work as well when a critter is stressed.

 

[marchmaxima]

just FYI, I'm about as over filtered as you can get.

I have a jebo 835 (1000 lph) canister filter on my 15g planted aquarium. Talk about overkill (don't ask why, it's a very long story). So I have harlequin rasboras who looooooove a strong current. This filter will eventually go on my new 120g.