# 5 1/2" Goldfish in 5 gallon tank. Overstocked?



## BettaFriend (Oct 14, 2010)

Yes, that is right. 5 1/2" goldfish in a five gallon tank.

I know you are probably thinking, "that's cruel, you are a cruel owner." And I guess you would be right, except for...it's my older brothers goldfish.

What do you think about it? I need to know if my brother needs to get a bigger tank for his goldfish. Any imput will be appreciated. Thanks!


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## Corwin (May 23, 2010)

yes he needs a much larger tank for 5 goldfish.


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## emc7 (Jul 23, 2005)

5.5"? time for a pond


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## FishMatt (May 12, 2010)

Yes time for a pond. Goldfish needs a minimum of 23 gallons to it self.


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## Revolution1221 (Apr 20, 2010)

the goldfish is actually still alive living in that small of tank?


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## pinetree (Nov 29, 2009)

I can't tell if you're saying he has five fish that are 1/2" long, or one fish that is 5 1/2 inches long. Either way, the answer is that a 5 gallon tank is too small for even one goldfish of any size.


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## PostShawn (Dec 22, 2009)

At the very minimum it's 15 gallons for the first goldfish and 10-15 gallons per goldfish after that. If you can't provide that type of space I would search for a store that would take it in or a person with a pond to adopt it. Ideally I would get a 25-30 gallon tank for just that one fish. The problem isn't the goldfish size to the tank size, even though a 5 gallon is way to small. It's that goldfish are large waste producers. That means the water will always be unhealthy for the fish. 

Does your tank have a filter? Do you do water changes? Do you have an air hose into the tank? These are things you should be doing with the 5 gallon and with any tank for goldfish.


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## Cam (Nov 9, 2009)

FishMatt said:


> Yes time for a pond. Goldfish needs a minimum of 23 gallons to it self.


That's not at all true, just a rough estimate. Sort of like the noob "1 inch of fish per gallon" rule.

Yeah, you are going to need a freaking pond lol


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## Revolution1221 (Apr 20, 2010)

Cam said:


> That's not at all true, just a rough estimate. Sort of like the noob "1 inch of fish per gallon" rule.
> 
> Yeah, you are going to need a freaking pond lol


i wouldn't keep any fancy goldfish in anything less than a 75 and a common no less than 100-125 and no koi in under 1,000 gallons.


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## Kissing keeper (Oct 3, 2010)

Your brothers cruel so yes he needs a bigger tank. goldfish grow big. mines anourmous.


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## emc7 (Jul 23, 2005)

You can buy time with lots of water changes and a good filter. IME a goldfish in that size tank will live up to 5 years. A goldfish in a pond can live 20 years or more.


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