# How many for 55 gallon



## koisworedtails

Hi i was wondering how many fancy goldfish can I keep in a 55 gallon?

Eric


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## garfieldnfish

15 gal for the 1st. 10 for each additional one = 5 fancy goldfish (and I would add one rubberlip pleco for algae clean up. They go well with goldfish.


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## Niki2105

You could fit 5 in there no problem. I dont know about the pleco because I have heard of them sometimes sucking the slime coat off goldfish. I keep Apple Snails in with mine.


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## RockabillyChick

no matter how many you get, you need a filtration system suitable for a 100g tank. goldfish are very dirty fish. 4 or 5 should be fine in a 55 gallon. plecos don't do much at all for cleanup. they eat some algae and dropped food, but they NEED to be fed sepperately as well. they like to eat veggies, like blanched zucchini, peas, green beans, lettuce, etc. don't expect them to live off the dropped food of the other fish and algae, because they won't.


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## sambi7878

5 fancy goldfish is ok! everyone is correct but I really dont like mixing plecos with the goldfish. Just maintain a good filtration and water quality and youll not need a pleco. :fish:


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## deputydawg_13

Everybody keeps saying five fish for a 55 gallon tank...does the size of the goldfish matter? Or will they just grow to the size allowed by the tank? How does this work?

I am brand new to this and I have read that the general rule is 1 gallon for every 1 inch of fish..but I have also heard that this is not accurate for goldfish which need more water per inch of fish. I also realize that a larger fish will use up more oxygen that a bunch of smaller ones...so if anybody can shed some light and clear this up for me it would be greatly appreciated.


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## emc7

Put in little ones, they'll grow huge in no time.


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## x-Golden-Lucy-x

yes the ten gallon per fish rule is ten gallons at least. but a 55 gallon should hold 5 fancy goldfish comfortably for their whole lives, unless they are exceptionally big (gentics play a part)


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## garfieldnfish

I have 2 fancy goldfish in a 29 gal with one rubberlip pleco and this is the second rubberlip that lives with them. The first was needed in another tank and I was not able to catch him again, so I bought a new one. I have tried Bristlenoses, otos, CAEs and SAEs and I would not recommend any of those with goldfish, but rubberlips do very well with goldfish. No aggression between them and a rubberlip will keep a tank spotless.


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## Lydia

deputydawg_13 said:


> Everybody keeps saying five fish for a 55 gallon tank...does the size of the goldfish matter? Or will they just grow to the size allowed by the tank? How does this work?
> 
> I am brand new to this and I have read that the general rule is 1 gallon for every 1 inch of fish..but I have also heard that this is not accurate for goldfish which need more water per inch of fish. I also realize that a larger fish will use up more oxygen that a bunch of smaller ones...so if anybody can shed some light and clear this up for me it would be greatly appreciated.



To clear it up for you: Yes the size of the goldfish matters a LOT. BUT the size that matters is the ADULT size, not the PURCHASE size. Goldfish that aren't fancy get about 1-1.5 feet long. 

1 gallon for 1 inch of fish isn't very accurate for most fish. The only fish that would really work for is tetras and little fish like that with a low bio-load. Also, remember, the ADULT size is the size you need to figure with. 

The only fish that kinda grow to the size of the tank are koi. THIS DOES NOT MEAN YOU CAN PUT KOI IN A TINY TANK. Koi should be kept in ponds, but temporarily they can be kept in tanks (notice I said temporarily) because they emit a hormone that restricts their growth. Let me repeat though, you shouldn't keep them in little tanks. 

Goldfish and any other fish will not stop growing because their tank is small. If anything, they will stop growing outwardly, but their organs and innards will keep growing and deform, causing death. So the moral is, research the fish and their adult size/bio-load before you buy them so you don't have to end up returning the fish or buying a huge tank because your fish will get too big for your current tank (oops I didn't do that at first either). lol


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## SueM

RockabillyChick said:


> no matter how many you get, you need a filtration system suitable for a 100g tank. goldfish are very dirty fish. 4 or 5 should be fine in a 55 gallon. plecos don't do much at all for cleanup. they eat some algae and dropped food, but they NEED to be fed sepperately as well. they like to eat veggies, like blanched zucchini, peas, green beans, lettuce, etc. don't expect them to live off the dropped food of the other fish and algae, because they won't.



Not all Plecos are algae eaters, in fact most are not, they like Protein and lots of it. Some eat nothing but wood. One of the reasons most people can not keep different varieties, they assume they are algae eaters, and the poor things starve.


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## Shaolinfish

*Internal or external??*

Does this rule apply to internal or external water volume? I have a tank with a 28.9 gallon internal capacity, not including substrate and other bits. Could I fit 3 fancy goldfish in here?
Thanks
:fish:


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## alliecat420

shaolin: with a 28 gallon i would go with 2 at the most but that may even be pushing it


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## Shaolinfish

*Overcrowded tank*

Thanks Alliecat, that is what i though.... I'm trying to convince my grandmother that she has too many fish in her tank but she wont listen.... She currently has 7 fancy goldfish in the 29 litre tank. There used to be 11 but the others died of disease. She doesn't even believe me that the others more than likely got ill because of the overcrowded tank. Apparently the guy at the fish store told her that it was fine, so nothing i say will change her mind :chair: The black moor is covered in white spots, spends a lot of time on the bottom and has red streaks on his tail and fins. I put a copper coin in there today to help. Some of the others have white spots on their fins and a couple of them have problems with flipping. Thankfully I managed to convince her that the flipping is because of the fact that she only feeds them pellet foods, and i have been introducing fruit and vegetables to the tank and have also made her some gel food to last a couple of weeks. Can anybody suggest something I could say to her to change her mind? She has a pond in the garden which I will soon be making ready to accommodate some of the fish in the tank, but she still wants to leave 5 of them in there. I have included a picture to show you just how bad the situation is. Any help will be greatly appreciated!!


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## emc7

http://www.goldfishconnection.com/images/Bruce.jpg


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## steven1

y can u only have 5. wow i have 7 goldfish in my 40 gallon tank. I also have 1 molly, 1 pleco, 2 platy, 2 frogs. They seem perfectly healthy and they all get along.


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## bmlbytes

Sorry steven, your tank is not really a healthy thing for your fish. Your fish may survive, but they will have a stressful life. Here is what is wrong.

The goldfish will get too big for the tank. If you leave them in their too long, their growth will be stunted and their life will be significantly shortened.

A pleco will also get too big for a 40 gallon. Plecos need about 70 gallons to grow to full size. 

Mollies, plecos, platies and african dwarf frogs are all warm water fish, while goldfish are coldwater fish. Keeping goldfish in too warm of water will shorten their life, and keeping the others in too cold of water will also shorten their life.

Mollies are not freshwater fish, even though they can live in freshwater. They are brackish water (half fresh, half salt). They can live in the freshwater, but they will be prone to disease.

My suggestion is to get a 10 gallon tank and but the molly, the platies, and the frogs in it. Keep the 40 gallon for the goldfish, and the pleco. If you can upgrade to a larger tank, then please do, but it would be suggested to move the warm water fish out of the goldfish tank.


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