# Type of fish to add to tank with 2 fantails?



## buffy24 (Jan 18, 2005)

Hi everyone!

I have a quick question that I would like to have some advice on. I am wanting to get a third fish for my 57 litre tank and I would like to know what type of fish can be mixed with fantails. I did hear that you should only get other fantail fish but I don't know if this is true or not. 

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Have a great weekend

Buffy24


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## Lisas_lair (Jan 18, 2005)

Personally, I wouldn't mix any other type of fish with goldfish. Your tank will eventually be too small for these fish anyway as they mature. 

Ken


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## lil_jess (Jan 22, 2005)

platy, swordtail, bottomfeeder, upside down catfish, etc. Fish that are not carnivous


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## Damon (Jan 18, 2005)

Nothing else will fit in that tank, as stated above. Its already overstocked and you are risking stunting the fish as it is. They will not live a full life in that tank.


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## HollywoodBob (Jan 19, 2005)

Over stocked with 2 fish? Really? Oh crap.

-HollywoodBob


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## DevarioDevario (Jan 18, 2005)

goldfish can reach 14" or more and they are suposed to live for around 35 years.

the best place for goldfish is in a pond, not a fish tank.
keeping them in tanks this rule of thumb should be observed
20 gallons for the first fish, and 10 gallons for each additional fish.
this is because they are ammonia producing machines.
also if keeping gold fish in tanks, you should do a 20% water change every other day, again because of the amount of ammonia they produce.

I also noticed one of the replys suggested some tropical fish as companions, this is a big no no
the goldfishs' protective slime coating has bacteria that is highly toxic to tropical fish.


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## judya (Jan 23, 2005)

I need a conversion of liters to gallons - how many inches or centimeters is it, and I can convert. 

You are speaking of fancy goldfish, right? the kind with eggshaped bodies with wide fan tails? If so, they are coolwater fish amd should not be mixed with anything tropical. There are dojo loaches (also called weather loach, cause they swim around when there is a weather change) that can handle cool water. Make sure any plants used are for coolwater as well, such as anacharis.

Other fancy goldfish (lionheads, bubble-eyes, etc.) can be mixed with fantails, but the common streamlined comet goldfish should not be, as they will get to the food faster than the fancies.

Goldfish do produce a large quantity of fish waste, and need excelllent filters and water changes. So you want to make sure there are not too many in a tank, and that the tank is a good size. Don't overfeed, even though they will beg for food all the time :lol: 

Good luck and enjoy your fish!


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## lil_jess (Jan 22, 2005)

aquabid is down, but i just figure out that aquaauctions.com is good to go auction while aquabid is down.


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## Z Man (Jan 18, 2005)

A 57 litre tank is only 15 US gallons. Small for just one goldfish.


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## aquariumfishguy (Jan 18, 2005)

lil_jess @ Sun Jan 23 said:


> aquabid is down, but i just figure out that aquaauctions.com is good to go auction while aquabid is down.


Should we assume you are the owner of this site? This has been posted several different times in various threads. :| 

Anyway, yes 15 gallons, and that is too small for even one goldfish IMO. You should probably begin with 20 gallons minimum for fancy goldfish. With two goldfish, you would be looking at 40 gallons minimum. Good luck!


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## lil_jess (Jan 22, 2005)

just trying to help other while waiting for aquabid. Please excuse me.


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## aquariumfishguy (Jan 18, 2005)

I don't excuse you. But then again, I am not the owner of Fish Forums, so you do not need to explain yourself to me.

All I care about is helping people who ask for help. Personally, I do not consider interrupting a thread by posting a promotion of another site 10-15 times helpful.


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## buffy24 (Jan 18, 2005)

DevarioDevario @ January 23rd said:


> goldfish can reach 14" or more and they are suposed to live for around 35 years.


The oldest fantail I have is around 7cm in length, the other fantail in the tank is around 5cm in length.
I would expect to upgrade the size of my aquarium as the fish grow and require the space.



DevarioDevario @ January 23rd said:


> the best place for goldfish is in a pond, not a fish tank.
> keeping them in tanks this rule of thumb should be observed
> 20 gallons for the first fish, and 10 gallons for each additional fish.
> this is because they are ammonia producing machines.
> also if keeping gold fish in tanks, you should do a 20% water change every other day, again because of the amount of ammonia they produce.


The instructions that came with my tank say that approx. 1cm of fish = 1.5 - 2 litres of water.
So 57 litres = approx. 28.5cm of fish? Given that I've only got 12cm of fish in the tank at present, I'm confused as to why some people are saying it's overstocked :shock:
Are my instructions wrong?



DevarioDevario @ January 23rd said:


> I also noticed one of the replys suggested some tropical fish as companions, this is a big no no
> the goldfishs' protective slime coating has bacteria that is highly toxic to tropical fish.


As the fantails are coldwater fish, I wasn't considering adding tropical fish to the tank!


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## Damon (Jan 18, 2005)

The goldfish are NOT coldwater fish. Common misconception. They are a coolwater fish but still need descent temps to aid in digestion. And I'm glad you wern't thinking about adding tropicals to the tank. Shows you're doing your homework.  Unfortunately, the instructions are written by buisnesses trying to make money and they are very inaccurate. The 1 inch per gallon rule is useless. Goldfish have a much higher body mass than other fish and produce a lot much more waste. You wouldn't keep a 10 Oscar in 10 gallons of water would you? 
But waiting for them to grow before upgrading is not healthy for them. They will not grow at the normal rate and may never reach full size.


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## buffy24 (Jan 18, 2005)

judya @ January 23rd said:


> I need a conversion of liters to gallons - how many inches or centimeters is it, and I can convert.


57 litres = 13 UK gallons = approx. 15 US gallons.
Tank dimensions are approx. 60cm x 30cm x 32cm



judya @ January 23rd said:


> You are speaking of fancy goldfish, right? the kind with eggshaped bodies with wide fan tails? If so, they are coolwater fish amd should not be mixed with anything tropical. There are dojo loaches (also called weather loach, cause they swim around when there is a weather change) that can handle cool water. Make sure any plants used are for coolwater as well, such as anacharis.


Yes, your description is correct. I think I saw the loaches you are talking about at the pet shop over the weekend. Are they small (the fish I saw were 1-2cm in length), with a long, thin body, preferring to stick to the tank glass?



judya @ January 23rd said:


> Other fancy goldfish (lionheads, bubble-eyes, etc.) can be mixed with fantails, but the common streamlined comet goldfish should not be, as they will get to the food faster than the fancies.


The assistant in the pet shop also advised against mixing common goldfish with fantails, as they wouldn't get along?



judya @ January 23rd said:


> Goldfish do produce a large quantity of fish waste, and need excelllent filters and water changes. So you want to make sure there are not too many in a tank, and that the tank is a good size. Don't overfeed, even though they will beg for food all the time :lol:


The filter I'm using seems to be handling the waste OK, and I know what you mean about begging for food :wink: 



judya @ January 23rd said:


> Good luck and enjoy your fish!


Thanks, and thanks for taking the time to reply - that goes to everyne else who has taken time to reply to me too


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## buffy24 (Jan 18, 2005)

Simpte @ January 23rd said:


> The goldfish are NOT coldwater fish. Common misconception. They are a coolwater fish but still need descent temps to aid in digestion. And I'm glad you wern't thinking about adding tropicals to the tank. Shows you're doing your homework.  Unfortunately, the instructions are written by buisnesses trying to make money and they are very inaccurate. The 1 inch per gallon rule is useless. Goldfish have a much higher body mass than other fish and produce a lot much more waste. You wouldn't keep a 10 Oscar in 10 gallons of water would you?
> But waiting for them to grow before upgrading is not healthy for them. They will not grow at the normal rate and may never reach full size.


I think I'll stick with just the 2 fish at the moment, and do some more research and lurking on the forum in the meantime!
It's quite confusing for a beginner with all of the (sometimes) conflicting advice I am reading.
Thanks for your help!


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## judya (Jan 23, 2005)

Weather loaches look more like snakes in the body, have little whiskers, usually several inches long, a tannish/yellowish color with little speckles, and not a sucker fish
http://www.loaches.com/species_pages/wloach.html


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## Stew (Jan 21, 2005)

DevarioDevario @ Sun Jan 23 said:


> I also noticed one of the replys suggested some tropical fish as companions, this is a big no no
> the goldfishs' protective slime coating has bacteria that is highly toxic to tropical fish.


I'm intrigued by this. Do you have any links to articles I could read more on the subject?


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## Fishfirst (Jan 24, 2005)

the in/gal cm/liter rules are boogues... they don't consider the fact that some fish produce more waste than others, some fish are wider than others, some need more swimming space, and some are more sensitive... Goldfish need 20 gallons for one fish and 10 for each additional fish... as stated above.


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## osteoporoosi (Jan 27, 2005)

I would say that they need more than 20 gallons. They really grow huge and produce an incredible amount of waste. 40 gallons for one fish and 20 more for each additional fish sounds more like it. Believe me, I'm not exaggerating. big tanks for big fish, eh :wink: ?
heres a picture:
http://www.ifs.tas.gov.au/fact_sheets/ornamental goldfish.jpg
more info about goldfish:
http://www.fishbase.org/summary/speciessummary.cfm?id=271


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## aquariumfishguy (Jan 18, 2005)

Great links!


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## Stew (Jan 21, 2005)

Stew @ Fri Jan 28 said:


> DevarioDevario @ Sun Jan 23 said:
> 
> 
> > I also noticed one of the replys suggested some tropical fish as companions, this is a big no no
> ...


I guess no one knows anything else about this then.

I'm not surprised as when I started keeping fish about 4 years ago I started a coldwater tank with 2 goldfish and 2 zebra danios in and they are *all* still going strong! (well the danios are getting podgy but that happens to us al as we get olderl!)


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## fishgfish (Jan 19, 2005)

you can add one more fantail, or a small orands or ryukin, aslong as its another goldfish, about the same size of your two. As they grow move them to a lagrer tank. Goldfish need colder water then tropical and would not be a good idea to mix.


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## Lexus (Jan 19, 2005)

also... goldfish have a slime coat that is not healthy for tropicals and they produce alot of waste


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## aquariumfishguy (Jan 18, 2005)

I am just as against mixing tropicals with goldfish as the next guy/gal, but saying unfounded ideas doesn't help our cause. There is no such evidence that supports the notion that the slime coat on a goldfish is unhealthy for a tropical fish.


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## Lexus (Jan 19, 2005)

well i take that back then  ... I actually got that from this site! Thats what someone told me! 
I kept tropicals and goldfish together for a long time and they were fine


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## garfieldnfish (Jan 18, 2005)

While I would not advise someone to keep goldfish with tropicals I have done it for some time without any problems. I have 3 fancy goldfish (2 oranda, 1 ruykin, all three still under 3 1/2") in a 55 gal with a bristlenose pleco and one angelfish. The angel was a rescue case and I had no other tank large enough to keep it at the time. I was going to move it to another tank later but seeing how well the goldfish got along with the angel I decided to leave him in there.This angel was not wild caught but had been living in my former neighbor's aquarium for 3 1/2 years. They had to move on short notice and could not take him with them. I got volunteered. No ill effects on either of them. 
I keep the tank at room temperature and living in Atlanta it stays pretty warm most of the year and I heat the house in the winter anyway, both tolerate 74 -76 degrees pretty well.
That said, the problem with mixing are the different diseases they can come with. Tropicals may be imported with some bugs the goldfish have no natural defense mechanism for and vice versa. If you have kept fish of both kind in separate tanks for some time and they showed no signs of disease it can be done but I would not risk it. There are however, many cool or cold water fish that can be mixed with goldfish. The hillstream loach and weather loach are compatible as are minnows and danios.
But as mentioned several times not in the tank you have. I stopped using the inch per gallon rule and started using the poop factor rule. And goldfish and plecos are on the top of that list.


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## aquariumfishguy (Jan 18, 2005)

Lexus @ Sun Feb 06 said:


> well i take that back then  ... I actually got that from this site! Thats what someone told me!
> I kept tropicals and goldfish together for a long time and they were fine


Sorry, I wasn’t yelling at you, just concerned about myths spreading… this is exactly how it happens. You are a victim of it, but what we can do is correct the myth.

Besides, there are tons of other legit reasons for keeping Goldfish separate from tropical fish.


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## Cichlid Man (Jan 19, 2005)

The problem with keeping tropicals with fantails is that if they're small like danios they'll get eaten, and if they're too big like paradise fish then they'll rip them to shreds regardless of different temp requirements.


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## aquariumfishguy (Jan 18, 2005)

... And sometimes, the smaller fish can even bully the slower and larger goldfish.


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## Lydia (Feb 6, 2005)

Stew @ Sun Feb 06 said:


> Stew @ Fri Jan 28 said:
> 
> 
> > DevarioDevario @ Sun Jan 23 said:
> ...


i have never heard anything about that either....but, if you happen to find some kind of website that is a reliable source that says that, please post it :roll:


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