# goldfish tank



## circle_squared (Jun 2, 2005)

I recently bought three of the best quality goldfish i've ever seen in a local shop in town.. a local _bait_ shop, that is. They are healthy as can be from what I can tell on the outside--no fungus, no ick, nothing. They eat well, they are very happy and active, and they even stay in a little school with each other. They're not fantails--Just regular old comets, but much more pretty than any I've ever seen. One's markings leads me to consider it being crossed with something like a koi, if that's possible. I want to set up a 50 gallon aquarium to put them in, and was wondering (since these three have my ten gallon cloudy already) what the best amount of filtration would be, what the best KIND(s) of filtration would be, what kind of plants are goldfish-safe (i know they do like to eat plants..) and if a plecostomus would be a smart pick for an algae eater to go with them. 































Above are pictures of my new fish. they're really some of the most attractive comet goldfish i've ever seen.. How big do comets normally grow? The biggest (the dark brown/bronze one) is about 6 1/2-7 inches long. Any and all input is appriciated.


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## ijedic (Jan 18, 2005)

Hi, a pond comet can live 20 yrs or longer, get up to 3 feet in legnth. A 50 gallon will be a short term fix, but they will need something larger. Goldfish produce large amounts of waste, and are really better suited for ponds. The different colors are normal, you might also see color changes (like white patches, or the bronze one turning golden) as they grow. Take care, shannon


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## Lexus (Jan 19, 2005)

You have a 7 inch goldfish in a 10G tank?


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## Celeste (May 13, 2005)

ijedic said:


> Hi, a pond comet can live 20 yrs or longer, get up to 3 feet in legnth. A 50 gallon will be a short term fix, but they will need something larger. Goldfish produce large amounts of waste, and are really better suited for ponds. The different colors are normal, you might also see color changes (like white patches, or the bronze one turning golden) as they grow. Take care, shannon


that's not true.

goldfish only reach about 12" MAX. KOI, which are distantly related to gold fish can get up to 3 feet, though it's still rare. it's more common for koi to be 18-24" at their adult size. i have a comet goldfish. comets are not your plain old feeder goldfish. they are a fancy type. they have the normal long body, but they also have long, flowy fins. and they get to be about 12" long. my comet is growing about half as fast as my koi.


comet: 











and i just found this on google. this red and gold oranda is 14.5 inches long.









i still agree that a 50 gallon tank is too small, and right now, even if those fish are an inch long, a 10 gallon won't be suitable for very long. i'd suggest either building a 300 gallon pond in your back yard, buying a 200 gallon aquarium, or returning the fish.


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## circle_squared (Jun 2, 2005)

The 50 gallon is just going to be temporary. Sorry for not clarifying that before.. A much larger aquarium would be very nice to have, but until I move in a couple of years I won't be able to do anything but save for one. I've got a 55gallon and a 50gallon here, so if they get too big to all fit in the 50 before then, I could always set one up in the 55 gallon. In the future I am hoping to dig out a large pond for koi and goldfish, but that is still many years down the road. Are there any suitable algae-eating tank mates for these guys?

((Lexus, I attempted to take a ruler to the side of the tank today and it looks like the biggest in the tank is only about 5 inches, not 7.  ))


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## Celeste (May 13, 2005)

two 50 gallons should be fine. though if you have to sepparate one out because they're too big, i'd just get 4 and have two in each tank, as they enjoy company. it will also taken them several years to get to their adult size, probably 10-15 years, so you've got some time. they grow fastest when they're small and then slow down as they get older.


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## circle_squared (Jun 2, 2005)

that's good to know. my guy is just itching for a reason to build a pond, and when i told him how big these fish were going to get and that they'd need a large aquarium or a pond, he jumped at the chance to say "i'll start digging that pond." silly silly.. 

are these fish prone to get agressive toward each other? my two smallest ones (the orange and white and the orange with long fins) have begun chasing the biggest dark bronze one around the aquarium for no apparent reason and have tried to suck at his scales.. i've never seen any kind of goldfish behave like this before. should i seperate them and try another fish with them? they don't nip at each other, just at the big one.


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## Celeste (May 13, 2005)

they could be practicing mating behavior. possibly the larger one is a female and the other two are males. unless they start hurting the larger one, i wouldn't worry about it. ours chase each other around and whatnot, but they never actually harm each other. goldfish will set up a pecking order, just like all animals, and that might be what they're doing as well. unless you see that the big one isn't getting to the food or is injured, i wouldn't worry about it.


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## Lexus (Jan 19, 2005)

so is this 5 inch fish in the 10 gallon then?


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## ijedic (Jan 18, 2005)

Celeste said:


> that's not true.
> 
> goldfish only reach about 12" MAX. KOI, which are distantly related to gold fish can get up to 3 feet, though it's still rare. it's more common for koi to be 18-24" at their adult size. i have a comet goldfish. comets are not your plain old feeder goldfish. they are a fancy type. they have the normal long body, but they also have long, flowy fins. and they get to be about 12" long. my comet is growing about half as fast as my koi.
> 
> ...


 Yeah, 12" would be right tank raised. Have you ever seen a carp? Those started out as plaine ole goldfish. The largest reported comet was 22". Google it. Have fun, Shannon


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## circle_squared (Jun 2, 2005)

yes, lexus, the 5 inch is in the 10 gallon aquarium along with his/her two buddies.  thank you for the insight celeste. i thought it might be one of those two (mating or pecking order) but i am not very familiar with keeping goldfish. the last i really had for a long time were about eleven years ago. i have seen carp, ijedic. i very well remember going fishing when i was little, catching carp, saying they looked like goldfish and wanting to take them home. big, black goldfish is what they looked like to me.. beautiful.. 

thank you all very much for your help.  it is quite appriciated.


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## Celeste (May 13, 2005)

Carp usually get to be 3-4 feet long. however, domestic raised goldfish and koi usually only end up half that size. koi reaching 18-24" and goldfish reaching 8-12 and on occasion 14-15. the 22" comet was probably including their long, flowy tail (my comet has a body that's about 5" and a tail that's at least 3 more) i'm not saying it's impossible for them to get that big, i'm just saying it's VERY unlikely, and even if they do get that big, it won't be for several years. as i said, my two goldfish are growing half as fast as my koi.


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