Inverts with comet goldfish?

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Dec 7, 2008
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I am asking this on behalfof my friend, who has a coldwater tank with danios and minnows, and also two 6" comets. Are there any shrimp at all that wouldnt be eaten by them? And are all snails able to live in coldwater?
Thanks for any help guys :)
 
Hi,

What strains are his goldfish? What size is his tank? Most strains can be a little more feisty than another but it also comes down to personality. There isn't a shrimp that will happily live with goldfish except if there is enough hiding places for it to seek refuge, should the goldfish attempt to peck it. Bamboo shrimps may be your best bet.

As for snails, there are plenty of snails that will work quite well. Nerite snails, trapdoors, trumpets and apples can but please make sure first your goldfish will not attempt to peck them. Flaringshutter keeps her shubunkins, comets, hybrid koi/goldfish named Sygnus and other strains with her Pomacea haustrum, Melanoides tuberculata, Pomacea canaliculata and a few other apple snail species. Mine are with a lone cana I am testing at the moment which they ignored completely. Ramshorns, bladder snails, pond snails and trumpets stand a better chance if they sustain their population properly in case your goldfish have a taste for snails.
 
I am asking this on behalfof my friend, who has a coldwater tank with danios and minnows, and also two 6" comets. Are there any shrimp at all that wouldnt be eaten by them? And are all snails able to live in coldwater?
Thanks for any help guys :)

I wouldn't recommend this mix of fish at all. Once the comets reach 10-12 inches in size (within approx. 6-8 months), they'll eat the danios and minnows...... same thing with any shrimp your friend puts into this tank. Even with hiding places, shrimp are scavengers who need to roam around the tank in order to find food. If they're forced to stay hidden all the time, they might starve or fail to thrive. Snails shouldn't be a problem at all with comets. I had a ryukin once that needed to be separated because it hunted and nipped off the antenna of apple snails. I've avoided combining those together ever since. Ryukins have very pointy faces with small mouths and tend to nip more readily, but comets would be safe with snails.
 
Ghost Shrimp are an occasional snack for my goldfish. I'll put 20-30 in at a time and even the ones that are good at hiding are gone in a couple of months. As for minnows - goldfish will eat them. I dispose of my extra guppies into my goldfish tank. The faster ones will last a couple of weeks.

Snails generally work out well with goldfish. The fish can push them around and damage their shells however. I have Malaysian Trumpet snails in my tank. The goldfish will pick them up and spit them up just like gravel. They do eat most of the baby snails though.
 
I don't see that we've been told what species of danio or species of minnow are in the tank, so let's not jump to conclusions about those...
 
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