Cold Water Tank Plan

all goldfish will get too big. You know the inch per gallon rule? well, even if you take that inot account (and goldies are much much messier than other fish), fancy goldies grow to about 8" - 10" each, and they need all that room.

I would not recommend goldies for your setup, not only because they grow very fast. You would need a lot more filtration than an underground filter to keep a tank with three goldies clean!

The stocking rule for goldfish is:
10 gallons per fish for baby goldfish (yep, even the 1 inch fish)
15 gallons per adult fish for fancy deep-bodied types
20 - 25 gallons per fish for the slim, fast-swimming types.

goldfish also grow very fast. they will be munching up your whitedlowds in no time. They should really not be kept with anything other than goldfish.

The reason most fancy goldies are not suitable to live in ponds is because they are slow-swimmers and are more likely to get eaten up by a heron or some other predator. Also, they are not as hardy as most "pond" goldfish and may be more sensitive to temperature swings and such in a pond.

As for your tank... you could put... 3 goldies into your fishtank if you are going to upgrade them later (no other fish)

OR

just 2 fancy goldies and they can live in the tank all their life (10 to 20 years when well looked after)

OR

2 goldies, 9 white clowds and the shrimp (goldies will need to be upgraded as they grow and munch on the minnows in a couple of months)

OR

you oculd have a much easyer cold water setup with NO GOLDFISH. You could get something else cold water. There are other fish you could put in an unheated tank. the rosy barbs and the golden barbs are pretty and colourful fish, and do fine in temperatures of around 18*C (I'm sure your house probably doesn't get much colder than that).
http://www.thetropicaltank.co.uk/Fishindx/rosybarb.htm
http://www.thetropicaltank.co.uk/Fishindx/goldbarb.htm

you could also get cold water guppies or danios.
 
I guess I'll go with two fancy goldfish and have the white clouds I currently have cycling the tank move and take the place of planned neons in my other tank. It'll work out that way. wow, gold fish need a lot of real estate!

I'm buying a pond tonight for the deck so I can get some variety that way. My wife wants some fish of her own to take care of. Fat bad swimmers inside. Fast good swimmers out.

Its a shame there are no good tank-mates for goldies!
 
In a tank that size and with cool water, since you are getting rid of the other fish, a weather loach might be a good choice. They get a bit long but are thin bodied and do well in cooler water.

I must say though that just because these fish like cooler water (goldies and loaches) doesn't mean they like fluctuations. So keep the temp as stable as possible.

And feed good quality food to the goldies as they have horrid digestive systems and there is a lot of cheap food out there.
 
About 2 years ago I bought 2 feeder goldfish at WalMart for $0.10 each cause their coloring was so cool. One of them died about 2 days later and I had the other one for about 2 years before I had to "put him to sleep" I had him in a 29 gallon tank for that whole time. By the time he died he was 8 inches long and I felt horrible about leaving him in that small of a tank. So, I got a 72 gallon and introduced some of my neighbors pond fish into my tank and therefore he got some strange disease that nothing would cure. i have 2 points
#1 Don't get Goldfish for that tank... YOU will end up feeling bad cause the tank will be to small for them
#2 Keeping fish outdoors that arent out there all the time can get harmed by the elements, and get diseases that they normally wouldn't get indoors
Also, you should really listen to these people. They know what they are talking about. Goldfish eat EVERYTHING period, weather it be small fish like Whiteclouds or your plants. So, you decide... spend your hard earned money on Goldies and WhiteClouds and hope that no one gets eaten or dies, or choose not to get one of these types of fish, and hopefully you choose not to get the Goldfish. Good luck :)
 
Originally posted by DizzyDezzy
You know the inch per gallon rule? well, even if you take that into account (and goldies are much much messier than other fish), fancy goldies grow to about 8" - 10" each, and they need all that room.

The stocking rule for goldfish is:
10 gallons per fish for baby goldfish (yep, even the 1 inch fish)
15 gallons per adult fish for fancy deep-bodied types
20 - 25 gallons per fish for the slim, fast-swimming types.
Click to expand...

That outdated inadequate "rule" was more than likely started by beginner fish keepers, and even if it was created by "experts", this was a rule used many years ago... and was even controversial then. Now a days, experts do not recommend one inch per gallon and on most (trusted) websites, you will find that each fish has a different requirement based on: their size, native environment, and waste produced. (there could be other variables too)

Anyway, goldfish need much more than 10 gallons per fish or whatever you said because of the simple fact that a full-grown goldfish would hardly be able to turn around in a 10 gallon. As we all know, a stationary fish is usually not a healthy one (which is what would happen with Goldfish in such a small environment).

As for the recommended 20-25 gallons per fish for slim bodied Goldfish, these fish are called "commons" or comets and can reach 12-16 inches easily. Many who have these fish will report needing 40-50 gallons PER fish as a minimum.
 
My mom has a few gold fish in her pond. I have some white clouds. I've read that white clouds reproduce very well in ponds. I've wanted to try and throw them in with the goldies but I'm pretty sure they'll try to eat them. I've seen them chase after guppies and rosies so I"m pretty sure they'll go after white clouds. White clouds would make for a pretty expensive feeder fish. Well at least the ones I have. I bought them for about 1.30 a peice. For that price I could get 10-13 feeder guppies.
 
Peek-
A cool water tank is a great idea. There are many fish that are sold today that are cool water, that are not goldfish. You could try a few other fish besides the gold fish that would make this a very interesting tank. One fish that would do well with these guys would be Jordanella floridae (america flag fish). These guys come from florida and prefer cooler waters than other tropical fish. The males are a very pretty with bright red specks.
clip_image002.jpg


This picture is a poor pic of them but still you can see the red specks on the males, the like a nice planted tank.

You could go with a pair of these guys and your school of white clouds, The males become bullies in mating season but still fun fish to have. Their behavior has been described to being similar to that of sunfish.
I currently have a breeding pair with a young male from their first batch of fry.
Other cool water fish can be:
Heterandria Formosa (least killiefish) live bearer
Lucania goodie (bluefin Killie)
Fundulus chrysotus (golden topminnow)
Gambusia Affinis holbrooki (Mosquito Fish) live bearer


Lucania goodie (bluefin Killie) From what I have been told, has behaviour very similar to the White cloud. they are a pretty fish found in florida. some shops can get them, you will have to ask.


But I like your idea for water gardens. To learn more check out these sites. But if you temp is warm enough to have one running year round with out a major freeze then I would definatly keep one going. I personally have one going with Gambusia, ghost shrimp and mystery snails.

http://www.well.com/user/gjmurphy/pondindex.htm
http://www.mygreathome.com/outdoors/water_garden.htm
http://www.lilyblooms.com/product.php?bigcat=2&cat=29

hope this helps.

jim
 
Many thanks for all the great replies.

The white clouds I bought where 10 for $2 or something crazy cheap like that. They were tiny though. I quite enjoy them.

I do want some indoor goldfish so I will put two (or three if I can't resist) in my 35 gallon tank in a couple more weeks and move the white clouds to my first tank which is at 75 degrees. That should work out, and I am trying to learn that less is better. :) Visiting the stores get me so jacked up though--having a plan is the only way!

Today we are driving out to the farmer's co-op to buy a 100 gallon water trough to start out our water garden. We have a 260 sq ft balcony in our condo so hopefully we can make something really nice over time. The sound of water alone will be soothing. I've always loved koi as well as goldfish. Thanks for the links, jim, I'm about to spend some time looking them over.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
AquariaCentral.com
Top Bottom