More Questions....Pls Be Gentle

[Lupin]

Right now, my two favorites are the Bristol Shubunkin and the Double Tail Common Fantail.

I also like the Ryukin, Tosakin, Wakin, and Jikins. But those four may not do well with the Shu and Common??

I'm not much on the bubbleyed, telescope, or orandas.

Tosakins are apparently a challenge to keep. Because of their fused caudal fins, they are very poor swimmers and are not recommended to be kept with rather feisty variants except possibly with the bubble eyes and celestials but they need not be kept in very deep tanks. Shallow round bowls have been recommended by some enthusiasts as their caudal fins apparently are easily curled from the depth. I am sure Flaringshutter can weigh more on this issue as she has two tosakins.

Wakins, jikins and ryukins will do just fine. These can cope well and swim very much like the shubs and common fantails. The oranda can do well as well but not the bubble eyes and telescopes, therefore you may need to avoid these two.

I'm keeping a common pleco in my goldfish tank. I've decided I'm willing to accept the risk (with the understanding that I may regret it). It just seems to me that 99 of 100 discussions about plecos attacking goldies are based on "common knowledge", small grainy pictures, or a friend of a friend who had it happen. It stands to reason that its possible, but I'll take the odds. Rest assured, I'll report if an attack happens and produce some decent pictures for a thread sticky.

This has always been my impression. I never had issues with my own BN pleco and whiptail pleco. Remember that there are always exceptions to the rules. It is easy to say in a flash that all particular fish in general would immediately become dangerous to the goldies. No, that's not always the case. The key to preventing it is by giving your fish plenty of space, foods and be sure that they respect their own territories.

 

[dhanks]

Ans2Corrieberry + ADF ?

Why?? Why do you only want goldies if you can't have other fish with them? You get more than enough varieties to make up for that!

I just don't like trouble in my tank. I like peaceful fish that get along, but I also love to have a variety of snails, pleco, frogs, loaches, etc. I gave all those up for the cichlids. My assumption was that goldfish were peaceful enough that I could re-stock with some of my other little friends.

Also, I noticed in another thread that you mentioned having ADF's in with your goldfish. You were talking about the goldfish getting certain treats because the cubes were too big, or something like that? So, your goldfish don't eat your drawf frogs?

 

[kyryah]

Kristina, is there a story to go along with that pic? I know a picture is worth a thousand words but I find it hard to believe that a well fed plec would straight up much on a goldfish.

The only info I can provide is there in the link I posted, and personal experience. I have had this happen, but this was years ago before I had a digital camera and don't have pics to back it up. And yes, my pleco was well fed.

Kristina

 

[kyryah]

This has always been my impression. I never had issues with my own BN pleco and whiptail pleco. Remember that there are always exceptions to the rules. It is easy to say in a flash that all particular fish in general would immediately become dangerous to the goldies. No, that's not always the case. The key to preventing it is by giving your fish plenty of space, foods and be sure that they respect their own territories.

Sorry about hijacking here, but I have also heard horror stories of goldfish attempting to eat cories and getting them stuck and having to have them surgically removed - I recently aquired two farlowella (common name whiptail cat, is this the same fish?) I would be afraid the small size of the farlows in comparison, for instance, with Mei, would pose a potential hazard to both the farlow and the goldfish if the goldfish decided to try and taste the farlow. Thoughts?

Kristina

 

[corrieberry]

I never had ADFs in with goldfish. What I do is feed half a cube to the ADFs, and half to the goldfish in a seperate tank because otherwise the bloodworms would rot in the ADF tank as they wouldn't eat all of it.

I have snails of various types, and two different types of goldies in my 'main tank' - mine sway towards orange/white/black colouring and are two orandas and a fantail, so fairly similar, but you can get so much variety that people will never believe they are the same type of fish. Also, their personalities are all so different - they aren't like schools of small fish where you can't tell one apart from the other etc. They live out their lives in soap opera fashion, and you get as much or as little from them as you want. For example, one of my males is forever getting himself into accidents/illnesses/doing silly things like swimming straight past food and trying to eat the snails. The other male likes to follow the female around, and when he isn't doing that he is sneaking around the tank hiding from sight behind all the plants, probably eating things he isn't supposed to be, hanging out by the filter intake to give me a permanent nervous tic etc. The female seems completely unfazed by the other two and just gets on with her life, though I think she's full of eggs at the mo so there might be lots of drama soon. You may think I'm just personifying them, but they are just animals, same as us, and their behaviour lends itself to the likenings. It's why I love my pets - I see them as little people, not random animals. Anyway, that's just my opinion I think it would be a real pity to just give up on it because you don't think you'll get enough variety in the tank.

I think you'll find it hard to find any combination of aquatic animals that will allow what you want, without any fighting at all, though I don't know enough about tropical fish to back up that statement. I'm sure others will be along shortly to dispute/agree with it.

 

[dhanks]

Apologies for the misunderstanding. Not giving up yet. Just want to make sure I make the right decision. I gave up my community tank for the vibrant colors of the cichlids. But the cichlids are so agressive, I don't enjoy the calmness of the tank....one of the main reasons for having one.

 

[corrieberry]

Goldfish are the most docile fish you get...they only appear aggressive sometimes because they try to eat anything they can fit in their mouths. They are very very hungry fish.

 

[dhanks]

That is what I've always heard. In looking at Kris' 2min video, I really love the look of the goldfish. Maybe I should upgrade to another tank for the other little critters that I love to watch. My office has enough room for one more tank.

 

[Lupin]

Sorry about hijacking here, but I have also heard horror stories of goldfish attempting to eat cories and getting them stuck and having to have them surgically removed - I recently aquired two farlowella (common name whiptail cat, is this the same fish?) I would be afraid the small size of the farlows in comparison, for instance, with Mei, would pose a potential hazard to both the farlow and the goldfish if the goldfish decided to try and taste the farlow. Thoughts?

Kristina

Sorry about delay of response as I wasn't online much yesterday.

Kris, my goldies are 4-7 inches in size and my whiptail catfish is 4-5 inches in length. I have not tried this yet on a 10-inch goldfish so I cannot really say if such accident would happen. If you err on the side of caution, female bristlenose plecos are your best bets. Why I always recommend females is the fact males in my experience seem territorial and females are more laidback to me.

 

[RodInCALIFORNIA]

Thats a Shocking attitude

I'm keeping a common pleco in my goldfish tank. I've decided I'm willing to accept the risk (with the understanding that I may regret it). It just seems to me that 99 of 100 discussions about plecos attacking goldies are based on "common knowledge", small grainy pictures, or a friend of a friend who had it happen. It stands to reason that its possible, but I'll take the odds. Rest assured, I'll report if an attack happens and produce some decent pictures for a thread sticky.

Why should your goldfish have to suffer the possible damage and pain from your reckless choice to accept the risk? That is nothing less than animal abuse to allow your fish to be in the position of suffering from a reckless choice YOU made. I have 3 rescues and these attacks from pleco's are not uncommon or just hear say stories.