New Goldfish Tank Advice, Please

[Roan Art]

Posting this in Coldwater General as well
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I'm going to be upgrading all the tanks in the house at the end of November. The fish in my 36g bow will be going into a 90g, the fish in my son's 20g will be going into my 36g bow and his 20g will be going to his sister.

Now, I'm replacing my son's 20g tank with a 30-40g one. He's decided that he would like a fancy goldfish in his tank. Okay, so now to the questions:

1) What is the actual difference between a Fancy Tail and a Ryukin?

2) I've read that the temperature should be 35 to 75 degrees. Our house is usually on the cool side at 72-74 year round. This is sufficient, I hope?

3) Possible to put both a Fancy Tail and a Ryukin in a 30 gallon tank? Not sure how big they would be, but the Fancy Tails we were looking at were about 2½-3"

4) If yes to #3, do they have to be the same size?

5) Possible to have tropicals that have a temperature range within the limits of the goldfish in with them? I was thinking of transferring his candy stripe pleco (72-77 degrees) and adding a small school of Corydoras (72-77 degrees) to help with the maintenance. Whiteclouds?

6) Any other compatible fish suggestions?

Thanks for your time!
Roan

 

[ChileRelleno]

Posting this in Coldwater General as well
-----------------------------------------
I'm going to be upgrading all the tanks in the house at the end of November. The fish in my 36g bow will be going into a 90g, the fish in my son's 20g will be going into my 36g bow and his 20g will be going to his sister.

Now, I'm replacing my son's 20g tank with a 30-40g one. He's decided that he would like a fancy goldfish in his tank. Okay, so now to the questions:

1) What is the actual difference between a Fancy Tail and a Ryukin?
The difference,

The ryukin in some respects is intermediate between the fantail and the veiltail: it has a deep body and usually a medium to fairly long tail, but the tail is held high and its lobes are narrow; the other fins are similar to the fantail's. In two respects it is different from either: the head is pointed and there is an indentation in the anterior dorsal contour where the head joins the rest of the body, giving a dorsal hump. The ryukin was developed in China and imported and further developed in Japan.
There is a long-tailed version of this fish known as fringetail/ribbontail ryukin..

2) I've read that the temperature should be 35 to 75 degrees. Our house is usually on the cool side at 72-74 year round. This is sufficient, I hope?
Very sufficient, no heater needed. Goldies are very adaptable as long as the temp is stable your OK.

3) Possible to put both a Fancy Tail and a Ryukin in a 30 gallon tank? Not sure how big they would be, but the Fancy Tails we were looking at were about 2½-3"Goldies average 8-12" but can get much larger over they're 10+yr lifespan, 15-20yrs is not unheard of. Anyways, I digress...
I would say you'd be OK with two as long as filtration is atleast 10x turnover and you pay attention to NO3.

4) If yes to #3, do they have to be the same size?
No, but similar size recommende to avoid bullying.

5) Possible to have tropicals that have a temperature range within the limits of the goldfish in with them? I was thinking of transferring his candy stripe pleco (72-77 degrees) and adding a small school of Corydoras (72-77 degrees) to help with the maintenance. Whiteclouds?
Any fish small enough to fit in a Goldies mouth may very well end up there! You could do any of the other fish but I wouldn't recommend it, the Goldies will max out the bio-mass capabiltity of that tank very quickly.

6) Any other compatible fish suggestions?

Thanks for your time!
Roan

HTH

 

[Roan Art]

The ryukin in some respects is intermediate between the fantail and the veiltail: it has a deep body and usually a medium to fairly long tail, but the tail is held high and its lobes are narrow; the other fins are similar to the fantail's. In two respects it is different from either: the head is pointed and there is an indentation in the anterior dorsal contour where the head joins the rest of the body, giving a dorsal hump. The ryukin was developed in China and imported and further developed in Japan.
There is a long-tailed version of this fish known as fringetail/ribbontail ryukin..

Blargh, sounds like you really have to see a few before you begin to learn to tell the difference. Dorsal hump. Hrm. OH! Yes, okay. I'm visualizing the tanks at this LFS and I can see what you mean. They have 3 or 4 LARGE (dinner plate sized) goldfish in 90ish gallon tank (could be bigger, I'm sure it was at least 5 feet long) in the main part of the store. There's no substrate and that tank is CLEAN.

One of them is a red cap oranda and one is a lionhead, those are easy to pick out. One is black or blackish and the last one is a calico something

Actually, they specialize in pond and goldfish, and since those fish are wonderfully kept, I'm going to trust them when my son and I pick out his fish.

Very sufficient, no heater needed. Goldies are very adaptable as long as the temp is stable your OK.

So, as with most fish, consistancy is the key? Assume that variances of 2 degrees +- is okay? My mother-in-law visits a couple of times a year and she hates how cold the house is. I usually up the temperature to 75-76 while she is here. Too warm for me, though. If you say that's too warm for a couple of days, that's okay. Gives me an excuse to annoy her *whistles innocently*

Goldies average 8-12" but can get much larger over they're 10+yr lifespan, 15-20yrs is not unheard of. Anyways, I digress...
I would say you'd be OK with two as long as filtration is atleast 10x turnover and you pay attention to NO3.

What would be a better size tank? 30 gallons per fish?

My usual regimen for all tanks is basic water testing (Ammonia, Nitrites, Nitrates, pH) and a close health inspection (I make notes on the state of gills, tails, fins, eyes, etc.,. and record it in my software) every Friday and a 50% waterchange every Tuesday -- unless Friday's testing and eyeballing tells me I should do it sooner.

Turnover of 10x on a 40 for 400gph. Emporer 400 should do the trick?

No, but similar size recommende to avoid bullying.

What I figured, but it didn't hurt to ask

Any fish small enough to fit in a Goldies mouth may very well end up there! You could do any of the other fish but I wouldn't recommend it, the Goldies will max out the bio-mass capabiltity of that tank very quickly.

Okay, goldies only then. Doubt they could eat a pleco - spine defense -- but I wouldn't want one to get injured trying.

Thanks!
Roan