tank size and goldfish

Larissa

Larissa

Katherine Hope
Jun 9, 2005
381
0
0
46
brenham, tx
well according to everyone on this site all goldfish need ungodly-sized tanks. everyone's gonna have a heart attack when I say this but I kept 3 goldfish in a 10g tank for four years and they seemed okay to me. I know better now and I realize that I was obviously overstocked but my water quality was always good. the fish never grew of course, but I had always heard that goldfish grew to the size of their tanks and that is certainly what mine did. So anyway, after reading what people on this site are always saying about tank size and goldfish, I looked up a bunch of goldfish websites. One said 30g per fish and the rest of them said 10g per fish. I'm not saying that you're right or that they are, was just curious as to if anyone wanted to comment. What are your thoughts?
 
I would say 30 gallons to start and then 10 each additional goldie.

I'm assuming since you've read a lot on the subject, you'd understand that your fish may remain a certain size on the outside but the inside may be a different story as far as stunting is concerned. How big are your fish exactly?
 
I don't have them anymore. I lost them to a freak accident. Yes, I've heard the stunted growth thing and it's probably true but I've never heard it anywhere but on this website. I'm actually not disagreeing with anyone, just asking some honest questions. Most lfs' that I've been to sell goldfish bowls, etc. How is it that they are all idiots and y'all are not? Like I said, I actually agree that goldfish probably need more space, I'm just saying, most people don't understand the tank size thing because so many other people tell them a 10g with goldfish is okay. And mine sure seemed fine to me. I have a 55g now and my tropicals seem pretty happy so I can't say that my goldfish seemed terribly miserable.
 
Well, people who are deep into the hobby, and who aren't out to make money, generally learned overtime the tank size and maintenance, etc. has a big affect on the health of their own stock. This stuff has taken people many years to learn from experiences, and thus the hobby developes further for the better of the fish we keep.

If someone is trying to run a store, which they make their living off of, they aren't always going to stress on the correct ways to keep their living merchandice(sp?). Some places do, though, they are hard to come by. The best advice will come from people inside the hobby. There isn't really a much better source of info than that.
 
thanks for your input. whenever I try to tell people that they need a bigger tank for their fish, whether a goldfish or an oscar, they look at me like I've grown another head or something. that's kinda where I was going with this thing. people that are seriously into the hobby tend to get frustrated with people who aren't researching their fish on the net, but if their pet store said that a bala shark will do fine in a 29g then they're not going to listen to you unless maybe you work in a pet store, too.
 
Unfortunately, (and this is not directed at you, just the thread topic in general), most people think that because a fish is alive for a few years that they were healthy/happy. A list of fish ages was posted a while back, but even your average small tetra should live 5-10 years with proper care.
 
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