Who disagrees with this?
- Thread starter Jessu
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GoldLenny
Senior Member? Do I get a 5% disc.?
That's a good starting point but even round-bodied goldfish need much more than the 20/10G for long term survival. A 6" - 8" full grown adult round-bodied goldfish is equal in body mass to hundreds of 1" goldfish. Would you put hundreds of any 1" fish in a 20G tank? Even the fish-killing 1" rule would only suggest 20" of fish. Here is a chart from http://www.geocities.com/Tokyo/4468/weight.html which shows that a 5" goldfish weighs around 13 oz compared to 0.1 oz for a 1" goldfish... 130 times more than the 1" goldfish. Since they should eat 1% of their body mass each day as adults, they are still putting out 130 times the poop waste as well as the ammonia from gill function and urine and the high CO2 levels. 20G simply is not enough water for long term success... but it's a good start and after a year or two, people will love their goldfish enough to hopefully buy a MUCH larger tank... preferably 30-50G per round-bodied goldfish.
I don't disagree with that.
As long as cycling is complete and maintenance is performed, it's fine! I post on a board that is just for goldfish enthusiasts, and that's the rule they go by.
I'm sure my dogs would enjoy a bigger yard, but they are just fine.
My kids would probably "thrive" even more with an extra few acres, and a vacation condo in Palm Springs.
Except that commons can and do get to be much larger than 12 inches. 12 inches for a common goldfish is stunted.
If I kept commons in 10 gallon tanks forever I would probably say they never get to be larger than 3 inches, but that is wrong.
For any goldfish I would say a min of a 4 foot long tank to start to have it truely healthy and long lived.
If I kept commons in 10 gallon tanks forever I would probably say they never get to be larger than 3 inches, but that is wrong.
For any goldfish I would say a min of a 4 foot long tank to start to have it truely healthy and long lived.
GoldLenny
Senior Member? Do I get a 5% disc.?
Unfortunately, there are many goldfish specialty forums that have BAD information about goldfish care on them. I've seen them and spent lots of time discussing and debating the issue with the authors. It all started years ago when they thought they were doing a good thing by saying 10G per goldfish (which was a huge increase from the goldfish bowl) and they don't want to now admit they were wrong all these years with the 10G recommendation. The simple fact as that chart shows is that goldfish get much too large for 20G per goldfish.
I still recommend the minimum sized tank to start with would be a 55G 4' long tank which would home 2-3 round-bodied goldfish for the first couple of years and then people would be willing to spend even more money on a larger tank once they see how big and beautiful their fish get. 55G tanks are a very popular size and can be purchased new for $1.00/gallon on sale or used much cheaper. I've seen them for FREE on Freecycle.org
I've been working on my own Goldfish care sheet on my blog which has links to many different website care sheets that have ranges from pitiful information to really good information just to give you an idea of what's out there on the net. Unfortunately, if someone finds one of those BAD care sheets, they are destined to have many health problems. http://goldlenny.blogspot.com/2007/03/goldfish-care-sheet-fancy-goldfish.html
I went to the geocities site. I'm mathamaticly retarded, but I think I got it.
You basically cant go by just their length you have to go by their roundness. Because they are round they produce loads more waste and that is why they need more then 20g per fish. And a full grown goldfish is like having 130 1 in goldfish.
You basically cant go by just their length you have to go by their roundness. Because they are round they produce loads more waste and that is why they need more then 20g per fish. And a full grown goldfish is like having 130 1 in goldfish.
"Bad information" is subjective. I know many people who have healthy fancy goldies going by the guidelines above. My two started out in a 20L, now I have them and a third in a 55. They get PWC about every other day, and the best of foods. They are healthy and show every sign of being happy.