Sym

Hi! I was just wondering what the best temperature was for goldfish?? Can they be kept ina tropical tank?

chickadee

Goldfish are room temperature fish. They are the one fish that I know of other than the Hillstream Loach that heat is BAD for. No they cannot go into a Tropical tank. It would kill them to be in heated water and it would also be a mess as goldfish are "poopers". They will put out a lot more waste than most Tropical fish and the tank would soon be very difficult to deal with.

They can be beautiful, but they are not mixable with Tropicals.

Welcome to Fishlore. This is a great group. The experience here has been a great one for me and I hope you enjoy being with us as much as I have and continue to enjoy being with this fine bunch of people.

Rose

Butterfly

Yes goldfish do much better in an unheated tank.
Carol

dragonflygirl

They are okay with cory catfish too.

fish_r_friend

corys are tropical fish not cold water fish!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

chickadee

It would probably not be wise to put catfish in with goldfish as goldfish like their water much cooler than the catfish (of any variety) do. The cool water diseases such as Finrot & Ich would not be far behind. Also the water quality of a Goldfish tank is not going to be good enough for a Tropical fish of any kind. Goldfish are acclimated to the water they live in due to the large amount of waste they put out. (like I said they are "poopers") Tropicals are used to much different water parameters and you will eventually have some very sick or dying fish.

Rose

newbie101

if you have a large enough tank (at LEAST 10 gallons for each goldfish, preferably 20 for the first one and 10 for each next one) you could have a Hillstream Loach. They like colder water, like goldfish, and if the tank is big enough can be kept with them. Just remember goldfish are MESSY so be prepared to do maintenance at least once a week, if not more often(the more the better). Otherwise the Hillstream will be grossed out

newbie101

Here is one, I just love how they look

vin

65-75 degree range would be suitable.

jim55379

But Butterfly, what if the temperature gets too cold or fluctuates too much?. Could they get sick? I have always used a heater with my goldfish. It's turned WAY down. I keep it at about 19-20 celsius. Am I harming them? They seem fine?

Jon

that temp is fine.. but that is also probably the temperature of your house i am guessing so the heater is not necessary

0morrokh

I go by Fahrenheit, but 20 C is room temp, right? If it is, then you might be doing them a favor by keeping the temp from fluctuating. I don't think they're as sensitive to that as tropicals are though. And the temp with Goldies can't get too cold. The hardier species of Goldfish and Koi can be left outside in ponds through the winter, even if the pond freezes over.

Hey Emma, that looks the same shape as the Hillstreams at my lfs, but the ones there are all plain brown--like the color of the spots on the one in your pic. Are there different types of Hillstream, or a color change as they age? Just curious.

newbie101

I think they just have different colors from fish to fish, I've seen some pics of brown ones too.

0morrokh

Yeah, that's what I figured. The spotted one looks pretty cool!

beetlebug454

For a gold tank it is a good idea to have a heater not to keep the temp high but to keep it constant. I have a 55 gallon gold tank that I keep at an even 72f. That way I will never get more than a half degree temp fluctuation. Just because gold fish can sustain life at a wide range of temp and water parameters doesn’t mean that is there comfort zone.

Stradius011

They actually like cold water than heated water. They like it in the 60's in farenhight(how do you spell this?) and it is better to keep them in coldwater once every year to lose some fat.