Goldfish questions!

so in the future I want to buy a 20-40 gallon tank with stand. I LOVE goldfish but have never had one since they need bigger tanks but now that I can consider getting something bigger can they live in a 20 gallon? my two favourites are black moors and orandas, (would you recommend one more then the other?)

also what should I look for in a heathy goldfish? and I heard they don't do good with live plants? is this true? and what are some good brands of food?

oh and what substrate is best?

sorry for all the questions lol. and if you have any pictures I would love to see your tank!


thanks for reading!

 

Imo 20g is still way too small. A 29g I would say would be the bare minimum for a single smaller species, but really a 40 or 55 would be ideal for a pair.
Activity, no missing scales or other obvious injuries would be thing to look out for. Goldfish do great with plants, plants do very poorly with goldfish. Lots of good brands of food. A fairly good rule of thumb is the more expensive the food, the better the quality. Even something as basic as bull pond pellets with some blanched veggies on occsion amd the occasional worm or cricket would be a safe and healthy diet. Variety is the best route. As far as substrate, I would encourage small gravel over sand as it is easier to clean and Goldfish are very messy fish.

 

Imo 20g is still way too small. A 29g I would say would be the bare minimum for a single smaller species, but really a 40 or 55 would be ideal for a pair.
Activity, no missing scales or other obvious injuries would be thing to look out for. Goldfish do great with plants, plants do very poorly with goldfish. Lots of good brands of food. A fairly good rule of thumb is the more expensive the food, the better the quality. Even something as basic as bull pond pellets with some blanched veggies on occsion amd the occasional worm or cricket would be a safe and healthy diet. Variety is the best route. As far as substrate, I would encourage small gravel over sand as it is easier to clean and Goldfish are very messy fish.

thanks a lot for your reply! so I could have a pair of them in a 40 gallon?

 

thanks a lot for your reply! so I could have a pair of them in a 40 gallon?

You could. At least a 40 breeder. Just understand that even moors are an Oscar sized fish and I've even pulled some out of local playa lakes around me that are 3lbs.(ignorant people releasing pets) so you will be stunting it's growth a little. Orandas would need something closer to a 75g just because they get longer and will need room to turn around and such and their head growths are easily damaged.

 

You could. At least a 40 breeder. Just understand that even moors are an Oscar sized fish and I've even pulled some out of local playa lakes around me that are 3lbs.(ignorant people releasing pets) so you will be stunting it's growth a little. Orandas would need something closer to a 75g just because they get longer and will need room to turn around and such and their head growths are easily damaged.

okay would it be better to have only one in a 40 then? I really don't want to stunt their growth or anything! and are their smaller species baby that would be better in a 40-20?

 

Well, it probably would be better, but I don't want to burst your bubble there. Moors are one of the smallest species of goldfish(carp) I'm aware of so probably not. But hopefully someone else knows of a type that would be more ideal. I know for sure comets and koi get way to big.

 

20g per goldfish to keep the nitrates < 20ppm per week. when you first buy them they're small so 2 in a 40g seems like you can have more goldfish in there, but after about a year, they'll grown into it.

ranchu is the smaller variety, but i've seen some that are the size of an adult's fist. most goldfish get to the size of a tennis ball. Oranda's can get to the size of a softball/large grapefruit. Black moors will be fine in a 40g.

they like sand, you can use course sand or black diamond blasting sand (needs to be rinsed very well).

goldfish tend to eat or dig up plants. you can trial and error what plants can survive your goldfish.

i've tried a few different foods, but i always go back to Omega One small sinking pellets. I use both the Goldfish pellets and the Veggie Kelp pellets.

 

20g per goldfish to keep the nitrates < 20ppm per week. when you first buy them they're small so 2 in a 40g seems like you can have more goldfish in there, but after about a year, they'll grown into it.

ranchu is the smaller variety, but i've seen some that are the size of an adult's fist. most goldfish get to the size of a tennis ball. Oranda's can get to the size of a softball/large grapefruit. Black moors will be fine in a 40g.

they like sand, you can use course sand or black diamond blasting sand (needs to be rinsed very well).

goldfish tend to eat or dig up plants. you can trial and error what plants can survive your goldfish.

i've tried a few different foods, but i always go back to Omega One small sinking pellets. I use both the Goldfish pellets and the Veggie Kelp pellets.

thank you that was extremely helpful! so it wouldn't stunt two ranchu to be in a 40?

 

thank you that was extremely helpful! so it wouldn't stunt two ranchu to be in a 40?

no they'll be alright.