Is it okay to put a goldfish in with my other fish?

Question

My 2 year old nephew won a goldfish at a fair and I have the only fish tank to put it in. I have 2 mollies and 4 platyes, and others. But can it survive with their food? I give my fish the Tropical flakes for freshwater.

The other fish aren't agressive to him at all, they don't really care.

Answer 1

Goldfish excrete too much ammonia for the other fish to handle. They also require cooler temps because they need a higher amount of disolved oxygen in the water. (cooler water holds more dissolved oxygen then warmer water) The kind of fish they have at those horrible cruel games at the fair are comets/common goldfish wich require 20 gallons PER baby-juvenile fish, an adult will require a pond because it grows to 12-14 inches long. They CANNOT go in a bowl like some twit mentioned already. And keeping it isolated for a day will do nothing, quarantining takes atleast 6 weeks to see if the fish has some disease. It would be in the best interest of the fish to find it another home that has atleast other goldfish in a large tank or a pond or buy another tank/build a pond yourself. Boycott those stupid fair games.

As for your other question, tropical fish flakes has more protein in it then goldfish flakes. All fish need a variety, it is common practice for people to give their goldfish (besides goldfish flakes and pellets) romaine lettuce, frozen or fresh green peas (shelled and cut up), duckweed, algae wafers and spirulina flakes, freeze dried bloodworms, frozen bloodworms, broccoli, zuccini, cucumber, orange slice, banana slice, other aquatic plants (or rather people dont realize that goldfish will rip apart aquatic plants and buy them for the tank by mistake only to learn the hardway).

Answer 2

No. The goldfish is a cold water fish by putting him in a tropical environment you will weaken his immunities. Basically you are asking for an out-break of ick, fungus or bacterial infections. Once your goldie gets it then it will easily spread.

Goldfish also produce a lot of ammonia. Your other fish will not be able to handle it. Their eyes and gills will burn and it will eventually kill them.

Goldfish need at least 10 gallons per fish, Comets are given even more room then that. Overcrowding will be one more thing to stress out your fish.

If you have mollies and platys then you should be adding salt to your water- Goldfish can handle some salt but not the amount that you should be adding.

Goldfish eat considerably more vegetation then other fish. On a tropical fish food diet they will become constipated and this may lead to swim bladder problems. (There are not any fish that will eat fish droppings as someone suggested.)

People who say you can keep them together probably had a goldfish survive these conditions for a couple years. They consider that proof of their success. Goldfish should live up to 40 years- I hope this changes your perspective.

Answer 3

I'm no expert on mollies and platyes, but if they aren't considered "freshwater" or "cold-blooded", I would not put your goldfish in there. The temperature requirements are different. I don't know about the food. You should probably check with the fish store to be sure.

Answer 4

It would be better if you could isolate it in a separate bowl for a day or two. Diseases can be passed on to your other fish by just dumping the goldfish in. After a couple of days, if the fish still looks healthy then go for it. Before that though, I'd be cautious.

Answer 5

It may not be able to. Also, some fish are carnivorous, and the goldfish might eat or be eaten by your other fish. Goldfish are one of the few types of fish that don't require a tank with filter and aerator, though, so something as simple as a glass fish bowl may be able to house him.

Answer 6

goldfish are the dirtiest kind of tank fish, so expect the tank to get dirtier than usual. to answer your question about food, just put the tropical food in the tank and see if the golfish eats it. if it does, then great. you also might want to get some freeze-dried bloodworms, which are nutritious for goldfish and tropical fish.

Answer 7

you cannot put tropical fish in with cold water, they would die, also if you have got millies you have salt in your water and that would kill your gold fish with in hours, i have tropical fish in a 4ft 6 tank and i have gold fish in a small 2ft separate tank for my kids.

you can pick up cheap fish tanks if you hunt around.

the food is ok but the enviroment would be wrong, just dont put them in with the other fish, you must keep gold water separate from tropical, like marine etc, they should all be separate.

hope this helps

Answer 8

As far as food, goldfish will eat anything including fish droppings, dead fish so you don't have to worry about it starving. But they are also very dirty fish, they will make your take dirty very very quickly so I would try and get it out of there as soon as you get something else to put it in.

Answer 9

if the fish really vary in size they will probably eat each other so the safest thing to do would be get a glass bowl some rocks and put him in there. Overall price would probly be around $10.00

Answer 10

I would be afraid of introducing the new fish into your existing tank because of the possibility of disease or stress for the other fish.