Goldfish??

Question

ok, so some1 on the fish forum I belong to has a goldfish in a ten gallon, I believe with one other goldfish. She doesnt really have the money to buy a bigger tank, and the goldfish isnt doing that great. She does however have a large livebearer tank, and looking into getting a few more livebearers, I was thinking I could make an agreement with her she would send me the goldfish I would send her my first batch of swordtail fry.
I would get a 20 gallon, and cycle it with stuff from my swordtail tank
Im aware of how to clean the tank
So here come the questions:
How strong of filtration should I get?
could a few snails go in the tank?
Anything else?

oh I forgot to add, this fish is still pretty young and small, and will within a ear be moved to a 55 gallona nd I will add another goldfish when I ge tthe 55

I never siad anything about swordtails in a ten gallon. I said she has a large livebearer tank

And I said I would only keep one goldfish in the 20 gallon, please read the whole thing zoe

She does not want to give this fish to the local fish store, for she knows it probably wont get much better than it had at her house, some little girl will probably get it and keep it in a bowl

I really want this goldfish it is really beautiful

Answer 1

That seems a little unnecessary, and a lot of trouble for the fish. Can't you suggest to her to bring the goldfish back to her petstore? Swordtails also do not belong in 10 gallon tanks - they can grow to 4" and a 20 gallon tank would be a minimum tank size for mollies. But your friend could find guppies or platies in her area for very cheap; much less than the cost of shipping a fish, anyway.

There are a lot of expenses involved in shipping fish. You need fish bags, you should get the kind with an O2 exchange membrane. You will need a styrofoam box. You'll need heat packs. Then you'll need to pay the shipping fee. Your friend could probably find a used 30 gallon tank, on craigslist, for less than the cost of shipping.

If you do decide to get a goldfish, in a 20 gallon tank you only have room for 1 goldfish. They need 15 to 20 gallons of water each. Get a hang off the back (waterfall) filter rated for 50% more than your tank is - so if you have a 30 gallon tank, get a filter rated for 45-50 gallons. I do this on all my tanks, and it is particularly important with high waste producers like goldfish.

You can get snails, but know goldfish eat snails :)

Not much else to know. Goldfish are hardy, easy fish to keep if their basic needs are met.

Edit: You said "the goldfish". The word "Goldfish" can be single or plural. Relax. Don't get upset because I'm not telling you what you want to hear. The worse thing you can do for a sick fish is to pack it in a bag, stick in a box, and ship it. If she wants to find a good home for the fish, she should do it locally. Shipping is ALWAYS ill-advised unless absolutely necessary, which is the entire point. Knit-picking at some irrelevant comment I made regarding something I misread (re: the swords in a 10 gallon tank) will not change the fact that just because you "want the goldfish because he's so pretty", it doesn't make it a good idea to ship the poor thing.

Answer 2

For goldfish it is best to filter the tank at least 10x an hour, so for the 20 gallon a filter rated at 200 gph would be minimum. I have two 20 longs with goldfish and on the one I have an Aqua clear 70 (300 gph) and on the other I have a Penguin 350B (350 gph). You could use the filter you get for the 20 and use that for the 55 gallon too, that way you just bring the cycle right over, you would still need another filter though. If the tank will be in a room where noise will bother you I suggest you get the Aquaclear, the wheels from the penguin will always make a waterfall sound from the water passing over them no matter how high the tank water is. I have 4 tanks in my bedroom, all together 5 filters and the Penguin is louder then all the others combined.

I have kept snails with my goldfish and the only problem is the goldfish may pick at the snails attenaes. If the snails are really small though then yes the goldfish probably will eat them. A few snails should be OK, just make sure you check your nitrates, if they become too high even after you just did a water change then take them out since your tank can't handle all the animals in there.

Answer 3

Well you can have 2 goldfish in a 20 gallon with no problem. An Aqua clear filter will do the trick (50 gallon would be the best). If you do put snails in there you want to make sure they are large as the goldfish will eat it the snails. You can put plecos in with goldfish as well as any algae eater. Once a week you should give the goldfish some crushed up canned peas it helps prevent bloat. They also love to pick on a zucchini everyday. They do not need a heater but an air stone would be a good idea. You have a fish tank already so I'm going to take it that you know what your doing lol. Take care any more questions just ask.

Answer 4

Unless you really want the fish I would try to get her to just take the goldfish to a local pet store and they will probably take it. If you really want the fish just get filtration rated for whatever size tank you have but with a goldfish you're probably gonna have to clean it more often. You probably won't need a heater because goldfish are coldwater fish. As far as the snails go...I'm not sure if the goldfish will eat them or not. That's something I would look up before adding them. If the goldfish won't eat them then I would say its fine.

Answer 5

Ya Id have to agree with zoe that shipping is not a good idea. i had some fish shipped a couple times because i couldnt find them localy, and they were obviously realy realy stressed out. one of them died and the rest took like a week before they were happy again.
she should just find a good home for them where she lives, like not a petstore but maybe someone who has a big goldfish tank. if he's already sick, it'll make him sickER (or dead) to ship him around.
if u really want a gold fish, well you could buy one, im sure u could find one that is as nice as that one.

oh, they'll eat small snails, but big snails are ok.