My Son came home with a Goldfish. It is not doing very well. Can I put the Goldfish in with my Tropical fish?

Answer 1

no you can't, for the following reasons:

1. goldfish require cooler water than a tropical tank. if they're kept in a warmer tank their metabolism increases, causing health problems, and they poop even more. they're poop machines and this poop causes ammonia in the tank, too much ammonia will kill off all fish, tropicals first usually.

2. if he's sick, he could spread the disease throughout your tropicals too.

3. get him a well filtered (cycled, you can clone from your tropical tank) tank at least 10 gallons (if the fish is under 4") or 20 gallons (if he's over 4") and medicate him accordingly. do NOT overfeed goldfish, they develop constipation and swimbladder problems which can proove fatal.

Answer 2

Goldfish are, as already mentioned, cold water fish. They are also very hardy and can adapt to a variety of conditions. My dad has had a goldfish pond in the back yard for over 40 years (I've had one for about 10) and the temperatures here (North Carolina) range from the teens in the winter to over 100 in the summer and the fish do fine so they can adapt to the temperature of a tropical tank. Most unheated tanks in homes will probably still run 74 to 76 degrees (room temperature plus the added heat of the filter the lights) so keeping them in a tropical tank at 78 is only a very slight change. In warmer water though, they need extra oxygen which can be produced with an airstone or by lowering the water level low enough that the filters create more surface disturbance.

Having said that, he will still be better off in an unheated tank with plenty of room and filtration because as also mentioned, they are very messy. Normal rule of thumb for goldfish is 30 gallon for the 1st fish and 10 gallons for each additional fish So 4 goldfish should be in a 60 gallon tank.

I suspect your problem is that the tank (or bowl) that the goldfish is in is not cycled and the ammonia and possibly nitrite levels are dangerously high and causing his problems. Test his water and see what they are. Do water changes daily or twice daily until the tank is cycled and you don't have any sign of ammonia or nitrite for at least 7 straight days.

Answer 3

I certainly wouldn't if I were you. Two reasons. One, goldfish are coldwter fishes and will not do well at tropical temperatures and secondly, whatever is keeping the fish from doing well could possibly be a contagious problem and you would be putting your tropicals at risk.

If you would like to post details of the goldfishes environment (tank size, wter conditions etc) and as much as you can give about why it's not doing well perhaps we can help you arrive and a good solution.

MM

Answer 4

that's not the best thing to do.....the tropical fish (depending on what kinds they are) will probably not take to the goldfish....you should check the ph levels in the water your goldfish is in, it probably has something to do with that. also, make sure you aren't feeding it too much as the excess food your fish doesn't eat will sink to the bottom and contaminate the water.

Answer 5

Goldfish are cold fresh water fish and are quite agressive. You can't put it in with your tropical fish.

Goldfish are also very dirty. They need a large tank with a good filtration system or the water will become too dirty and full of ammonia for the fish to be healthy.

Answer 6

Well my goldfish happily live with my tropicals and the local petshop owners do too (in fact once they were in the nice warm water -26c - they grew like wildfire!).

Ther are couple of things to be cautious about though. Tropicals tend to be less resilient ot ifnections/diseases and if your goldfish has something it pass it onto the others.

If you put a fish into a a tank with fresh tap water chemical in it like chlorine can kill the fish or at least make them very off colour for quite a while. There wasnt enough info to know whether this was the case or not. Another problem is shock form plonking them from water that is at one temp (ie been in a hot car coming home) into water at vastly different temp.
As previously mentioned PH could be a problem particulary if there is decaying material in the water.
If all else fails consult ssomeone at a major pet store or specialist fish store.
I would suggest that you get a bucke to f water and let it stand for at least 2-3 hours (preferably overnight) then put the fish in it and claean out it tank thoroughly including any thing in it (I like to put the empty tank and gravel out in the sun if its summer time and let it bake in the sun for half a day). The once cleaned pour in some water from the bucket and eventually release the fish from the bucket an fill the tank.
Do you have natural or plastic plants? Natural are best as althought the fish wil munch on them they help put oxygen into the water.

Answer 7

Yes you can,BUT goldfish tend to be "dirty"as their feces and urine is so strong.It make give your tropical fish,fin rot.Once they get fin rot,you have to buy a special medication to put into the water.I had a 2 foot phyicosomus and 1 1/2 foot Oscar,& 300 guppies.I once put a goldfish in the tank and the tank became very cloudy,and my Oscar got fin rot.If you decide to put the goldfish in the tank,you need to goahead and get the medication so youcan treat your tropical fish right away.The urine from a goldfish is very strong.

Answer 8

Hi
Most people will tell you no you can't do that and i would have said the same, but my sister-in-law has tropical fish and was given three goldfish which she put in with her tropical fish, that was two years ago and they are all still alive and get on very well with each other

jeanette

Answer 9

Most goldfish are really feeder fish (fish that are fed to other fish). More than likely your goldfish has what is known as Ick, and i wouldn't put him in a tank with other fish, it could make the others sick too.

Answer 10

No because gold fish need cold water .They can also get quite large so you need a good big tank for it.