Is it true that goldfish grow according to the size of the body of water they are in?

Question

Like goldfish that are in tanks are usually pretty small.

Whereas goldfish you sometimes see in
larger ponds are sometimes very big. I saw some recently in an outdoor pond that looked to be about a foot long or so.

Anybody know why this is? Thanks.

Well.....I'm still kind of confused. I see all sorts of answers saying every sort of thing. I'll just have to read about Goldfish on Wikipedia I guess. Thanks to all who answered, though! :)

Since there were wide varieties of answers, I'll just let "the people" decide on which one was best. Take care.

Answer 1

The types of goldfish you see in ponds are usually commons, comets or shubunkin. These goldfish easily reach 18" and more in ponds. The goldfish usually seen in indoor tanks are usually fancy goldfish such as Orandas, Fan Tails, Black Moor, Ryukin, Pearlscales, Ranchu or Lionheads just to name a few.

The fancy varieties of goldfish will get to be about 6" - 8" long excluding the tail depending upon the variety. Sometimes you'll see the pond variety of goldfish indoors, but they rarely live to be half their expected length because they die from improper care, poor water quality and stress/disease brought on by too small of a tank.

Goldfish do not grow to fit the tank they're in. The fish's organs will continue to grow even if the fish is in too small of an environment. This, of course, will lead to the premature death of a goldfish. This happens a lot when people try to keep goldfish in bowls.

Hope this helps....

Answer 2

Any animal will only grow as much as their environment will allow. However, sometimes it depends on the fish itself. You must take into account, also, that there is a "stopping point" for them. Say you had a fancy goldfish and it lived in a pond. Just because it has such a large living environment doesn't mean it will grow a foot long.

One of the classrooms at my college has a larger freshwater tank with goldfish in it for when we do experiments and some have gotten pretty big while others have stayed on the smaller size.

I think the larger pond fish you saw were actually koi. I'm not sure if they are genetically related goldfish but they are friendly and can live with comet goldfish.

Hope this helps you!

Answer 3

Yes it is quite true that goldfish grow if there tank size is increased. I have a goldfish which was only an inch long when I had it in a 20 gallon tank but when I kept it in a 75 gallon tank it grew to a size of 2 1/2 inch. They grow large because the oxygen level of larger water body is more than that of the smaller tank. They can grow up to 2 meters in a pond. The size of the water body not only affects there size but also there age. They can live up to 15 years in a pond. But in a tank goldfishes NORMALLY live up to 8 years.

Answer 4

Yes, but stunting the growth of a fish by sticking it in a tank that is too small for the needs of the fish will eventually kill it. Goldfish in ponds can live a LONG time. Goldfish in a bowl don't live long at all. Goldfish in a small tank can live for years, but usually die before 1/2 of their lifespan is up.

Answer 5

sort of. not to the point some people here are saying though.

different goldfish grow to different sizes no matter the tank. feeder fish grow up to 2ft, but 12in is common. fany goldfish get to be around 6" to 10"

if you keep them in a bowl and keep the bowl clean they will stay small, however it's not them adapting, it's you stunting them. this means their insides will continue to grow even though their outsides have stopped. this is painful and will kill the fish. it takes years though. this is why people say they've kept goldfish in bowls for 5+yrs so bowls must be okay, but considering goldfish should live to be at least 20yrs old it's not that great.

Answer 6

They will continue to grow and needs at least 30 gallons to live long (15+ years assuming it doesn't die from diseases). If less than 30 gallons, then they only live up to about 5-8 years and dies because of stress being in a small area.

Answer 7

Yes it is true in school we did a experiment with a tank and a bathtub and this fish grew as big as a mouse in the tub then when we put it in a tank it kept trying to jump out so we took it to a pond and let it go the other tiny one died

Answer 8

The Fish you see in the outdoor ponds are either Koi or Carp. I have always heard that Goldfish will grow in accordance to the size tank they are in...

Answer 9

Some fish can outgrow their tanks. It is not uncommon for an ignorant fish owner to have a fish that grows larger than its tank and develop problems from not being able to move.

Some fish won't grow due to their surroundings though, and can grow quite large under the right circumstances. It is not healthy to keep a fish in a small tank to try to curb their growing.

Answer 10

I do believe this to be true. I have a friend who put a small goldfish in a dam on her large property. Within 1 year, that goldfish was 1 foot long.