I've kept freshwater tropical fish (corys, plecos and bettas) successfully in the past.  I love koi and shubukins but don't have the room for a pond  and I don't want to keep any fish unlessI can do so correctly.  I was wondering if a fantail can be kept happily alone, or like some other fish do they need to be kept in pairs?  Also, I've read one can be kept in a 20 gallon tank and 2 in a 30, but I've also read its 20 gallons per goldfish....I know golfish have different requirements than tropicals....help!

The tank can't be smaller than 20 gallons for one fish, but then you can calculate 10 gallons per fish for anything bigger, so you could actually keep 2 fantails in the 20 (And admit that a 20 gallon is pretty small!)

Generally, a fantail could be happy alone, but goldfish are very social, so he'd be happier living with a buddy or two

Not sure about the max but I know they are a bit on the smaller side. In my step-mother's pond they seem to top out at around 8" bodies (plus 10" tails) although I have never seen one that larger in an aquarium. Someone on here will know for sure.

i'm just curious about fish sizes so i can figure out tank sizes. so since fantails are smaller than orandas, you could do 3 fantails in a 30 gal vs. 2 orandas, correct? what about other fancies (: like pearscales and moors?

I would absolutely die for a chocolate butterfly moor 

scrivens: You have quite a lot of interesting information all the time, pretty detailed and advanced, somehow. Where do you find this? I'd be pretty interested in reading the articles/site where you find it

Thanks a lot!