Welcome, Guest. Please login or register.
June 19, 2013, 07:00:14 AM
Home Search Search Login Register

+  Pet Goldfish - Aquarium Forum Community
|-+  Aquarium
| |-+  Tank and Equipment
| | |-+  10 gallon for one goldfish?		 « previous next »
Pages: [1]
Author Topic: 10 gallon for one goldfish?  (Read 813 times)
sparkly-puffball
Newbie
*

Karma: 14
Posts: 45
10 gallon for one goldfish?
« on: September 28, 2011, 05:04:52 PM »
Looking around this site it is sometimes recommended to have 20 gallons or more for the first fish. But can I have a 10 gallon tank for one goldfish? I plan on getting a "slow" goldfish so I won't have to have a 20 gallon, and are goldfish social? If so, I might decide on just getting a guppy or something like that.
Logged
Dragonii
Full Member
***

Karma: 84
Posts: 281
Re: 10 gallon for one goldfish?
« Reply #1 on: September 28, 2011, 07:27:36 PM »
get balloon mollies. they have the same fat bodied shape but they are small so you can have a few.
(Link is not visible to guests. Please register to view.) (Link is not visible to guests. Please register to view.) | (Link is not visible to guests. Please register to view.)
Logged
Goldiegirl
Sr. Member
****

Karma: 169
Posts: 762
Re: 10 gallon for one goldfish?
« Reply #2 on: September 28, 2011, 07:46:04 PM »
To answer your question, goldfish are social creatures. Unlike many other fish, they enjoy having buddies and forming relationships with one another. In that respect they are much like people. They thrive in communities. Whether the goldfish is "slow" (of the fancy variety) or "fast" (of the single-tailed variety) they do enjoy having a friend of somekind for company. They form interesting habits and are just so ammusing to observe for hours and hours as well!

While one goldfish can exist in a 10 gallon tank (I have a friend who has a 15-year old-goldfish that has grown up to be over 7 inches long in her 10 gallon), a goldfish will probably not live as active a life living alone in a smaller space as one given 20/30+ gallons with a buddy. You can get many more tropical fish in a 10 gallon tank if you want...10 guppies or another small tropical fish would do quite well in such an environment.

I personally think that goldfish have more personality than other fish. So if I were you I'd either get a couple in a larger tank or stick with the tropicals in that 10 gallon tank of yours.  Smiley

Hope this helps!
Logged
Nossie
Hero Member
*****

Karma: 481
Posts: 5469
Re: 10 gallon for one goldfish?
« Reply #3 on: September 29, 2011, 03:59:13 AM »
The reason why we recommend 20 gallons for the first goldfish, is for measures only. A 10 gallon is very thin and very short, and small allover. If you had a 20 gallon to begin with, you could even keep two goldfish in that Smiley Or a goldfish and a pleco, or some small coldwater fish. But adding guppies with goldfish is not a good idea and won't qualify as "company" to the goldfish. He'll think of them as food, and treat them as such Wink I had my two last guppies eaten by our fat goldfish when I was little, for the company reason... xD

I think you should aim for the balloon mollies or some other small fish Smiley Platies will also enjoy the same water quality as balloon mollies and other types of them Smiley Swordtails are also nice, but they shouldn't be mixed with platies since they will breed among eachother creating strange hybrids. If you'd choose guppies, you could keep many more of those in the 10 gallon than of the other fish mentioned. Note that they'll breed often and a lot, so give/sell the offspring to a pet shop Smiley
Logged
sparkly-puffball
Newbie
*

Karma: 14
Posts: 45
Re: 10 gallon for one goldfish?
« Reply #4 on: September 29, 2011, 04:29:11 PM »
Ok, thanks for the answers! I'll just stick to (1-3) guppies in a 5 gallon. And I wasn't going to keep the guppies and goldfish together, for numerous reasons (guppies-tropical, warmer water, etc).
Logged
Nossie
Hero Member
*****

Karma: 481
Posts: 5469
Re: 10 gallon for one goldfish?
« Reply #5 on: September 30, 2011, 02:30:10 AM »
Guppies enjoy the same water as goldfish do, same with the other fish we mentioned in this thread, the only problem is that guppies sometimes develop fin-nipping behavior and will harass your goldfish and then get eaten by the 10-times-the-guppies-body-weight-goldfish Grin

I'm glad you came to the conclusion you did Smiley
Logged
Sephymuffins
Newbie
*

Karma: -1
Posts: 4
Re: 10 gallon for one goldfish?
« Reply #6 on: November 13, 2011, 08:28:14 AM »
(Link is not visible to guests. Please register to view.)
Ok, thanks for the answers! I'll just stick to (1-3) guppies in a 5 gallon. And I wasn't going to keep the guppies and goldfish together, for numerous reasons (guppies-tropical, warmer water, etc).

Keep in mind though, considering it's getting colder outside and guppies happen to be tropical fish, all tropical fish need a heater in their tank as they aren't like goldfish and they cannot adapt to different water temperatures. Goldfish can live in room temp, cold water and warmer water as long as it's not too hot. Guppies, mollies, platys, tetras and more are all tropical so they need to stay in warmer water. Between 60 to 70+ degrees. Fortunately water heaters are easy to use and maintain.
Logged
Pages: [1]  
« previous next »
Jump to:  
Page created in 0.248 seconds with 17 queries.