Asking for opinions and suggestions......

[brian]

Hi, I would love to know is a goldfish tank of 2 feets long x 1 feet high x 1 feet wide is considered small?
If a goldfish has an average of 4 inches, how many fish can I have in this tank??

[bubbleboy]

Sounds like you have a 10~15 gallon aquarium. Yes, this is considered a small tank. The rule of thumb that I've often heard is every 30 square inch of the surface area of the aquarium for every inch of goldfish. Following that rule, your aquarium should be able to support total of about 10 inches of goldfish which you can divide among any number of fish you'd like (although I would never keep a 10 inch fish in a 10 gallon tank... that's just cruel). Mind you, this is only a suggestion and a well filtered, well aerified, and well maintained aquarium should be able to support more goldfish. Only thing is a small tank will stunt the growth of the goldfish. If your fish is over 6 months old, I would suggest getting a bigger tank.

bb

[brian]

Originally Posted by bubbleboy

Sounds like you have a 10~15 gallon aquarium. Yes, this is considered a small tank. The rule of thumb that I've often heard is every 30 square inch of the surface area of the aquarium for every inch of goldfish. Following that rule, your aquarium should be able to support total of about 10 inches of goldfish which you can divide among any number of fish you'd like (although I would never keep a 10 inch fish in a 10 gallon tank... that's just cruel). Mind you, this is only a suggestion and a well filtered, well aerified, and well maintained aquarium should be able to support more goldfish. Only thing is a small tank will stunt the growth of the goldfish. If your fish is over 6 months old, I would suggest getting a bigger tank.

bb

To bubbleboy,
Thank you for your valuable info, that means I only can have about 3 to 4 goldfish if each of them is about 3 inches long! Oh my, I think I have overstocking. Luckily my aquarium is well filtered and aerified although it is small.

Now I got a problem-the growth of my goldfish. What to do? No wonder my goldfish won't grow at all!

Bb, can you suggest the size of tank that I should have for my goldfish? If I got myself a tank of 3 feet long x 2 feet high x 1 feet wide, that will be how many gallons?? Is this fine?

brian

[mybirdshit]

I think the thumb rule was supposed to be 100 litres to a goldfish.

[bubbleboy]

3ft x 2ft x 1ft would be about 44 gallons.
The suggestion made above is quite correct and is very much on the safe side I think. I usually go by about 20 gallons of water (75 litres) for a fully grown fish. I think 44 gallon aquarium should be fine for your use but if money and space is not an issue I would suggest 55 or 63 gallon tanks. It just saves you from having to upgrade later on. And bigger the aquarium, more impressive it looks. I am currently looking into getting a 70+ tank but being a college student, I find it difficult to get the funds for it. Bummer. Anyways, enjoy.

bb

[brian]

Originally Posted by bubbleboy

3ft x 2ft x 1ft would be about 44 gallons.
The suggestion made above is quite correct and is very much on the safe side I think. I usually go by about 20 gallons of water (75 litres) for a fully grown fish. I think 44 gallon aquarium should be fine for your use but if money and space is not an issue I would suggest 55 or 63 gallon tanks. It just saves you from having to upgrade later on. And bigger the aquarium, more impressive it looks. I am currently looking into getting a 70+ tank but being a college student, I find it difficult to get the funds for it. Bummer. Anyways, enjoy.

bb

Thank you for giving me the ideas of buying bigger tank. Me too a college student can't afford to buy the big one, furthermore my cupboard is about 3 feet long only(where I put my aquarium on top of it).

May I ask you how you set up your tank? My tank setup is very simple and dull as well. Do you decorate your tank with some water plants?

brian

[Hoover the Goldfish]

Hi Brian and bb,

It is a good idea to put plants in the aquarium if it gets some sunlight. Also it is a good idea to use those plants that are the hardiest. Two of the best plants that I use are elodea (small spiral or circular leaves around bunches of stalks) and the vallisnaria species (reed like). I don't know what country you live in mind due. I live in Australia and winters generally do not get too cold.

I am a university gold fish too so I understand that economics is an issue, but you can sometimes find real bargains at markets etc. My sister found a tank for $ 30 and it is 60cm by 30cm by 40cm a real goldfish manstion.

In my tank I have soft elodea on one side and vallisnaria on the other that gives the fish some adventure. I don't care what anybody saids, goldfish can get very bored in plain tanks and it can even make them sick. Two of my goldfish where at babysitting and they almost died they got so sick.

It can be a good idea to put in some interesting rocks and a bubbler. Plus don't forget about food. We get sick of eating the same thing, well guess what goldfish are the same. Your little beauties may like cooked potato, pumpkin, carrot, peas and breadcrumbs. It is also good to feed them bloodworms occasionaly (those they may be expensive). Pebbles are good in the fish tank and if you have plants they can be anchored better to the ground with pebbles and rocks.

I future when fish get sick a 3 percent salt solution is a good idea as others have already suggested and increasing the water temperature approximately two degrees may also help. Sunning the water outside in buckets if possible for at least two - three days gets rid of the chlorine chemicals and then you don't have to put conditioners in your tank (which can weaken fish's immune system and make them very sick).
Best of luck.

Hoover the Goldfish

[LizzieS]

Originally Posted by brian

Hi, I would love to know is a goldfish tank of 2 feets long x 1 feet high x 1 feet wide is considered small?
If a goldfish has an average of 4 inches, how many fish can I have in this tank??

I have a tank 2ftx1ftx1ft and it holds 58litres!