Goldfish + Tropical!?

[kjhowland]

As everyone has stated, goldfish are messy fish requiring a good filtration system. Secondly, warm water accelerates their growth. Goldfish and koi are similar species. In warm water you can expect them to grow huge, and eat smaller tank mates.

[lillyorchid]

I have a 20gallon fishstyle tank with a filter thats capable of filtering 20-60gallons of water so I think I have a good filter for it. :]

We only have one goldfish, and would it eat a large snail if we wanted one? :[[ They can be good algae eaters and we wanted to get one of those + some algae eating sucker fish.

Thanks guys!

I have 3 fan tail goldies and they are filthy little guys! You are probably going to need a larger filter specially if you want an algae eater in there too. An algea eater will outgrow a 20 gallon tank in no time. You don't want to over populate your take since it will just crash and you will end up with some dead fish. I have a 30 gallon tank right now that has a 90GPH canister on it. When if comes to gold fish you will want to over do it on the filtration.

[Warm-blooded]

goldfish lack stomachs, that is why they are so messy, an no, i am not kidding. As far as mixing them with tropicals, I wouldn't do it, why? bc thier cold water fish, and tropical ones are well tropical, two different requirements. Goldfish get huge, and really if you want to raise them properly, a 125 gallon tank is recommended. Getting plecos for algae is kind of pointless too imo. Unless your going with something smaller such as a gold nugget, thier going to outgrow your tank (problem is though, the fancier the type, the less algae they seem to eat, and the 'normal' plecos tend to eat less algae as they grow as well). Also, keep in mind that the pleco won't be able to thrive off algae and algae alone, so they will have to eat either leftover food, or algae waffers. Ive seen some commons well on thier way to two feet, so thier not really a good option for your tank. Those are some problems, and as far as filteration, unless your doing a lot of water changes, you simply do not have enough. Sure your water may be clear, but that does not mean your water chemistry is still at the appropriate levels.

[Styx]

I'm with Warm-Blooded, I would never house cold water and tropical fish. Just because they can live together doesn’t mean they should. And often times the ph and hardness of the two species are not compatible but people often ignore that because it's easy to neglect that part of fishkeeping.

[desertpirate]

Personally, I wouldn't keep goldfish and tropicals together for all the reasons already mentioned. Also because I keep real plants in my tropical tanks and goldfish eat them all.


As far as algae eater... plecos are useless, so here's what you need:

1. Otocinclus catfish (aka oto-cats in the aquarium world) are voracious eaters of algae. They only get about 2 inches long, so get a small group of them.

2. Ancistrus- there are a variety of species which all remain under 5 inches long. We keep bristlenose ancistrus currently. They do eat algae throughout their entire lives. They can be expensive, though, but are well worth the investment.

[blackcrystal22]

Personally, I wouldn't keep goldfish and tropicals together for all the reasons already mentioned. Also because I keep real plants in my tropical tanks and goldfish eat them all.


As far as algae eater... plecos are useless, so here's what you need:

1. Otocinclus catfish (aka oto-cats in the aquarium world) are voracious eaters of algae. They only get about 2 inches long, so get a small group of them.

2. Ancistrus- there are a variety of species which all remain under 5 inches long. We keep bristlenose ancistrus currently. They do eat algae throughout their entire lives. They can be expensive, though, but are well worth the investment.

I decided to move the goldfish to a separate tank a while ago.
I never had a pleco or planned on getting one. I currently have an actual ALGAE EATER. That's its actual name that was given to me.

I have a peppered catfish as well. Are those useful for algae?

[desertpirate]

Without pictures I would guess that the peppered catfish is probably a corydoras catfish. They don't eat algae but they do a great job of cleaning up all the crud on the ground level of the tank (leftover food, etc.).

If you post a picture of your "algae eater" or link to one that looks like it I'm sure that someone here could identify it for you! Without an id it's hard to say what it might eat...

[Warm-blooded]

I'm guessing if it was sold to you as such, based on availability it is most likely a chinese algae eater aka Gyrinocheilus aymonieri, or an oto like desertpirate allready mentioned.

[RichardA]

Gold fish have a more acidic slime coat as well.....they pollute the water on many many levels causing most tropicals far more harm then good.

I have kept and bred tropical fish for nearly 20 years and the rule of thumb is dont mix golds with anything other then carps, which they are realated to.

[blackcrystal22]

I'm guessing if it was sold to you as such, based on availability it is most likely a chinese algae eater aka Gyrinocheilus aymonieri, or an oto like desertpirate allready mentioned.

Yup!
http://www.aquariumlife.net/profile-...lgae-eater.jpg

This is what my catfish looks like.
http://www.dkimages.com/discover/pre...2/45007064.JPG
He's very tiny. A Peppered Cory Cat is supposed to be his name.