Hey! You seem to know a lot more about goldfish than me (I only really know that they can get big, are social, have bad poop, and are cold water fish) so I was wondering if I could get some advice? Sometime (likely) next year I’m going to be having a 120 gallon aquarium (4ft wide x 2ft long x 2ft tall) and I’m debating between freshwater and saltwater (I’ve been doing saltwater aquarium research for the last year and a half) and if it’s freshwater I would really like for the inhabitants to be some kind of goldfish! I’m considering goldfish > saltwater because I know I’m not going to be living in the same place forever (like I hope to be moving within the next ten years but it definitely won’t happen sooner than 5 years) and goldfish might take better to the move than saltwater fish (and I also want pet goldfish sooo). I know that goldfish are long lived fish which is one of the reasons why I prefer them over other freshwater fish (plus they’re so plump and round!). If possible I would like to have goldfish of different colors/patterns if there’s any you can recommend to me? After I eventually move they’re going to have a MUCH larger aquarium which is the size I already have advice of how to stock for, but they’re going to be in the 120 gallon for at least 5 years so that’s what I’m planning for. I’m sorry that this was so long! I just like to know in great detail how to properly take care of animals before I have them in my care :>
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Ok take 2 cause tumblr ate this before! Sorry if it’s a little disjointed, I’m trying to slap together all the points I covered the first time from memory.
Goldfish are a wonderful hardy, friendly choice for a big tank like that. I’m obviously going to vote for them over saltwater but I’m a little bit biased, I adore them so much ^.^
Those are some weird dimensions though, so I’m waffling on what type of goldfish to recommend you. 4 feet is a bit short to be keeping multiple single tails. But 2 feet is also fairly deep for fancies; tall tanks can put more pressure on their rounder bodies and sometimes exacerbate congenital swim bladder issues. I’d probably still say fancies.
The hardiest breeds are generally fantails, ryukins, orandas, and other similar types. These can sometimes even be mixed with single tails as well. The next tier down would be ones like telescopes, ranchus, lionheads, and other more bumbly fish with more obvious modifications. Those guys sometimes do better more with their own kind, or in mixed groups with a little extra attention paid to make sure they get their share of food. I’d steer clear of the very fragile breeds, your bubble eyes and celestials and the like. Every breed comes in a whole range of colors! Red/orange obviously, white, yellow, calico, etc. Black however is generally unstable in goldfish, only black moor telescopes and calicos reliably (usually) keep black coloration through adulthood.
The one thing I do feel like I should mention is that fancies don’t live as long as single tails. They’ve unfortunately been bred, in the US at least, for looks more than strength for a long time now, and are pretty genetically messy as a result. Buying a healthy looking baby with good conformation can help but still, the average lifespan for fancies is more like 6-8 years. I don’t know if that changes anything for you, it’s ok if it does.
Apologies if I missed any other questions in there? Let me know if there’s anything else I can help with, I’m happy to answer
(Oh and if you happen to be looking for fish to fill said tank, I have five or so little cutie patootie one year old fantail/oranda mutts I raised who are looking for homes! As well as three small rescued single tails also up for adoption)