"Kay" wrote in message
news:zpRVb.131092$U%5.612495@attbi_s03...
nativelaw wrote:

Never had fish as a child except a series of "Goldie"s won from fairs,
that
lived in small bowls for the few weeks the poor things could make it. I
always thought it was a matter of willpower for those that lived longest
(and I guess it was; I wasn't doing them any favors.) In two short
months
now of learning the better way, I'm really enjoying my Orandas. I now
have
added a 20gal tank (two fish) to the master bedroom in addition to the
10gal
in my daughter's room.

My daughter's tank (standard rectangular 10g) had one red and white
Oranda
(Nemo) who's about 2" long excluding tailfin. I know that you're not
supposed to put more than one gfish in there, but a 20gal tank is too
big
for her room and Nemo seemed lonely. I have broken down and added a
small
(1") red cap Oranda. So far the two are getting along swimmingly (it's
just
been a few days.). The tank has a heater, a 6" air stone and I have
added a
bit of aquarium salt (just under .08%) to ease stress. If I am faithful
with watching nitrite/nitrate/ammonia, doing water changes, I am hoping
they
will be okay for a while. Any other suggestions (besides get a bigger
tank)
I'm glad to hear.

Also, if there is another kind of fish, smaller, that would make a
better
companion, we have a 30 gal tank coming in a couple of months that I'm
buying from my sister in law that I was going to use for tropicals --
can
you ever mix tropical and goldfish in one tank?

I'm sure this could vary greatly but any wild guess how old the average
1"
or 2" petstore Oranda might be? Also I assume when people speak of
measurements they are customarily speaking of body length and not any
tail
fins?

Thanks much,
Andrea


Your not going to want to hear this but that 10 gallon will not be big
enough for 2 goldfish. Sometime down the line it will be thier demise.
One sugestion would be cycle the 30 gallion tank and switch the 2
goldfish to that one and make a small tropical tank with the 10 gallon.
there are amny setups a 10 gallon can be with tropicals. so many small
fish to choose from.

Kay

Hi Kay,

Yes, I'm figuring I'm not going to be able to keep the fish that way for too
long (I read that Orandas can reach 12" long!) But I'm wondering how fast
these fish grow? If the two can stay together for a few months without
doing them harm I can do just what you suggest. Would even six months
together be a terrible strain for them if I keep them free of the N words?

Given the family's love of pets, I probably will end up with the 10 gal tank
as not much of anything but a quarantine/water change tank and upgrade all
of them. I'm just trying to get a sense of how long they could endure
healthfully in that space -- is the problem that you'll have to change water
so often to keep it clean that the stress of the changes gets to them? Do
they tend to develop diseases due to stress weakening immunity, etc.?

Thanks again,
Andrea