gallons per fish

Hi all,
Just found this group, so I'm a real newbie here and pretty much new to
goldfish keeping. Got into goldfish by accident thanks to my darling
daughter-she brought home some fish used for decorations at her high school
prom and after 4 of 6 died in the little fish bowl she found I went out and
bought a 10 gal tank, filter ,etc and the two remaining fish seemed to do
ok. Then she came home with two more from a church carnival (all were
"feeder" fish) that I put in the tank. One died right away, but the other
was fine, except for attacking the two original fish (hence the current name
of PF for psycho fish). The two original fish eventually died from fin rot
due to these attacks (I'm assumong that's what it was based on info from
various websites). So now I have one fish in a 10 gal tank. Didn't want him
(her?) to be lonely so,after spending $40 on a water testing kit (tested
OK), went to the loacl Petco and bought a red capped oranda and a fantail.
All this happened about 7 months ago and so far they're doing fine (PF still
chases the oranda alot but doesn't seem to be doing any damage). Everthing
I've read on various websites has said I need 10 gal per fish to properly
care for my babies, yet the three of them seem to be doing fine in my little
10 gal tank. I feed them twice a day (presoaked flakes or
pellets,peas,romaine lettuce,brine shrimp), test the water ever two weeks
( 0 ammonia, 0 nitrites, nitrates a little high), add water when the level
drops a inch or so from the top of the tank (never done the "change 25% of
the water every week"), change the filter media every month or so, and
vacuum the gravel every now and then. So my question is- am I just lucky or
does the 10 gal per fish refer to larger fish than I have (they have grown
quite a bit-body length is now about 3")? I'd like to get a couple more
fish so I've been looking at new tanks (a 36 gal bowfront) but I'm worried
that at 10 gal per fish it won't be big enough to support 5 fish. Any advice
would be greatly appreciated!
Thnaks in advance!
ken

Hi Ken,
Sounds like you got "suckered" into the hobby the same way I got involved,
only my kid had the first fish from a science class project. Do yourself a
favor, and don't even bother with the little tanks. These fish grow
incredibly fast, and the ten gallon rule is a misnomer. In reality, your
fishes total body mass is what matters. One ten inch fish weighs more than
ten one inch fish . . . by a lot!
My three goldfish came in stages. "Sharky" is 16 months with us, and is
already at least 12" long, without including his long tail. "Face", our
female was bought as a companion, and she has been with us for just over one
year. She is already about 7 or 8" long. And "Gemini", our other male, came
along just under a year ago. He is already at the 5-6" mark, with no sign of
being done growing.
My original thought was that a 20gallon tank would hold these three fish for
a lifetime. So I started out that way. Money well spent, or so I thought,
till they outgrew it in three months. Now it holds a variety of small
tropical fish. The next upgrade was to a 75 gallon tank. It has held them
very well till now, although I did have to add a second large filter system
to keep it clean. And I do water changes almost every other day.
The idea that you can get away with only adding water is simply wrong. You
must drain off the 25% to purge nitrates, and then top off with fresh
dechlorinated water. If not, the nitrates will certainly build up very fast,
and you are going to have trouble. I am currently having my first health
issues because of water conditions, and I have been almost religious about
tank care and water changes. There is simply no solution to polution other
than dilution. I hear it from the most knowledgable people all the time.
In this short amount of time, I have arrived at the point where I have to
make a choice . . . either build a pond, or find a nice pond for my fish to
go to. I don't think they will be happy for much longer in the tank I have,
and I don't have space to add an even larger tank. It wouldn't matter
anyway, as these fish grow to match the size of the environment they live
in. Our local reservior has carp that are at least 3' long, and lord only
knows what they weigh. They all started out as goldfish that people dumped
out there.
It seems that most pets are sold with adequate information about thier needs
and eventual size. Why they don't do that for goldfish is beyond me. These
are among the most demanding of fish to keep properly, and none of the
stores inform people about thier eventual needs. They are considered to be
"disposable" fish for some reason. Only a person who has kept them for any
length of time can realize how smart they are, and how much personality they
have. They are a noble fish, worthy of the best we can offer them. So if you
plan to keep them for any length of time, go right for the largest tank you
can handle, don't overstock it, and always do proper water changes.
Hope this helps some. Best of luck!


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