Heir Posted January 24, 2008 Report Share Posted January 24, 2008 Hey everyone... Excuse my ignorance! Ohk, I've kept goldfish my whole life. With much success. Ive just been given a huge giant tank. I think, could be wrong that its about 400L. Anyways. Thinking about what to do with it. Love goldfish so thats what I'm having, but I'd like to know what other fish I can keep with them. A few years ago I kept Kaura (small ones) happy in a tank with goldfish until they discovered climbing up the plants was an excellent way to escape so I released them back where I found them. But this tank has a lid! (mwha!) I also attempted to keep Bully's but found they enjoyed eating my Goldfishes tails! I saw at the petshop they had Leopard Fish in a tank with Goldfish... have always thought this wasn't a great idea?? But could I? Because I really like them. I saw some fish that I guess were minnows in a petshop... would they be ohk too? And I LOVE native fish! think they're great. Found some sort of Kokopu on my friends golf course (heaps of small streams and ponds - I was in heaven lol) But don't know how they go down with Goldfish - what about other kinds of Native fish?? Ideas and comments please! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dixon1990 Posted January 24, 2008 Report Share Posted January 24, 2008 White cloud mountain minnows might be a good option. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
livingart Posted January 24, 2008 Report Share Posted January 24, 2008 another option is to just keep natives, there are a few different types and invertebrates as well, may need to keep the tank cooler in the summer months though Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coelacanth Posted January 24, 2008 Report Share Posted January 24, 2008 I'd go with just the natives too. Much more interesting than boring old goldfish. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Heir Posted January 24, 2008 Author Report Share Posted January 24, 2008 natives would be a great option... however I don't have any idea about them at all. Are they difficult to look after etc? im quite fond of goldfish though. and can leopard fish be kept with goldfish or are the goldfish likely to have their fins chewed off? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coelacanth Posted January 24, 2008 Report Share Posted January 24, 2008 native fish are EASY to look after, the only real problem is that when newly-caught they tend to be susceptible to white-spot, fungus etc. Also they definitely need a good lid, especially the galaxiids. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
carla Posted January 24, 2008 Report Share Posted January 24, 2008 im quite fond of goldfish though. and can leopard fish be kept with goldfish or are the goldfish likely to have their fins chewed off? The goldfish will eat the leopard babies and once the goldfish get bigger - especially the comets - they will eat the adult leopards too. The same goes for the Mountain minnows. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
owen Posted January 24, 2008 Report Share Posted January 24, 2008 I know inanga go well with goldies, but I'd imagine that they'd eat wcmm and leopard fish(inanga and goldfish) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stella Posted January 24, 2008 Report Share Posted January 24, 2008 I got into natives after keeping goldfish. I had goldfish when I was a teenager, then there was a gap without fish then I got goldfish again. Had them a couple of months then the pet shop had some natives (inanga and koaro) for sale, they said they would be fine with goldfish. Well, the koaro were fine... but the goldfish were torn to shreds! I found the natives were much more interesting, really active as opposed to the goldfish just drifting about. The natives are really just brown and grey and varitions on that theme, I thought they would not stand out at all in a tank on their own, later I found they stand out so much with all their activity! Anyway, the goldfish got taken back to the shop and more natives came home and that was the start of the obsession.... I am now writing a book on keeping them! Very briefly they need: Water below 20 degrees preferably. This can be done with ice, chiller ($$$) or fans aimed at the surface (or air conditioning!) It is a stress over summer trying to keep the temps down, but if you are careful it works. Lids. As said earlier, many native fish jump or climb. Especially when they are first caught. Hiding places. Rocky caves etc. I haven't found a native fish yet that doesn't like hiding now and then, even midstream schooling inanga. Thing is the more hiding places they have, the safer they feel and they hide less!! Plants are usually pretty hopeless in the native tank, no native algae eaters to keep them clean. I would suggest starting out with bullies and inanga. Bullies are great fish, good characters and very active on the bottom - always up to something. Inanga are schooling fish and a bit more tolerant than other galaxiids. Crayfish are also great but keep them small, 1-2 inches, otherwise they can wreak havoc. While they can be trained onto commercial food, I think live and frozen foods are best. I use frozen bloodworms as the staple diet There are some excellent books by R.M. (Bob) McDowall to learn about the different fish and their habitats. VERY little anywhere about keeping them (hence my book) but make sure you search through the archives here as a lot of stuff has been talked about. Oh, what dimensions is gour tank? Length and ground area is much more important for native fish than height. Check out my photo album below too Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kelsta Posted February 6, 2008 Report Share Posted February 6, 2008 "Boring old Goldfish!?" Coelacanth that's rather insensitive of you, many people adore goldfish and prefer them over tropicals for their gorgeous little faces and personalities. I'm a goldfish lover, but would never dream of insulting tropical fishkeepers. Each to their own Anyways... Heir, I have goldfish and I successfully keep White Cloud Mountain Minnows and Borneo Sucker fish with them. I've had this combination of fish for ages, and everything has gone swimmingly Only one WCMM has ever been eaten, and I suspect that was a combination of a very hungry goldie and a slightly slow WCMM! He was new to the tank and wasn't schooling. If you have fantails, the WCMM will most probably be fine, as fantails are slower swimmers and generally not interested in chasing or eating the WCMM. As for the suckers, they are classified as tropicals, however the info in the store says 'up to 24 degrees'. Well, our tank has ranged over the seasons from 14 degrees, to 26 degrees, and they have so far been happy and healthy. (A couple of my suckers look pale right now but that's not to do with the tank mates or temp). We're actually going to get a small heater this winter to stop it dropping so low this winter. So I hope that gives you a couple of ideas. Tried and true - we've done it with great success and they've brought a lot of joy PS: I've also been told that you can put some kinds of barbs with fantails, but that never seemed like the right thing to do so I've never tried it and probably wont. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Heir Posted February 9, 2008 Author Report Share Posted February 9, 2008 Oh thanks Kelsta that's some great advice. I'm not really fond of fantails. I like comets i've always had them and they're my favourite. I don't like big fish though so I doubt they'll be able to eat the minnows for awhile anyways. I'm in the "prefer goldfish over tropicals" category definitely. I have another question now; Can you keep Paradise fish with Goldfish?? because my friend said you can and I've seen some pics of tanks with both but another friend said you can't. So now I'm just confused. Though I definitely will try out minnows and goldfish. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caryl Posted February 9, 2008 Report Share Posted February 9, 2008 I have heard of them being kept together but I have also heard many stories of the paradise fish attacking goldfish. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Heir Posted February 9, 2008 Author Report Share Posted February 9, 2008 next question; lol i saw danio's in a cold water tank? can you keep them with goldfish? i thought they were tropical too... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caryl Posted February 10, 2008 Report Share Posted February 10, 2008 Danios can cope with temps down to 18C. This means they can live in unheated tanks in warmer places, it does not mean they are a coldwater fish - despite what the lfs tries to tell you. They should not be kept with goldfish either. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kelsta Posted February 10, 2008 Report Share Posted February 10, 2008 Re the Paradise Fish - I've seen them together in the pet store and I've actually watched the Paradise Fish attacking the goldfish in the tank with him. He would chase them and nip at them. Also, I've been told that you should not keep more than one Paradise Fish together in a community tank because they can be so aggressive. Apparently if there's only one they're more likely to behave - but the one I saw wasn't behaving! Just watching that for myself was enough to make up my mind not to have Paradise Fish with my goldies. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Heir Posted February 11, 2008 Author Report Share Posted February 11, 2008 well I definitely do NOT want to hand pick out a bunch of nice goldfish to have their fins half chewed off. haha Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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