gold fish with other types of fish

[benji's_fish]

well when i got my tank up and running ( 55 g) i got 2 gold fish to put in it not knowing that gold fish can just live in a bowl and be fine. well i got my tank all good and going with the cycling thing and i went to my local pet shop and i was getting some fish to put in the tank. I told them about the gold fish and they said to flush them and that they were a dirty fish and are stupid. well i didnt have the heart to flush them so i just have them in a glass bowl on my coffee table.

so my question is, can i add them to my tank or was my local fish shop correct??

my tank consists of the following: 5" red tail shark, 5" sail fin pleco, 2 tiger barbs, 2 green tiger barbs, 2 female betas, 3 rosy barbs, & 2 clown loaches.

all these fish get along fine i havent had any problems with the shark picking on any other fish so all my fish mates are good together

[Northernguy]

well when i got my tank up and running ( 55 g) i got 2 gold fish to put in it not knowing that gold fish can just live in a bowl and be fine. well i got my tank all good and going with the cycling thing and i went to my local pet shop and i was getting some fish to put in the tank. I told them about the gold fish and they said to flush them and that they were a dirty fish and are stupid. well i didnt have the heart to flush them so i just have them in a glass bowl on my coffee table.

so my question is, can i add them to my tank or was my local fish shop correct??

my tank consists of the following: 5" red tail shark, 5" sail fin pleco, 2 tiger barbs, 2 green tiger barbs, 2 female betas, 3 rosy barbs, & 2 clown loaches.

all these fish get along fine i havent had any problems with the shark picking on any other fish so all my fish mates are good together

I hope you have option of bringing some of those fish back!
No ,gold fish get up to 14" long and belong in a filtered 55gallon tank.
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You should also bring those back.Also find another store!
That is all terrible advice.
Do some research about those fish.The Sailfins get very large.Longer than your tank is deep,18" and longer.
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[Little Embers]

NO! Please do not mix tropical fish with coldwater fish....they have different requirements in water quality/temperature/diet etc....The goldfish will need a tank of their own IMO.

Your LFS is the stupid one...!!

[Little Embers]

They are messy...that is true, BUT not stupid!!! here is proof ....:ssmile:

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Unfortunately the video in the link has been removed...Darn!!

EDIT: Found the video...[Only Registered Users Can See Links.]

[Wild Turkey]

well when i got my tank up and running ( 55 g) i got 2 gold fish to put in it not knowing that gold fish can just live in a bowl and be fine. well i got my tank all good and going with the cycling thing and i went to my local pet shop and i was getting some fish to put in the tank. I told them about the gold fish and they said to flush them and that they were a dirty fish and are stupid. well i didnt have the heart to flush them so i just have them in a glass bowl on my coffee table.

so my question is, can i add them to my tank or was my local fish shop correct??

my tank consists of the following: 5" red tail shark, 5" sail fin pleco, 2 tiger barbs, 2 green tiger barbs, 2 female betas, 3 rosy barbs, & 2 clown loaches.

all these fish get along fine i havent had any problems with the shark picking on any other fish so all my fish mates are good together

The pleco has to go :( Hes gonna get too long to turn around in that tank.

Clown loaches, same deal. If you really want to, you could keep them, just have a large tank ready for them eventually since they are slow growers. The pleco on the other hand is going to (or should be growing) about 1" per month or more

Two comet goldfish will be okay in a 55 imo, and are fine at normal tropical temperatures(78f, or even higher for comets sometimes, check FishGuy's blog). Probably better off in a wider tank, but you know...

HOWEVER they are poop machines and its too much for that tank which is already fully stocked+

I just bought 1 sarasa comet, he went in a 40 breeder with 2x recommend filtration, Alone. All fish need a filter, and all types of goldfish need 20 gallons at least. So basically you would need at least another 30-40 gal tank to keep those goldfish, so I would just cull them. The reason I suggest culling, is if you return a feeder fish to place like petsmart they are probably going to cull it anyway, but in your hands you can make sure its not very brutal.

Which brings me to my final point

Dont flush fish, especially if they are alive. You made the right decision, its 100x crueler to flush a live fish than to euthanize it and throw it into the trash IMO. When flushed, it means hes going to be burned to death by treatment chemicals or worse ends up in your septic tank, or in rare cases, your water systems.

I hope all this information helps. Generally its not wise to take the petstores advice as gospel, always double check it since they stand to make money off of you, its a conflict of interest.

Edit: By the way the bowl that they are in right now needs the water changed a few times a day until you figure out what you want to do with them; its probably already full of ammonia, so you change the water to dilute/remove it

[Little Embers]

are fine at normal tropical temperatures(78f, or even higher for comets sometimes, check FishGuy's blog).

My apologies benji's_fish for giving you wrong information!

[Wild Turkey]

No need! Its all just opinons

Its not like it effected this case anyway, the fish need their own tank for other reasons so you might as well cool it down for them toothumbs2:

[Fishguy2727]

Long-bodied goldfish can thrive in tropical temps, mine bred in them. Round-bodied goldfish are more sensitive though and many cannot go quite as high for an extended period of time.

It also depends on what exact temperatures we are talking about. Keeping the house at 74F and a tropical tank at 76F means that the tropical fish and goldfish would be at almost the same temp anyways. Keeping your house at 68F and a discus tank at 86F will obviously be much different.

If anything that store needs to be reported to local authorities, SPCA, etc.

[jackson17]

Oh my...Please take the advice people are giving you

[benji's_fish]

well when i bought the pleco i was not aware of the several different types of plecos. i bought it thinking it was a common pleco. but i got to looking and i found out it was a sail fin. it has grown about an inch in the 6-7 months ive had him so maybe its not a sailfin but it looks just like the pics of other sailfins.

and for the clown loaches, i know they grow to be big. but ive done reading and i found out they grow about an inch a year. right now they are about 1.5 to 2 inches long.

so by this rate i think ill have a bigger tank in time for all of them. im hoping to get a 75 gal. in a year or 2 due to funds.

thanks for all the help, i know these fish grow but imo a 55 gal. is big enough for what i have now.

[Northernguy]

Its your decision!
I would get a bigger tank sooner than later.It makes life easy for you and the fish.

[jackson17]

Maybe for the fish you have now, but you NEED to buy a tank, and filter for your goldfish! They can't live in a bowl

[Aeonflame]

Please, understand, a bowl is NOT suitable to keep goldfish in.