Are goldfish schooling fish?

[sower]

Just wondering if goldfish do better in a group? I first had one and read a lot of posts saying they are quite happy alone, but I can definetly tell a difference in behaviour after getting another mate. They seem to play around a keep each other occupied.

Recently I read a few posts saying goldfish do best in groups of 6 or more, just wondering if those experienced with goldfish can tell me if goldfish behaviour is much more different in groups of 6 or more? Do they form communities in a similar manner to other schooling fish?

Sorry if I seem ignorant, but I've only got into the hobby 2 months ago.
Cheers.

[Wild Turkey]

Ive never read 6+ for goldfish anywhere, sounds like a bit of puffery but I cant say for sure, Ive never kept 6. You may want to ask someone who has a large goldfish tank like FishGuy

As for being more active when they have at least 1 other goldfish, I can confirm that IME. I have a pretty large comet and i was more or less forced to take a very small fancy a while back, big difference in behavior of both fish once they were in the same tank, and even though the fancy is very stunted (last owner) and the comet is about 5-6 times his size, they are great buds. thumbs2: They never fight over food or otherwise.


Asking questions is nothing to be sorry about! Thats how you learn

[VoidParadigm]

They are not strictly a schooling fish (in the same sense that tetras or minnows are.)

They do enjoy groups of goldfish, though. It gives them more to do, and things to interact with. As they get older you can sometimes see the males schuffling amongst themselves, especially over food. It's not fighting, per se, it's just HEY THAT WAS MY ALGAE WAFER. :hmm3grin2orange:

Source: I own,
-a 400g pond + wintering pools in the basement + coldwater tanks.
-six juvenile common goldfish.
-one juvenile fancy tail.
-three big males.
-one big breeding female.
-two full grown albinos.

Edit: Added it up and that's 525 gallons of water I have for just goldfish. o_o No wonder my well keeps going dry. :lol:

[annageckos]

They are not really schooling fish, but they do like to be in groups. Even two or three would be good.

[Rue]

Yes, goldies are gregarious if not exactly 'schooling' in the strict sense...

I have 4 in my 55g...s'all good.

[labnjab]

We have 4 large fancies in our 75 and the seem much happier together then when we had 1. The play around and chase each other (not a bad chasing either, sort of like tag) we had 6 at one point till we lost 2 and they didnt act any different then they do now with 4

[bigbad-ratman]

I have kept my fnacies in a group of at least 3 since i started. My fancies seem to interact in rather intersting fashions. It is always funny to watch them eating algea wafers. All 4 of them will swarm around one wafer get a few bites, then one will break away find the other wafer, the rest will join him and swarm that wafer (while the first is unfinished).
I think it is worth keeping them together just for their interactions.

[xasuma]

No, they arent.
I have a tank with 4
and another by himself, and i dont see the difference
:22:

[tanks4thememories]

The fast answer is both YES AND NO...:hmm3grin2orange: We lump a lot of fish into the name "Goldfish" There are shoaling goldfish and non shoaling goldfish. Goldfish are very hardy and adaptive and so have been farmed for major use in the feeder market. Personally I believe this further diversifies the gene pool because they are mass bread without much concern for particular traits other than size.

I use them as feeders. I buy them in batches of 50 to 100 so at any given time there are about 20 of them in my 130 gallon. I used to keep them in a holding/quarantine tank as well but I've just started back full scale on my hobby and don't have that set up yet. Anyway I feed them high quality diet and provide cover in the 130.

In my tank I notice most like to group up, a lot of them will also shoal in the true sense of the word, and yet even others will prefer to be the 'Lone Fish" off by themselves or with just one other fish. I find it very interesting how diverse goldfish are: Different fish (even though all are goldfish) prefer different strata of the tank. They seem to group up by strata preferences into loose 5 to 8 member groups. They all seem to prefer to socialize and kinda hang out together at one point or another. Also the fish I use for feeders are juveniles so I also know a lot of fish group up when young and goldfish are no exception to that for sure. In papers I have read on goldfish behavior I notice they often differentiate "Shoaling" from non. This further lends credence to my theory that they are a diverse and complex species that defies many of the stereotypical cookie cutter behavior patterns we think of when we say goldfish.

PS



Source: I own,
-a 400g pond + wintering pools in the basement + coldwater tanks.
-six juvenile common goldfish.
-one juvenile fancy tail.
-three big males.
-one big breeding female.
-two full grown albinos.
Edit: Added it up and that's 525 gallons of water I have for just goldfish. o_o No wonder my well keeps going dry. :lol:

Thats alot of goldfish!!!!!...lol

thumbs2: