Can 2 fantail goldfish live in a 2.5 gallon tank?

Answer 1

Some say that goldfish will grow to the tank, the bigger the tank, the bigger they will grow. However, this is one of the worst kinds of falsehoods. There are plenty of people out there who swear they kept a goldfish for years and years in a small tank or even a bowl and it lived just fine and never outgrew its container, but the truth is that these fish were stunted, unhealthy and probably could have lived a life span 10x as long in a bigger environment. What happens, usually--if ammonia poisoning doesn't get your fish first--is the bones in your goldfish stop growing, but the internal organs don't and the fish squishes from the inside out. It's a painful death.

A lot of people out there would say not to keep the fish in a 2.5 gallon tank at all, but I think you can get away with keeping your goldfish in a tank that small for a little while, with good filtration and frequent water changes. You should make plans to move your fish to a larger tank as soon as you can, though.

Fancy goldfish have the potential to reach about 10 inches in length. Common or Comet goldfish have the potential to reach about 12 inches. Both types put out more ammonia than other tank fish. (So forget "one gallon of water per inch of fish." Goldfish are a heavier bio-load.) The standard rule for goldfish is to have at least 2 or 3 fish and plan to have a tank that has 20 gallons of room for the first fish and 10 gallons for each additional fish. This would make the minimum long term tank size at least 30 gallons.

Your fish may still outgrow this tank, but it will take a while. You could use smaller tanks in the beginning and work your way up to a 29 or 55 gallon or larger tank as your fish grow (and as you become ready for a larger tank) or you could start out with a bigger tank to begin with, as a way to cut down on your overall investment. (Be aware that tanks age, though, and yours may begin to leak or whatever long before your fish actually need that space. Especially if you foresee moving a lot.)

Answer 2

A small goldfish could live in a 5.5 gallon tank for a short while. Assuming the tank is not filled to the brim you will probably only have around 4.5 US Gals at the maximum in there. Goldfish grow to over 10 inches long so they get far too large for a tiny tank. The basic rules for fish keeping are. :- 1 inch of fish needs a minimum of 1 gallon of water. :- Every tank needs a permanently running cycled filter. :- Every tank needs at least 50% of its water changed every week. Stick to the rules and you can possibly be successfull keeping fish. Fail to keep the rules and I can guarantee that you will have constant problems with your fishes health.

Answer 3

No. Goldfish are large growing (at least 6"-12" in body length, not including fins, depending on variety), long living (over 15-20 years) and very messy creatures.

While stores still sell them for ridiculously small tanks, they're wrong. In reality a single Fancy Goldfish needs at least a 20 US Gallon tank, a single Common/Comet type needs more like a 40 US Gallon (or a pond over 600 gallons). A Goldfish should be full grown, or near to it, at 2 years old!

Practical Fishkeeping magazine called up about 20 different aquatic stores pretending to be a beginner and asked how to keep a Goldfish, not one gave complete and accurate advice. Shocking!

Keeping two in a 10 gallon will drastically shorten their lifespans, cause water quality issues which in turn stunts their growth and makes them more prone to diseases etc.

Answer 4

i have 3 goldfish in it

Goldfish shouldn't live in anything under a 10 gallon, due to the fact they grow pretty big. Your best bet would have to be one betta or guppies. I'm not an expert on guppies, so I'm not sure how many can fit. I do know, however, guppies would need a heater. If you were to get a betta, you would need a heater and preferably a filter. Be sure to only put one betta in your tank. It would also be ideal to cycle your tank before putting you betta in.

Answer 5

Depends on the size of the fish, maybe very small fish could. But a shark couldn't.

Answer 6

Yes you can. You should also have a filter running permanently and change about 50% of their water weekly.

Answer 7

No. Not even one Goldfish should not be in a 1.5 gallon tank. Goldfish are heavy producers of waste like ammonia and grow to be large fish.