Topic: Stunted goldfish.

[lenacara]

Here is my story and question. My boyfriend and I didn?t really know much about them when we got them so the 4 Comets started out in a 10 gallon tank for a year then went up to a 20 gallon for the last 6 months. I did pick up an Oranda and Black Moor about 3 months ago not realizing they didn?t do well with Comets but they seem to be fine. I did just get an awesome 75gal tank last week that I am currently cycling out with the smallest of the Comets (2 inches) and the Oranda because I they are pretty hardy but I want to give them a chance to grow a little more in the next month before I put the rest of the goldfish in. The longest of the rest is about 3 -3.5 inches but he seems to be growing every day. I do plan on putting in a tank divider if the Oranda starts having problems getting enough food so no worries there. But now that I?ve read some threads in there I?m really worried that I?ve stunted them to the point where their organs are going to outgrow their bodies and lead to a painful life and eventual death. Am I to that point? Should I put them out of their misery? They seem fine and I love them an awful lot but reading different places it seems like they should already be over 10 inches. Any advice?

[LittlePuff]

You'll need at least an 80gal for the comets alone. Not because of just space, but because of the large amount of waste goldfish produce. It's not a good idea to mix fancies with commons/comets because of feeding issues. They've been stunted. It's hard to say if they're in pain, but I'm sure their lives have been shortened.  Commons can get up to 20yrs.

[nrich]

^that being said, I don't think you should euthanize them. If they are swimming around normally and not showing any signs of distress, they should be fine for a while. Just watch them closely for odd behavior. Who knows, they may have years ahead of them despite their rough start.

[lenacara]

Thanks! I think they should be good in the 75 for now, I do 50% weekly water changes and I have a fluval 70gal filter that the lfs assured me was more than enough. I was planning on keeping them all in there and watching to make sure the fancies got plenty of food or adding a divider to the tank till they get to be about 6-8 inches. Hopefully that will be at least another year because between the tank and the filter I just spent $700.00 on the new setup. I did consider getting a bigger tank to start with but I have concers as to how much weight my floor can support. Most of the info I found said a 55 gal was okay anywhere so I went to a 75gal as it was against a supporting wall and perpendicular to the beams. Unfortunately I couldn't find anything that said what the top limit is. I didn't want to end up with dangerous.

[LittlePuff]

The other 2 would be fine in a 29gal.

[wendyjo]

If you already have an established tank use a small bit of the filter media from the old in the new filter to help with the cycle so you don't harm the fish even further.  Or if it's got a spongy media you can just give it a good squeeze over the new tank to help seed it with good bacteria.

I agree with Little Puff that you should get the Oranda and Moor their own tank - it will help with the feeding issues as well as free up more space for the big guys.  For now I would probably keep the smaller guys in the 20G until you're able to get your finances back in order and get them something larger - they'd be fine in a 20g for a short while.  I'd probably also add more filtration to the 75g since the comets are so messy and also because they require alot of oxygen in the water column.