WARNING! This is not a professional website! I am NOT an expert. Do NOT believe everything on this site.

Last Updated: 1/19/08

My Current Indoor Goldfish
My Previous Indoor Goldfish
My Outdoor Goldfish
Keeping Other Species of Fish with Goldfish
Story of How My Goldfish and Catfish "Got Along"

For more photos of my pond goldfish, see my pond pictures page.

Wow! This page is out of date, really! Someday I can hope I can update it!

My Current Indoor Goldfish

On 1/22/06, around 9:30 am, I moved my three fantail goldfish from my 20 gallon basement pond where they had resided since 11/5/04. They were probably born in early 2004. You can read more about the move preparations, etc. on my 40 gallon tank page. I named the three fish after some of the main characters from Lord of the Rings since I watch all three of those movies a few months before I moved the fish who had never had names. Aragorn is the largest, a white and orange fantail almost 3" at the time of the move. Legolas is the next largest, also orange and white but less orange than Aragorn. Frodo is the tiny one, a calico fantail, just a few inches long. Both Aragorn and Legolas sprouted tubercles about four days after moving them into the 40 gallon tank. I never thought they could be sexed so young! By the second week of February, it seems that Frodo also has tubercles just showing, at least on one gill (the white one and not the clear one). So, unless females can have tubercles, which I have not heard of, I have three boys. At least, I picked all boys names and got that right. I will not have to worry about babies but do worry that males may beat up on each other a little due to their desire to spawn with someone.

On 3/18/07, I tore down the 40 gallon tank that my three fantails and plecostomus were living in and set up a new 65 gallon tank. It developed a crack so two days later, I moved the fish back to the 40 gallon tank. Details to be found on the tank redo page. The store made me buy another tank which I finally setup on 3/31/07. The goldfish and Plecy were finally in the 65 gallon, hopefully, this time to stay!

As of March 2007, Aragorn is the largest at 5 or 6 inches long, Legolas is about 4 inches, and Frodo is maybe 3.5 inches. Those are estimates as the fish do not sit still!

A video of my three fantails can be seen on my video page.

Photos of the three fantails:

Older photos:
Four fantails in a small bowl for photos. The fish were added to the 20 gallon indoor tub pond on 11/5/04 after this photo was taken. The far left fish is a calico fantail. The upper right fish was a chocolate telescope-eyed fantail but he got sucked into the filter and died the first night (I fixed the problem). The other two fish are orange and white fantails. The fish are only about an inch long so very young.
Red and white fantail close-up, 11/5/04. This is a close-up of one of the above fish. [It is Legolas.]

New photos in the 40 gallon tank:
Legolas (left) and Aragorn on 2/4/06.
Close-up of Aragorn's tubercles from the above photo on 2/4/06.
40 gallon tank on 2/4/06 with Plecy and the three goldfish.
Frodo on 1/22/06.
Aragorn (left) and Legolas on 1/22/06.
Aragorn (bottom) and Legolas (hiding in the back) on 1/28/06.
Legolas (top), Frodo (middle), and Aragorn (bottom) on 1/28/06.
Close-up of Aragorn's tubercles, a zoom in of the previous photo.

2007 Photos:

Legolas, Frodo, and Aragorn left to right on 1/20/07.
Close-up of Aragorn's tuberculs from the previous photo on 1/20/07.
Legolas (left), Frodo (back), and Aragorn (right) 1/20/07. You can see how Legolas became twice as big as Aragorn who used to be the biggest.
Legolas, Aragorn, and Frodo left to right on 1/20/07.

Frodo, Legolas, and Aragorn left to right on 3/17/07 in the 40 gallon tank before I tore it down.
Frodo next to Plecy on 3/17/07.
Aragorn, Legolas, and Frodo left to right on 3/18/07 in the 40 gallon tank before I tore it down.
Aragorn, Frodo, and Legolas in the newly setup 65 gallon tank on 3/18/07 before it cracked. See my tank redo page for details.

The goldfish were moved to a new 65 gallon tank on 3/18/07 which cracked. So, they went back to the 40 gallon tank on 3/20/07. I did not move the gravel there but held it in buckets while waiting to get in a new tank (I had to buy two). This day, 3/24/07, I took photos from under the tank, looking up which was unique.
Photo - from below, shows Plecy and the goldfish.
Photo - from below, shows Plecy and the goldfish (Frodo on the right).

Aragorn and Legolas with Plecy waiting in the 40 gallon tank on 3/24/07.

65 gallon tank - set up the second time, 3/31/07. From left to right are Legolas, Frodo, and Aragorn.
65 gallon tank - set up the second time, 3/31/07. Frodo is on the left. Aragorn is on the right on top of Legolas.

65 gallon tank on 11/10/07. The fish from left to right are Legolas, Aragorn, and Frodo. I had just finished the weekly cleaning but also had bleach soaked and dechlorinator soaked the fake plants so they look more new.
Frodo on 11/10/07.
Aragorn on 11/10/07.

The three goldfish on 12/29/07. Aragorn is on the upper right, Legolas on the upper left, and Frodo on the bottom.
The three goldfish on 12/29/07. Aragorn is in the middle, Legolas at the top, and Frodo on the bottom.

2008 Photos:

The three goldfish on 1/13/08. Aragorn is in the back left, Legolas in the front, and Frodo in the back right.

My Previous Indoor Goldfish

I no longer had any indoor goldfish (until the fantails mentioned above) after Quinn died on 5/3/01. The 50 gallon tank was disinfected and set back up for other fish. I would no longer have indoor goldfish (until the fantails above). Below is information on the goldfish that I did have. They all died unexpectedly from tuberculosis which they had been carrying for years with no problem. They all developed severe bloating or dropsy right before dying several weeks apart. When there were four goldfish (1997 to 2000), they all got excited by each other and chased each other in their attempts to spawn even though none were a female full of eggs.

Deceased goldfish:

Quinn - born around 1994-5, bought on 12/16/96, 8 inches, blue oranda male, died 5/3/01,picture taken 11/6/97, picture taken 9/27/98 (bottom fish), picture taken 4/22/01.

Fair - born around 1993, won at fair on 8/16/94, 10 inches, orange and white common male, picture taken 11/6/97, picture taken 9/27/98 (top fish), and picture taken 9/27/98 (left fish). Fair had had two tuberculosis bumps for about six months before he died. About four months before he died, he bled from the gills for about 10 minutes that I saw one day. Around the time that Wade died, Fair developed dropsy and septicemia and died quickly after that on 4/17/01 at about eight years of age. He was 10.5 inches long including a 4 inch glorious tail. He was four inches high, and his eye was half an inch in diameter! I have so many fish that I do not really become attached to them. Fair was an exception. He was the only thing I ever won; he was big; he was old; he was full of personality. I loved him and will miss him. :-(

Wade - born around 1995, bought on 12/16/96, died 4/12/01, 6 inches, calico oranda male? (male behavior and maybe some tubercles (not more than two); I only assumed to be female before since the males devoured all of Wade's fins off and tend to chase him/her), picture taken 11/6/97, and picture taken 9/27/98 (right fish). Wade lost most of her caudal fins from the male goldfish. She then developed swim bladder problems and could no longer swim upright. She spent the last four months or so of her life upside down on the surface. She still managed to eat some. She developed a huge tumor on her side that was most likely tuberculosis but could have been another internal bacterial infection or even a cancerous tumor. Her scales later bulged out and her oranda hood swelled up too. She was reduced to about 4 inches long with no tail. Treatments with antibiotics, medicated food, Melafix, and salt were to no avail.

Ziggy - born around 1996-7, bought on 10/6/97, died 5/5/00 of a tuberculosis infection, 6 inches at death (3 inches tail, 3 inches body), red cap oranda male, bad picture taken 11/6/97, picture taken 9/27/98 (top fish, smallest), and picture taken 9/27/98 (bottom fish).

See my aquarium description page under 50 gallon tank to learn what is in their 50 gallon tank.

My Outdoor Goldfish

New! See three videos of my pond goldfish spawning in April of 2006 and then April 2007 on my fish video page and also a video of the pond which also shows the goldfish.

I have about 30 goldfish and tons of their young in my 1800 gallon pond. The total by 2001 is at least 60 goldfish of all sizes and ages! See my pond description page for a list of the fish I have in my ponds, their setups, and lots more. For a picture of some of my pond goldfish, go to my pond pictures page. Almost all of the pond fish are male if tubercles are any indication. Many females died in the summer of 1998 when they got stuck in the floss around the submerged pump in their attempts to find someplace "nice" to spawn. The only known females are a few common goldfish. A summary of my pond goldfish and a photo appear below. By 2001, there are many more female goldfish that have grown up.

By 2004, the pond goldfish population has changed so much! The list below is totally wrong now! My favorite goldfish and the oldest one in the pond, Jill, was killed by a heron on 5/6/04 (did not see it but she vanished, and the herons were there that day). Two fantail goldfish remain but all the rest are various comets basically. Some are orange with white, some orange, some naturally colored, and some solid white. Below is the old list from 2001.

Adult Pond Goldfish:
10+ Common Goldfish
10+ Comet Goldfish
1 Calico Fantail Goldfish (male)
2 Red Fantail Goldfish
1 Sarassa Fantail Goldfish (red and white)
3 Shubunkin Goldfish (one born in the pond named Bunky)
Plus dozens of young goldfish from newborn to three years old. Many younger ones are bronze. Most of the larger fish are a mix of orange.

Plus, there are now at least half a dozen bronze colored small goldfish. They will most likely change to all orange with white fins after a few years. All appear to be common goldfish but may be of mixed parentage. A few are shubunkin or comet.

A poor oranda died on 6/11/04 with no symptoms or markings of any kind! She was a female, 7" long with 4" body and 3" tail. She was in perfect shape except, she was dead! I was very upset! This gorgeous girl was red-orange with some white on her tail and a small wen (also called cap or hood).

I bought two shubunkins on 6/6/04. They were quarantining in my 20 gallon mosaic pond with the intention to join the others in the fall. I hoped to infuse some more blood into the breeding pool. One jumped to his death on 7/11/04, and I immediately put the other one into my 1800 gallon pond. So much for those plans! I sighted the remaining shubunkin in late November 2004 so it is still alive and up to like 5" long (when I put it in it was only about 2.5")!

I had a massive goldfish die off in September and October of 2004. As of 10/22/04, I have lost 13 goldfish. I found one more that had been dead a while a few weeks later on 11/7/04 for a total of 14 before the die off stopped. They had no symptoms. The water chemistry tested fine. Everything else was fine. There is no reason I could find. You can read all the details in my October 2004 newsletter and November 2004 newsletter under Happenings at Robyn's Ponds.

On 12/28/05, I was able to get a pretty good count of the remaining colored goldfish (so not including any babies or brown/natural goldfish). I counted 33 of them. None are over about 10" as those were all killed by the heron or mystery disease in 2004 and 2005.

My last fancy pond goldfish died on 7/4/06. Photos and information can be found below.

Pond Goldfish Pictures from Oldest to Newest:

Pond fish at feeding hole, 9/6/98. Below is the key for the numbers next to the fish ( a complete key can be found at my pond pictures page.).

1 = common goldfish, orange with white fins
2 = Maggie, metallic orange with some black, butterfly koi
3 = common goldfish, orange with white fins
4 = common goldfish, orange with white fins
5 = fantail goldfish, orange with white fins
6 = comet goldfish, orange and white
7 = comet goldfish, orange with white fins
8 = sarassa comet, orange and white
9 = Remmy, black and orange butterfly koi, about one foot long (died 3/21/99)
10 = common goldfish, orange with white fins
11 = shubunkin goldfish
12 = goldfish (looks like a blob to me)
Goldfish I forgot to number: Below #11 and to the right of #12 is Bunky, the baby shubunkin, born in the pond

Pond fish - comets, commons, fantails, black moor, etc., 2/20/99.

Pond fish - comets, commons, fantails, etc., 2/20/99.

Pond fish - comets, commons, fantails, etc., 2/20/99.

Photos in 2000 in sequential order about 10 seconds apart:
Fish, fish going crazy for food, 6/18/00.
Fish, fish continue going crazy, the orfe, my butterfly koi Maggie, and my comet Jill (who with Jack were the oldest fish in the pond; Jill was eaten by a heron the morning of 5/6/04; Jack died on 9/2/04) are marked, 6/18/00.
Fish, fish tiring of waiting (I fed them right after the photo), orfe, fantail, koi Maggie, koi Colin, two shubunkins (their baby Bunky is also in the photo but was hard to mark, she is on top of Colin), Sarassa comet, Jill, and a comet with dropsy (for almost a year) are marked, most small fish seen are yearling goldfish, 6/18/00.

Basketball goldfish, tummy down and basketball goldfish, tummy up. This is a dead comet goldfish on 10/14/01 from my 1800 gallon pond who suffered from a bizarre affliction. Over a period of two years, she got bigger and bigger, like a basketball. Diseases like dropsy and tuberculosis kill much sooner than that and give raised or ruptured scales or lesions. Her scales were not abnormal until they literally burst upon her death. Her body wiggled like a bowl full of jelly. Perhaps she had a kidney malfunction preventing her from ridding her body of excess water.

Hurt goldfish, photo, right side, deep wound at top, 10/29/01.
Hurt goldfish photo, left side, minor wounds except gill cover which has larger wound, torn tail, 10/29/01.
I found this goldfish in my pond in late October 2001. He was torn up, probably from getting stuck among some rocks. I moved him from my 1800 gallon pond to a five gallon tank. Treatment included recommended doses of MarOxy (to kill fungus) and Maracyn (to kill bacteria) by Mardel, MelaFix by Aquarium Pharmaceuticals, aquarium salt, and Stress-Coat by Aquarium Pharmaceuticals. The 8-inch male goldfish recovered pretty well and was released back into the pond on 12/1/01 when the water temperature was 58 degrees F. For more information, see my November 2001 pond newsletter. This fish put out 1 ppm of ammonia per day even with the addition of Ammo-Lock by Aquarium Pharmaceuticals. Goldfish were not meant for a 5 gallon tank! People see tiny goldfish in stores and buy them and put them in tiny aquariums. Most cannot fathom that these fish live 30 years and grow to a foot long!

Here is a more recent photo of my pond goldfish:
Goldfish school in my pond on 3/9/02.

I found this deceased comet in my 1800 gallon pond on 7/5/02. She was full or roe (eggs). There were no signs of injury, predation, parasites, infections, funguses, viruses, or little green space men. She was perfectly healthy except her mouth was agape, and she was dead. This 9" red and white comet was most likely spawning in the shallows on this 95 degree F day and got stuck out of water where she suffocated. The other fish were all fine.

Pond goldfish on 8/1/02.

Pond Fish on 3/23/03, tons of my survivor goldfish after the worst winter ever.

Goldfish in April of 2004 in the midst of his/her color change.

Basement pond on 5/5/04 with 17 baby goldfish that were moved to the 1800 gallon pond on 5/15/04.

Four fantails in a small bowl for photos. The fish were added to the 20 gallon indoor tub pond on 11/5/04 after this photo was taken. The far left fish is a calico fantail. The upper right fish was a chocolate telescope-eyed fantail but he got sucked into the filter and died the first night (I fixed the problem). The other two fish are orange and white fantails. In the spring, I will probably put these three remaining fish into my 1800 gallon pond. These fish are tiny, about an inch long so just babies.
Red and white fantail close-up, 11/5/04. This is a close-up of one of the above fish.

Dead goldfish from my 1800 gallon pond on 2/22/05. This 10" mostly white probably female goldfish with red on her tail and red lipstick was pulled from my pond twice that day by the heron. He/she stripped some scales off the front end of the fish but most likely, this poor last of the big goldfish in my pond died from being out of water too long. I guess the heron could not swallow her. Read more about this in my March newsletter (on-line by 3/12/05).

Pond fish under the net on 4/19/06. They are mostly goldfish. My koi, Colin, is at the bottom with algae growing on him. Two of my orfe are on the far right.

My only remaining fancy goldfish in my 1800 gallon pond died on 7/4/06. This 7.5" female fantail (maybe part oranda) was orange and white. You can read more about her in my August 2006 newsletter (not on-line until August). Here are two photos.
Dead fantail - right side with ruler.
Dead fantail - left side.

Pond fish on 1/6/07.

Pond fish being fed on 4/29/07. You can see the floating pond pellets and Cheerios. My two koi, Maggie (orange) and Colin (white) can be seen in the middle. One of the orfe can be seen on the far left. The rest of the fish are goldfish. There is a net over this part of the pond.

I had a goldfish with large tumors on its head that mostly laid on the bottom for the last year of its life. I finally found the poor guy deceased on 6/10/07. I took photos to show the tumors which felt hard. The tumors were more white when he was alive. Note that he had been dead a few days so if you do not like to look at dead animals, please do not click on the photos below.
Dead goldfish with tumors
Dead goldfish with tumors - close-up

Pond fish under the pond net on 6/23/07. You can see mostly goldfish but there are two koi and two orfe in the photo.

I was in the pond on 6/24/07 and took this photo of the fish.
Pond fish - my big koi, Maggie, is in the middle. The two big orfe are at the top of the photo. One of the baby orfe is below the big orfe on the right. The rest are goldfish. I count parts of 18 goldfish.
Close-up of Maggie from the previous photo which also shows a close-up of the baby orfe and seven goldfish.

See my pond pictures page for more photos of goldfish in case I forgot some here.

Can I Keep Other Fish with My Goldfish?

This is one of the most common and controversial questions about goldfish. Experts say that you cannot keep other fish with goldfish because:

• 1. Goldfish require cooler water than most other fish.
  
• 2. Goldfish will contract diseases that most other fish carry.
  
• 3. Goldfish produce more ammonia and feces than other fish and will kill other fish from it.
  
• 4. Other fish will harm or harass goldfish.

I believe that Numbers 1, 2, and 3 are not valid reasons for keeping other species of fish away from goldfish. First, there are literally hundreds of fish that can survive 75 degrees F or less, the goldfishes' preferred temperature range. Even so, in my ponds, the goldfish can live into the 90's degree F, but only for short times. Thus, the temperature reasoning would only rule out such high temperature fish as discus from being kept with goldfish.
While Number 2 has some value, I believe that all fish should be quarantined and treated for ick regardless, and that, in fact, goldfish are just as likely (and maybe more so) to give diseases to so called "tropical fish." The words tropical and coldwater are often misused. Some books define goldfish as tropical (obviously not!) while other define such coolwater fish as white cloud mountain minnows, rosy red minnows, guppies, zebra danios, etc. as tropical when in fact, they can survive lows from near freezing to about 60 degrees F, depending on the species. All of these mentioned fish can survive short periods in the 90's degree F but would not like to be above about 75 degrees F for more than a few months at a time in summer. Thus, we are back again to reason Number 1.
Reason Number 3 is also not valid. Goldfish produce no more ammonia or waste per mass than any other fish. The key is per mass. A one inch goldfish weighs more than a one inch say danio because the goldfish is a fat bodied fish. There are many other species of fish that are also fat bodied. A goldfish's waste products are no more toxic than those exuded by potential tropical tank mates. I had a plecostomus with my goldfish for a short time (see below) and believe me, if anyone was killing anyone with waste it was the pleco doing it to the goldfish!

It is not until reason Number 4 that the true reason goldfish should be kept alone is seen. Even so, in ponds where there is a lot of room, even this rule does not stand up. I keep rosy red minnows, koi, orfe, common, and fancy goldfish all together in my 1800 gallon pond. I would not do so in a tank. "Tropical fish" tend to pick on goldfish while goldfish tend to eat all their food and "poop them to death" (simply because goldfish are larger and often kept in too small a tank, not because they produce any more waste per pound of fish). Let me recount my experience with plecostomus and goldfish. This is not to say that the same results would occur for others.

Catfish versus Goldfish

I bought a 50 gallon tank to put in my four goldfish from my old 20 gallon tank and a plecostomus from my old 10 gallon tank. I also bought four panda cories . I kept the heater at about 68 degrees F but it usually was in the low 70's. For more than a year, they all got along fine. Then, my adult female (named Fanny) developed a few rips in her fins from her overzealous suitors. As she laid on the bottom resting, the panda cories would suck on her wounds. The cories were not being aggressive or mean in any way. Fanny was unable to move fast enough, and the cories found some nice "food." Then, one day, I caught the plecostomus sucking on her side. That was it for my experiment. I put the injured goldfish in a breeding trap in the same tank so that she would receive clean water circulation. I treated her (and thus the whole tank) with a fungus killer since her open wound soon became a fungal forest. She had NEVER been sucked on like this before.

After two weeks in her net, I moved the cories and plecostomus to my 20 gallon, and then I released her. (The plecostomus was moved to the 10 gallon after a few weeks because he was overloading the other fish with his feces.) The injured female goldfish was still alive but hung around the surface and floor a lot. The males harassed her but did not seem to have further injured her. Both she and my tiny female (Wade) had only half of their tail fins due to the male goldfish, cories, and plecostomus biting them off. The plecostomus was my biggest problem. I could never destroy him or return him to a store to suffer. I also could not find a divider for my 50 gallon tank nor put him in my planted 20 gallon tank (he eats or uproots all plants but onion plant). Thus, he, all 7-9 inches of him, lived in the same, puny tank from whence he came until I setup a new 40 gallon tank in late 1998. By that time, he was 10.5 inches long. Fanny died months later on 11/23/97. She never grew her fins back which grew a black coating. Fanny did not move or eat for the last month of her life. The pleco cannot be fully blamed. I added a new goldfish (Ziggy) in 10/97 who got immediate fin damage with no apparent cause. The males must have been doing it. On 6/98, two rosy barbs with my pleco in the 10 gallon died. They were not sick and had overnight chunks out of their side. As Plecy (his name) was the only one with them, he must have killed them.

Years ago, when I knew basically nothing about keeping fish, a pet store employee told me it would be okay to add this long whiskered catfish to my goldfish tank (I do not know the species of this catfish; I am sure the employee did not either!). This catfish went right for the goldfish and began to eat off their fins as if was a predatory catfish. I immediately removed him and put him in the bathtub intending to return him in the morning. The tub drained over night but the catfish was still alive. He died a few hours after being added to more water.

Look under plecostomus for even more stories of plecos and goldfish and to learn more about my plecostomus. Anyway, the moral of the story: Do not add any species of fish with your goldfish (especially catfish) because you never know what will happen, and you may regret it. I certainly did!!

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