Goldfish are probably among the best aquarium fishes that you would like. This resilient, interactive fish does not take much time to become the favorite of their masters.
You might like to look for the best mate for your goldfish. But it will not be a smart idea to just put any type of fish into that tank with your beloved goldfish. Finding the right partner for your goldfish can be a tricky one. In this article, we will give a complete idea about what fish can live with goldfish.
Here are the compatibility factors to remember.
To make sure you don’t mess up mixing fish with your goldfish, you need to look at some crucial factors. For ensuring better health and environment for your goldfish, you need to have a clear idea about these. It is not a hard nut to crack; just real research of your own is enough. As you have reached us, we will help you through it.
Temperature
Goldfish are known as cold-water fish as they prefer to live in a temperature range of 65 to 75-degree Fahrenheit (18 to 24-degree Celsius). Now, most of the aquarium fishes we get to see are from the tropical region. There they live in a much warmer temperature of about 75-80 degrees Fahrenheit.
So keeping them with a goldfish in the same tank is not a great idea. If you are doing so, you are either keeping the goldfish in a warmer temperature or the other fish in a colder environment. This is not a healthy situation for your goldfish.
The warmer tank will force your goldfish to shred fat, thus cause health issues. If continued for the long term, this may stress them further and even make them die. So great attention is needed here in this factor.
Size
Goldfish are thriving and always looking for food. By its omnivorous nature, it eats other fishes. So putting a smaller fish with it in the same tank might make your goldfish look for some snacks.
They eat a lot and will not hesitate to devour the smaller mate, no matter how long they have lived together.
Again, if the opposite happens, your goldfish might get eaten by the bigger fish in the tank. So it is always recommended to keep the same sized fish together. Also, goldfish itself need a lot of space to grow and live peacefully. Considering the tank size is also essential in this case.
The breed is also a matter of concern. Because if one grows faster than the other, there is always a chance for the smaller one to get eaten.
Speed
Well, there are two cases to focus on here. The first one is if you put a fish that’s slower or faster than the goldfish, the faster one will always get privilege while eating food because it will get to the food faster.
And secondly, the slower fish can be lunch for the faster one if their sizes do not match. So, keeping the same nature of fish with your Goldie will be a good step.
Aggression
We all know that goldfish are peaceful. Some of them do not need any mate and like to stay being the “only child.” Putting an aggressive fish, for example, Betta in the same tank, can be hazardous for the goldfish.
The aggressive nature of the other fish can put your goldfish in stress and thus harm its health and growth. So it is better to keep fishes that are like the goldfish, loves to mind their own business. Otherwise, you can expect to see a beat-up, stressed goldfish, even dead in the worst-case scenario.
As now you know the factors to keep in mind while choosing a mate for your goldfish, now we can get started with the fish that can stay with goldfish.
Types of fish compatible with goldfish
- White cloud mountain minnow
Can minnows live with goldfish? Absolutely. In fact, the white cloud mountain minnow is an excellent choice for beginners. They can be a great mate for your goldfish. These pretty, quiet, and peaceful fish are not that expensive. They are also easy to be taken care of.
The white cloud mountain minnows are a good pair for goldfish because of some other reasons. The first one is they are also cold-water fish. Living in a lower temperature underwater is their nature. As your goldfish are more like them, it is easier to keep them together in the same tank without worrying about the water temperature.
Secondly, this fish is peaceful. Fighting for food with their partners is not a part of their character. They can live on the leftovers after the other fish finish eating. So your goldfish will not have to compete for food with them.
To keep the minnows with goldfish, you will need to put more than one minnows. As they are schooling fish, they do not do quite well alone. You can add at least 3, but 6 will be great. Be thoughtful about the size of the tank, as they are thriving like goldfish.
- Zebra Danios
Another popular fish for the aquarium is the Zebra danios. This beautiful small creature can be a well-matched partner for your goldfish without much hassle.
Danios are cold-water fish too. Thus keeping them with ordinary goldfish is a good idea. But be careful of the temperature being too cold. It will cause health issues for the danios.
Zebra danios are very peaceful in nature. This tiny fish with blue and yellow stripes make a great contrast in your aquarium. They will just swim around and mind their own business, which is entirely compatible with the peaceful natured goldfish.
Being a smaller fish, there is always a risk of being eaten by the giant goldfish. But danios can swim a lot faster than the goldfish, keeping itself safe from being eaten by its partner.
Just a simple reminder, it is better not to keep the Zebra danios with the fancy breed goldfish. Fancy goldfish are too slow, and the danios are just the opposite. Being the faster one, the danios might have the lion share of the foods.
- Weather Loaches
A gifted fish that scientists use to predict weather change or even natural disasters. Weather loaches, also known as pond loaches, are a compatible mate for your goldfish.
Being a cold-water species, the loaches have absolutely no problem sharing a tank with goldfish. Their peaceful nature keeps them away from fighting for food. You would want that security for your goldfish, won’t you?
There are a variety of weather loaches. They can be of different colors and types. They act differently before any storm of weather changes. If taken enough care, it can also eat from your hand.
Loaches can be long (10-12 inches). So you should keep them in a larger tank with goldfish. Again they like to stay with their type, so at least three weather loaches should be together. Their hobby is to burrow, so it is recommended to put substrate sand for them to burrow in. This fish can stay in a wide range of temperatures (55-77 degrees Fahrenheit).
- Rosy Barbs
Another fish that need a shout out is the Rosy barbs. They are very tame in nature and will leave your goldfish alone. Pretty good at maintaining social distance, aren’t they?
Barbs are schooling fish. So you need to put at least 4 of them together. They can grow up to 4-6 inches, being a good size match for your goldfish. Their detailed color and beautifully shaped size will add great contrast to your aquarium.
As we have already known, their peaceful nature makes them a good mate for goldfish in the tank. No competition for food means both species get enough food. Also, the size match helps them to survive from the other. The rosy barbs can live in a cooler temperature.
- Bristlenose Pleco
Being very peaceful and calm in nature, this small catfish can be a great tank mate for your goldfish. They are quite easy to be taken care of, which makes them an easy pick for the beginner fish pet owners.
Bristlenose pleco is mainly originated from the Amazon River Basin. They are incredibly friendly and will love to share the tank with their partners of the same nature.
A great thing about this catfish is they are herbivores. They like to eat algae and other dead organic materials from the aquarium or tank. It reduces your maintenance issue. But you should not just let them live on the dead organic materials. Feed them regularly spirulina wafers, bloodworms, and other algae so that they don’t stay unfed.
Plecos are an excellent choice to put in the tank with your goldfish because they can adapt to different temperatures. Also, they are peaceful and friendly and are not likely to get into a fight. They can be big, so you need to have a large tank.
A couple of things to keep in mind while choosing Plecos. The normal breed of Plecos has a tendency of sucking the slime coat off the goldfish. So make sure you are putting Bristlenose Plecos with your Goldie. Also, they can get extremely territorial with another male. So consider not keeping two males together.
- Another goldfish
Keeping another goldfish as a mate for your goldfish is no brainer. You can go for a variety of types like Telescope eyes, Shubunkin, ryukin, and typical breed.
The same bred goldfish is the most compatible mate for your goldfish. But you should not keep different breeds in the same tank as they have different natures.
Larger breeds are predators. They are the best goldfish for ponds. It will eat the smaller breed without any hesitation. Even if they do not eat the smaller one, they always have an advantage of while going for food. So it is not recommended to keep different sized goldfish in the same tank.
Again, the fancy breeds are not compatible with the familiar breeds. The fancy breeds are very slow in movement, whereas breeds like comet and shubunkins are incredibly fast and strong. They will have the upper hand while having the food, and it is not good for the fancy breed.
So keeping a goldfish with another goldfish can be a bit tricky. But if you have the main factors in mind, they are not a hard nut to crack.
Fish that should not be kept with goldfish
Well, we know what fish can live with goldfish and the factors to keep I mind. But there are some widely popular aquarium fish out there that are not a great mate for your goldfish. A brief idea can save your goldfish from a terrible situation, so have a good look at this.
- Bettas
Bettas are beautiful aquarium fishes that everyone would like to have. But these fish are quite aggressive. They might get competitive and cause your goldfish some trouble. So if you do not want your goldfish to be attacked, or contact its fin nipped, skip the bettas.
- Common Plecos
Bristlenose Plecos can be a great mate for goldfish, but the other common plecos cannot. They tend to suck the slime coating out of your goldfish. It might cause your goldfish health issues. Actually, plecos are very gentle in nature, but they are just not the right partner for goldfish.
- Tetras
Tetras are not very comfortable with goldfish as they like much warmer water to live in. They just get stressed sharing the tank with a messy goldfish.
- Guppies
Guppies are beautiful and gentle tank fish. Many people like to breed guppies because of their beautiful appearance and non-aggressive nature. But their breed is too tiny. They can be kept with the goldfish in starting, but apparently, the goldfish will grow more spacious than it. And we know a giant goldfish tent to have smaller fishes as their meal. So it will not be a good idea to put guppies with goldfish.
- Mollies
Mollies are not a great choice to be kept with goldfish because they are not comfortable with the cooler water. They prefer a much warmer environment. Also, they can get quite aggressive and hurt your goldfish.
- Angelfish
The Angelfish is a favorite tank fish for many though it can be a horrible tankmate for your goldfish for a couple of reasons.
Angelfish are aggressive and nippy. It is not recommended to keep them with your fragile finned goldfish.
Another reason is that Angelfish are very sensitive. Without special care and water condition, they are most likely to die. So they can find it hard to adapt to the tank nature where goldfish live.
- A different breed of goldfish
There is a number of different breeds of goldfish. Though all of them are beautiful, they might not be the best mate for your goldfish. Fancy breeds move pretty slowly, and they will starve with the normal breed. So it is not recommended to mix up breeds while keeping them in the same tank.
Some last things to keep in mind. What size tank is needed for goldfish? Well, Goldfish need a lot of space to grow fluently. So you need to have at least a 20-gallon tank for your goldfish. Even though it might sound like a lot, you should go for the amount because your goldfish is expected to live 20 years in that.
Goldfish can be messy. So while adding another goldfish, add at least 10 gallons to the previous volume. They tend to get stressed in an overcrowded tank, so be careful about that.
Conclusion
Watching your goldfish swimming around moving its delicate yet beautiful fins is a soothing experience. You can always add more to it by adding more partners for your goldfish. Goldfish are a social creature, and they have no problem sharing a tank with a mate of the same temperament. But for that, you need to know what fish can live with goldfish and act accordingly.
For the betterment of your goldfish, you need to provide it with all the essentials. Starting from the tank size to the temperature, you need to maintain it all.
Throughout the article, we tried to give you essential insights into the best mates for your goldfish. We hope it helped you. Best of luck with your goldfish, remember, all it needs is just small care and follow up.