Goldfish can live alone. The impossibility of neighborhood with a goldfish. What types of fish can be settled together

I have an aquarium of 30 liters and only goldfish and a couple of algae live there. Recently, I have become interested in aquariums inhabited by various fish, this creates the effect of a small sea. In the pet store, my attention was attracted by angelfish and catfish, as well as black goldfish. I would like to know if they can be hooked up to goldfish? And in general, what kind of fish can be kept with goldfish? Will goldfish offend catfish and angelfish? Can they be friends in a small aquarium?

15.03.2013 08:39

DanilaBok Helpful answer? |

Unfortunately, it is difficult to find neighbors for goldfish. On the one hand, this may be due to the fact that “golden” pets need spacious large aquariums and good environmentally friendly conditions, while other fish can upset this balance. On the other hand, despite their peaceful dispositions, they can only get along with those fish that are similar to them in size and temperament. Large fish, or small, but too active, can attack them by biting. And those whose goldfish can theoretically put in their mouths will become victims of such attempts. The aquarium can be exclusively from Carassius Auratis and any species of scrofula. peaceful bottom fish can be settled in the aquarium, which do not interfere with goldfish, and they, in turn, do not interfere with them. Each swims in its own layer of water, and each different time activity, which does not allow them to collide and conflict.

03.04.2013 01:49

Lizochka Helpful answer? |

You may be attracted to goldfish for their bright, speckled colors, which give them the nickname Calico Goldfish. However, this hearty fish also makes a great aquatic pet due to its social nature. This is a community of fish that coexists pleasantly with various types fish. One of best picks for tank mates for your Shubunkin there are other varieties of goldfish. Because family members are goldfish are passive by nature and thrive in communities, having an aquarium with several types works well and makes a beautiful aquarium. Because large goldfish tend to reach 6 to 12 inches in length, choosing other goldfish of a similar size results in a balanced aquarium. Comets and common goldfish are excellent tank mate choices for your aquarium. However, since these beautiful fish fast swimmers with a big appetite, it's best to avoid adding slow goldfish like lion's head and eye telescope.

Goldfish have long been considered very unpretentious, and the literature indicated that their content does not cause any particular difficulties. Is it so? Only partly, especially at present, taking into account the peculiarities of keeping fish from South-East Asia. You can say this: keeping goldfish will not cause difficulties under a number of conditions: a spacious aquarium, moderate population density, the presence of a powerful filtration and aeration system, combined with regular partial water changes and proper feeding.

What is contained in the word "content"? This term hides a set of actions that can be conditionally classified as follows.

1. Equipping the aquarium and populating it with fish.

2. Feeding.

3. Regular aquarium care and disease prevention.

Aquarium.

So, you have become the proud owner of an aquarium with a capacity of at least 100 liters (read below why not less) and want to get goldfish...

Priming.

Let's start with soil. good soil for aquarium a fraction of 3-5 mm is considered, however, it should be noted that goldfish love to sort through this very fraction and under certain conditions a pebble can get stuck in their mouth, so some aquarists recommend a larger fraction, or, conversely, smaller. But do not get hung up on this too much, this happens quite rarely; just make sure that the stones do not have jagged or sharp edges. In extreme cases, you will have to save the unfortunate creature with tweezers or a toothpick.

Aquarium equipment.

1) Internal filter. Goldfish are characterized by rather large mud formation, both in connection with their physiology and due to their love of digging in the ground. Therefore, a good internal filter for mechanical cleaning in aquarium seems necessary. Requires regular cleaning (rinsing in aquarium water when changing).

2) External filter. Helps organize biofiltration in aquarium, especially when using special fillers, a rather useful, although not absolutely necessary device. Indispensable when there is a desire to save space in the aquarium. Another great advantage is that it requires cleaning much less frequently than the internal filter.

Since many manufacturers indicate passport performance filters without fillers, and over time, as it gets dirty, it still falls, it is recommended to purchase filters, both internal and external, based on the performance of 3-4 aquarium volumes per hour.

It is worth remembering that filters must work around the clock.

3) Heater. Golden- cold water fish, however, it was noticed that they do not always feel comfortable at a temperature of 18-20 degrees. Especially it concerns small fish locally bred, grown in aquariums. In addition, such fish, like telescopes, ranches, lionheads, are considered more thermophilic. You can keep the temperature at 22-25 degrees, choose your pets according to how they feel, but keep in mind that fever causes accelerated aging of the fish.

4) Compressor. Also quite a useful acquisition, since golds need a fairly high oxygen content in the water. Even if the internal filter in aeration mode does its job, it's worth keeping a spare compressor just in case. If the noise of the compressor is annoying (for example, the aquarium is installed in the bedroom), you can find low-noise compressors on sale (they are quite expensive), or install a submersible aerator (in this case, the air diffuser and rotor are enclosed in a single housing that is installed on the bottom aquarium, and the air intake is carried out through a hose that extends outside the aquarium).

5) Siphon A must have for every aquarist. Essential for regular cleaning soil.

Plants.

To plant or not to plant alive plants to the aquarium with goldfish? Definitely: plant! Availability plants favorably affects the ecological situation, helps to cope with algae, pleases the eye and serves as an excellent feeding for fish. However, there is a small problem here. Goldfish They are happy to eat almost any aquarium plants and can quickly turn your "blooming garden" into a gnawed wasteland. Many aquarists believe that in this case there is nothing to suffer from plants, but the authors strongly disagree with this. Quite the contrary, that is why it is worth planting “tasty plants” in the aquarium - they diversify the diet of our pets, serve as an additional source of vitamins and brighten up the monotonous fish life. In addition, there are a large number of large-leaved, hard or simply "tasteless" plants that fish will not touch. These are, for example, anubias, lemongrass, cryptocorynes, echinodorus, etc. Such plants will not be eaten and will serve as additional environmental stabilizers in the aquarium.

In order to, rummaging in ground, the fish did not pull out each time plants with a root, when they are planted, the bottom around the roots can be overlaid with larger rounded pebbles over the ground.

Aquarium decoration.

Form aquarium for goldfish it is desirable as close as possible to the "classical", that is, when its length is approximately twice the width. However, you don't have to choose aquarium with a water column height of more than 50 cm, because, firstly, this will create additional difficulties in caring for it, and secondly, it may be difficult to grow plants, because the light will reach the lower layers of water and the bottom with difficulty. However, almost all mass-produced aquariums cannot be called 100 percent suitable for exuberant growth. plants; the lighting system most often has to be modified in terms of its amplification to a ratio of at least 0.5 W per 1 liter of water.

Design aquarium for goldfish- this is a personal matter and a figment of the imagination of every aquarist. Someone attracts professionals, someone prefers to develop their own project and implement it with their own hands, and someone ignores the “standards” (which in fact may not exist!) And decorates their aquarium from the “how it goes” principle .

At aquarium design One important fact must be taken into account: goldfish will live there. If you plan to keep telescopes, stargazers, water peepholes, you will have to abandon not only stones and soil particles with sharp edges, but also plants with leaves that have sharp edges or teeth. Otherwise, there is a very high risk of injury to the fish.

Separately, it is necessary to mention some decorative elements: “castles”, “grottoes”, “ships” and the like. Firstly, their aesthetic value is small, and secondly, fish can easily injure fins, eyes or growths on their heads about these decorations. Therefore, such decorations for aquarium with goldfish appear redundant.

aquarium for goldfish- not an axiom and not a law. Small aquariums (from 50 to 100 liters) with one fish (or two in 100 liters) can be very beautifully designed and properly maintained. It just seems to the authors that it is in large containers that these fish will feel much better: there is no room for swimming, a “flock” of goldfish looks much more beautiful than a single individual, and taking care of a large aquarium, as many experts note, much easier., for aquarium with goldfish appear redundant.

Of course, large (at least 200 liters) or medium (from 100 to 200 liters) aquarium for goldfish- not an axiom and not a law. Small aquariums (from 50 to 100 liters) with one fish (or two in 100 liters) can be very beautifully designed and properly maintained. It just seems to the authors that it is in large tanks that these fish will feel much better: there is no room for swimming, “

What and how many fish to house?

Strange as it may seem, not all breeds goldfish compatible with each other. There are fish that it is desirable or necessary to keep separately, including from their relatives. In addition, representatives different breeds may not suit each other in temperament, in particular, this applies to the coexistence of long-bodied and short-bodied goldfish.

About long-bodied goldfish special conversation. They are much more mobile than their short-bodied counterparts, most often these fish are schooling and, in addition, they are able to grow very large, up to 30 cm or even more (excluding the length of the caudal fin). Therefore, the most comfortable long-bodied goldfish feel like in the ponds. When keeping them in an aquarium, it is desirable that its capacity be at least 200 liters. Long-bodied goldfish it is recommended, due to their temperament, to keep separately from short-bodied. In general, these fish (“ordinary” goldfish, comet, shubunkin, vakin) are rather unpretentious, hardy and not so sensitive to changes in conditions of detention.

Among short-bodied fish, there are those that, as mentioned above, are recommended to be kept separately due to different reasons. Telescope clumsy, blind, so the neighbors can leave him on a starvation ration, in addition, his eyes are very vulnerable. The same applies to the stargazer. Neighbors, through negligence or intentionally, can injure their “bags” to water eyes. In this group of fish, the most unpretentious are Ryukin and fantail. Harder to content orandas, telescopes, stargazers, ranches, lionheads. For beginners, pearls and water eyes are clearly not suitable.

And now we come to one of the "cornerstones" of keeping goldfish - the volume of the aquarium and the population density.

It should be taken into account that one goldfish We recommend a volume of 50 liters or more. Moreover, it is desirable to organize a minimum volume of 100 liters per couple (in this case, the fish will be more free to move, even if there are neighbors). With an increase in the volume of the aquarium, the landing density can be slightly increased, but you can’t get carried away too much, with these fish it’s very easy to step over the line. In particular, two goldfish can be placed in a volume of 100 liters (or three, but in this case it will be necessary to organize powerful filtration and frequent water changes). 3-4 individuals can be planted in 150 liters, 5-6 in 200 liters, 6-8 in 250 liters, etc. Let's make a reservation that we are talking about grown fish, at least 5-7 cm in size, excluding the length of the caudal fin.

Why are the requirements so stringent? There are perhaps two main reasons. Firstly, fish brought from Southeast Asia are grown in ponds and, as already mentioned, they hardly adapt to small aquariums compared to ponds. And, secondly, due to its natural voracity and structural features of the digestive system, goldfish carry an increased biological load on the aquarium. This is expressed in in large numbers produced waste products. As soon as this amount exceeds a certain limit, the biological balance fails in the aquarium with all negative consequences until the death of the fish. In addition, the high stocking density of fish that have not reached their maximum size, is quite capable of causing a phenomenon that in the aquarium trade is called “dragging”: fish stop growing, some structural defects begin to appear, they become more susceptible to diseases.

A very often asked question by beginners is: “Who can be kept with goldfish?”. And, as a rule, the unequivocal answer to it is no one! Goldfish are extremely incompatible with any other aquarium fish, the main problem here is that, figuratively speaking, everyone who is not eaten by golden ones will somehow eat golden ones. There is real examples when guppies almost ate alive large clumsy goldfish(especially the veil ones). And those, in turn, will gladly feast on everything that can crawl into their mouths. Add to this the difficult environmental situation in aquarium With goldfish, temperature requirements and feeding regimen and you will have to exclude almost all ornamental fish from the compatibility list. An exception can only be peaceful, unpretentious catfish, which will play the role of cleaners in the aquarium. Here, too, you need to be on the alert, since there are cases when even ancistrus, typical phytophages, “encroached” on short-bodied goldfish and sucked them on their sides to the meat.

Aquarium care

Of course, before you run to the pet store or to a familiar breeder and bring home the coveted package with gold"flock", a set of measures is needed, called the "launch" aquarium. Recommendations for the correct "start" aquarium are given in many literary sources and therefore it makes no sense to repeat here. We will only say that with the content goldfish"launch" must be given Special attention due to the increased biological load they bring.

Very common mistake beginner aquarists is a "volley" landing of fish in the "young" aquarium with not well-established biofiltration, and even in combination with intensive feeding. In this case, the biological balance, already still fragile, may not withstand such a “blow”, after which a sharp jump in the concentration of harmful nitrogen compounds occurs in the aquarium and the poisoning of fish is almost inevitable.

Landing the same fish in the "unlaunched" or "launched" is wrong aquarium can cause extremely negative and often irreversible consequences for them.

Aquarium care With goldfish will not cause any special problems if carried out regularly. In general, it differs little from aquarium care with other fish (this is also detailed in the literature).

1. Weekly water changes.

2. Regular cleaning of filters as they become dirty (internal - about once a week, external - at least once every 3-4 months).

3. Regular siphoning of the soil (as it gets dirty, at least once every two weeks; can be combined with water changes).

4. Cleaning glass from algae.

5. Pruning and thinning plants.

6. Care of other equipment.

And yet, in the case of goldfish there is a certain specificity. And it is connected, first of all, with the peculiarities of their physiology. In this regard, it is necessary to organize fairly frequent water changes in the aquarium, in this regard, goldfish are quite problem-free and, being accustomed, easily tolerate even daily complete replacement water. However, do not go to extremes, changing 25 - 30% of the volume of the aquarium once or twice a week is considered optimal. good option there will be a purchase of tests for nitrates and the organization of a substitution regimen in accordance with the results obtained. It should be noted that a sharp change in regimen can cause shock in fish, which in the future can lead to some complications. If you need to radically change the substitution mode, do it slowly, gradually accustoming the fish to the new option. If the stocking density of fish increases, it is very often necessary to increase the frequency of water changes. The same thing happens when, for one reason or another, the biological balance has failed in the aquarium.

Filters in aquariums with goldfish more polluted. Accordingly, more often they should be cleaned. The contamination of the filter can be judged by its significantly reduced performance. The sponges of the internal and external filters must be washed in the aquarium water drained during the change. Fillers for biofiltration (both in external and in some models of internal filters) it is desirable to “disturb” as little as possible. In no case can not completely change such fillers! Usually maximum amount replaceable filler - one third. If there is a need to rinse the fillers, this should be done by lightly rinsing in the aquarium water drained during the change. Before flushing or changing the biofiltration media in the internal and especially external filter it is recommended to reduce the biological load on it, for which it is necessary to reduce the feeding of fish in about 2-3 days, resuming the original feeding regime no earlier than a week later.

Seaweed- an almost inevitable "settler" of any aquarium. The presence of nitrates in water aquarium with goldfish maintaining low levels of nitrates is quite difficult) contributes to their rapid growth. Algae are bad, if only because, settling on the glasses and leaves of plants, they spoil appearance aquarium, not to mention many other things. Therefore, they need to be disposed of. You can, of course, subject the aquarium to a “chemical treatment”, as recommended by the manufacturers of “miracle remedies” for algae, but it’s better to arm yourself with a special scraper or a regular household sponge. Some experts generally advise cleaning only the front sight glass of the aquarium, since algae, by absorbing nitrogen, thus also have a positive effect on the ecology in the aquarium.

Soil siphon- not the most pleasant, but inevitable procedure. With its help, excess organic matter is removed from the bottom, and this is very important for an aquarium with goldfish. It is recommended to siphon the soil at least once every two weeks. At the same time, carry out this procedure (this is especially true for small aquariums and aquariums with internal filters; in this case the bulk of beneficial bacteria involved in biofiltration lives in the soil) you need to be careful - aerobic bacteria live in the surface layer, and too intense mixing of the soil layers can kill them.

Feeding goldfish

Feeding goldfish is a very difficult question, especially for beginners. The fact is that these fish are very voracious and always hungry. Every time you pass by aquarium, we see their unfortunate muzzles, greedily “shouting”: “Give! Give!" But you have to be firm and not go along with the fish. Train your willpower and theirs, remember the rule: the hungrier the fish, the healthier it is. Feed the gold you need once or twice a day in small portions, so that everything is eaten in 5-10 minutes or less (if you feed twice a day, halve the portions accordingly). Overfeeding is a very common problem with these fish and can easily lead to various diseases primarily associated with the gastrointestinal tract.

Goldfish omnivorous. Therefore, the diet for them should be varied. It also includes live food (you need to be careful with them, often together with live food in aquarium causative agents of dangerous diseases enter; frozen foods are safer in this regard), and plant foods, and specialized foods for goldfish produced by a number of manufacturers (for example, Sera, Tetra).

Dry food(both flakes and, in particular, granules) before feeding, it is advisable to soak for several minutes in a saucer with aquarium water. Otherwise, there is a risk that food particles that swell after eating will provoke an upset of the digestive system.

frozen food before feeding, it is necessary to thaw, bringing to room temperature, and feed immediately after thawing. When feeding juveniles with frozen brine shrimp, it is recommended to soak it in water in order to eliminate the excessive salt concentration.

Re-freezing of feed is not allowed!

It is also necessary to add various plant foods to the diet, such as lettuce, cucumber, dill, cabbage, nettle, etc. All this is scalded, finely cut and served to the fish. Adult fish are able to eat, for example, lettuce leaves, without scalding, and sometimes without the need for fine cutting. Fruits (orange, kiwi, etc.) will also be a good addition to the diet.

Some good plant foods are also aquarium plants- duckweed, riccia, hornwort. The hornwort is doubly useful due to the fact that, being fast-growing, it intensively absorbs nitrogen from the water, thereby helping to reduce the concentration of nitrates.

Adult fish that receive a balanced diet can tolerate even a two-week fast without any problems. And one of the ways not to leave the fish on a starvation diet during a vacation or a business trip, if there is no person who could feed the fish, is to put a “bunch” of hornwort in the aquarium. This food is enough for the fish for a long time.

Disease prevention

It is possible to avoid such a scenario. How?

1. Do not overcrowd the aquarium.

2. Maintain a healthy living environment, high water quality. No wonder they say that even with the help of "simple" water changes, you can get rid of many misfortunes!

3. Avoid aggressive neighbors who can cause stress or injure the fish in the aquarium.

4. Follow the correct diet and feeding regimen.

There is an opinion that it is necessary to think several times before adding new fish into an aquarium that has long been "established" both in terms of ecology and "relationships" within the fish "family" aquarium, even if the volume allows it. There is a very high risk that the old-timers will negatively perceive the new settler, he will begin to experience severe stress, and here there is only one step left before the disease. Even "banal" fin rot can cause a lot of trouble.

But what to do if the desire to become the owner of another fish outweighs everything, including, sometimes, common sense? This happens: a person enters a pet store and suddenly sees something that can literally strike him on the spot. And he certainly wants this miracle to swim in his house - and no one else.

In this case, the human eye, experience and, of course, quarantine will become assistants.

Acquisition of fish- the same responsible event as its content itself. If an aquarist has at least a basic knowledge base, he is able to distinguish between obviously sick fish if they have clear signs of the disease. But it also happens that even a specialist does not see the disease at first sight! Goldfish imported from Southeast Asia are directly affected by this. In such, one or another dangerous disease can manifest itself a week or even two after the purchase, and this is due not to the fact that it is an imported fish, but to the conditions in which it was kept upon arrival, including in a pet store. Relying on the honesty of the seller here is pointless - he, too, may not know what he is selling, especially since so many current sellers of pet stores need to sell, and what to sell is of little concern to them. Therefore, the buyer can easily be misled both about “overexposure of fish for two months in quarantine” (but in fact, a week before that, she splashed in a Chinese pond), and about “local breeding”. The quarantine remains.