Posted by Freshwater Aquariums in FAQ, Guides | 4 Comments
Choosing Your Freshwater Fish: Tropical Fish vs. Goldfish
The most exciting part about getting a freshwater aquarium is choosing the fish you want to put in your tank. When most people arrive in the fish section of a pet store (or better yet, when they walk into aquarium fish specialty store) they get pulled in every direction by all the beautiful fish.
Unfortunately, tropical fish and goldfish aren't supposed to be mixed together, so you're going to have to choose one or the other. In my eyes, this decision comes down to 3 key factors: compatibility, ease, and personal taste.
Compatability:
This entails everything from fish temperament, size, and your home aquarium. O.K. so we already know that tropical and goldfish can't be mixed.
As far as temperament goes, goldfish are easy. Most goldfish get along with each other as long as they have enough space to be comfortable. Fish do have their own personalities, so you may come across a "bully" fish that likes to beat up on the others. In which case you'll have to get it out of there or risk the wellbeing of your other fish. Remember, 2 gallons for every inch of fish in the case of goldfish. If you want to get goldfish, you should take into consideration the size of your aquarium. Full grown goldfish can range from 6 inches to 1 foot in size, so if you're working with a 10 gallon tank, you may want to consider getting tropical fish, unless you plan on upgrading to a bigger tank soon.
Tropical fish on the other hand can be a little more difficult. Tropical community freshwater fish require half the tank space when compared to goldfish. More aggressive tropical fish such as cichlids, bala sharks, and thousands of other aggressive species of freshwater tropical fish will typically need more space. This requires some trial and error. Some fish simply won't get along together, the key is to find fish with similar personalities and levels of aggression.
Ease:
I personally find goldfish far easier to take care of in comparison to tropical fish, and I think most would agree with me. Goldfish don't require a heater (in most cases) and they're usually far more hardy. As mentioned under "Compatibility" goldfish typically get along great together, with the exception of the rare rogue goldfish. So that's one less thing you have to worry about.
Tropical freshwater fish can be a little more difficult, as there are many more factors to take into consideration. For starters, tropical fish are more likely to be affected by water temperature, chemicals, and stress. As a result tropical fish are far less hardy. Again, compatibility comes into play here. Incompatible fish can cause quite the headache.
Personal Taste:
This should be the deciding factor for the many that are in the market for new freshwater fish. After all, this is your aquarium and your pets, you should enjoy them. If you're setting up an aquarium for your kid, I'd suggest just going for goldfish, heck, get a Betta (also a tropical fish) even. For those of us that can handle the responsibility, choose the fish that interests you the most.
For me, it's tropical fish, African Cichlids in particular. My first freshwater aquarium was a Cichlid tank because I love the vibrant colors. They're also not too aggressive if you provide them with a proper habitat.
Choosing tropical fish will allow you to choose from a much larger variety of fish. With more variety comes more color, interaction, and most importantly, some wiggle room.
This really helped me set up my tank at my house, it is so beautiful. I love this website!
Actually, some tropical fish can handle lower temperatures and can be housed with goldfish when the water is slightly below room temperature [think "cool"]. As long as the fish have stable temperments, there should be no reason that they couldn’t be housed together. Danios, Neon Tetras, and African Dwarf Frogs make lovely tank mates.
I’ve been researching this topic for quite some time now because many “tropical” fish species come from Asia where Goldfish also originated. The “ideal temerature range” for any given fish or invertabrate. It’s absolutely absurd the fluctuations. So I figure, as long as they get along and are housed in relatively similar temperatures at the store, then why not keep them in the same tanks?
I put two blue (tri-spot) gouramis, a pretty striped gourami of some kind and some tiger barbs together. One of the blue gourami obliterated to population of barbs. While I was out after replacements to replenish the school I brought the supposedly agressive gourami back as a donation to the store. Upon returning home, I found two more barbs dead. I’ve removed the other gourami, but am worried. Most compatability charts state that these are compatable types. Apparently the charts are wrong in the case of our tank. What gives? Any suggestions. The confiscated gourami’s in a small bowl in my sons room. He can’t live like that for long.
Andi, that’s a good point you make about the temp. i’m living in asia and have a tropical aquarium (without water heater) and a goldfish bowl side by side. so the temp is the same for both. i tried putting the goldfish in the aquarium but within a few seconds a bichir took a lump out of its tail. but it could work with other species.