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Notice: I've gotten rid of all the other fish, so now it's only 3 golds in a 20 gallon.
I am planning on moving them into a bigger home though.
Since there is no room in our home my father has promised to dig a pond for them, some time next year.
Thanks for all who helped with advice.

I have two aquariums. One 10 galon and one 20 galon.
Due to an incident I am housing most of my fish in the 20 gallon and am currently decontaminating the 10 gallon.

The 20 gallon is a comet aquarium and has housed 3 sarassa commets, and a random male platy for more then a year now.
The 10 gallon was a tropic aquarrium, the survivors are one cardinal tetra and one blood gourami.
The gourami currently lives in a 5 liter quarentine bowl and the cardinal has been having a sleepover with the goldfish this week.

Now my father and I have been discussing wether or not we will continue keeping two aquariums or reduce it to one.
His favorite fish are goldfish and tigerbarbs, or fish with that shape.
He has a lot of say in this because I am going to move out of the house after this schoolyear and I can't take the fish with me.

We have 2 options, we eighter continue with one aquarium and put all 6 remaining fish in the 20 gallon tank.
Or we fix up the 10 gallon tank and populate it with gourami's and cardinals again.

Now the hard part, my dad always wanted tigerbarbs, he thinks they can very well live with the goldfish. I have my doubts because i heard that they tigers tend to n** at fins and some of our comets have very large tails.
Also I think that the 20 gallon tank is too small to house both goldfish and barbs.
The platy seems quite content on it's own but I wonder wether or not I should get this loner some comany and if I should leave him with the goldfish or let him move in with cardinals and gourami's.
(I'm feeling aprehensive to this since years ago I had a female betta masacar guppies who got too inquisitive)

I'm also feeling adventurous and wonder if ram ciclids or male bettas can combine with gourami and cardinals.
If they can, should I get a pair of rams or just one, and should I get another gourami? I used to keep my bloods in a pair, till the other one died recently.
Also, can male betas live in harmony with a gourami? Or a ram?
Is a 10 gallon large enough to house about 5 to 7 cardinals and betta or a ram (or 2?) and a blood gourami (or 2?)?

What I've been told is that you shouldn't mix gouramis with bettas because they're actually related.. you can tell by their mouth position, but yeah, since they're related, they'll surely attack eachother..especially since they're all colorful..

Also, tiger barbs will most likely attack your comets. You heard right.. they are aggressive and need to be kept with other aggressives.

And as for putting all the fish in the 20 gal.. well, honestly, its kinda overstocked already atm. The goldfish rule of thumb is 10 gal per fish, but even that isn't enough when the comets grow up, and this is important especially since they're comets, which'll grow big enough to not only crowd the tank, but make a ton of more waste than they could previously.

I'm sure, if you did a LOT of waterchanges and cleaning, that they could live in it.. but eventually, they will outgrow it, or their growth will be stunted by the small space..

If you're planning to upgrade your tank in the future, then its ok.. but since you're moving out, you gotta wonder if your dad would be willing to put the maintenance in to the fish tanks. If you're looking for more quantity in the tanks, then I would get rid of the goldies..

That's all I have to say.. sweatdrop

If I were you I would definitely keep both tanks, because you have too many fish between the two as it is. ^^;

I wouldn't suggest buying anymore fish whatsoever unless you are planning on buying more tanks.

If your father insists on buying more fish, try your best to find homes for some of the ones you already have before purchasing more. If someone will take your goldfish (someone responsible) that will free up tons and tons of space for more fish that produce far less waste.

Goldfish are lovely fish, but very difficult to keep if you don't have the space they need to live a healthy life. Nearly all goldfish do better in ponds than in a tank, but for 3 goldfish the very least they should be housed in is 30 gallons for those fish alone, but 40 would be better.

I've kept goldfish in 30 gallons, but I was forced to do water changes often to keep them from being harmed by ammonias.

So yeah, goldfish require a lot of care. Kind of like babies. xd (Except goldfish can't cry when there's something wrong with them)

I'd recommend searching on google for a good few hours to see what fish are compatible with one another. Some sites will suggest what are the best to pair together as well, so you are sure to have harmony in your tanks! (:

As has been stated you REALLY suldnt get any more fish. and get bigger/more tanks.

Gold fish need very larg tanks i would recomend a 55 for the 3 you have if you dont want to have to do constant watter changed. they grow lage and live for a long time if properly cared for.
ALSO GET THAT PLATY OUT OF THERE AND GET HIM SOME FRIENDS!! platies are warm water fish (tropical) and are schoolers (groups of 4 or more)

also, goldfish are cold water fish, gouramis, bettas and tiger barbs are tropical, along with bettas and require temperaures around 78-80*.

bettas and gouramis are related , they are labrynth breathers (anabantiods)

i really wouldnt mix them as they would n** eachother . i also wouldnt keep tiger barbs with bettas, ( barbs, tetras and other cyprinids tend to be nippy)

if you really want a betta, PM me and i will tell you every thing you need to know.


""""I'm also feeling adventurous and wonder if ram ciclids or male bettas can combine with gourami and cardinals.
If they can, should I get a pair of rams or just one, and should I get another gourami? I used to keep my bloods in a pair, till the other one died recently.
Also, can male betas live in harmony with a gourami? Or a ram?
Is a 10 gallon large enough to house about 5 to 7 cardinals and betta or a ram (or 2?) and a blood gourami (or 2?)?""""

rams: are cichlids and shuld only be kept in species only tanks, and require atleast 29-30gallons as they do best in groups and are aggressive twards other fish

cardinals: cardinal tetras are schoolers and do bets in groups of atlease 5 and higher, they require lots of swimming space and are nippers


gourami: are anabantiods and do well in groups of 4-5 if im not mistaken.

betta: also anabantiods, are not compatable with any of the above species, so i really would not suggest adding a betta unles you are prepared to set up its own proper tank (NO SMALER THAN 2.5 GALLONS!! and even that must be cleaned once a week.) please PM me with ANY betta related ?s

~britni

lol yeah, about the platies.. ^__^ ill put up som pics of my platie bebbehs soon.

Oki doki ^__^ glad to see you've taken care of things. and yeah! please contact me if you need any betta care questions!