do fish get lonely? and further Qs about goldfish.

[FerrisBueller]

D had 2 fancy goldfish but for the last year she has had only 1. Fish looks quite happy, eats and swims around but should there be more than 1? do fish like company?

Also while I'm here I'm thinking about getting myself a tank for the kitchen with a couple or goldfish in.

How big is small enough for my kitchen but big enough for 2 or 3 fish? which filter is best? (used to have a fluval - DD has a fluval - are they good?)

TIA

i have had ond goldfish by its self... its now just over 16 years old

Hi, goldfish don't get lonely, don't worry! I've had great advice on here from Sweetnitanitro (although I think she's namechanged now) and I'm certain she would say that goldfish require huge tanks, I have one fancy goldfish in a 60 litre tank (which is also a bit small really and I'll have to consider getting a bigger one at some point). White Cloud Mountain Minnows are apparently easy to look after, and are active little fish, you could have maybe 5 or 6 in a 60 litre tank .

we had 2 goldfish and 1 died - the other just used to literally lie on the bottom bored stiff.

We had to buy another buddy for it and it perked up again.

I don't think they get lonely as such they just get bored if alone

Don't get a small tank for goldfish - they will quickly outgrow it. They make loads of mess too and you'll be cleaning it out all the time. A tropical set-up is easier to look after (the only difference is the heater, which doesn't need any maintenance) and the fish are much less messy.

Yes, I have name-changed and yes, goldfish get massive and so need massive tanks. The smallest tank I would consider for any fish would be about 60 litres, anything smaller than that is just a total nightmare to keep fish healthy in (ignore those little 'beginner' tanks, the only thing you can keep in those is a nice bunch of tulips).

6 minnows would be great for a 60 litre tank and a fluval 2+ would be a good filter to have. They are sub-tropical so you'd only need a heater if your house gets really cold at night or in the winter. Don't forget to do a fishless cycle before you put any fish in! And beware crappy advice from pet shop staff that don't know the head end of a fish from the tail end.

You have to be careful about buying new fish, goldfish do fight sometimes, keep an eye out for bullying.

We have a fan tail fancy goldfish and we did have another gild fish (silver) but it unfortunately died from we think swim bladder we had it nearly 3 years! :(

We got two new fish in the week, one was a small silver goldfish with a red streak which is fine and leaving our fan taled gold fish alone, but the other one is a single taled gold fish and we think is biting the fan tale fish, her fins tale are looking shredded.

We obv dont want to give the fish back as the kids love it, but what can we do?

Thinking of getting more hiding places and plants maybe to help situation so the fan tale doesnt feel exposed to the other fish.

Any ideas/advise would be great!

Thanks