I have a 20 gal long, how many fantails could I keep in it?The get about 15cm.
I have good filtration, the one looks like a cascade(it is not) and the other is a under gravel.
The gold fish in the tank are comets and the are going to a pond in a few weeks.
The one is a fantail and I don't want her to be alone wen the others go.
Here are some pics.
2 would be nice. If you have a couple and you plan on breeding just keep the two. I wouldn't go more than two though...you really should just have one in there but with some plants you could get away with two. That way you can keep maintenance down...two would be good and happy though. No more...You'd need a way bigger tank.
Your ideal tank for 2 gold fish would be like a 25/29 or 30 gallon tank. If you look in the fish profiles you should usually have about 1 gold fish per 20 gallons and than 10 gallons per each extra gold fish. The bigger the better. They like space and will grow big if they have that space.
It's great that your comets are going to a pond, but unfortunately your tank is too small for another goldfish. The one fantail you have in there is pushing it as goldfish can grow anywhere from 15 cm to 30 cm long (depending on genetics and diet).
Your filtration is also not sufficient. Goldfish need double filtration (a 20 gal tank need a filter rated for a 40 gal), and undergravel filters have a habit of trapping a lot of waste if not properly cleaned. This can cause major problems in a goldfish tank as they are major poopers. I would remove it and add live plants like hornwort and anarcharis/elodea.
Alternatively you could put the fantail in the pond with the commons. As long as they don't bully the fantail it would be a much better setup. Fantails are hardy enough to survive in ponds. Depending on how cold it gets in the winter, you might need to bring it in for the winter.
There is no hard and fast rule. The best guide is 20 gallons for one and an additional ten gallons per additional fancy goldfish. However, this is only a guide and can vary greatly depending on water changes. If you do enough water changes to keep the nitrate within 10ppm of your tap they should be fine.
Filtration is another point where although there is room for improvement, you may be fine. If the water is clear there is enough mechanical filtration. If there is no detectable ammonia or nitrite then there is enough biological filtration. By definition you therefore have enough filtration. However, if that tiny little filter happens to stop running for some reason (impeller breaks or wears out or one of many other reasons) and it is the only filtration and aeration the fish could be dead within a couple hours. At the very least add a strong air pump so that the tank still has flow and aeration if that filter ever stops. But do consider a larger and/or additional filter.
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