tmo

I have two goldfish that we have had for the last eight years, (gutted bought my daughter them thinking they would only last a couple of years!!) Had to buy a new tank at the weekend as the old one had sprung a leak.
Anyway got one of those hexagonal ones and it's huge!! Original fishes look a bit lost.

Anyway the question is if I buy a couple of new small goldfish, will the original ones scoff them??

ajm

How big a size difference are we talking here?

p.s. Is the old tank held together by silicon? If so its very easy to repair.

tmo

Original fish.. one is a fair old size, around 6 or 7 inches other one about 4 - 5 inches. new ones about 1 - 1 1/2 inch long

Yes it was the one held together with silicon, unfortunately binned it, but would be interested in the repair for future reference.

Tim
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davegtt

to repair just re silicone it

if your goldfish have lasted that long I wouldnt add new fish to them, always results in disaster from what Ive seen before, remember a 10yr old fish they added another, 1 week later they was both dead

sleeka

wouldnt put new ones in, could have some disease that could easily be spread to the others.

Best to let the originals see their days out, then buy a load all at the same time and put them in together.

ajm

Basically goldfish are gluttons, if they can fit it in their mouth then there is a fair chance it will get eaten, if not then it may be ok although it could still get bullied and "gummed" a bit! .

Its pretty straight forward really. You can buy non toxic aquarium silicon from good aquatic stores. Carefully remove the inner beads of silicon with a stanley knife (the sides of the tank should stay together but be gentle!), make sure it is as clean and dry as possible and then reapply a bead of fresh silicon around all the inner seams! Job done.

This is a perfectly good repair on small tanks, although personally I would probably get a large tank 300ltrs+ rebuilt by a pro. for piece of mind, especially if the leak is near the base where the pressure is greatest.

tmo

PMSL

Question is how long will the incumbent two live !!!

tmo

Had to do the rescue bit a couple of times, when the larger one had got a stone stuck in its mouth (looked very funny)

ajm

Carp aren't really my field of expertise, but well looked after specimens have been known to live for 30yrs+.... is that what you wanted to hear? lol!

tmo

How long !!

Really

Oh my god

tmo

Watched the programme on the piranha last week, very very interesting.

ajm

Your average fish stuck in a goldfish bowl without a proper filter typically endures fairly poor water conditions so the life expectancy goes down accordingly, however you should probably still make provision for them in your retirement budget!

ajm

It is a good documenary. I am a fan of Nigel Marven's work, he manages to get a good balance between factual information and making sure it is interesting television.

His Anaconda one is on tonight!

tmo

****, got a huge tank, top of the range (well it cost loads) filter assembly

Life's looking good for them at the moment