you know how every one says that gold fish needs about 10 gallons per fish. all that crap isnt ture. as the bigger the tank the more expensive they are, larger tanks take up more space and are a waste of money and time to clean. the plain truth is gold fish dont need 10 gallons/fish to live a happy life, what people say is just garbage. another thing is gold fish dont grow as fast as people make it sound. i have a 15 gallon fish tank with 8 comet gold fish (about 5 in. long), suckermouth cat fish (6 in.), 3 guppies, and 1 male fighter fish. the whole set up has been running for just over 10 years. guppies added about 1 year ago, fighter fish 2 years, all are happy and healthy. also know other people who have gold fish in 10 gallon tanks with 10 gold fish who are live happy healthy lives(running 8 years). have a friend that lives in a small apartment with 4 gold fish living in 2 gallon tank with filter (5 years running). i have never had problems with fish living in small taks/bowls. a few years ago i tryed a 150 gallon tank paying overv $1500 for whole set up, ended up getting ridd of it. even though people say they are easy to keep, thats a lie. the whole thing took up too much room and was a pain in the ###### to clean took so much water to keep it full especially when it came to cleaning once a year. thats what i think in my oppinion. you dont have to agree with me.

U got a lot of guts coming here and write that kind of stuff in ur first post. As you say I don't have to agree with it, well I don't 100% and I'm sure all the members here don't too.
There are a million & one good reasons why a goldfish need at least 10 gal, some of them u can find out on this site with a bit of searching.
Thank you for your time in writing ur thoughts very clearly, but I'm afraid ur just a lone fish in an ever-expanding ocean.

Good day

ohhhhhh told...... lol gj d_golem

I guess this whole thing boils down to the definition of happy and healthy lives. Fish might be able to exist in the conditions you're discribing... But I can assure you... They're not happy and healthy.

Very bold opinion. You said you've never had problems with fish in small tanks/bowls, but so they grow to their full size? In fact the reason they might not grow as fast as people say they will is because of they=ir crowded conditions. I guess fish are tough little guys who adapt and can survive poor/crowded conditions. Just as a hampster couldsurvive in a shoe box sized cage, and a child could survive living in a closet. But is survival all we think of? I think everyone one this site truly wants to give their fish the best possible quality of life. I think we owe them at least that if we are going to take them home. We want to see our fish grow big because we know they are healthy. What can I say? We just love them.

Very well said, jessica!

Well I had my common goldfish Eric in a 3 gallon tank when a first got him with just an air pump. I can tell you the water fouled up after a couple of days. So I came on here and saw I needed a 20 gallon tank at least for 1 common so I got him one. Eric now has a bigger tank with a better filter and the water doesnt foul up as bad in a couple of days.

So Ziyadi while you are entitled to your own opinion on tanks and how many fish you can have. I dont agree with them though because of my experience with Eric when I had him in a small tank. The only time he goes in the 3 gallon tank is while i'm cleaning his big 20 gallon tank.

Before coming across this website, I used to keep my fishes in small tanks and overcrowd them. Some of them did live a few years before dying of illness - ich and dropsy (not knowing and medication back then). Note that the kind of fishes that you keep are the more hardy fishes, they tend to survive on a less desirable condition and adapt to it.

When you have fancy goldfish and you have them in small tanks, you'll definitely have red streaks on your fishes' tail due to poor water quality (thanks to koko's for teaching me), thus they would live with damaged tails or fins. Definitely not a show quality fish - indicating they are not healthy.

Yes, with your experience keeping your fishes in the overcrowded tank, your fish can't grow in size. To have a huge 'palm size' goldfish, they do need a 10gallon-each space, or a pond.

I can't afford a huge tank either, as I live in an apartment, thus I stick to just 2 fishes and do water changes twice a week. Can't wait to move to a house with a pond

I am wondering if, since this person joined and has still only posted once, this was meant to just start trouble? Get a big argument going, lots of cursing and name calling, and get some people kicked off the board?