jcj,

Espicially with goldfish the bigger the better... And understock... better filtration better (bio wheel)... the slightly larger size will pay for itself in the end...

That said, since it is temporay, should be ok, just keep water clean. When I was a kid I raised gold fish in one of those kiddy pools... (do you ever think back and thank your parents for allowing this xxxx! I most certainly do, lol!)

rocks, plants fish did well.

I brought them in during winter (no real reason, Southern Oregon had/has really mild winters) but no mud at bottom so thought they had to go in.. Only had 20 gallon for all of them, memory does not serve, but much more then one... none died.. I truly believe that today's stock, due to inbreeding, or pollution or breeding practices is just not as hardy as 40 years ago, when I raised them... rarely had a fish loss.

They even bred in that tank during winter and I sold them for .25 cents to local fish store (the BIG Y) now gone sigh.

so, would say, keep water clean and all will be ok... Best Sherry

Best Sherry

A 4-5 inch should be in about a 55 gallon tank. A 10 gal. is DEFINATELY too small for a 4-5" goldfish. In a 30 gal. I'd go to the next higher than the 30, goldfish are MAJOR poopers. You need extra filtration for them to deal with that fact.

Tom

Thanks for the advice. In the meantime, I had gone out bought the 29 gal, returned it, now ordered the 20 gal (see my newer thread). In the future, I'm going to go the route of using a large rubbermaid container if I need to quarantine and will use the 20 gal tank for a few babies only (if I get any in the pond this coming summer).
The 20 gal will have to do for now for my single 4-5" fish.