How many goldfish can I keep in a 16 gallon tank?

I just recently bought a 16 gallon tank and I was wondering how many goldfish can I keep in it. Can anyone give me the answer to this question? Please help me!!!!

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Nov 18, 2015
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by: Amy

Congratulations on buying your new tank. How many fish can you can in your tank is a good question. As a general rule you can keep 1" of fish per gallon of water. The 1" refers to the length of fish excluding the tail. Based on this rule you could keep 16" of fish in your tank. However this is a very general rule and it is best to err on the side of caution when stocking your fish tank. How good your filtration system is has a great effect on how many fish you can keep. Some fish also seem to produce more waste than others. For example years ago I had to upgrade my tank twice because of waste my catfish was producing.

I suggest you find out the max size of the goldfish you plan to keep and use that as a guide. Please ensure you have gone through the beginners guide on this site before introducing any fish to your new tank. You will not be able to add all your fish at once; doing so will lead to new tank syndrome.

I hope this helps and feel free to come back if you have any more questions.

Kind regards

Amy


Useful links
https://www.amysguidetoaquariumfish.com/beginnersguidetotropicalfish.html
https://www.amysguidetoaquariumfish.com/newtanksyndrome.html

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