Can Guppy Fish Live With Goldfish? (How To Make It Possible?)

It is essential to know if the tankmate we are planning to add to our guppy fish aquarium matches the exact requirements of guppy fish or not. This is because different living conditions can cause issues for both fish. So, Can guppy fish live with goldfish? Do they require the same living conditions?. Let us find out.

Guppies and goldfish can live together as goldfish and guppy require similar water parameters and dietary needs. Goldfish and guppies are peaceful fish. Goldfish eat anything that fits their mouth and will eat smaller guppies. Consider adding hiding places in your guppies tank to keep them safe.

This article will discuss precautions to take when adding goldfish to your guppies aquarium. So, let us get into it.

Can we keep guppies and goldfish together?

Guppy fish and goldfish can live together.

However, you must know that goldfish will eat anything that fits in their mouth.

So, don’t keep big goldfish with your guppy fish.

You can keep your guppy fish with goldfish, but you have to take precautions to keep them together.

Maintaining the right water parameters and conditions is essential to ensure comfortable living.

Another essential thing to consider while planning to add different types of fish together is their dietary needs and temperament.

Goldfish and guppy fish are peaceful fish species and love to live with other compatible tankmates.

Guppy fish and goldfish are omnivores and need plant and meat matter food in their daily diet routine.

Ideal water parameters of goldfish and guppy fish.

Particulars	Guppy Fish	Goldfish
Water temperature	72-82 °F	75-85 °F
Water pH level	6.8-7.8	7.5

Guppy fish will thrive in a water temperature between 72-82 °F.

Guppy fish will live comfortably in a water pH level between 6.8 and 7.8.

Goldfish will thrive in a water temperature between 68-74 °F.

Goldfish will live comfortably in a water pH level of 7.5.

Goldfish and guppy fish dietary requirements.

Guppy-Goldfish Food	Serving Quantity	No of Times
Veggie pellets	One pinch at a time	2-3 times a day
Brine shrimp	One pinch at a time	1-2 times a week
Mosquito larvae	10-15 pieces	2-3 times a week
Tubifex Worms	One pinch at a time	1 time a week
Bloodworm	One pinch at a time	1-2 times a week
Zucchini (Blanched)	One small slice	3-4 times a week

From the above table, we can see that guppy fish and goldfish have similar dietary requirements.

Guppy fish and goldfish are both omnivores fish species.

They both need plant and meat matter in their diets.

Provide your goldfish and guppy fish variety of foods to ensure their happy and healthy lifespan.

So, when it comes to dietary needs, you can freely keep them together on such a basis.

The temperament of goldfish and guppy fish.

The temperament of all the fishes should be similar if you plan to add different fish species together in an aquarium.

So. let us know about the nature of guppy fish and goldfish.

Guppy fish temperament

Guppy fish are very peaceful fish species.

Guppy fish is excellent at living with other compatible and peaceful tankmates.

Your guppies will live peacefully with goldfish and will not disturb your goldfish.

Sometimes situations make them aggressive, like stress, illness, and improper male and female guppy ratio.

Suppose there are too many males and few females present in your aquarium.

The male guppy will take breeding as a competition and may fight with other male guppies to mate with the female guppy.

We recommend keeping the male and female guppy ratio at 1:2, which means one male guppy for every two female guppies.

You can also keep three female guppies for every male guppy.

Keeping more female guppies will prevent aggression on male guppies.

Also, it becomes very stressful for female guppies when being chased continuously by male guppies for mating, so keeping more female guppies will eliminate this issue.

Also, ensure to provide a large enough space for your guppie so that they can swim freely.

Goldfish Temperament

Goldfish are also very peaceful fish species.

They are very social and love to live in a community tank.

However, goldfish will eat anything that fits their mouth, Making it difficult to keep small fish and goldfish together in a tank.

So, if you are having guppy fry or small guppy in your tank, then goldfish will happily feed on them.

So moving the big goldfish to another tank is essential if you don’t want your guppies to be eaten up by big goldfish.

However, goldfish are social fish, and we should never keep them alone.

If you have only a single goldfish, add other compatible tankmates to your goldfish tank.

How do we keep guppy fish and goldfish together?

We have to take some precautions to keep our guppy fish and goldfish together:

1. Provide your guppy and goldfish with adequate water temperature.
2. Maintain the water pH level of your guppy-goldfish tank.
3. Protect your guppy fry from goldfish.
4. Add live aquatic plants to your guppy-goldfish tank.
5. Add a good filtration system and do regular tank maintenance of your guppy-goldfish tank.
6. Add lots of hiding places in your guppy-goldfish tank.
7. Keep your guppy fish and goldfish in a large aquarium to ensure they have enough space to swim comfortably.

Provide adequate water temperature.

Goldfish are known as cold water fish, which can support the water temperature between 40-78 °F.

It is easy to maintain goldfish as they can live in a wide water temperature range.

If you have only goldfish in your aquarium, you can usually keep your aquarium maintained without adding a heater.

If we talk about guppies, then guppies prefer to live in warm water temperatures.

Guppies live comfortably in a water temperature between 72-82 °F.

If you have guppies in your aquarium, there will be a heater to ensure the warm and stable water temperature.

Keeping your aquarium water temperature at 70 °F will be best if you want guppy fish and goldfish together.

At 70 °F, your goldfish will get a cold enough temperature, and guppies will have a warm enough temperature.

Hence, they both will live happily and comfortably.

You must know that keeping stable water parameters is equally essential as providing the right water temperature.

So, make sure to maintain a stable water temperature, as unstable water temperature can make your fish come under stress and prone to several diseases.

Also read: Guppy Fish Minimum Water Temperature

Maintain adequate water pH level

Guppy fish require a water pH level between 6.8-7.8.

Goldfish require a water pH level of 7.5.

You can keep the water pH level at 7.5 to ensure that your guppy fish and goldfish live comfortably.

Not performing a regular water change will turn your water acidic.

Ensure to perform a regular water change to prevent the water from becoming acidic.

Also, you should know that a lot of waste in an aquarium also makes the water acidic.

Goldfish produce lots of waste.

So, adding a gold filtration system and performing regular tank maintenance will help you keep your guppy-goldfish aquarium water clean.

Also read: Best pH Level For Guppies?

Protect your guppy fry

You must know that if you keep male guppy and female guppy together, they will breed out of control.

A female guppy can release 5-120 guppy fry at a time. 

Female guppy becomes sexually mature when they reach three months of age. 

Goldfish will feed on anything which will fit in their mouth. 

Goldfish and adult guppies will look at the guppy fry as a good snack and will hunt them down. 

So, if you want to keep your guppy fry safe, you can do two things:

1. Keep your guppy fry in a breeding box.
2. Keep your guppy fry in a separate tank.

Also read: Can Guppy Fry Survive In A Community Tank?

Breeding box

Add a breeding box to your guppies and goldfish aquarium.

Move the pregnant female guppy in the breeding box when it is about to release the fry.

Once the female pregnant guppy releases the fry, move the mother guppy back to the aquarium, as guppies don’t have parental instinct and will feed on their fry.

Let the guppy fry live in a breeding box for 2-3 weeks until they get a size that will not fit in big goldfish and adult guppy fish mouths.

Separate tank

You can also keep your guppy fry in a separate tank.

Move your all guppy fry from your guppy fish and goldfish aquarium and move them to a separate tank.

Keep the guppy fry in a separate tank until it gets big enough to fit the adult guppies and goldfish mouths.

However, let them live in your guppy-goldfish aquarium if you don’t care for guppy fry.

You can also keep only male guppies if you don’t want your guppies to reproduce.

Live aquatic plants in your guppy-goldfish tank.

You must know that goldfish eat anything that fits in their mouth.

It goes the same with plants.

However, there are some plants that you can add to your guppy-goldfish aquarium:

1. Water lettuce
2. Duckweed
3. Java fern
4. Anubias
5. Water sprite

These are some live aquatic plants you can consider adding to your guppy-goldfish aquarium. 

But, it is not for sure that goldfish will not damage these plants.

However, all plants except anubias are low maintenance and will grow fast.

Even if goldfish try eating these plants, they will grow really fast.

The best plant here is duckweed, as it will help you eliminate the nitrates from your guppy-goldfish aquarium.

Also, duckweed grows quickly and contains proteins and vitamins. 

Your goldfish will not be able to eat all of the duckweeds anyway, so it is best to add duckweed to your aquarium.

Anyway, goldfish will usually not be interested in feeding on plants if we provide them food regularly. 

So ensuring that your goldfish is not hungry will help you keep your plants safe from them. 

Adding plenty of live aquatic plants will provide hiding places for your guppies. 

Consider using a weighted base for the live aquatic plants so that guppies don’t get able to uproot them.

Also read: Do Guppy Eat Plants? 

Ensure good filtration and regular tank maintenance

When it comes to keeping goldfish in an aquarium, good filtration becomes something essential to maintain.

Goldfish produces lots of waste which can make your aquarium dirty quickly.

Proper maintenance and regular water change are essential.

Performing a regular water change will help you eliminate the nitrate from the water.

But, you will need a good filtration system to take care of ammonia spikes in your aquarium.

You can go with buying a canister filter or internal filter with biofilter media.

Regular water change is essential whether you have a filter or not.

Keep your guppies and goldfish tank clean with regular maintenance.

Use a gravel siphon to siphon out any solid waste present in the gravel.

Having a filter and regular water changes will help your goldfish and guppy live a happy and healthy lifespan.

Also read: Do Guppies Require Filters?

Add lots of hiding places in your guppy-goldfish tank.

Guppy fish need lots of hiding places.

Hiding places makes your guppies feel safe.

Add lots of hiding places so that your guppy can hide when they are stressed or ill.

Also, hiding places will keep your guppy fry safe from adult tankmates.

Consider adding lots of live aquatic plants and hiding decor in your guppy-goldfish aquarium.

Live aquatic plants will also help you keep your aquarium clean.

Keep them in a large size aquarium.

Making sure to provide your goldfish and guppy with large enough space to live comfortably and happily is essential.

Guppies and goldfish both require enough space to swim freely.

Lack of space can make your fishes come under stress and prone to various diseases.

We recommend having at least a 20-gallon tank for keeping 3-4 guppies and one goldfish.

However, you can follow the one inch per one-gallon rule, one gallon of water per one inch of fish.

This method of one inch per one gallon will make it easy for you to decide the numbers of guppy and goldfish to keep in your aquarium.

Also read: How Many Guppies In A 20 Gallon Tank?

Conclusion:

Guppy fish and goldfish can live together as they have similar dietary and water parameters requirements. However, avoid keeping big goldfish with guppies as goldfish eat on anything that fits their mouth. Big goldfish will feed on smaller guppies and guppy fry.

Goldfish produces lots of waste, and having a good filtration system is essential if you add goldfish to your guppies aquarium.

Add lots of hiding places in your guppy-goldfish aquarium.

Guppies need lots of hiding places to feel safe.

Ensure keeping your guppy fish and goldfish in a large size tank to swim comfortably.

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Reference: ResearchGate, Wikipedia, Wikipedia,