Building a diverse and colorful fish tank is the aim of many fishkeepers (unless you have a favorite breed). While you might assume that all types of fish can live together peacefully and happily, that is not always the case.
Different breeds of fish will have different requirements and not all types of fish make good tank mates. Goldfish are arguably the most popular fish for fish keepers and in this article, I’ll look at whether or not they can live with another popular fish, the cichlid.
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Can Cichlids Live With Goldfish
Before getting into the details of whether or not these two fish can live together, I’ll first give you the summary:
Cichlids and goldfish cannot live together in most conditions. Goldfish are coldwater fish whereas cichlids are tropical water fish and therefore require warmer temperatures. The temperament of both fish clash as well with goldfish being passive and cichlids more aggressive meaning they will not share a tank peacefully together.
This might come as disappointing news if you were hoping to keep these two types of fish together but unless you are a seasoned fishkeeper with extensive knowledge and care skills, it would be extremely difficult for these two types of fish to coexist in a home aquarium.
Why Cichlids and Goldfish Can’t Live Together
There are a few very compelling reasons why cichlids and goldfish can’t live together and I’ll cover the main four reasons below.
Tank Requirements
Cichlids, measuring between 3-8 inches, and goldfish, measuring between 6-20 inches (though 6 is average for a home fish tank) are both medium-sized fish. For fish this size, the tank requirements are larger than if you were keeping smaller fish like bettas, tetra, or guppies.
A single goldfish can require a 20-gallon fish tank just to itself which is a large requirement. According to research by Fishkeeping World, cichlids need anywhere from a 30-gallon tank to a 50-gallon tank depending on their size.
This means that to even consider keeping these two types of fish together, you’ll need a reasonably large tank. The size will depend on how many types of fish from each breed you’d want to keep but as a minimum requirement, you would need a 40-50 gallon tank.
Water Temperature
Besides the tank size, another limiting factor (and one that is more difficult to work around than tank size) is the water temperature requirements for both fish. As I mentioned earlier, goldfish are coldwater fish while cichlids are tropical water fish and as a result, both fish need to live in water temperatures that are greatly different.
Goldfish, in general, need a water temperature of 68-74 degrees Fahrenheit to be comfortable. Some types of goldfish can live in different temperatures but this is typically your average. For cichlids, however, they need a water temperature that is significantly warmer at 75-85 degrees Fahrenheit.
There are some exceptions where goldfish and tropical water fish can live together but just looking at the averages, even if you set the temperature at 74-75 degrees which is close to a level where both types of fish can live, it would be at the extreme end of both scales.
This temperature would not be ideal for either type of fish and I’d be very hesitant about recommending that you “could” try to make this work. The temperature difference alone is enough to show that these would not be suitable tank mates.
Temperament
Another important factor to take into consideration is the temperament of these two types of fish. The reason for this being that goldfish are very peaceful and passive fish but most breeds of cichlid are aggressive.
MIT.Edu states that certain types of cichlid can be very aggressive; it’s not uncommon for these fish to actually kill other tank mates! When considering suitable tank mates, you generally do not want to pair a passive fish like a goldfish with an aggressive fish for a number of reasons:
- The passive fish will become stressed as a result of frequent attacks from the aggressive fish.
- The passive fish may become underfed as they will not compete for food.
- The aggressive fish may attack and injure (or even kill) the more passive fish.
Pairing your goldfish with an aggressive school of cichlid would make it very hard to manage as there are definitely some scenarios where cichlids have been known to attack goldfish. The two breeds do not have a similar nature and will struggle to live peacefully in the same tank.
Without getting too drastic, the difference in temperament between these two fish is so large that it’s not unheard of or even uncommon for cichlids to attack and even kill goldfish. This video below is a bit graphic so viewer discretion is advised but it shows the potential fate of a goldfish if you try to keep them with cichlids.
While a cichlid is not a natural predator for goldfish, the end result is very similar and goldfish will struggle to defend themselves if they are forced to share a tank with the more aggressive cichlid.
Tank Maintenance
It’s common knowledge that goldfish are one of (if not the) messiest fish on the planet. Their bio-load means that they produce a lot of waste and ammonia which is not good for any fish that you want to keep with them.
This video below goes into quite a bit more detail about how goldfish are a messy breed but the key takeaway is that when keeping goldfish, tank maintenance and water changes, in particular, will take up more time than with other fish.
The reason why this is such an important point is that if you get lazy or too busy for regular water changes, goldfish can be quite hardy and should be able to handle this but cichlids on the other hand will become very susceptible to illness.
Keeping these two fish together will involve constant tank cleaning as the waste the goldfish produce will put the cichlids at risk. Dirty water will lower the cichlid’s immune system which could result in illness, infection, and potential death which is why it’s such a big issue.
How to Keep Cichlids and Goldfish Together
In rare instances, and for experienced fishkeepers only! It could be possible for cichlids and goldfish to be kept together but a number of factors will need to be considered before this could be the case.
- Fishkeeping experience – your fishkeeping experience will be the most important factor if you want to keep these two breeds together. Managing water temperature, water quality through regular cleaning and water changes, and even managing conflict or feeding issues will all be problems that you’d need to resolve. For an experienced fishkeeper, this might not be an issue but for any hobbyist or beginner fishkeepers, this would be too challenging of a scenario to try and make work. Remember, these two fish do not naturally belong together so trying to make it work will not be straightforward or easy.
- Tank size – If you have a very large community tank, it may be possible for these two types of fish to live together comfortably. Water temperature will be an issue still but larger tanks will allow enough space for both breeds to swim around comfortably and water quality can be better managed. A larger tank will also allow you to add more plants, rocks, and hiding places that both fish can make use of. Goldfish are naturally prey in the wild and are naturally used to hiding. Combine this with an aggressive cichlid and it becomes essential that you provide plenty of hiding spots.
- Breed – There are different breeds for both types of fish and with each different breed, you will find that they have a different personality. I’ve discussed how cichlids are mostly aggressive breeds but there are exceptions to this. If you can find certain breeds of cichlid that are not aggressive (Land of Fish have some recommendations), this would make it much easier to introduce them to a tank of goldfish as the chance of violence or bullying will be greatly reduced.
In Summary
While goldfish are peaceful fish that you would assume can live comfortably with most other breeds, this is not necessarily the case. In terms of compatibility, goldfish and cichlids should not be kept together in the same tank.
An experienced fish keeper with a large enough tank might be able to provide an environment for these two breeds to live together but for the majority of fishkeepers, I would not recommend that they live together.
That chance of you keeping them both together and living a happy, peaceful, and natural life is very small. In my opinion, it would be best to look for more suitable tank mates rather than forcing these two breeds to live together when they are not compatible.
