How fast do goldfish grow?

[jdjn13 23]

Hey all,

Hope you are doing good! I was just wondering how fast goldfish actually grow. I have had my little lionhead for a week now and I have been feeding him and his tankmate (calico oranda) on Hikari Oranda as well as peas every 4 days or so. He has put on weight well, and I swear he has grown about a cm. Is this normal?

Thanks!

[I-Goldfish 233]

You can't really answer this question ! That's great that your little fella has grown !

Growth in a goldfish depends on many things ;

Space , the more space a goldfish has will help them grow bigger and faster.

Food , different foods can accelerate or decline growth speeds.

Health , obviously a healthy goldfish will grow faster than an unhealthy goldfish.

Sorry I can't be more specific as I'm not an expert !

P.s. I'm not sure but I think that happy goldfish grow faster that sad , unhappy goldfish , someone should know more about the goldfish emotions !

[bodoba 2,980]

Growth while juvenile (the first 2 years) can be erratic and uneven. Like most animals there is a range of growth, some grow fast, slow or even in spurts. After 2 yrs growth seems to even out and we adjust feeding accordingly.

As stated above, there are many factors to keep a goldfish healthy. A healthy goldfish will grow naturally.

[jdjn13 23]

Great! Yeh, I'm not wanting to force their growth. JUst keeping them healthy, well fed and active! Definitely agree that the healthier and happier they are the more they grow. I had two comets that I kept in a 12L tank (I was 10 and didn't have a clue!!) and they didn't grow much at all in there, then when I moved them to a 10 gallon and actually looked after them better, they grew to 6 inches and lived 6 years.

[JamieMonster 562]

I've had some young (between a few mos old to a year old) fish who have grown about 1/4" a month in length for a full year, after bringing them home, and some, of about the same age, that have barely grown at all since bringing them home. It depends on the individual fish, and many other factors, as stated above. You can get rapid growth with young fish , though, and it is not at all abnormal. Single tails and longer bodied, more slender shaped double tails seem to grow more quickly than round bodied, chunky fish, from my experience- but, I am sure this also varies quite a bit from fish to fish.