Goldfish Substrate: What to Use!

Which is the best gravel to use for goldfish? Because I know that goldfish can choke on the gravel, I was wondering - is it best to get tiny gravel (sand) or big stones for gravel. Some places say sand, but what do you think?

I have never seen a goldfish tank with sand in, a friend of mine used to have a goldfish tank. He used large gravel and the fish where fine with that.

Hope this helps.

thanks.

here is what someone told me:

Quote :

While it is possible, it is rare that a goldfish gets a piece of gravel stuck in their mouth.

I'd stay away from sand, as that can get trapped in their gills, and would be very messy to deal with when vacuuming. A fine-sized, smooth substrate (no epoxy coating) up to 1/4" in thickness should suffice.

I think im just going to use no gravel...though im still heavily debating that

For goldfish, use pebbles about 30mm in diameter. These will prevent the from swallowing them. My friend used to keep a koi in a 30 gallon aquarium, and it chocked to death because it swallowed a small pebble. Goldishes do that as well, and that happened to my goldfish too. I had to help them out one of them nearly chocked.
Tip: the size of the gravel should be larger than your goldfish's mouth.

Regards,

Unlimitedfishboy

ugh...those pesky goldfish...
for some reason i hate big gravel, but i have to buy it anyway!

This had happened to one of my goldfish too when I had them. Luckly I saw him swimming around swirling the pebble around in his mouth trying to spit it out. But it was too big. I actually had to catch him and pull the stone out with a pair of tweezers.
You might want to watch the decor that you put in the tank too. I had a fairly decent sort of cave decoration made out of ceramic that he liked to swim in and out of. At different times he would change his routine and not bother with the cave then months later he would start playing there again. One time he went back and he had grown just a little too much. He squeezed himself into the cave but couldn't get back out.
This time I had to take the cave and fish out. I wrapped them in a towel and with the best judgemet I had. I had to crack the cave with a hammer to break him free.
It was risky but It worked and he came out without a scratch.
One lucky but silly fish.
If there's trouble in a tank to be found a goldfish will find it.