I have been trying to convince my girlfriend to let me get fish again and she wants goldfish. I was wondering if there was any that would fit comfortably in a ten gallon. Maybe with a partner? Like another goldfish, otocinclus/pleco and a shrimp or something?

-Also what exactly is the care for goldfish? I know they need massive filtration and cleaning. I have a biowheel 150 filter and a 10 gallon whisper filter. Should I use just the biowheel or both? I LOVE clean tanks...

-Do I need the heater? I know they are not tropical but what is their "preferred temperature"?

-What food do they like? Do they just like the flakes? pellets? Do they eat any live food?

I don't want like 5 year old care of one. I actually want to care for it well if I get one. Any EXTRA info would be great too. Thanks.

You could do 1-2 1" goldfish in a 10g aquarium, but keep in mind that they'll outgrow it quite quickly if they're fed and maintained properly. 2-3 full grown goldfish would fit nicely in a 55g aquarium.

In addition, I would not recommend mixing goldfish with tropical fish, for a few reasons. First, goldfish are considered coldwater fish. They do best in 60-70 degree water. This conflicts directly with the 75-80 that most tropical fish enjoy. Secondly, goldfish are very dirty fish. The majority of what they eat comes out their aft end, and the emit more ammonia through their gills than similarly sized fish. You can be successful mixing the two, but it's certainly not an optimal thing to do. My recommendation is keeping goldfish with goldfish, tropicals with tropicals.

You don't necessarily need a heater for them. Here in New Hampshire, I prefer to keep a heater in the aquarium set to 65 or so in the event that the room temperature drops below that (it does happen occasionally). If the temperature is above that, the heater isn't on, so it doesn't cost you anything to have it in there. It's cheap insurance, in my opinion.

Feed your goldfish a wide variety of plant-based foods. A small amount of protein in their diet is fine (I've found they go bonkers for brine shrimp), but the active word there is small. Their digestive systems are not set up to properly process large amounts of fats and proteins, so try to avoid giving them much. For ornamental goldfish, I'd recommend feeding 1-2 varieties of a quality goldfish pellet like Hikari or Omega One. Try to avoid flakes, as goldfish have been known to ingest a lot of air when sucking them in from the surface, which can cause buoyancy issues. Feed fresh greens 2-3 times a week; frozen peas thawed and squeezed out of the skin, then mushed up a bit, are accepted with gusto. Romaine lettuce, frozen overnight or blanched for 30 seconds in boiling water, is also readily accepted.

Given the proper care, your goldfish can live 50+ years, so keep in mind that they're long-lived animals when and if you decide to invest in them. Give them plenty of cool, heavily filtered, well-oxygenated water, and a varied plant-based diet, and they'll reward you with beautiful colors and interesting behaviors.

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Ok well I really can't do that darn it. I need something that can stay in a 10 gallon tank. I was just checking to make absolute sure.

You could do 9-10 small community fish in a 10g if you use your bio wheel filter. Try looking at some of the tetras, and the livebearers (guppies, platies, sword tails and mollies).

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A nice group of neon tetras and some cherry shrimp would be nice!

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J-Pond
http://j-pond.myminicity.com/

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Wait wait wait 50 years on a gold fish? Fo shizzle? What's the longest anyone has kept a gold fish?

43 years the guinness book of world records raised it

And the Chinese have been keeping domesticated goldfish for a lot longer than the aquarium hobby has been in full swing too, so who knows how long they can live for sure?

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I'm afraid goldfish are not a good choice but there are lots of fish that would do well. I love celestial pearl danios. Here are a couple of links, if you like any of the fish you can do more research on them.
Stocking a 10 Gallon Tank - The Free Freshwater and Saltwater Aquarium Encyclopedia Anyone Can Edit - The Aquarium Wiki
Ten Gallon fish Tank Stocking Suggestions
Easy to care for, fast stockings for "smaller" tanks (5-29 gallons) [Archive] - Aquaria Central

I just caught this too. The average/longest Iv'e read about is 20 years.

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J-Pond
http://j-pond.myminicity.com/

please click on the egg/baby to help it grow: