1. Goldfish need space.
When I first got into keeping fish, the first type I went for were, you guessed it, goldfish. Being about twelve years old at the time and only having a ten gallon aquarium to work with I figured that I could keep about six small common goldfish comfortably. After I got them home and released them into the tank everything went well for about a day or two until I woke up one morning to find all six of them dead. My mistake here was that I didn’t realize that goldfish need space to swim and explore. The more cramped a goldfish is the prone it is to becoming stressed or ill. As a general rule you should have at least ten to fifteen gallons of water per goldfish. This may seem like a lot, but that leads me to my second point.
2. Goldfish are messy.
Goldfish are very messy fish. They produce a lot of ammonia and it can build up quickly in an improperly filtered or too small tank. Most goldfish will uproot and eat plants in a tank. In addition to this they may also try to move and eat gravel if it’s placed at the bottom of a tank so some people opt for larger stones or a bare bottomed tank. Goldfish are very much like small children in the fact that they love to interact with their environment. Ornaments pose no obstacle for a goldfish, they will typically knock them over and move them if they get bored. To avoid total tank destruction your best bet is to keep goldfish in pairs and have a very interesting living environment that is frequently changed.
3. Goldfish have a long lifespan and get larger as they age.
The oldest goldfish on record recognized by the Guinness Book of World Records, Tish, and reportedly lived to be forty-three years old. Sadly, most people don’t realize that the average live span for a goldfish is well over twenty years and are surprised when they live for more than a few days. Before getting a goldfish it’s a good idea to think about the future. Will you be able to care for a fish in five years? What about ten? It’s really no different then adopting a cat or a dog. The responsibility is actually almost greater because of the needs required by the fish. A cat could almost take care of itself but, a fish requires you to maintain its habitat and take care of it daily. Another thing to consider is a goldfish’s size. Upon purchasing a goldfish you may not realize its potential size when full grown. Since a goldfish is essentially a carp it can grown to huge proportions. Some have been known to weight over ten pounds and be up over a foot long when fully grown. Do you have the room for an enormous aquarium?
4. Feed sparingly.
A goldfish will always appear hungry no matter how often it’s fed because they digest food very quickly. It’s often joked that they don’t have a stomach. Since goldfish, like most fish, can die easily of being over fed it’s generally a rule to only feed them as much as they can consume in two minutes a few times a day. Many people feed a generic goldfish flake food or pellet. Goldfish are also known to enjoy bloodworms, brine shrimp, and many blanched vegetables. In any case a varied diet will typically keep fish healthier and happier. Would you like to eat the same thing every day? Probably not.
5. The best companion for a goldfish is another goldfish.
Because of their need for colder water and the fact that they can get fairly large it’s probably for the best if you keep your goldfish with other similar goldfish. Usually common goldfish and fancy types shouldn’t be mixed because the fancies are slower moving and may be picked on and chased.They also require slower moving water than most fish.
So if you’ve read this and you still want to take on the world of goldfish keeping congratulations, goldfish are stunning and intriguing fish and I wish you the best of luck!
