GOLDFISH

Watch your water closely. Make sure your water doesn't get too dirty and cloudy looking. Goldfish die so quick because of poor quality water than they do from any other thing. A really good thing to acquire would be an ammonia test kit. The test kit I would strongly recommend you getting is Freshwater Ammonia Test Kit by Aquarium Pharmaceuticals. It is in a yellow and white box. It is the easiest to use. You use drops instead of pills dissolving. Much better and more accurate as well. They are pretty cheap and you could check your water every couple of days or so to see if it is getting too high of an ammonia content. It would be a good idea... especially for the smaller bowl to keep a gallon jug of water sitting out all the time so you can change it frequently.

The water you put in has to be the same temperature as the water you took out. It can vary by two degrees but you should try not to vary more than that. A sudden water temperature change can be fatal to your fish. Get a fish thermometer. They are only about $1.59 or so. That way you can make sure your water temperature is the same. By leaving a jug of water sitting out you avoid having to put in stuff to take the chlorine out (you can save some money there) and also if it has sat out overnight it is assured of being the same temperature as the bowl.

Goldfish do much better in cooler temperatures. They are really a cold water type of fish. While it does not hurt them to be in warmer temperatures they tend to be healthier and happier in the cooler temperatures. It is best to have your fish in a bowl or tank at room temperature unless you are going to be housing other types of tropical fish with them. NOTE see "OTHER FISH YOU CAN HAVE WITH YOUR GOLDFISH" below.

My friend's mother has a Goldfish that she has kept in a little tiny fish bowl for over 16 years now. It is healthy and happy as can be. She lives in California and when she does water changes she uses bottled water. The fish has never had a sick day in it's life.

I read in a book once that the oldest living Goldfish was 45 years old. I don't know whether to believe that or not, but that's what it said.

I would say the contributing factor to a Goldfishes long life would be not introducing other fish into the tank for sure. That is a sure way to take a chance of bringing disease in. Not over feeding and making sure you keep the tank clean at all times. And by all means to make sure that you put the water in the tank at the exact same temperature as the water in the tank.

Just about any type of tropical fish food will work for Goldfish. I feed mainly Goldfish food in my tank of Goldfish, however I add the Spirulina Flakes and Algae wafers for the Pleco and the DoJo's though they don't really need it. The more varied the food you feed your fish the better. No one food will supply the total nutrition needed to keep the fish healthy. I have a 50 gallon tank full of GoldFish. They are still my most favorite of all my fish. The healthiest as well. Here's how I feed. Now, many people may not go to the extent that I do as far as feeding my fish and of course it will be your choice what you decide to do, but this is how, what and why I feed the way I do.

1. I feed a flake food first. Goldfish have a tendency toward getting something called Air Bladder Disease (See below). This is where pelleted type food swells in their tummies/bladder and the fish can't balance properly. They will float to the top of your tank upside down and will have a real hard time swimming naturally. Goldfish are real hogs and if you feed pelleted food first they wolf it down before it has a chance to soak up water and swell. Thus it swells inside of them. This is why I feed flake food first. They pig out on that and when I feed the pelleted food they are already pretty full and don't eat as much.

2. You will notice that when you feed at first the fish rush around like sharks in a feeding frenzy grabbing all the food in sight. So, I suggest you feed them a good sized pinch full... say about at least a tablespoon or more (This would depend on the size of your fish. You don't say how big they are.). If they are still rushing around after you feed that amount give them a little more. Give them enough so that they have the appearance of not eating so frantically. At this time then give them a large pinch of pelleted food. You can pre-soak your pelleted food for 10 minutes prior to feeding it if you would like. This is not something that I personally do, but others do do this. It is a way to help stop the Air Bladder Disease.

3. Here is a suggestion that I received from one of the people who visited my web page. Again... this is not something that I have personally done, but it is something that I would like to do sometime in the future.
   "Hello. Really like your page. I think that it's pretty neat. Just wanted to make a suggestion about the feeding of goldfish. Did you know that you can also feed them chopped, no-salt added spinach from a can? I used to work in the aquatics section of a pet store when I lived in Texas, and that is what we fed the ornamental goldfish. They don't get dropsy or anything from swallowing too much air when eating, and they love the stuff. Bye."

4. Another thing Goldfish like is Romaine Lettuce. Make sure though that you only buy organically grown lettuce. That will have no preservatives or chemicals on or in it that could be harmful to your fish. Buy one of the clips and hang it on the side of the tank. Watch it closely so that you remove any floating particles right away. Also remove it when it gets to wilting too badly. That way it won't foul your tank. But the little buggers just love it. :)

5. The most IMPORTANT thing is that you do not feed your fish so much food that it sinks to the bottom and just lays there uneaten. You want your fish to have all the food eaten within about 5 minutes time. So, start out feeding a certain amount and if it is eaten real quick then give them a little more. You will have to watch and be the judge of the exact amount of food to feed.

6. It is better to feed a little bit of food several times a day than to feed a whole bunch of food all at once. With my work schedule I am only able to feed at night. On weekends I feed several times during the day. This way the fish are much happier. I know we humans don't like only being able to eat once a day.

7. Lastly, depending on your budget, I would suggest feeding several different types of Goldfish food. Fish, not just Goldfish, but all fish, do much better on a varied diet. No one food on the market is able to supply all of the nutritional needs of your fish. I feed the following foods.

• Wardley Gold Fish Flakes
• Wardley Goldfish Ten - Small floating pellets
• Tetra Pelleted Food - Sinking pellets
• Tetra Dorofin for exotic Goldfish - Sinking mouth size morsels
• O.S.I. Ocean Stars - Floating/sinking star shaped Pellets
• Tetra Gold Medal Growth Food - Sinking mouth size morsels
• Tetra Gold Medal Maintenance Food - Sinking mouth size morsels
• Tetra Gold Medal Color Enhancing Food - Sinking mouth size morsels

SYMPTOMS:

CAUSE: This is usually caused by any type of pelleted foods. These darn little buggers eat like pigs and hog the food up. The pelleted food swells up inside them causing air.

TREATMENT-CURE: There is no real cure. You can treat them for it with antibiotics or stop feeding any type of pelleted food for about 3 weeks (or until you notice they have improved). After that time, Follow the feeding method above. They may improve slightly but will never get well. They will forever do their little upside down thing. They can live for years this way too.

First off, the thing you need to be the most concerned about is the buildup of ammonia in your tank. Goldfish are known for being high producers of waste, especially ammonia. Ordinary tropical fish can not handle as high of amounts of ammonia as Goldfish can. If you add other tropical fish to your tank, be sure and closely monitor your ammonia levels.

Other fish you can add to your tank. I have Do-Jo Loaches in mine and a Plecostomus. They do just fine in there. Do-Jo's are very playful and fun to watch. I have also housed Platy's in there with no problems. Now that my Goldfish are huge... 5-7 1/2", I have moved the smaller Platy's out so they don't have such a hard time competing for the food. Platy's are very colorful and would make a nice addition to a Goldfish tank. The other plus for you is that they are not very large. They only get about an inch or so.

I received a message the other day from a young man that keeps other fish with his Goldfish. I thought I would pass the information on to you. Though I have not tried to keep any of these fish with my Goldfish, this young man seems to have had good success with it.

"I started to rear fish when I was 6 years old. Now I am already 13 years old. My Goldfish didn't harass the Swordtails at all. But I observed that one of my female Swordtails (only one of them) peck at my goldfish every time they are feeding (only when they are feeding). But that does no harm to my goldfish (not at all). Probably it just wants to get some food for herself because the goldfish eat them all before she could get a munch. So, I scatter the food all over my 10 gallon aquarium so everyone gets their share. And she does no more pecking. When I am in my hometown in Sibu, Malaysia, I even rear four of my goldfish with my Angelfish (4), Zebra Danio (3) and Sailfin Molly (2). All of them got along VERY well. I didn't use any heater. No death has ever occurred in my aquarium."