We will talk about goldfish care in this article.We will talk about why goldfish care is important and important points such as their habitat, appearance,types,tank-setup,diet,health,and their suitable tank mates.
Overview
In this blog
- Key specifications of goldfish
- Why is Goldfish care important?
- Goldfish
- Goldfish Appearance
- Goldfish varieties
- Goldfish habitat
- Goldfish Tank set-up
- Goldfish Diet
- Goldfish Health
- Goldfish behavior
- Goldfish daily-care and bi-weekly care tips
- Conclusion
How to take care of a Goldfish?
You can take care of your goldfish by doing:
- Never keep your goldies in rounded bowls.
- Before introducing your godlies make sure to do all the preparations beforehand like water preparation and tank cleaning and accessories installation.
- De-chlorinate the tank.
- They don’t need direct sunlight.
- A teaspoon of seasalt can be used to maintain goldies’ health.
- Goldfish need proper oxygen supply and aeration so add airstone to do the needful.
- High carbohydrate-protein diet is recommended.
- Always soak their food using the tank water before feeding them to avoid air gulping
- Feed them twice or thrice a day.Avoid overfeeding.
- Avoid sharp edged decorative materials inside the aquarium, because they can nip the fins of goldfish.
- Keep live plants carefully as they end up eating them.
- Avoid keeping metals in their tanks to avoid metal poisoning.
- Avoid disturbing them by tapping the aquarium, this could stress them.
Bi-weekly care tips for goldfish
- Monitor water parameters.
- 5-10 % tank water should be changed weekly.
- 20-25% tank water should be changed in two weeks.
- Big filters are recommended,as they generate large amounts of waste.
- Food expiry date should be checked.
- Check all the tank accessories if they are working condition or not.
- Wash sand weekly.
- Separate ill fish in a seperate tank to avoid the spread of the disease.
- Quarantine live food for 2 weeks before feeding them in a separate tank.
- Tank equipments, decors should be cleaned weekly to avoid infections.
Key Specifications of goldfish
| Scientific name | Carassius auratus |
| FamilyOrder | CyprinidaeCarp (Cyprinus carpio) |
| Conservation status | Least concern category |
| Native | Eastern asia |
| Lifespan | Upto 15 years (captivity)Wild- up to 40 yearsCommon goldfish, longest living |
| Diet | OmnivoresBottom feeders |
| Tank size | Min-20-gallons Max-75-100 gallons |
| Body size | 12-14 inches in length (fully grown),10 pounds in weight. |
| Color | Comes in huge variety |
| Temperament | PeacefulFriendly and interactive |
| Care-level | Easy |
| Body shape | Slim,Long,Short tail (exception being fantail) |
| Tank mates to avoid | Finnippers and large fish |
| Sexual dimorphism | Prominent |
| Domestication | Selective breeding |
Why is Goldfish care important?
Goldfish are beautiful ornamental aquarium fish and make a best pet for newcomers.They are very friendly and can live upto 15 years in aquariums easily.
Their care is extremely important in aquarium conditions, because they are aggressive eaters and can lead to the accumulation of ammonia in the tank which could be health hazardous.
So it’s very important to know as a first time buyer how to maintain them and what all necessary measures are required to keep them hale and hearty.
Goldfish
Goldfish are one of the largest selling aquarium fish in the world today.Available in almost all the pet shops because of their beautiful color patterns.
They are man-made(Chinese made them some thousand years ago) and are produced through selective breeding.
Koi carps were bred to make goldfish varieties of different shapes and colors.They can live easily upto 15 years if maintained well.
Goldfish Appearance
Female goldfish
- Thick
- Round
- Anal opening i.e protuding vent round than males (specially during breeding season)
- Pectoral fins are short and round
Male goldfish
- Thin
- Long
- Streamlined bodies
- Tubercles is present
- Pectoral fins are long, thin and pointed.
Different colors in goldfish
- Black
- White
- Orange
- Midnight blue
- Lemon
- Calico
- Green
- Sarasa (red on white)
Goldfish varieties
Goldfish are pretty,delicate,man-made and comes in huge varieties such as:
- Ranchu – King of goldfish (Quite expensive)
- Oranda Red cap- Bubble like hood
- Lion head- Poor swimmers
- Black moore (playful schooling fish) and telescope eye or dragon eye-look similar except the color.
- Ryukin- Hardy, attractive, humpy back (semi-aggressive)
- Comets – Hyperactive and dareful (most popular)
- Celestial eye/stargazer/skygazer- Large eyes turned upward
- Shubunkin-Tailed goldfish,scaleless
- Pearlscale- Round shaped
- Bubble eye- Upward-pointing eyes and two large fluid filled sacs.
- Fantail- large sized tails
Goldfish habitat
Goldfish are freshwater fish,found in slow moving water and their distribution is wide.Originally from China where they were selectively bred for different varieties and then they were found in Japan and later in Australia and America.
Water sources:
- Freshwater fish
- Slow-moving water
- River,ponds,streams,lakes
Goldfish Tank set-up
- Tank size-A simple set-up will be more than enough for them.Get a two feet tank for a 2 inch Goldfish.
- You can accommodate 3-4 goldfish in a 2 feet tank easily.
- Avoid keeping them in round bowls.Many pet shops keep them in round bowls which are not suitable for them.
- These guys are voracious eaters and love to gorge on food. They can be compared to cows,because all they do is eat and poop.
- They poop a lot and this will produce a huge amount of waste inside the tank.
- Poops contain ammonia and ammonia spikes make the tank yellowish or white in color.
- So,It’s important to change the water everyday or once in two days to maintain the hygiene in the tank.
- You can also install a good quality filtration system(hang on the back filters best for them) to remove the biomass load from the tank.so, a good filtration system is highly recommended for a goldfish tank.
- Bare bottom tanks can be used to keep your goldfish and are mainly suggested for them.
- Stones,pebbles and sand can also be used for decorative purposes.
- Sand should be cleaned weekly to remove the dirt accumulated beneath the sand.
- Add a proper bio media filter to the tank.A good bio media filter will recruit important bacterias to eat up the waste,mainly ammonia produced by them in the tank.
- Dechlorinate your tanks properly to enhance the growth of bacterias.
- You can also buy bacteria cultures from labs.Bacteria will take approximately 2 months to gain strength.
- Water conditions should be monitored from time to time,because clean water will keep them healthy and it increases their chances of survival.
- Avoid keeping them in small sized tanks.Goldfish like to swim and play.They might not grow well in smaller tanks.Greater the space, greater will be its size.
- Tank-mates- They are slow swimmers so add mates of similar kind in their tank.
- Select compatible tank mates for them such as Plecos, Loachs, rosy barbs, platies,shrimps,catfish and the list goes on and on.
List of tank-mates for goldfish
Suitable tank mates for goldfish:
- Plecos
- Loaches
- Rosy barbs
- Platies
- Shrimps
- Catfish
Tank-mates to avoid:
- Finnippers
- Boisterous
- Arowana and Flowerhorn (can eat your goldfish)
Water parameters for goldfish tank:
| Optimum Temperature-68F-74FOptimum Temperature for shubunkins and comets- 60F-70FOptimum pH-7.0-8.4Water hardness- 200ppm-400ppm They prefer both hard and soft water |
Goldfish Diet
- Goldfish are omnivorous fish and feed on almost anything near their mouth.
- A high carbohydrate- protein diet will be best for them.
- Most of the goldfish follow a vegetarian diet.They enjoy eating spinach,cucumber and peas.Cut them into small pieces to fit them into their mouth.
- Pellets, flakes, live food,and frozen food and readymade market food can also be given to them.
- High quality food is very important for your goldfish.Don’t compromise with the quality of food.
- A high nutrition food can help your goldfish to grow well and it increases their life expectancy.
- Hikari, a Japanese brand, is the best choice for them.
- Feed them twice or thrice a day.Kindly don’t overfeed your goldfish, this might kill your fish.
List of goldfish favorite food
- Vegetarian diet- spinach,cucumber, peas
- Pellets
- Flakes
- Live food
- Frozen food
- Readymade food (Hikari japanese food)
- Hornwort plant
Goldfish health
Water plays a vital role in an aquarium.Its the bad quality water which is mainly responsible for various health diseases in fish.Goldfish like other fish are susceptible to diseases due to bad water conditions.
White spots,Ich and fin rots are some of the common disease in Goldfish, like other fish.Increase in ammonia spikes could kill your goldfish by damaging their gills(burn) and brain.
They also release pheromones in the tank and if it’s not checked it might stunt the growth of your goldfish.
It’s recommended to change the water and increase the temperature to 28 degrees celsius and add some medicines available in markets to avoid such diseases.
Maintain a separate hospital tank to medicate your diseased goldfish,as it stops the spread of disease to other fish in the same tank.
Goldfish behavior
- Friendly
- Resilient
- Interactive
- Energetic
- Lively
- Playful
- Dareful
- Great swimmers
- They can easily differentiate between two people.
Conclusion
- Avoid keeping them in rounded bowls.
- Goldies are friendly fish so keep them in pairs.Don’t isolate them.It might get bored all alone.
- Goldies are one of the happiest aquarium fish and like to play and swim in the aquarium.
- Always keep the tank water clean.Poor water conditions are not good for any aquarium fish.
- Use good biofilter media for your tank.
- Feed high quality food brands like Hikari Japanese food.
- Feed once or twice a day but don’t overfeed.
- Quarantine new fish in a separate quarantine tank at least for 3 weeks before introducing them to the main tank.
- Select compatible tank mates for them because they are slow moving fish and take their own sweet time to move around in an aquarium.
- Fast moving fish will also compete with them for food resources and will consume the food quickly.
Frequently asked questions on Goldfish care
How to quarantine your goldfish?
Maintain a separate quarantine tank for the new fish by adding rock salt or epsom salt to the tank.This will clean their stomach and other parasitic disease.
Do goldfish need more space?
Yes, they need more space to grow.They can reach upto 12 inches (specially single tailed varieties) in size.
How to detoxify the goldfish tank?
Goldfish tanks produce large amounts of ammonia and other hormones and it’s very important to detoxify them by introducing some beneficial bacteria in the tank.
Can you feed vegetables to goldfish?
Yes,goldies love to eat plant based food more like lettuce, spinach, zucchini, and peas etc.
