Proper Care and Habitat for a Goldfish
By Evelyn
Copyright 2007

The Myth about the Bowl:

People, who have never owned a fish before, are unfortunately mislead through the displays in pet stores where you see 1-3 goldfishes displayed swimming happily in a 1 gallon glass bowl and think its ok to put them in there, without realizing though, that it's the worst place to put them into.

Reasons not to put a goldfish in a bowl!!!!

1.   You can't put proper filtration in a 1 gallon bowl, and since goldfish are coldwater fish, they need more oxygen then the tropical fish. And also the ammonia can't be controlled in the bowl, as well as there will be never any bacteria ever, because of the many water changes you would need to do on it.

2.   You will stunt their growth severely without even knowing it if you didn't do any research on it. People always think that fish grow to the size of the provided space, yes they do optically, but their organs won't stop growing because of that. Your fish will have a shortened lifespan as well as die a very horrible and cruel death due to being suffocated by its own organs. They can live 20+ years with proper care, and not just one year.

3.   Also goldfish produce more waste then any other fish and you would never be able to keep his health up in a simple bowl without filtration. With daily water changes there is no way for healthy bacteria to grow on and establish. They're also very messy eaters, which contributes to high ammonia levels and pollution of the bowl.

So are these enough reasons to encourage you to provide the right habitat for a goldfish??

Goldfish Species:
•   Single tail (Torpedo-shaped) Goldfish
       o   Comet and Shubunkin
•   Double tail (Torpedo-shaped) Goldfish
      o   Wakin
•   Double tail Fancy Goldfish
      o   Fantail, Black Moor, Telescope, Ryukin
•   Other Double tail Fancy Goldfish
      o   Oranda, Pearscale
•   Fancy Goldfish with no dorsal fin
      o   Ranchu, Lionhead
•   Fancy Goldfish with different eyes
      o   Bubble-eye, Celestial-eye

What's the right habitat for a goldfish?

• 10 gallon tank for 1 goldfish only, with 8 gallons of it devoted to swimming room alone (which is only for starters, they will outgrow this tank up to a 55 gallon one, some goldfish can get to be a foot long)

• Filter appropriate to tank size (which should be set on low flow, since goldfish don't like to much of a current)

• NO Heater

• Thermometer

• Gravel or marbles for the bottom

• Clean water at all times

• Live plants such as hornwort, anacris and cobomba

• Goldfish also like low lightning

• Also goldfish get easily stressed, so it's a good idea to add some caves to your tank as well, but nothing with sharp edges

Set up your tank and cycle it before putting your Goldie in there. Once your Ammonia and Nitrite levels are at “0”, and you have got some nitrate readings, your tank is ready for a goldfish.

The temperature should be kept around 65-72 degrees at all times. (Having the temperature to high for a very long time, can cause nerve damage & heart damage, seriously hamper their immune system and make them also easy prey to disease such as ich & swim Bladder disease.

You're supposed to do weekly partial water changes of 25% with a gravel siphon to ensure a healthy environment for your goldfish, and replace the carbon cartridge every 4-6 weeks.

Food and Care:

A Goldfish is an omnivorous scavenger (eats anything), so you should provide him with a high carbohydrate diet. Such as Baby Brine shrimp alive, Flake Food, Pellets, they also love dried shrimp and thawed peas once in a while to prevent from constipation.
Feed them twice a day, but only as much as they will eat in under 2 min at each feeding.
To cut down on stress you can provide them with caves for them to hide in. When you put decorations in, make sure that they don't have any sharp edges.

If you keep up with weekly maintenance, proper care and habitat, your Goldie can live up to 20+ years.

Companions:

Besides other goldfish you're pretty much limited to white cloud mountain minnows.
Always choose goldfish with the same handicap, or they will fight over the food.

Final Thoughts:

If you really care, you will give your goldfish the life he deserves. It's also a living creature and should be treated as such. Just because it can't tell you what's wrong with him or show you appreciation, doesn't make it any less of a living and feeling creature, which is so beautiful to watch when it swims happily and gracefully in your tank.

1 Goldfish belongs in at LEAST a 10 gallon tank for starters, and for each additional one another 10 gallons of water!!!!!

I wish each one of you a happy fish keeping and joy in your newly found hobby!!!!