First goldfish - What do I need to know?

JamJamJamJam

My girlfriend just bought me my first goldfish. I know goldfish often end up dying after a few days or weeks, and I'd be devastated if that happened! So I said I'd come to ask what I should be doing to keep it as healthy as I can. Unfortunately, I'm completely ignorant on the whole area.

I think it's type is comet goldfish.

For now it's in a small fishbowl, probably about 8 or 10 inches in diameter. How often should I change the water? In fact, how do I go about changing the water to begin with, given that the fish is going to have to stay underwater? Is there an ideal temperature for it, or is it okay to leave it at room temperature?

How often should I feed it? The side of the food container says once a day, but the woman working in the shop said once every two days, so I'm not sure? Also, what is the best kind of food for a goldfish?

What else can I do? Can you exercise fish?! I could go swimming with it or something! :P

I want to buy a proper, larger tank for it as soon as possible because it looks very cramped in there. Hopefully I can get the money together soon...


If someone can answer even one or two of those questions that'd be really great. Thanks a million!

DjFlin

Clean the tank by scooping out water with a mug or something, until theres only a small bit of water left (enough that the fish can still get around obviously). Then just carefully fill it up with fresh water.

Feed it once a day.

antocann

okay to start you off ,

gold fish dont die in a few weeks they live for years

get a bigger bowl , stones , pump ect .....

you should feed it once or twice a day , and food , id say goldfish flakes , their cheap

a nice size bowl to do it for now would cost no more than €20

Silverfish

Hi,

Here's a caresheet for comets.

The fish you have will grow to about 12 inches long, with proper care. And they grow fast, too.

It will need filtration, and regular water changes ( 25 - 50% weekly).

Keep an eye on adverts and donedeal and places like that, lots of people selling tanks reasonably enough (and a few not, too)

The reason they end up dying after a few weeks is due to being kept in bowls, or being put into an uncycled tank, and the water fast becomes toxic with ammonia.

kylith

As others have said you need a much bigger tank. I was housing goldfish in way too small accommodation for ages and they wouldn't last long,but I've also had one in my pond for the last 10 years and he's about 8 inches long now

JamJamJamJam

antocann wrote: »

gold fish dont die in a few weeks they live for years

Sorry, I meant as pets they can die soon due to inappropriate conditions, etc.

Silverfish wrote: »

Hi,

Here's a caresheet for comets.

The fish you have will grow to about 12 inches long, with proper care. And they grow fast, too.

It will need filtration, and regular water changes ( 25 - 50% weekly).

Keep an eye on adverts and donedeal and places like that, lots of people selling tanks reasonably enough (and a few not, too)

The reason they end up dying after a few weeks is due to being kept in bowls, or being put into an uncycled tank, and the water fast becomes toxic with ammonia.

That caresheet is really good. Thanks so much! At 12 inches it literally would not fit in the bowl I have now :P I'll look around for a better tank, and hopefully I'll be able to pick one up in the next few days.



I have those goldfish flakes, so that's a start! Thanks for the replies.

JamJamJamJam

I went to a pet shop today and they told me that the fish would be fine in a fish bowl. I mean, what?! Not a chance! This is it:



It's far too small! The poor fish can barely swim around! So I'm still going to get a larger tank in the next few days - even just because it looks better. I'm not sure whether I should leave the tank to 'cycle' and keep the fish in the bowl or to put the fish into the tank as soon as possible, though. What would be safer? Maybe I could put the stones from the bowl into the larger tank in the hope that they'd bring some bacteria with them?

And jeez, this fishkeeping business is looking expensive! The 'master' test kit I saw in the shop today for ammonia, nitrite, nitrite and pH is going to be €45, the tank I'll be getting will be from €100 to €200, and then there's a filter, gravel, ornaments, etc. on top of that! Nonetheless, I'm liking it

Draupnir

You should get him moved into the tank as quickly as possible but you'll have to do 80% water changes or so on a basically daily basis to keep the Ammonia and Nitrate down until the filter cycles.

eager tortoise

I am in the process of transferring my goldfish from a v small filterless tank to a larger tank. It's 60l and I bought it on adverts for 50 euro. You should investigate buying a tank second-hand as it will save you a lot of money. The seller very kindly included a filter, air pump and light and these are all extras which would have cost more money. 60l is still small for a goldfish but I don't have room for anything bigger at the moment. Ultimately I would like to put him in a pond but for the time being this is shaping up to be a far nicer environment than his old tank

I was also very confused by the cycling etc. I went to a fantastic pet shop (Maxi Zoo in Finglas, if you happen to be in Dublin) and was helped by a very knowledgeable salesperson. He told me to buy water conditioner and a bottle of the 'good' bacteria that live in the filter. I've been following the directions on the bottle of bacteria, adding a small amount each day for the past 8 days. He told me to come back in about 2 weeks when he would test the water for me. I thought that was a good service since the tester kits are a bit pricey. Plus I was very grateful to have some help and advice!!

I am 100% no expert but that is the advice I got! Heading back in in a few days to see if the water is ok for me to transfer fishy. The bottle of bacteria says fish can be introduced within a few days but I decided to follow the pet shop man's advice and wait a bit longer. The fish is in his tiny tank right next to the new one and I swear when I come into the room he's got his face pressed against the glass, peering in longingly at his new home!!

Silverfish

I'd recommend you get your own drop test kit, I wouldn't buy the test strips, buy the Nutrafin test kit or the API test kit, which will last longer.

If your tank is cycling correctly,the first thing that will show up is ammonia. You should absolutely never let it get higher than 1.0, but even 1.0 is dangerous. If you ever get a reading of 1.0, you would need to do a water change of about 90%. So, it's best to keep ammonia at .5 or lower.

After a few weeks, nitrites should start to show up. There is no set time when this happens. It's just all very subjective to many different factors. The rule for nitrites is about the same as ammonia. It's best to keep it at .5 or lower.

After a few more weeks, nitrates should show up. You may get a combination of nitrates and nitrites or you could even see a jump straight from ammonia to nitrates. Nitrates should never get above 40, but again, that's a dangerous level. Nitrates are best at 5 - 20 ppm.

Once you get a stable reading of nitrates with no bumps or crashes back to nitrites or ammonia for at least a couple of weeks, you can consider your tank cycled.

I've heard of pet shops telling you your water is 'perfect', but the tank may not be cycled and ready for fish, as the results are not something permanent, this could mean they could not detect ammonia/nitrites or nitrates...meaning the tank isn't cycled.

Also you will need to test the water regularly once the fish are in the tank, as the additional bioload on the filter may cause a mini-cycle to occur.

Your ideal results for a tank should be ammonia- 0ppm, nitrites - 0ppm, nitrates between 5 and 20ppm.

diverdad

As a young lad I used to clean out my fishbowl about every 1-2 weeks depending on the clarity of the water.
I just used to stand the bowl in the sink and run the cold tap into it until the water went clear. A bit of a stir towards the end while the water was running and it was cleaned in minutes.

Never lost a fish. Ever.

Silverfish

Yeah, it's down to personal choice, but a 8 - 12 inch fish is not going to grow to it's full potential in a bowl. It's going to be stunted, regardless of how long it lives.

JamJamJamJam

I bought a 90 Litre tank! It's not the full 100 L, but it's all I could afford and I'm delighted to have the fish in there now. He looks a lot happier there too! I'll hopefully get my hands on a test kit tomorrow and I'll keep changing the water. Thanks a million for all the replies! It's been really helpful

Oranage2

JamJamJamJam wrote: »

I bought a 90 Litre tank! It's not the full 100 L, but it's all I could afford and I'm delighted to have the fish in there now. He looks a lot happier there too! I'll hopefully get my hands on a test kit tomorrow and I'll keep changing the water. Thanks a million for all the replies! It's been really helpful

Thats great news - the bowl was tiny, it would be like you living in your bathroom.


Did you cycle the new tank and has it got a filter?

JamJamJamJam

Oranage2 wrote: »

Thats great news - the bowl was tiny, it would be like you living in your bathroom.


Did you cycle the new tank and has it got a filter?

No, unfortunately it's not cycled. I followed someone else's advice above and put the fish in as soon as possible. The tank has a filter and I added some bacterial starter.

He's only been in there for a day, but I tested the water anyway, and so far the results are:
pH: about 6 - 6.5 (probably could be a bit higher. I then tested my tap water and it's also around 6. I'll probably get an aquarium pH buffer.)
Ammonia: 0 or very close to it
Nitrites: 0 or very close
Nitrates: 0 or very close

One day obviously isn't enough to produce meaningful results in a tank containing a single fish.

Out of curiosity, if I added a full bottle of bacterial starter, would it be at all similar to allowing the bacteria to grow from the normal amount of starter?