Goldfish Care in a Bowl

Goldfish are freshwater fish which were earlier found in only one color. However, due to selective goldfish breeding, now we get different colored goldfish. Goldfish has a life expectancy of about twenty years, but when kept in a bowl, they live up to only eight years. Interesting facts about goldfish are that they do not have stomachs and they cannot close their eyes when they are asleep! There are more than twenty-one types of goldfish, of which the most popular one is the common goldfish. Other goldfish types are comet, black moor, tosakin, veiltail etc.

Goldfish Care Tips

So, how to care for goldfish in a bowl? For having a healthy goldfish, you need to provide it with a conducive environment. This includes everything, from the bowl to the food.

Bowl: Goldfish can survive in ponds, fish tanks, aquariums and bowls. While buying a bowl for a goldfish, remember to buy a big one as the goldfish needs to have space for swimming. Goldfish also like to play hide and seek, so there should be sufficient place for them to hide! A bowl having water holding capacity of at least ten gallons is required because, if the goldfish does not get enough space, its growth is stunted. So remember, a ten gallon bowl is sufficient only for one fish! One more reason why you should buy a large bowl is that, goldfish produce ammonia very fast. And ammonia is harmful for goldfish, as it causes many goldfish diseases, and can also cause death of the fish. Water helps to dilute ammonia at a very fast rate. You also get ammonia test kits which help to determine the level of ammonia in the bowl. Taking care of a goldfish bowl is also important, as the bowl is the home of the goldfish. To take care of the bowl, all you need to do is clean it once in a while.

Water: Remember to fill fresh water in the bowl regularly. The temperature of water should not be too low or too high. 50-68ºF is ideal. Also, check if your water contains chlorine. If it does, it is necessary to de-chlorinate it, as chlorine is harmful for fish. The most important thing is to change the bowl water regularly, ideally fortnightly. Water in the fish bowl gets dirty easily because of fish waste. So, instead of changing the water completely, change it partially. While adding new water, see if the temperature of the new water is same as the old water. A sudden temperature change can shock the goldfish.

Filter: As we all know, fish breathe through gills. They come to the surface only if they require more oxygen. So, adding a filter to the bowl is necessary. The filter will help in cleaning the water, which in turn, will provide more oxygen to the fish. There are internal as well as external filters.An internal filter is the best option.

Food: You can feed your goldfish lettuce, chopped earthworms, green veggies, peas, pellets and flakes. One important thing to remember is, don't ever feed the fish with pellets first, as goldfish love pellets and will eat too much of them without allowing the air to soak in. This causes a disease called air bladder disease, which does not have any cure. If you feed the flakes first, they don't have much space left for pellets. And remember, they are goldfish, not cats or dogs, so they can digest only about a pinch of each food type! So, don't overfeed goldfish! Remove the left over food after about ten minutes, as left over food can rot and produce ammonia.

You can keep a goldfish in a bowl if you know how to take care for it. So, fulfill the minimum requirements of these dazzling pets and enjoy their company!