Is Your Goldfish Healthy Enough To Outlive You?

Goldfish are one of the most common types of tropical fish found in an aquarium, and they can actually be quite long lived with the oldest reported goldfish living to be 43 years old!

But, if you are like most aquarium owners, your goldfish probably only last a year at the most. So what is the secret to long lived goldfish? The key is in proper care and maintenance of your tank as well as knowing how to recognize certain goldfish diseases that can threaten your fish’s health.

One mistake that most owners of tropical fish make is to put too many fish in the tank. While you might want to see as many fish as possible swimming in your aquarium, overcrowding the tank will only lead to poor water quality and sick fish. Gold fish are particularly messy fish and can really fill up a tank with waste rather quickly so you need to be sure not to put too many in the tank - or if you must have a lot of fish buy an aquarium big enough to maintain them properly.

Another thing that can shorten the lifespan of your fish is poor water quality. Waste from your fish and uneaten food fall to the bottom of the tank where they decay and cause the water to become toxic to the fish. This lowers the fish’s resistance to disease and leaves him less able to fight off infection and illness. They key here is to do regular water changes - vacuum the goop off the bottom and be sure to test the water every week so that you know if there is an imbalance and you can take steps to correct it.

You must also be on the lookout for parasites and disease that can threaten the health of your gold fish. One of the most common goldfish diseases is Ichtyopthirius, or as it is commonly called, Ich. This is actually a parasite that attaches itself to your fish. It is easy to miss because it looks like little pieces of salt or even bubbles on the fish. Who would think that bubbles on a goldfish were amiss? Probably no one, but you need to be careful about Ich because the parasites eventually fall off and sink to the bottom where they meet up and make baby Ich’s that then attach to the goldfish starting the cycle all over again. If left untreated, there can be so many of them that it can kill off your whole tank.

Another disease you might want to be on the lookout for is fin rot. This is a bacterial infection that usually happens when your fish has an injury to his tail or fin. The bacteria gets into the site of the injury and eats away at the fins. Healthy fish can usually fight this off, but if you don’t tend to your fish tank water routinely then your fish will probably not be in the best of health and could succumb to this disease.

Providing the proper goldfish care for your finned friend will ensure that he lives a happy, healthy and long life, but watch out - you might find that you have to put provisions for his care in your will!