Pet Goldfish

It's hard to escape the charm of a goldfish. This member of the carp family is one of the oldest fish to have been domesticated. The goldfish that we commonly have today in our aquariums trace their origins to the brown/olive/dark-gray variety of goldfish in East Asia. Despite its name, selective breeding has created a variety of goldfish of different colors and which can be kept in ponds as well as in aquariums. However, the ones that are of the more fancy type aren't usually able to stand wide temperature fluctuations that they may be subjected to if they are kept outside in a pond. So for those who want to own a goldfish as a pet or already have one, need to choose the right variety depending upon where they are going to keep it. Whether it is kept as an aquarium fish or in the pond, care has to be taken to ensure that these flamboyant fish add to the beauty of your home.

Goldfish Care Guide

Type of Goldfish
Though there is a wide variation as far as color of goldfish is concerned, broadly, there are two types of goldfish. One type is the egg-shaped body goldfish and the other is the flat-body goldfish. The latter are hardier than those with egg-shaped bodies and hence are an ideal choice for beginners. Therefore, avoid choosing any of the egg-body shaped goldfish types that include the oranda, pearlscale, telescope-eyed, black moor, ranchu, bubble-eye and others, to be kept in a pond. (Fantail, ryukin, and black moor however, are exceptions to this rule). The flat-body variety includes the common goldfish, comet, wakin, and shubunkin goldfish.

Fish Tank
Whatever the size and age of your goldfish, ensure that it has enough space to move around freely. The ideal goldfish tank is an all glass, silicone sealed aquarium that should be as big as the owner can afford. However, the fish tank should never be smaller than 24 x 12 x 12 inches in size for housing two large goldfish at the same time. A tank of this size would approximately hold 50 liters of water that besides providing enough space for the fish to move, is also enough to dilute the ammonia that they excrete.

The next aspect of goldfish care is where to place the aquarium. Choose a spot that would not expose the tank to direct sunlight. Also keep the tank in a low noise area of the house. The sunlight factor is important from the point of view that goldfish are cold water fish and do not adapt well to wide temperature fluctuations. This is specially true of the fancier varieties as already discussed. The ideal temperature of a goldfish tank is anywhere between 65 to 68º F. Despite the fact that being a cold water fish, they do not need a thermostat like tropical fish do but it is important to ensure that the temperature of the fish tank never drops below 50º F.

Cleaning
Cleanliness of the environment is an important factor of pet goldfish care. Avoid using tap water to fill the aquarium. However, if you have to fall back on tap water, then be sure to treat it with water conditioner to reduce the chances of introducing contaminants to your fish environment. Though many people use bottled water, distilled or ionized water is a strict no-no for goldfish aquarium. As far as aquarium care is concerned, never use soaps or detergents to clean the fish tank or accessories used to decorate it. It is best to use a 10% bleach solution and soak the aquarium paraphernalia in it for 15 minutes and then wash them thoroughly. Let them dry completely so that no trace of bleach residue is left on them. Goldfish tend to pollute their water frequently hence, water in their tank should be changed regularly. For this, do a partial water change once every week or at least once in every two weeks. Never change more than 25 to 30% of the fish tank water at a time. When you add freshwater, ensure that it is de-chlorinated, or that the water has sat overnight for enough oxygen to dissolve in it. Another useful goldfish care tip is to use a water filter and ensure proper aeration in the aquarium.

Feeding
Goldfish are omnivores, i.e they eat both plants and worms and the good news is that they love variety too! Dry pellets available at the local pet store is a good choice. However, before feeding your fish with these, soak them in aquarium water for a couple of minutes so that they expand before the fish eats them. Goldfish also love eating frozen, live or gel based foods. However, while feeding live foods to your fish, you also expose it to the risk of ingesting parasites which are sources of goldfish diseases. Hence, the freeze dried varieties are safer than the live ones. Blood worms, shrimp, meal worms and daphnia are some of the favorite items on the goldfish menu.

Besides feeding them the right type of food, it is also important to give goldfish the right amount of food. Goldfish owners always run the risk of overfeeding their pets which may spell serious trouble for the fish. Feeding the fish once a week is sufficient. Also do not add more food to the tank than what the fish eats within the first 5 minutes. Anything more than that may lead to overfeeding the fish as well as polluting the aquarium.

The fact that caring for a goldfish is not very demanding has led to the popularity of this fish as pets. However minimal the required care may be, it is best to do one's research and be prepared to provide all the conditions required for proper pet goldfish care. With proper maintenance, goldfish can survive as long as 10 years to add to the joy of a colorful and lively aquarium in the house.