how do you take care of a gold fish?

Answer 1

first, lets get something straight, we're not trying to get you to spend all of your money, what good would that do ME? none. do not listen to Rob W, most of what he says is untrue. what I and a few others here are telling you is not the way to m"make them live a bazillion years" or whatever he said, but the PROPER and HUMANE way to treat a fish. fish are still living things and still feel, just because they are too small to take care of themselves or do anything about it doesn't mean we should treat them poorly. keeping them in a large container is because they are messy and will quickly fill the tank with ammonia, but ALSO because they get BI even the smaller fancies can get up to 10 INCHES. keeping them in a bowl will stunt them, which doens't just mean you'll have a small goldfish is means their insides will continue to grow, this is VERY PAINFUL and will KILL the goldfish. I am not meaning to lecture you, just simply stop you from unknowingly dooming your goldfish to a painful death because of an IGNORANT (not to be confused with stupid) person thinking they know everything.

taken from a similar question I answered and modified a bit:

what you'll need:
*a 20gallon tank for ONE FANCY goldfish. not a bowl. 10gallons can handle a young goldfish, but once it gets older you'll need a 20, so it's best to just buy the 20 right away. however, goldfish are very sociable creatures so a 30gallon with 2 fancy goldfish would be better.
*a filter. a good one. goldfish are VERY dirty. if you get a whisper power filter (or most filters people buy for fish tanks are measured the same way) you want one that for a tank 10 or 20 gallons bigger than what you have. so if you get a 20gallon tank look for one for a 20-40gallon tank or 30+gallons.
*a thermometer, make sure the are no major fluctuations.
*gravel. I prefer something natural so the fish is the focal point of the tank, but whatever kind tickles your fancy. just as long as it's aquarium gravel.
*decorations. now fancy goldfish aren't great swimmers and they tend to have pretty flowy fins, so you wan to stay away from rough decorations and hard plastic plants. instead try silk plants.
*goldfish food. don't just go with the cheapest, I know it's usually what we want to do, but if you actually look at the ingredients you'll notice the more expensive brands have better ingredients. all food should be soaked for a few minutes before given to the fish to minimize problems with the swim bladder. fancies have round bodies and are prone to buoyancy problems. it is also recommended that you feed goldfish an orange slice every once in a while, give them vitamins. shelled, thawed, frozen peas are good for them too.
*an aerator. this is VERY important as well because goldfish need a good amount of aeration to survive.

get the tank, cycle it (see here to learn how to cycle http://badmanstropicalfish.com/articles/... ). once the cycle is complete get your fish. find a store that looks like they have a good stock and take care of them (ex: no dead fish n the tanks, clear water, healthy looking fish). ask them when the stock came in. buying the fish the day or two after they came in isn't good because they're stressed form one move, another move could be bad. but you don't want them to be sitting in there for too long. so try two or 3 days after being shipped. buy your fish, take them home and float the bag in the aquarium water for 1 hour, adding spoonfuls of the aquarium water to the bag every 15mins to help get him used to the water in the tank.

if he doens't eat for a few days don't panic, this is stressful and they often take a few days to adjust. good luck with you new fishy!

Answer 2

It's not too hard - but it's not as simple as throwing one into a bowl of water.

First it depends on what kind you want - how big you are getting it...

If you want to start out with a normal young fancy goldfish you could start out with a 10 gallon tank (will eventually have to get a bigger one with any goldfish - they all get pretty big. Some only get 5 inches - but they would still need a large tank).

Petsmart and Petco sell 10 gallon starter kits. You really save money by buying the kit. It comes with everything you need other then gravel and decoration.

They need a filter - they are VERY dirty fish. The filter also provides enough oxygen in the water (provided it isn't an under water/gravel filter - they suck and do not do good anyhow, so get one that hangs on the outside of a tank, which is the kind the kits coem with and the more common kind of filter)..

Dirty water = disease = fish that will not live long.

And you need a water dechlorinator. Stress Coat is cheap and workes very well. All tap water has chlorine in it - if you do not remove it your fish will die.



Get your tank, fill it up, start the filter, add the decholrinator, your gravel and decor and let it run for 24 hours before getting your goldfish. The water needs to cycle. All the good bacteria the fish needs needs to settle. Not allowing the tank to cycle can cause a lot of problems for you. It can also cause your tank to get cloudy and have a bacteria bloom (which can take up to a month to clear on its own).

I would suggest a hood - many goldfish like to jump out of tanks and bowls.

Limit the amount of decorations you get - they prefer open space to swim.

General rule of a gold fish is for every inch on his body he needs at least two gallon of water. So if you put a 2 inch fish in a 5 gallon tank - he would prob be ok until he got bigger (not too long).

This is why I suggest getting at least a 10 gallon - they can grow fast. Plus the more room they have the happier they are.

Goldfish also always act like they are starving. They are not.
You can feed them twice a day - even feeding them once a day is fine too. Their stomach is only the size of their eye - so they don't need a huge ammount of food.

Goldfish also have a habit of swallowing air when gulping food off the surface (if this happens they will more then likely eventually die). So if you feed him flakes, dip the flakes in the water so they do not float. Do not buy floating pellets if you go with pellets - go with sinking ones. OR soak the pellets before you out them in the tank so they will sink. Pellets are a lot cleaner then flakes.

Onc eyou buy the fish - let the bag he comes in sit in the water for 15-20 mins. It only needs to sit long enough for him to slowly adjust to the new temperature of the tank.

If you have a good filter you will only need to change 25% of the water (with a gravel vaccum - its the easiest way to clean - and it's cheap) once a month. NEVER change all the water at once. This can really stress your fish out and possibly kill him.


I'm sure many people will tell you to put him in a 1/2 gallon bowl and he'll be fine - but in reality it's a horrible place for a goldfish to live.

If you want a fish that will live in a small bowl with no filtration and little care I suggest getting a Betta instead.

Answer 3

heya, well, lets get one thing straight, what these other people are telling you may be very useful things to tell a beginer, BUT thats only if you are planning on spending a fair bit of money and making ur fish live like 10 years, Better idea which i have been doin, Is get a fairly good size tank/bowl, Even a 10 litre per fish is Ample space, Feed him/her/them once per day when they are small and maybe twice as they grow, without a filter , clean them twice a week taking out 40% of there water then replacing it MAKING SURE u do not disturb their gravel as they dont appreciate poop flying around there water, Just as much as we dont want to be eating,breathing,drinking with poop and wee in our air. Declorinate there water before u put it in by dissolving a few tiny crystals , i reccomend a quatre of a tea spood of special crystals per 10 litres. Also once a month , take your fishy buddy's out of their tank and clean the gravel as the build up of waste product makes ammonia which burns them alive ( more or less ) watch out for various desieses that fish get like ick( white spots around the body) BUT DO NOT mistake this for white spots on the gills as this is what males get in there "mating season". Also whatch out for Fin rot which is basically what is says , the rotting of the fins , This , aswell as ick can be treated with chemicals but if u do notice theses deseases remove there companions from the tank they are both in, to prevent it spreading, Hmm i think i covered it all, but first make sure u have plenty of plants in your tank to give them enough oxygen but DO NOT be alarmed if they come up to the surface for air as after all goldfish are surface breathers, Also on your first few days do not be alarmed if ur fishy's do not eat as it takes a while for them to settle in and if ur tank seems murky, often new tanks need time to settle down to the fishy's liking, Hope this is ok for you buddy, enjoy ur fish as im sure they will enjoy a good owner like you ( as you are looking into there wellfair) Many thanks

Answer 4

If you have your goldfish in a bowl, you simply change the water once a week, making sure to keep the temperatures close to the same. Don't overfeed them. Once a day only, and only as much as they can consume in 2 minutes. if they are in an aquarium, they don't need heat, and change only half the water once a month, along with changing your filter to the pump.Vacuum the gravel with an aquarium vacuum, this is the best way to change half the water. Good luck.

Answer 5

Feed it (not too much), clean the tank when it gets nasty, and enjoy your fish. When you eventually see it belly up at the top of the tank, flush it.

Answer 6

why does a goldfish swim upside down what is wrong with him

Answer 7

try going to http://www.firsttankguide.net/goldfish.php, they have really great info on goldfish!!

Answer 8

It's very easy ask a vet.