My fantail goldfish always come up to the top what does that mean?

Question

To me they seem to be looking for food, do they always come up to the top like that? are they really hungry, maybe i'm not feeding them enough? They usually do it when I'm looking at them. My water ph is fine and the ammonia is a little high but i'm guessing its because its a new tank. So what could it be?
also any suggestions on how to lower the ammonia (tank is pretty clean and I do weekly 20% water change with a vacuum)

To me they seem to be looking for food, do they always come up to the top like that? are they really hungry, maybe i'm not feeding them enough? They usually do it when I'm looking at them. My water ph is fine and the ammonia is a little high but i'm guessing its because its a new tank. So what could it be? I have a filter and an air stone.
also any suggestions on how to lower the ammonia (tank is pretty clean and I do weekly 20% water change with a vacuum)

Answer 1

They probably do realize that when you come to the tank they are getting fed. Goldfish can't feel full (they will eat till the literally explode) so i doubt you are over feeding. this is normal.

As for your high ammonia, if you are doing proper weekly changes and ahve a filter, and it is still high, I imagine it is because you, like most people have an over stocked goldie tank. Each goldie needs 10 gallons of water. They produce a lot of ammonia, more then tropical fish and need more space. So if you havea 20 gallon tank, you should only have 2 goldies.

Good luck

Answer 2

let me just say that goldfish are ALWAYS hungry, and their stomachs are sooo tiny, so don't throw more food in just to see if it helps. overfeeding could be a source of the ammonia build up as well as fish waste - un-eaten food will break down in the gravel/whathaveyou and muck up your tank.

i had some goldies that came to the surface all the time, and when i read around i learned that goldies need really oxygenated water - more so than alot of other fish - so i went and got an airstone to work in combination with my filter. it worked in that they cut down their surface gulping a huuuge amount, but they still did it when i came up to the bowl (so the hunger thing was probably another reason.)

as for getting rid of the ammonia, i found my goldfish (in the first few months of owning them) produced so much, and the tank wasn't cycling fast enough, so i did much more frequent water changes - 2-3 times a week or more, depending on the ammonia readings - of 10-25%. i'm not saying this is what everyone should do, but my ammonia stayed pretty low. once the "good bacteria" build up on your filter/gravel and start converting the ammonia you're well on your way.
try this site - http://www.firsttankguide.net/ - if you need to know anything about tank cycling. it might shed some more light on your ammonia problem and what you can do.
(http://www.firsttankguide.net/cycle.php has a good graph of the nitrogen cycle that helps visualize what happens when the tank cycles)

i eventually had to get rid of my goldies - too messy in too small of a tank - but i miss them. my guppies just don't have the wonderful fancy/goofy combination down as well as my goldfish did.

good luck!

Answer 3

They are really just responding as trained believe it or not. They see you when they get fed so they start to expect food each time they see you. Nothing to worry about it's totally normal. Just don't let them fool you into feeding them too much! LOL

Lower the ammonia by doing extra water changes. During the first few weeks you may need to do a change every day or two to keep it under control. Once the tank cycles the bacteria will handle it and you can go back to 20-25% changes once a week.

MM

Answer 4

Check your pump.
They may not be getting enough absorbable oxygen. So in that case fish will come to the top and gasp for air like they would for food with their little mouths and then close their mouths and drag that air under water in order to let it spread into tlittle bubbles that they can then absorb.
Try getting them more air maybe... a better pump?

If that doesn't help, and your tank is clean, then why not throw in a little extra food and see if that solves the problem.