do you have goldfish? the advantange and disadvantage to have one?

Question

do you have goldfish?can you tell me the advantange and disadvantage to have one

Answer 1

I have had them, there is not much of an advantage or a disadvantage to having them. They require a huge tank, even the little comet goldfish that they sell as feeders get to be about a foot long and require a 55 gallon tank.

For me they are very generic, and require very little work when they are in the right size and type of tank. They are very dirty fish that will pollute a small tank very quickly they need a tank filter that has high turnover rate.

The an advantage is that they do not require a heater and can tolerate water that gets almost to freezing, and as warm as your house will allow. They can also live outside in a pond that has a natural biological filter. The substrate needs to be small so that they can injest small stones to use to aid in digestion. This looks like they are eating the stones and then regurgitating them, it is not a concern as long as the stones are small enough that they do not cause blockages if they have trouble getting them up.

Basically they are a low maintanance fish that require a lot of space and a good filter, but once that is set up, taking care of them is easy.

I don't currently raise any in tanks because they are a little too generic. I only get them long enough to feed to other fish when they are small. The biggest mistake people make is putting them in fish bowls or small tanks; this leads to ammonia reaching toxic rates, and a lot of cleaning, goldfish can live a VERY long time, but most don't because they are not taken care of properly.

Answer 2

Advantages Fun, Entertaining and Relaxing to watch.
Disadvantages Too easy to kill!

Goldfish.... the easiest pet to keep?... I think not!!!

At some point in their lives almost everyone will own a goldfish for a pet, most of the time this pet will have been chosen with the thought of “it’s a fish, it’s easy to keep, you only need to change the water every week and feed it” Maybe this is true in some cases, but I wonder how many of these fish lived a long healthy fishy life? Not many. So why is it people buy a goldfish, then fail to look after it when they realise just how much care is actually involved in keeping goldfish? So, please look before you leap..

Answer 3

They are beautiful but not easy to take care as some may think. It's one thing to take care of a goldfish but to keep them healthy is difficult.

You will need a very big aquarium.
You will need a very big and good filter.
You will need to check the water quality every week.
You will need to clean their thank a lot because goldfish will eat anything including their own poop, which can be harmful to them if consume.
They need variety of food, flake food is junk food. Over feeding, especially with flake food can causes health risks such as lack of nutrition, balancing ( floating upside down).
They have a lot of diseases and their medication are not cheap.

Please do some research before you go out and get them. I used to work at the aquarium store and I always make sure that our customers are fully aware of how to properly take care of goldfish. After all, they are suppose to live for 20 years.

Answer 4

I have over 147 goldfish and koi (along with other fresh water and salt tanks). As far as advantages and disadvantages,

Advantages:

They are inexpensive to keep, breed and raise.
Easily aquired
If breeding for color, they can be very profitable.
Easy to care for
Very few diseases to worry about
Cold water, no heater needed and can be kept in outdoor ponds.
Friendly and sociable.
Inexpensive to feed
Social and playful
Come in a variety of colors, sizes and shapes

Disadvantages:
Grow very large, so if you are not prepared for them
can reach ages exceeding 40 years (with Koi exceeding 70)
Need fed 3 times per day
No stomachs so cleaning in an aquarium with more than two fish tanks need cleaned with a regular schedule
Cannot live in a bowl
can quickly over breed

Because gold fish are such good breeders many use them as feeder fish and do not think much of the fish as a species. The most expensive fish bought and sold are in the goldfish family.

Answer 5

The answers for your question will always be subjective but I'll give it a try :

I have been keeping goldfishes on and off for 20~30 years but have temporary stop to focus on other fishes for now.

Advantage :

1. Goldfish, espcially the rounded body long fins breeds are one of the most graceful fish you can have in your tank.
2. Goldfish are one of those few fishes that will literally rush out of the tank, wanting to be fed. They get very very friendly after the initial stage (much like koi) you can actually pat them :)
3. Appreciation and culturing of goldfish is in itself an art. Apart from commerical breeding, there are people that specialise in goldfish breed for specific traits. The frys from master breeder of ranchus in Japan are well sort by ranchu hobbist all over the world and commands a "premium".


Disadvantage :

1. Their odd shape is not due to natural evolution. It due to selective breeding by man. The aim to retain mutation like the odd shape body has it's drawback, resulting in most rounded goldfish being prone to swim bladder problems.
2. Due to the above reason, goldfish are very sensitive to disease espcially those that infect the internal organs. So to keep goldfish healthy alot of attention have to be paid to maintain good water quality. Moreover goldfish tend to produce more waste due to their bulk, maintaining good water quality becomes harder, therefore to keep the effort substainable it's always recommended to keep less fish in a tank.
3. More frequent filter maintanence. Basically there are slightly more work in maintanence when keeping goldfish.


Interesting notes on goldfish (rounded bodies breed) :

1. There are no wild goldfish. Unlike most species like the guppies and discus that can be found in the wild and selectively breed for respective traits. There are no natural wild goldfish, the round goldfish we keep are mutans. The nearest ancestor to the rounded goldfish is a comet like dull fish :)
2. When pair of show quality goldfishes breeds, a portion of the fry will grow up to be mutans ( additional or less fins are common, and odd body shape eg. not rounded) and an even larger portion will not be nice, thats why you can often find goldfish feeder, these are culls from the farms. For example out of 1000 fry, if the farmer can get 10 show quality fish out of that, it would have been a good batch.

Hope you enjoy the read. I will add alittle disclaimer here, this is somewhat subjective and the info I have provided is from my personal experience and knowledge.

Answer 6

Goldfish are excellent for showing kids ages 8-12 the care responsibilites for pets. Goldfish care isn't rocket science--like care instructions some exotic fish have. Fishbowl cleaning is a small chore--but again: nothing the kid(s) can't handle right.

Feed the fish once a day--careful NOT to overdo it. Done correctly and with good care habits, goldfish can live for a long long time. Mine lasted eight years w/ me.

Answer 7

If you plan on have 1 or 2 it will not be a problem. They increase the nitrate levels in your tank. If you want a flashy fish try cichlids. Thay can be aggressive but, are a beautiful fish to add to any tank. Beware of the fact that they are an aggressive fish and require a little research. Good luck!

Answer 8

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Answer 9

They don't require a heater is why I got them this time. (After losing all my tropicals during an ice storm/power failure)

I find them just as much fun to watch.

Answer 10

It'b been a long while since I've owned any type of fish, but I remember goldfish being pretty easy to keep. You probably have to be trying to kill them before they start to die off.

They're boring fish, though. They don't do much of anything.