How can you tell if the goldfish is heathy before you buy it.?

Answer 1

The main things to look for are good clean, smooth fins, clear eyes and no hint of diseases on any of the fish in the tank. Avoid fish from any tank where you see even one obviously sick fish.

Also avoid buying any fish from any tank where you see dead fish, fish with sores or wounds, white spots, fungus, or anything "unusual". Avoid fish that are scratching against items in the tank.

As a last note, ask the shop to feed the tank a little food and be sure the one you want is eating.

MM

Answer 2

Unfortunately it can be impossible to tell by looking if a fish is sick. Most people who are avid goldfish and koi keepers also keep a quarantine tank and any new fish spend a period of time in that tank before joining the general tank population. Some people routinely treat the quarantined fish with antibiotic and antifungal stuff in quarantine while others watch them carefully for signs of problems. Typically even these people who don't use antibiotics in quarantine do salt the water to soothe the fish (yes, goldfish and koi enjoy some salt in the water!)

**For obvious things to look for in the store- DO NOT buy fish that have:

Missing scales. This can be a problem because they may become infected.

***Because most stores use a common filtration system for all their fish and they don't clean their nets before dipping them into different tanks DO NOT buy ANY fish from a store where some fish have:

Red sores or ulcers anywhere on the body.

White sores anywhere on the body.

White or dark fuzz anywhere on the body.

Clamped fins (swimming or floating with fins held tightly to the body.)

The fish can't float upright and swims but goes sideways or upside down in the process.

White dots that look like salt or sugar grains anywhere on the body.

Cloudy looking eyes.

Laying on the bottom of the tank or floating near the top breathing the air at the top of the tank.

Little worm looking things coming out of any place on the body.

Bugs attached to the fish anywhere on the body. (Look closely- fish lice can be clear or small and difficult to see.)

If the water looks gross, don't buy a fish from that store.

Dead fish in the tank with living fish.

A store may go through a bad spell and get some infections so finding bad conditions once does not mean you can never buy there, but if you consistently see problems like dirty water, water that stinks, etc. you probably should shop elsewhere.

Answer 3

Make sure the fins are not hurt in any way, make sure the fish is swiming along and not just floating along with little or no movement. Make sure the gills don't have anything that looks like they are hurt and that their tank has clean water.

Answer 4

It looks healthy and is swimming actively and has no signs of disease or injuries That's about it.

Answer 5

if the fish is floating at the top.......BIG NO NO, don't buy it!!! lol!