What is involved with having a fish as a pet?

Question

I once tried to have goldfish but they died. Are there some low maintenence fish that would live for longer than a few weeks?

Answer 1

As long as you use a filtered and heated aquarium of 10 gallons or more and don't add too many fish, the maintenance is really pretty much the same for any common community species.

Here's a page that will help you pick out the best tank for you and hold to care for it easily

http://www.firsttankguide.net/

Hope that helps

MM

Answer 2

Goldfish Bowl? or Tank?......

Goldfish don't live very long in a Bowl.
1. Not enough air surface in a bowl.
2. No filtration in a bowl.
3. They grow very fast and goldfish need at least 10 gals of water per fish.(goldfish grow to 6")!
4. Goldfish also need light.


Tank
1. You need a good filter.
2. You to have at least 10 to 20 gals of water per fish you plan on keeping.
3. You need to have a big surface area for gas exchange.
4. You need to have a tank with a light. (on for at least 8 hours a day)
5. Make sure that the rocks are either big enough that the goldfish cant pick up or small enough that they cant get them stuck in there throat.

Water Changes......


Changing 35%-40% of the water every week is very important, because of the large amount of waste they produce and the oxygen they use. When replacing the water, let it stand over night for the release of toxins in the water (lead, Chlorine, ect..). You should also add Nova-Aqua once a week to help replace the electrolytes. Next a detoxifier should be added every time you change the water. I highly recommend 'Amquel', it gets rid of toxins and also doesn't turn the chlorine to ammonia.

Feeding......

There are many foods for the fancy goldfish. The best food I have found is Pro Gold, the reasons for that is:

1. Flake food: The fish go to the top to gather the food which creates air in their swim bladder (which could cause swimming bladder disease (floating).
2. Pellets: There are two kinds, one is sinking which isn't to bad, but they have been known for mistaking rocks for the food.
3. Floating food and we run in to the same problem as the flakes.
Even though goldfish love to eat they really should only be feed once a day or once every two days. The reason is the food is digested very fast which means more waste in the tank and more clean up for you.

Goldfish love all types of food besides the ones that the pet stores carry:

Fresh foods: Romaine lettuce, Peas cooked, earthworms, eggs, cucumber, insect larvae, grapes,oranges, and spinach.

Dried Foods: Flake, Pellet, Tubiflex, Krill, Plankton, Brine shrimp, Blood Worms, Spirulina, and Daphnia

Answer 3

Hi Era, I'm afraid there really isn't any low-maintenance pets. As with any living creature we have a moral responsibility to care for it to the best of our ability for the whole of it's life & this commitment should really begin with some research. Ideally speak to people who already keep fish or join one of the many internet forums & ask the experts-(they are always happy to pass on their skills) before any fish are obtained. The links below give some excellent advice about your first steps & also several quality forums.

Answer 4

Fish are simple to take care of. Make sure to get non-aggressive tropical fish, all around the same size. Get a tank, 5 gallons is a good size, with the filter and light built into the lid. Clean it twice a month, and feed them twice a day. About one fish for every gallon of water is the right ratio. Troopical fish are usually lively and fun to look at, mostly from Asia. The African fish are all very aggressive, so you can't mix them with fish from Asia. You can't put semi-aggressive with non-aggressive: they all need to be the same level. Take care of them, and enjoy them. The simplest pet there is.

Answer 5

Get a betta. (A single one.) These are the easiest fish in the world to care for, they don't require a filter as long as the water is changed every week at least; and they only need fed a tiny amount once or twice a day. And there's that many colours and varieties of the betta fish, as well, anything from your normal veiltail pet shop variety (in many types of colours) to double-tail and half moon (tail spread being 180 degrees or more) in more specialised colours, which you can buy on places like www.aquabid.com . Our local petshops are starting to carry crown tail as well, but I don't know whether they would in your area or not. You can choose colourful rocks and that, too, best bet is to let your cousin go to the pet shop with you and pick out the rocks (you can use marbles, even, if you want, there's glass aquarium beads they sell at some pet shops as well); and an artificial plant or two for the bowl (artificial plants are much easier to care for than a live plant, especially for a child.)
Bettas are hardy, colourful fish, with long, flowing fins, that are probably the easiest fish to care for.

Answer 6

a good tip is once you've bought a certain type of food for your fish, buy a couple containers (depending on how ong the fish will live and how big the containers are) because if a say, a year down the road you run out of fish food you may not be able to get the same kind or brand. A different bran may kill your fish, your fishe's body simply wont be used to the new food.

Answer 7

Gold Fish and Beta are the best low maintenance fish. My beta has been with me 2 years now- my previous for 4. They have great personalities.

Answer 8

A male beta is a low maintenance fish.

Answer 9

goldfish need daily feeding and a filter unless your gonna clean the cage once a day. most begingers should start with one or two fish. make sure u ALWAYS use purified water. ( that meens theres no chlorine) you can buyt treatment drops for water at almost any pet store

Answer 10

well like goldfish are awesome
just make sure that you dont get fish that eat eachother, make sure you feed them daily, and keep the tank clean and thats about it