Month: July 2008

Can Goldfish Die From Over Feeding Them?

Post author By GoldfishCare
Post date July 16, 2008
23 Comments on Can Goldfish Die From Over Feeding Them?

By Jamie Boyle

Over feeding goldfish not only can kill your goldfish and cause them to die but it totally messes up your water quality at the same time. What happens when you feed your goldfish too much it causes health issues to happen much like in humans today. Obesity in humans causes major health issues that leads to high blood pressure, high cholesterol, chest pains and other symptoms caused by being overweight. Well with goldfish what happens is that they develop fatty liver and can cause swim bladder disease issues to arise. Your goldfish health will be directly affected by the feeding habits you do. You should try and feed them a wide variety of different fish foods with different nutrient contents.

You have a higher chance of killing your goldfish by poor water quality caused by over feeding them then actually feeding goldfish till they die. Both are possible but poor water quality is the number one reason that goldfish die or goldfish diseases and parasite outbreaks happen. When feeding your fish people should always try feeding them enough food that they can consume in 2 minutes. After 2 minutes if there are any uneaten food discard it so water won’t foul. If left there water quality will deteriorate and may cause your goldfish to die from ammonia spikes.

Over feeding goldfish not only can kill your fish but creates a lot more maintenance for you to do as well. Feed them right with the proper food and quantities and your fish will live a long healthy life with a little goldfish care.

You don’t really want to be the cause of your goldfish dying now do you?

Sincerely,

Jamie Boyle
The Goldfish Guy

Tags Feeding Goldfish, Goldfish, goldfish care

Do Pond Goldfish Need To Be Fed?

Post author By GoldfishCare
Post date July 6, 2008
2 Comments on Do Pond Goldfish Need To Be Fed?

By Jamie Boyle

Goldfish in a pond, do you really need to feed them? Well yes and no. When people build a garden pond in their backyard they want to enjoy it, add some pond plants, water lilies and most importantly some fish. The best part about having a water garden feature in your pond is feeding them. Feeding your goldfish is just one of the joys of having a pond. You can relax, observe your fish swimming so gracefully in the water and watch them feed and perhaps even feed them by hand. Kids and adults all enjoy this part of taking care of the pond and fish.

But do you really need to feed goldfish in a pond? Technically no as depending on the size of your pond there is plenty of food in the pond itself. You see goldfish will pick and feed on just about anything, they will eat the mosquito larvae, water fleas, worms and just about any insect that will come close to your goldfish. Goldfish are basically a scavenger and very similar to the koi in that aspect. On top of all the microscopic animals in the water that your goldfish can eat and consume there are always plants that they will nibble on such as duckweed ( which is very good for fish )and your fish will also eat the algae that is in your pond as well. Any green vegetation such as duckweed or algae they will eat.

One Of The Many Ponds At Country Koi Fish Farm With Goldfish, Sarassa Comets, Koi and Butterfly Koi. It Also Includes Many Different Types of Water Lilies and Yellow Flag Water Iris along With Other Types Of Marginals.

So when people ask themselves do you really need to feed your goldfish in a pond the answer is yes and no. If you want to enjoy your fish come feeding time then go ahead by all means and feed them, other then that your fish will just be fine with all the available things it contains in your pond. So it really depends on you and what kind of enjoyment you want out of your goldfish pond.

In my opinion you should feed them as this is a great way to observe your goldfish come feeding time to see for any signs of injuries or diseases. Plus feeding them is the best part of having a garden pond other then the looks and sounds that a water garden can bring to your backyard. So go ahead feed them and see the beauty that your fish bring to your water garden.

Do you feed your goldfish in your pond? If so, what type of goldfish pond food do you feed your fish?

Sincerely,

Jamie Boyle
The Goldfish Guy

How To Treat Anchor Worms On Goldfish?

Post author By GoldfishCare
Post date July 2, 2008
7 Comments on How To Treat Anchor Worms On Goldfish?

By Jamie Boyle

As you seen on my other post What Is Anchor Worm? you will need to learn how to treat anchor worms found on your goldfish. Anchor worms are quite common and the good news is that anchor worms are very easy to treat with the right medication treatment.

The first thing you will need to do is buy some anchor worm treatment medication. Some good ones that I’ve used and work effectively to eliminate these external parasites are Anchors Away, Dimilin, ProForm LA, and Potassium Permanganate. All of these parasite medication will kill anchor worms on your fish. The only suggestion I would do is use Potassium Permanganate as the last resort as it’s a very strong chemical and if improper measurements are made for the amount of medication to add to your pond or aquarium can possibly kill all your fish.

I would stick with Anchors Away, Dimilin, or Proform La. These ones will work effectively at getting rid of anchor worms for sure. Just follow proper dosage as recommended and never add more then what is suggested. More is not always better. Follow the instructions and your pond or aquarium will be anchor worm free in no time.

As far as using Potassium Permanganate to treat anchor worms you can do this with a 10-30 minute bath of a solution concentration of 10 millgrams per litre. You will need to observe your fish during treatment for any kinds of stress. You can also remove anchor worms by using tweezers. I’ve done this many time it is best to put your fish to sleep using an anesthetic to eliminate any pain or discomfort to your goldfish or other type of fish. Once your fish is asleep gently remove the anchor worm with your tweezers. Make sure you get the whole parasite including the anchor that is embedded deep into the fish tissue. It is also known as well if you apply some potassium permanganate to the anchor worms itself it can cause the external parasite to release it’s grip or hold of your fish. To do this take a cotton swab and dip it into a solution of potassium permanganate. Then apply the cotton swab to the goldfish parasite and it should release it’s hold and make it easier for removal. If you have no cotton swabs on hand just use your pair of tweezers and dip this into the solution of potassium permanganate once the solution touches the anchor worm it will release its hold allowing the whole parasite to be removed.

As mentioned earlier, using potassium permanganate to treat anchor worms is much more work but it’s effective. For a much easier alternative you should use the other anchor worm medication treatments as mentioned. Less work and just as effective. I hope this helps people learn how to treat anchor worms on goldfish, koi and other types of fish.

You can tell by the above photo and see how anchor worms actually got its name. It is very similar to the anchor found on the boat as seen above. It’s a splitting image!

Have your fish ever had anchor worms before? Till next time Anchors Away!

Sincerely,

Jamie Boyle
The Goldfish Guy

Tags anchor worms, Goldfish, Goldfish diseases, goldfish diseases and information, goldfish parasites

Uncategorized

What Is Anchor Worms?

Post author By GoldfishCare
Post date July 2, 2008

By Jamie Boyle

Anchor worms ( Crustacean parasite, Lernaea ) are small external parasites often seen on Goldfish, Koi and other types of fish. These anchor worms are small threadlike parasites that you often see them attached to goldfish on the body itself or close to the tail fin or dorsal fin. Once these anchor worms attach themselves to the fish it begins to feed on the goldfish body fluids and can destroy muscle and gill tissue. These external parasites can be seen quite easily seen as they are about 1/4″ long which is about 6-7mm. For this type of parasite you don’t need a microscope to see them at all.

As these parasites feed it can cause secondary bacterial infections to begin. Once you notice your goldfish showing signs and symptoms of anchor worms through flashing and scratching themselves on things you will need to learn how to treat anchor worms on goldfish and begin treatment right away. Goldfish will try and rub themselves against anything such as aquarium gravel, aquarium ornaments or decorations to try and rid themselves or knock off these external parasites causing irritation. The good thing with anchor worms is that it’s very easy to treat, just begin treatment right away to eliminate the chance of spreading these parasites to your other goldfish. Anchor worms ( Lernaea ) lay eggs so just so know you will need to treat your entire tank to make sure you rid yourself of Anchor worms. As I say it Anchors Away!

Sincerely,

Jamie Boyle
The Goldfish Guy