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Aquarium Care Goldfish Goldfish Care

Taking Care Of A Goldfish Bowl

The first step into having goldfish is to have a home for it whether it be a goldfish bowl or goldfish aquarium and learn how to begin taking care of your new pet. Goldfish bowls are an excellent gift for your kids and they will love taking care of goldfish, their new friend. The only thing is with small goldfish bowls they do require more work and maintenance then a regular aquarium or tank would. Goldfish bowls are not the ideal home though when taking care of goldfish.

Why are goldfish bowls more work then goldfish aquariums?

Well that’s easy! The thing is a goldfish bowl has no filter, and has no air pump as well. So taking care of a goldfish in a bowl will be more work. What you will need to do in this case, you will need to keep an eye out on your goldfish more often. The less water that your goldfish have to live in the more work is required.

Goldfish bowls - Kids Taking Care of Goldfish

Goldfish Bowls Water Quality

Some things you should do in taking care of a goldfish bowl is to perform regular water changes to keep water clean and healthy for your fish. Also when performing water changes make sure you add chlorine remover to the new freshwater your putting in. You should also make sure the temperature of the water your adding in is equal to the temperature of the water inside the bowl. Shocking goldfish with a sudden change in temperature can result in goldfish diseases, sickness and even death. The general rule of thumb is try not to go more then a degree over or under and make it as close as possible. Another thing to do is check the water chemistry in your goldfish bowl frequently as things can turn for the worse quickly when you have less water, no filtration and no air pump. Water quality checks are very important when taking care of goldfish bowls.

Having a goldfish bowl for beginners are great. Just need to be a little more cautious thats all. Goldfish are a dirty fish and they can foul up your water in no time if left unchecked. Goldfish eat and it pretty much comes out the other end right away. By performing regular goldfish bowl maintenance you should be safe and your goldfish healthy.

Goldfish bowl, baby kitten starring at goldfish
Goldfish bowl, baby kitten starring at goldfish

Goldfish bowls like I said are great for beginners and kids but only good for one fish really. If your like me I would like to see more goldfish then one swimming around. So the prefect question you and others should ask themselves before getting into hobby is “Goldfish bowl or Goldfish Aquarium -Tank?” What are the pros and cons and how much time you really want to spend taking care of goldfish? One last little goldfish advice or tip if you have any cats, try and keep them away or your new little friend might just be lunch 🙂

Goldfish Bowl - Cat Looking To Eat Goldfish For A Treat

***** Goldfish bowls are too small for goldfish really and should not be kept in them, if person does decide to do this as their own choice be careful and take proper care of them. Goldfish bowls are just plain too small, would you like to be confined in a small area??? Goldfish need space to live and be healthy.********

Categories
Feeding Goldfish Goldfish Goldfish Care

Why Are My Goldfish Not Eating?

There are many reasons why goldfish may not be eating and there are certain things people should do to take care of their goldfish and make sure they’re okay.

Here are several reasons why your goldfish may not be eating:

1. Poor water quality, polluted water- make sure test the water
2. Water chemistry such as PH, Ammonia, Nitrite, Nitrate may be off the scale, check levels
3. Filter may be dirty, causing stress and poor conditions resulting in fish not eating.
4. There may be dead goldfish in the tank causing bad conditions resulting in fish not eating.
5. Goldfish may have disease or illness’s resulting in lack of interest for food and eating. Sickness is one of the top reasons why goldfish don’t eat. Pretty much the same as humans, when we’re sick the thought of food doesn’t interest us.
6. Food may be old or stale, lack of nutrients.
7. Goldfish may be showing lack of interest in the same food, try feeding your goldfish a different food.
8. Make sure there is no chlorine in the water, make sure you always add AquaPlus Water conditioner when performing water changes.
9. There may be an organic matter build up in your aquarium. Make you stir up the aquarium gravel with a aquarium gravel cleaner to make sure aquarium bed is clean.
10. Your goldfish do sleep, maybe there resting and full resulting in lack of interest in eating.
11. If you’ve recently purchased goldfish from a pet store, they still may be getting used the their new surroundings. Usually it may take a day or two to get used to their new surroundings as stress is a big reason why as well goldfish are not eating.

By cross elimination you can figure out why your goldfish may not be eating. Once you’ve determined why they’re not eating, fix the situation and they will begin eating right away. Usually its something simple. Think about it, would we like eating the same food everyday, same goes for goldfish. Offer your goldfish a variety of different foods to make sure they stay healthy.

Categories
Goldfish Goldfish Care

Do Goldfish Sleep?

Goldfish indeed do sleep and is often a question people always want to know. Sleeping goldfish is not the same as for us cuddling to a pillow under warm blankets. Goldfish sleep basically in one spot. They hover with periodic movements to keep stable and are often seen hiding behind aquarium decorations or close to the bottom of your aquarium. When fish sleep they are very much at alert at all times. Goldfish sleeping is actually a form of resting and are aware what’s going on at all times. You will see golfish suddenly swim erradically when you turn the aquarium light on. They much like us, they were startled and are seeking a place to hide.

Goldfish need sleep just like humans. Without enough sleep we can get sick and same goes for them. People should have a regular schedule for aquarium lighting or better yet have it on a timer so it’s on for a certain amount each day. Your light should be on for about 12 hours a day or less. A good suggestion to do is turn on the light when you get up and when you go to sleep turn it off. When you shut the light off you will notice that the your fish will begin to slow down and relax. If you leave the light on all the time, it’s not good for goldfish health as they will not have much of a resting period. Goldfish have no eye lids so shut off the light so they can get a good night sleep. Goldfish need sleep and it’s much easier to sleep with the lights off. Even if people do accidently leave the lights on, goldfish will sleep but it won’t be the same type of sleep as if they were off. Try and shut the lights off. Think of this would you like the lights on when your going to sleep? Same goes for them.

Also when goldfish sleep their colour also fades. So whenever you go an observe your goldfish and you see them basically still and their colour is partially faded, well its a good chance their sleeping. Leave them alone so they get the well deserved rest they need.

Sincerely,

Jamie Boyle
The Goldfish Guy
“Helping Goldfish Owners With Advice, Fish Care and Fish Medication Treatments for Goldfish Diseases, Illnesses and Parasites”

Categories
Aquarium Care Goldfish Goldfish Care

Goldfish Care -Everyday Things To Do

Goldfish care needs to be done everyday to ensure goldfish stay healthy. Doing small things everyday will make a big difference in keeping your goldfish disease free and no illness.

Here are some things people should do everyday to make sure everything is safe for your goldfish.

1. Turn on the aquarium light. Goldfish need light everyday.

2. After you have turned on the light make sure there are no dead fish in your aquarium. Make sure you look closely, sometimes goldfish may be dead in your aquarium as sometimes they can be behind decorations in your aquarium. Look closely cause what can cause problems with goldfish is dead fish that are left in an aquarium not noticed. When these dead fish are left in your aquarium it can cause a whole bunch of problems. It first of all pollutes the water changing the PH levels, Ammonia levels, Nitrite and Nitrate, It also cause goldfish diseases to spread to other goldfish all because of these dead fish. Just take care of and remove any dead goldfish that you see.

3. If you don’t have that many goldfish to care for you should be able to quickly count them as well. Sometimes fish can jump out of an aquarium. I’ve had this happen several times before. No matter how much you care for your goldfish sometimes things happen. I had an aquarium full of koi, one was about 10″ long and it had jumped out onto the floor. It was there for probably about 2-3 hours we believe. It’s body was pretty dry but as soon as my mother put it back in the tank it was fine. Koi are a pretty strong hardy fish and pretty easy to take care of. Just make sure you count them to make sure none of yours may have jumped out of your aquarium.

4. Take a quick look and see if all your goldfish are behaving normal. Check to see if there scratching themselves, fins fluttering, or gasping and look for any signs of diseases, illness or injuries. If any of the above take care of your goldfish right away.

5. Make sure all your equipment is running properly. Make sure your filter is running as at times the filter can lose its prime if their is a power outage. Make sure your air pump is working properly as well to ensure your goldfish have plenty of oxygen. Also check to see if your heater is working. Goldfish don’t need a heater but you definitely need one if you have tropical fish as a small fluctuation in temperature in tropical fish can lead to sickness, disease or death.

6.Last thing to do is feed your goldfish, care for them, relax and enjoy.

By just taking less then 5 minutes a day to check the following things and feed your fish at the same time can literally save the life of your goldfish by just giving them a little bit of care. If you notice something out of whack you will be able to fix it and take care of your goldfish properly. Small things can make a big difference by saving your money and giving you more time in enjoying your goldfish aquarium hobby.

Categories
Aquarium Care Goldfish Goldfish Care

Adding New Goldfish To Your Aquarium

There are a few things people should do for proper care of goldfish when adding them to your aquarium.

1. The first thing you do when you get home from buying your goldfish from pet stores is to place the fish bag in the water.

2. Make sure you shut the aquarium light off to make sure you don’t stress the goldfish out.

3. Let the bag sit in the water for about 15-20 minutes so that the water temperature will become the same temperature in the bag as the same as the aquarium.

4. Feed your goldfish in your aquarium so that when later when you release the fish in the water they will be full and will be less likely to be aggressive towards your new arrivals. Sometimes fish will nip at your new comets that you’ve added to your aquarium as they are sometimes territorial.

5. After about 15 to 20 minutes then take a small cup or container and take some of the water from your aquarium and pour it into the bag. This will slowly adjust the water chemistry in the bag as the same as the water chemistry in your aquarium. By doing this it will eliminate or reduce the chance of any shock as the PH levels, water hardness or softness will be gradually introduced to your new goldfish.

6. After doing this then grab an aquarium fish net and take the goldfish out of the bag and place them in your aquarium.

7. Never pour the water in the bag into your aquarium just in case there might be any goldfish diseases in the water. By doing this it will reduce your chance of infecting other fish and therefore saving you money on buying medicine if the water was carrying any parasites.

By doing these simple things when introducing new goldfish to your aquarium will ensure your existing goldfish and new goldfish stay healthy as proper goldfish care has been done. Simple steps can prevent sickness and illness in goldfish.

Categories
Aquarium Care Goldfish Goldfish Care

How Many Goldfish Can I Put In My Aquarium?

How many goldfish you can put in your aquarium is a question that most aquarium hobbyist have when setting up their goldfish tank. The first thing you want to do is make sure you never overcrowd your aquarium. The thing that most people tend to do is place to may goldfish in their aquarium. By overcrowding your goldfish tank can lead to tons of problems. Overcrowding your aquarium can kill your goldfish. The more goldfish in your tank causes more fish waste that your filter may not be able to handle. Sure some people can add extra filtration to accommodate the amount of fish in the tank but you really shouldn’t add to many fish. When adding too many fish it also leads to problems with goldfish health, goldfish diseases and sickness. When the tank is overcrowded goldfish diseases do occur and they spread very quickly due to the amount of fish there are. Therefore the reproduction rate of parasites drastically increase as there are more parasites breeding and infecting other goldfish. Also overcrowding stunts the growth of goldfish decreasing how big goldfish grow and how long do goldfish live.

The answer to this very common question is that you should only put one inch of fish per one gallon of water. Now this is a general measurement that people should aim for but this does not always apply to fish. When you have larger fish in your aquarium they are gonna need more water. A good example is say you have a 10 inch goldfish and you place it in a 10 gallon aquarium. It’s common sense really when it comes to larger fish. That 10 inch goldfish is not the same size as ten one inch goldfish. Bigger fish need more water to live in, do to their bigger bodies and bigger waste loads. I would suggest for goldfish of bigger size, maybe one inch for say every two or even three gallons of water would be good. Remember the more water your goldfish have to live in the better they’ll be. The water chemistry will be good and the filtration will help ensure your goldfish stay healthy and live long healthy lives. So how many goldfish to put in your tank really all depends on you and how big your aquarium is able to hold using this simple rule.