Goldfish

Understanding your goldfish

Goldfish are great pets to keep. If you care for them the properly and keep their environment just how they like it, your fish may live for well over 20 years. Goldfish are much easier to keep than their tropical and marine relatives. Depending on the species of your goldfish (some are hardier than others) they can be kept in ponds outside or in tanks inside.

When choosing your new fish always pick the active ones that have bright scales without any sign of disease and full, undamaged fins. Never choose a fish from a tank with sick or dead fish in it and don’t over crowd your tank with too many fish.

Feeding your goldfish

A tiny pinch of food that is quickly gobbled up by your fish in less than 5 minutes is plenty for your fish. Feed twice a day.

A common problem is that people overfeed their fish, which leads to water pollution. The more your fish eats the more it excretes into the water. Any uneaten food is left to decay at the bottom of the tank. Filters become clogged and the water becomes cloudy and smelly.

Fish also enjoy nibbling on live plants that you can add to your aquarium.

Setting up an aquarium

The ideal amount of space for each fish is 2cm of fish, excluding tail, for every 200 sq. cm of surface area. The more room they have to swim around in the better.

Always choose as big a tank as possible for the space where you are placing your tank. Place in a position away from direct sunlight, so it doesn’t overheat or encourage algae to grow. Make sure you have a good filter, as this is essential to help clean and aerate the water. Place 2 – 3cm of gravel at the bottom of the tank. Fish enjoy having live plants to snack on and they also help to oxygenate the water. Rocks and driftwood can also add to the look of your tank. If you set up your plants, rocks and driftwood towards the back, it encourages your fish to swim at the front.

Set up your tank and let it run for a week or two with no fish in it. This will help you get the water hardness and ph right. You need to condition the water you put in the tank so chemicals harmful to your fish are removed.

You will also need to do a 10-15% water change each week. This refreshes the water and keeps it from becoming stale.