How to Pick a Healthy Gold fish at The Pet Shop, and Transition It Into It's New Home

Many people buy goldfish under the assumption that they are low maintenance pets that do not require much care, only to have the gold fish die a day or two later. Although some of the problem lies in the fact that not all pet shops take proper care of their goldfish, the other half of the issue is that many people don't understand how to adequately care for a goldfish or transition it into a new aquarium. This article will give you the knowledge needed to pick a healthy goldfish and give it proper care.

Difficulty: Moderate

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• An aquarium
• Water & conditioner
• A filter
• Gold fish flake
• Aquarium plants

1. 
    

   Stress makes fish vulnerable to sicknesses and parasites, and can be the first clue that something is wrong with your fish. Pet shop fish come into contact with a wide variety of germs and parasites, such as, ich, dropsy, anchor worms, and hole in the head syndrome. Many of these parasites and illnesses can be fatal if not treated properly They can also be made worse by the stress caused by the switch to a new environment. You can first check if the goldfish is under stress by checking if its dorsal fin is limp, or tucked close to its body. The dorsal fin is the one on top of the goldfishes back (Note: Most but not all breeds have a dorsal fin).

2. 
    
   The sugarey granuls on this fishes tail are an example of ich.

   After you have check the status of the dorsal fin, You will then want to check for physical abnormalities and strange behavior. Physical Abnormalities to look for include coning, fin rot, holes or punctures, sugary granules, and worms extending down from the body. Strange behaviors include swimming upside down or backwards, or solely near the top or bottom of the tank or backwards, or rubbing up against objects in the aquarium, or not eating.

3. 
    

   Finally ease your goldfish into their new home. You will need to set up your aquarium three days in advance to allow the filtration system to start working out the impurities of the water. By eliminating environmental stressors in your aquarium you can ease the transition
   Of your fish and better ensure them a healthy and long life.
   Do this by making sure your gold fish has some place to hide. And also by you can attempt to recreate conditions of the tank of your fish' s previous residents, making sure you have adequate water quality of a similar temperature, and level of current

Tips & Warnings

• I suggest putting allot of fake plants in your aquarium so you your fish have places to hide, but so you wont need and gravel. Since food often gets caught in the gravel at the bottom of the tank, it can reduce your water quality, make your tank harder to clean, and the gravel at the bottom of the tank makes for an easy breeding ground for germs and parasites.
• Please do not use fish bowls, they are inhumane. Goldfish need plenty of arration in their water supply, something a fish bowl could not offer unless you changed the water every day. And if you did change the water every day the stress and impurities in the water would surely kill the fish in just a couple days.

[diybookstore]

on 11/6/2009 If you have just 1 goldfish, how often do you feed it and how do you know if the tank has too much or too little food. How do you tell if they are hungry?

[lacychenault]

on 9/29/2009 Oh I LOVE goldfish, I have 4 right now (I wish my tank was bigger so I could handle more!)

[die4freedom]

on 8/24/2009 Nice article, and well written. *****

[rcryder]

on 8/5/2009 Exceptional article. When I was very young, lol, I worked at a pet store and hated to see sick goldfish. 5* and recommended. Please check out my articles.

[ktlyn517]

on 8/4/2009 thanks so much! I have fish that I try my best to take care of - one of them has been around for over a year (i find that amazing)

i especially found it interesting about no gravel. Might try it out, thanks again! 5* and recommend!