How to Care for Pet Goldfish

People have been keeping goldfish as pets for hundreds of years. Goldfish will quickly learn to love their keepers and the older a goldfish gets, the smarter it becomes.

Goldfish keepers bond with their fish daily during feeding time.

Here is how you can care for goldfish in a pond or an aquarium.

Difficulty: Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• 6 or more goldfish
• Live fishfood
• Plastic plants
• Filter floss
• Aquarium Gravel
• Aquarium Decorations
• Pond or aquarium
• Fishfoods
• Good water quality
• Live aquatic plants

1. Buy at least 6 goldfish from the fish store.
   
   The cheapest kind of goldfish that you can buy are "feeder" goldfish from a pet store. You can ask the fish store employee to scoop out a mix of different colored 'feeder' goldfish. Usually, feeder goldfish can be found in the following colors : black, orange, white, yellow, grey or red colors.
   
   Buy your goldfish and bring your new goldfish directly to your house.

2. Float the bag of goldfish in the tank or pond for 30 minutes to 1 hour.
   
   After the bag has been "floated", pour the water and fish out of the plastic bag and into an aquarium net. Throw away the old "fish store" water. Don't add this water from the fish store into your tanks/ponds to prevent contaminating your tank with diseases, fungus, bacteria and/or parasites, etc.

3. Gently add the goldfish into a healthy, cycled aquarium or pond.
   
   All of the following items should be constantly available in a goldfishes environment :
   
   * Good water quality
   * Aquarium gravel
   * Aquarium decorations
   * Live aquatic plants
   * Filter floss
   * Plastic plants
   * Pond snails
   * Shelter (Always provide goldfish with places to hide)
   * Pond or aquarium filters and/or heaters (if necessary)

4. Feed your goldfish some live fishfood right away. Usually livefood will make your fish forget about the stressful ride home.
   
   Feed your goldfish at least once a day during the warm summer months. (Feed more or less fishfood depending on how many goldfish you have.)
   
   Feed your goldfish the following foods as a Staple Food : Algae wafers, Fishfood flakes and Shrimp pellets.
   
   Goldfish also love to eat blanched vegetables once or twice a week.
   
   Treats that pet goldfish enjoy, include the following items :
   
   * Freeze dried foods (Krill, shrimp, bloodworms, etc.)
   * Live fishfood (Aquatic worms, daphnia, grindal worms, etc.)
   * Frozen Foods (Bloodworms, Squid, Silversides, etc.)
   
   Feed treats to your goldfish once or twice a week.

5. Change out 25% of the water in your goldfish tank/pond every week. Only add dechlorinated tap water (fish-safe water) into your goldfish pond.
   
   Pay close attention to the water quality in your pond or fishtank. If your fish start gasping for air at the surface of the water then you may need to upgrade the fish to a larger pond. You can also add an internal water pump or air-bubbler into the pond to make the surface of the water move around more.
   
   Use water quality testing kits (dip-strips) to monitor the water quality in your goldfish pond/tank.
   
   Every 3 days, refill any water that's lost because of evaporation.
   
   Interact with your fish as much as possible. Lightly swish your fingers through the water every day during feeding time. Softly tap the side of the pond to let your goldfish know that your there. Eventually your fish will swim right up to you as you approach the pond/tank. One of these days, you may be lucky enough to get a goldfish kiss on one of your fingers.
   
   Don't touch your goldfish for more than a few seconds, every few weeks. You don't want to irritate your goldfishes scales or wipe off the natural slime coat. Be very gentle when playing with goldfish (especially fancy goldfish such as fantails.)
   
   Always wash your hands really good using warm water and baking soda before playing with your pond fish.
   
   After playing with your pond fish you should always wash your hands with a disinfecting soap (Just in case.)

6. Protect your goldfish from harm.
   
   If you notice any birds, cats, dogs, etc. picking at or hanging around your goldfish pond you will need to add shelter into the pond for your fish. This can be in the form of (large) aquarium decorations, rocks, aquatic plants, etc. Consider adding a screen over your pond to keep out predators. Even the smallest birds will try to eat small pond fish.
   
   If your pond is too small or temperatures are unusually low during any one winter, goldfish may actually require that an aquatic heating element be added into their environment (tank or pond). You may also need to bring your goldfish and other pond fish inside of your house for the cold months of winter (if it gets too cold in the goldfish pond.)
   
   Keep a floating thermometer in your goldfishes pond or tank. Check on the temperature in your goldfish tank/pond, daily.
   
   Goldfish can live to be 50 years old, they make wonderful long-term pets. Be ready to buy a lot of fishfood and water dechlorinator products. A full-grown, adult goldfish will require at least 25 gallons of water for itself. So, if you have a 300 gallon pond, plan on adding 12 goldfish into it. (Some ponds/tanks can hold more or less goldfish depending on the filtration system and water quality.)

Tips & Warnings

• Always dechlorinate water an hour before adding it into your goldfish pond or tank!

Resources

• How to Make Your Own Frozen Fish Foods
• How to Use Filter Floss For Freshwater Aquariums

[midcenturymaven]

on 12/9/2009 I love goldfish. They have such sweet personalities. Thanks for the detailed instructions. This was an enjoyable read.

[francisfour]

on 8/22/2009 Thank you for your tips. I need to get me a tank as soon as possible. Great article!!!