Goldfish question....

[wabbitwuver]

I just got my goldfish,Winnifrid. But I know nothing about golfish(well i know you can only feed them once a day but that's it!) Anybody who knows about them pleez help!?:confused:

[flamepony12]

depends what kinda goldfish. is it just a common gold one?

[wabbitwuver]

Yeah...I think, he's just small and gold,maybe a bit smaller than a betta and he has a few black tips on his fins.

[sirrahved]

I've heard that it's best to feed goldfish every OTHER day... has anyone else heard this?

[flamepony12]

so, there's not really much more you need to know. They can live in a bowl (but they live longer with a filter) and you feed them once a day. You also need to clean their bowl once a week. NOT TAP WATER. i guess they are one of the lowest matinence pets! The kind of goldfish i have, (fancy goldfish) demand A LOT more care. :)

[wabbitwuver]

if not tap water than what? I don't have chlorine in my water I have a drilled well....and a lake in the backyard(if he needs that water?)

[flamepony12]

you can buy declorinator at the pet store, or you can use bottled water, or you can bottle tap water and let it sit for a couple days, then it will be safe. make sure the water is room temperature. :)

[wabbitwuver]

ya think it would be okay if I used betta water conditioner since that's all I have for now?

[flamepony12]

sure!
:)

[wabbitwuver]

okay! Thanks for the info!:D

[flamepony12]

no problem! :)

[kingrattus]

Ther is no need to feed the fish everyday. Feed the fish ever 2-3 days. The fish will be healthier & wont be over fed.

Don't keep the goldfish in a bowl if u love it. Get him a 10 gallon tank with a little filter. U can buy these as a kit in most Pet Stores, if not all pet stores.

use the goldfish pellets, not the flakes. the flakes sink to the bottom & make a mess. The pellets float for a long long time & if ur fishy is full u just net the left overs out.

u don't need a heater for a goldfish. & u can spoil ur goldfish with a bit of salmon meat.

Get ur goldfish a friend. a pair is always happier & they'll hangout with eachother.

Also treat the fish for ick ASAP. most goldfish get ick the first day or week in their new home.

I love this stuff, it works SOOOOOOOO well!!!
sorry about the size, I cannot crop on this comp, or work on any photos on this comp, no programs for it.
http://jess.iahu.ca/albums/album82/sept_14_2004_006.jpg

[wabbitwuver]

My goldfish is definitly the big kind like urs....will he get that big ever? and how can u tell the gender? I am getting him a filtered tank from my aunt but for now he is in a betta bowl(I moved my betta into a decorative bowl with heard stones and frilly tops and itz so pretty!:D)

[wabbitwuver]

oh! btw....what is ick?

[kingrattus]

Sorry, but I cannot stop LOL. That orange fish u see is a Red Devil, they have flesh ripping teeth & he gets goldfish as a snake every few months. Hes also almost a foot long. he is a mature male & he's mean as a guard dog!!!

He tried to kill me on a daily bases & I cannot put my hands in the water & I have to keep this big rock ontop of his tank lid so he cannot splash water all over my room & jump up to bite me. His teeth act kinda like a sharks jaw. He openeds hiw mouth & when he bites down his teeth come all the way outta his gums to spike his pray, or to scratch the tank glass

heheh, here is a close up of his mouth, I don't think ur goldfish has these needle sharp black teeth..
http://jess.iahu.ca/albums/album273/june_13_2004_026.sized.jpg

Now as to sex the fish, good luck at that size :D

wait until he gets about 6 inches long & then its easy to tell. If the fish has a hump as a forehead, its a male, if its a smooth curved forehead, its a female.

Male Hump
http://jess.iahu.ca/albums/album273/june_13_2004_011.sized.jpg

Female Curve
http://jess.iahu.ca/albums/album108/0plijkb.jpg

[wabbitwuver]

I sure hope my goldfish doesn't have fangs like that!lol! Thank you this info will really help!:D I got 3 goldfish so the odds are I'll have a male & a female;)

[kingrattus]

ick is this white stuff that grows on the fish. its a fungus & it'll kill the fish. A huge % of goldfish die with in the first week.

If ur fish has only 1 tail fin (kinda looks like a "C" shape, then its prob a Commet. they r feeder fish & don't live long if left in a bowl. They r usually imbreed (its really hard to prevent this) & kept in tiny tanks/bags for long periods of time & r sick when they arrive at the store.

If the fish dies with in the first few weeks, its more then likely NOT ur fault. & fancy goldfish die early too because they're all screwed up (I some how don't think the fance goldfish r natural, I think they r man created, like pure dog breeds).

I had Captian Red for about 7-10 years, I really forget but he was super OLD!!! He would have lived longer if my stupid neighbour didn't kill him. He was about the size of my fist & he was a fancy goldfish. He had a butterfly tail (its 2 "C" shaped fins on 1 tail), he was sooooo fat& he was multi coloured, but mostly a rusty red colour. I have a crappy photo of him, but I'm not sure where it is right now.

[wabbitwuver]

Oh my your neighbor killed your fish! what a sin! Mine is probably the cheap kind since he was just a decoration at a wedding. Well he has like a < fin lol.

[kingrattus]

Don't get excited about the sex of the fish. U will not get babies. about 99% of goldfish will only breed in a safe pond enviroment.. Not my pond, its not a safe place for goldfish to breed so my guys will never breed in there, their not stupid.

The last 10 goldfishr doing well & have grown. My biggest one hurds the others like a BC does to sheep. Its soooo cool.

I don't have any pics of the pond fishies right now, but here is what the pond looks like (all the rocks have been removed, its a bare bottom now & I just bought a new huge pond filter)
http://jess.iahu.ca/albums/album73/pond_tanks_aug192003_003.sized.jpg

[wabbitwuver]

whoa that's huge! lol! I dunno the size of the tank I;m getting all i know is it has a filter. Once I caught mino's from the lake and kept them and they didn't last over 3 hours!I'm not sure if they have a short lifespan or they are just hard to keep alive in captivity, I actually had him in with my betta but he didn't even care he just looked at him and swan around him a few times and did nothing else....the mino definitly wasn't attacked he was in perfect condition.

[kingrattus]

the < is what I ment, just never thought of using that symbol hehehe...

My neighbour didn't mean to kill Captain Red. But because she was stupid she ended up killing him. She was fish sitting for 2 weeks while I was in PEI with my dad, sis, RB MAX & my friend. & I came home to a smelly dead tank, ther were 3 fish total, but I wasn't too attached to the others, they were always scared, but not Captain Red :D

[kingrattus]

The minos were prob. put into shock with the water change. I had a fishing Mino left over from my fishing trip & I kept him & named him Stick. He grew to about 6 inches long & lived with Axle until he boiled to death in my hot room

[wabbitwuver]

I usually keep the water luke warm,like the lake. WoW! Minos usually don't live that long! Poor Captain Red....some people sure don't know how to be pet sitters!

[kingrattus]

I never find the right pet sitters. I lost my Hermit Crab to a pet sitter too & she only had him for the weekend!!

She said she was gonna lock his cage up in a bedroom so the cat cannot get to him & she didn't so the cat scared him almost to death.

I got him back & she didn't tell me anything & then I took him out to play with him & he came outta his shell a bit & slowly died in my hands. I loved Mr. Hairy Legs, I use to hand feed him & let him walk all over my room.

I was very angry at the pet sitter. & it was my moms friend, so she was an adult too.


Ohya the pond is 160 gallons. 7 feet long, 4 feet wide & 18 inches deep & its stays beside my bed :)

[wabbitwuver]

Aren't you scared you will roll out of bed into the pond? lol

[kingrattus]

Yep, thats why I have strong board between my bed & the pond :)

That pic u see is old & my bed wasn't beside it at that time.

[kingrattus]

The only thing I'm scared of now, is that Axle can get outta the pond. I'm scared to wake up beside him one morning :eek:

So far he hasn't left the side of the pond, but I know that'll change. I also but some glass & junk in the area he gets out, but he moves it all. So I fixed my room so he cannot get outta the bedroom atleast. & he isn't a bitter out of the water so no worries there, but I still don't want to wake up to see him in my bed.