Hi PA! This care guide put together by the Care Guide Project team is going to be all about Goldfish and their care!

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Writers

Swiss

Edit Makers

Mina

Cover by

Swiss

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Table of Contents

Diet

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Enclosure

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Natural Habitat

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Maintenance

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Common Illness

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Enrichment

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Essential Supplies

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Diet

By Swiss

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Goldfish can eat both meat and plants, so this is important to keep in mind. There are pellets and flake foods that can meet the needs they have for their nutrients. However, if you’re aiming for the best care, fresh food is the best option. Dried foods just don’t have as high of nutrition as fresh foods but supplementing with some fresh sources can combat this.

Here is a simple list of some things you can feed your goldfish:

:small_orange_diamond: Algae

:small_orange_diamond: Algae Wafers

:small_orange_diamond: Aquarium Plants

:small_orange_diamond: Bloodworms

:small_orange_diamond: Brine Shrimp

:small_orange_diamond: Daphnia

:small_orange_diamond: Fish Pellet Foods

:small_orange_diamond: Flake Foods

:small_orange_diamond: Frozen Foods

:small_orange_diamond: Fruit

:small_orange_diamond: Green Vegetables

:small_orange_diamond: Homemade Fish Foods

:small_orange_diamond: Insects

:small_orange_diamond: Mosquito Larvae

:small_orange_diamond: Shrimp Pellet Foods

:small_orange_diamond: Small Live Foods

:small_orange_diamond: Squid

:small_orange_diamond: Worms

*NOTE*

:small_blue_diamond: Some options can easily be fresh or frozen

:small_blue_diamond: Cut food into small pieces (their mouth size)

:small_blue_diamond: Fruit/Veggies should be no more than 1-2 a week

When it comes to feeding, I must mention you should be feeding your goldfish 2-3 times a day. These feedings should be broken up and not too close in time so they can properly digest. Also aim to feed them enough that they can eat within 2 minutes, and remove any leftovers. Leaving leftover food or feeding too much can result in overfeeding, bloating, and making the tank get dirtier faster.

If you run out of fish food, do NOT give other sources to your goldfish without the proper research. Especially bread, this will cause constipation as they have difficulty processing gluten. If you do not have any fish food or safe food for them, then wait until you can go buy more. Goldfish can survive without eating for 8 - 14 days, thought highly not recommended to go this long. But if you need just a couple of days to get it, that’s okay. It’s always good to keep an extra bottle to avoid those situations from happening.

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Enclosure

By Doctor Scales

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Unfortunately, Goldfish are misunderstood when it comes to their housing. Fishbowls as well as undersized and unfiltered aquariums are not adequate housing. Don’t worry, I am not here to lecture or anything, just some information. There is no definite minimum tank size, and no matter what I say it will spark debate and controversy. Following the 10 gallons per inch rule, the average Goldfish does not get above 6 inches, so 50-60 gallons would be an alright-sized enclosure. Anything larger would be a bonus. But Goldfish could also be kept in a pond outside.

When it comes to setting up the tank, Goldfish are cool water fish and do best around 68-74 degree water, with Shubukens needing 60-70 degree water as optimal. Ph is not that big of a deal but should be kept between 7.0-8.4 Just be sure to avoid inconsistent water quality. Goldfish do need filtration, and from my experience, they could be messy, so it is best to get a strong filter.

As for decorations be careful with live and plastic plants as goldfish would try to eat them. If you have a goldfish with protruding eyes (like the Telescope Goldfish) be sure to avoid pointy decorations and sharp substrate to prevent injuring your pet. As a whole, it’s best to avoid pointy objects, to begin with as their fins are soft and they could be torn relatively easily. Goldfish also like to forage in the substrate, so it’s best for the substrate not to be sharp or be able to be easily swallowed. Gravel and some sources state sand is an alright substrate for the curious goldfish.

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Natural Habitat

By Doctor Scales

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The Goldfish is from the land of China, a domestic variant of the Wild Carp. The Goldfish was always from captivity, so technically the natural habitat would be the freshwater ponds of China. The Goldfish was selectively bred for certain colors, appearances, or attributes until they became the Goldfish we know and love today. Some variants of the Goldfish came from Japan and the United States of America, but the majority of Goldfish were bred and created in China.

The ancestors of the Goldfish were carp, which preferred slow-moving relatively silty freshwater bodies of waters: like ponds, slow-moving rivers and streams, and lakes. Goldfish like Carp are extremely adaptable and can survive adverse conditions. Wild Carp, the ancestor of the Goldfish can be found in even muddy or low oxygen water. They do need vegetation to feed on, and despite their adaptability, the conditions should be right for the Goldfish/carp to survive. They also tended to like cooler water. Goldfish were kept in the Chinese owner’s ponds, occasionally being moved to indoor containers for when company is over. Their adaptability allows for them to be added to American ponds.

The adaptability and ability to thrive in poor conditions is one of the reasons, Goldfish are a problem. A combination of being used as bait, and pet owners releasing Goldfish have led to them being found in American bodies of water where they are not native causing issues due to the lack of predation.

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Maintenance

By Swiss

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Lets go over a few things you’ll need to keep track of to maintain your pet goldfish so they stay happy!

Their water should should never be warmer than 74°F (23.5°C) and preferably should be between 65°-68°F (18°-20°C). If their tank is kept on the warmer side too long, this results in oxygen deprivation and cause a series of issues.

Keeping them in the appropriate tank size and set up will help a lot to maintain them as healthy and happy. The water changes should be done weekly with 10-15% so they are always getting clean water and ridding of excess waste the filter doesn’t clean. It’s also very important to have a water filter, this keeps the water safe for them. Just make sure the filter you get doesn’t produce strong currents, since this makes it hard for them to swim.

Feeding is important and should only be done 2-3 times a day, and only as much as they can eat in 2 minutes. Do not feed more than this to avoid them overeating and becoming bloated.

So to recaps let’s briefly go over what’s expected for them through the week—

:diamond_shape_with_a_dot_inside: Daily feeding (2-3 times)

:diamond_shape_with_a_dot_inside: Check their tank temperature daily

:diamond_shape_with_a_dot_inside: Weekly water changes/cleaning

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Common Illnesses

By Lennon

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Goldfish, despite their popularity, are actually quite prone to different illnesses, and it's quite common that a goldfish owner will run into at least one of them. However, all disease processes are made worse by the water quality, so if you have a sick fish, check your water chemistry first. And now, let's talk about some of the more common illnesses of goldfish.

Fish Bowls

While this obviously isn't a disease of some sort, it's a very common problem in the goldfish keeping hobby and it can cause a lot of health problems. Goldfish need spacious and clean tanks, and sadly in many cases when goldfish are kept in bowls, they suffocate even in the cleanest water simply because oxygen cannot diffuse into the water as fast as it is consumed. Fishbowls generally do not have space for a filter, so you'd technically have to clean it every single day, which will get pricey, messy, and very stressful for your pet. It's also difficult to regulate the temperature of the bowl. And of course, the shape of the bowl distorts a goldfish's vision.

Ich

Getting onto the actual diseases now, ich is very common in aquariums, white spot disease usually affects new goldfish that are stressed. It's quite easy to tell if your fish has ich or not, they're going to have white spots (looks like salt grains) all over their body or just in some places of the body.

Swim Bladder Disease

It's usually the fancy goldfish that are observed with buoyancy problems. Swim Bladder Disease may occur if your goldfish is overfed, fed low-quality food not fed enough fiber.

Fin Rot

Pretty self-explanatory, if your fish has this illness, their fins and tail specifically will quite literally start to rot. Fin rot is usually a secondary infection that may infect your fish if they’re already stressed from another goldfish disease or injury.

Fungal Infection

This almost always occurs when the water quality is poor. Stress and a lowered immune system will prompt fungus to grow.

Velvet

This one is quite similar to ich, however, your goldfish will have “small grains of dust” on their bodies and it'll always start on the back of the fish. These small parasites are smaller than ich and can be difficult to detect. The causes are the same as they were for ich.

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Enrichment

By Lennon

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Enrichment is quite necessary for goldfish, as they're quite intelligent for fish and fish health is closely connected to their environment.

Some good ideas for enrichment would be hiding spots. These include fake, non-toxic plants, and of course, make sure that they have been washed well beforehand and that they don't have any sharp ends.

Another idea would be adding sand as your main substrate. Goldfish love “filtering” through the sand to find food and it provides great enrichment.

As mentioned earlier, goldfish are very intelligent, to the point that you could quite literally teach them tricks. There are some more detailed guides online, but I've certainly seen someone teach “basketball” to their goldfish! Wow!

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Essential Supplies

By Swiss

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Let’s go over essential supplies you’ll need for your goldfish! The names will be generic so please take the time to do research on which brands have great . This also will be a very simple list, so always feel free to go beyond this and make your fish feel like the king/queen they deserve to be! Another factor to also for is if you have other fish in the tank with them, to understand their needs as well and add or adjust for them too.

:diamond_shape_with_a_dot_inside: Tank - 20 gallons (can vary)

:diamond_shape_with_a_dot_inside: Gravel (or suitable substrate)

:diamond_shape_with_a_dot_inside: Filter (avoid ones that create strong currents)

:diamond_shape_with_a_dot_inside: Water conditioner

:diamond_shape_with_a_dot_inside: Fish food (& list of other safe options)

:diamond_shape_with_a_dot_inside: Water testing kit

:diamond_shape_with_a_dot_inside: Heater / Thermometer

:diamond_shape_with_a_dot_inside: Fishnet

:diamond_shape_with_a_dot_inside: Plants/decorations

:diamond_shape_with_a_dot_inside: Cleaning supplies

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ing Sources

1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9

Images

1, 2, 3, 4, 5

+ Edits made in PicsArt