New Goldfish Help

Wellyboots6

Froglet wrote: »

Sorry Katy,you are not really the best person to advise on how to care for a goldfish.

I didn't give any advice

Mine were 'rehomed' goldfish and I decided to keep on with the way they had been looked after before. Just gave my experience, no advice

kizkiz

The fair goldfish do have one advantage.....if they live longer than a week they tend to live for decades. Survival of the fittest after everything they've been through!

meer53

We have 2 funfair goldfish. I clean them once a week, tap water, no treatment, no filter, feed them once a day. They're 2 years old now and seem quite happy.

Froglet

katy721 wrote: »

I didn't give any advice

Mine were 'rehomed' goldfish and I decided to keep on with the way they had been looked after before. Just gave my experience, no advice

Maybe not but by stating that they were still alive after 5 years inferred that what you are doing is correct.It isn't and therefore they could be a lot healthier and comfortable in the right conditions and with the right tank maintenance.

Froglet

meer53 wrote: »

We have 2 funfair goldfish. I clean them once a week, tap water, no treatment, no filter, feed them once a day. They're 2 years old now and seem quite happy.

I am quite sure they are not at all happy.How can they be with chlorine burning their gills and body,and breathing in their own excretions.It is akin to living in a bathroom where you use the toilet ,don't flush it,and never open the window for a whole week.Would you like that? The fish exist,yes but comfortable? Happy? It really doesn't take much effort or cost much to use the dechlorinator that is designed to eliminate the chemicals in tap water,and a filter is a few pounds.

I have kept fish now for nearly 25 years and swimming around in a well maintained and filtered 1800 gallon pond is a bit more what i would call making a fish happy.And yes,i know that not everyone is able to provide quite such luxury! but a filter,decent size tank, and conditioned water are really a must

If you think i am exaggerating then just check out any fishkeeping site.

Toomuchdebt

In Katy's defence(although mine are tropical fish) I never ever add anything to the water-the reason being that when I did my fish kept dying-soon as I stopped they all stayed alive.Coincidence?Maybe, but I'm too scared to now add anything in case they start dying again.I don't ever do a full water change though, only add water to the tank as it seems to evaporate very quickly and of course change the filter.

spadoosh

my carnival goldfish didnt last long, i put it in my pond and the big koi ate it!

Froglet

Toomuchdebt wrote: »

In Katy's defence(although mine are tropical fish) I never ever add anything to the water-the reason being that when I did my fish kept dying-soon as I stopped they all stayed alive.Coincidence?Maybe, but I'm too scared to now add anything in case they start dying again.I don't ever do a full water change though, only add water to the tank as it seems to evaporate very quickly and of course change the filter.

No, that's quite right,you should never do a full water change but if you get a gravel cleaner you can clean through the gravel and suction out some of the muck and water at the same time.If you really don't want to treat the tap water you put back in,which should amount to about 20%, replaced every two weeks,then do what i do.As well as treating it,I fill enough nappy buckets(just because they have lids) and leave to stand for 48 hours.This does at least reduce the chlorine content.And never change the filter material,just rinse out in old tank water that you have removed.

Lily1

My son won a goldfish at a fair, presuming it would only last a few days Lucky was placed in a clear Pyrex bowl. My bil told me how cruel I was using this bowl, it was large !
The fish has now got a large bowl from an online store, no filter nothing fancy, just some nice white stones, which he relaxes on at night.
We will be celebrating his birthday next May, when he will be 20!

Froglet

Lily1 wrote: »

My son won a goldfish at a fair, presuming it would only last a few days Lucky was placed in a clear Pyrex bowl. My bil told me how cruel I was using this bowl, it was large !
The fish has now got a large bowl from an online store, no filter nothing fancy, just some nice white stones, which he relaxes on at night.
We will be celebrating his birthday next May, when he will be 20!

Can i just suggest you read this,then see if you still think you are keeping your fish as it should be kept.

http://forum.practicalfishkeeping.co.uk/showthread.php?t=74323