Andres - 2009-10-31 I don't understand how most of the people that have postd here are proud to have overstocked fish tanks / aquariums. A goldfish needs a minimun of 20 gallons for one goldfish and then add an extra 10 gallons for an extra goldfish. Some people are proud to have as little as 5 litres, 15 litres or 10 gallons, which none is goon enough even for 1 goldfish. If people bothered to read even a little about how to care for their pets (goldfish) they would not be so proud to learn that they're not caring for them properly and how misrable their poor fish must be.
I can not stress enough how important it is to get the right size tank in orderto keep healthy goldfish and just because some goldfish manage to live for 2 or3 years in very poor conditions, it doesn't mean that those 2 or 3 years were not agony for the poor fish. I can't think nothing crueler than sujecting your own pet to that kind of torture. It would be more humane to acctually kill it than inflict all that suffering for that period of time. If you are going to have pets then the least they deserve is to be cared for properly. Please Please Pleae people read up on how to take care of goldfish properly
anon - 2009-09-17 I adopted a small goldfish from an ill relative this summer, did my fair share of newbie errors in the beginning, but now he's thriving with two buddies (veiltails) in a well-sized aquarium. There are a few comments here that implies goldfish cruelty by lack of knowledge, but all in all, it seems like more and more keepers are aware of how to treat their pets and wants for them to be happy. I guess I wanted to point out that we all have to start someplace, even though the best would probably be to gather as much knowledge as possible before adopting a scaled friend...
Thanks for providing all this helpful information on goldfish care!
Ally - 2009-08-07 Hey I'm Ally. I just won a common goldfish at the fair (the boy scouts had a booth where you could win goldfish if you won a coin toss game and I WON!) Anyway, I love him (or her, I'm not really sure)! His name is Scallop Elmo (my friend won one too and named her Shrimp Dorothy, so I'm not so crazy). I've been feeding him betta fish food because that's all I have and the goldfish foods costs too much. My friend just loaned me a tank that's a little more than a quart. He's an inch long, and I'm saving up to get a bigger tank so he can grow bigger. He is a proud one week old! Go scallop!
Mao - 2009-08-03 ...wow. Uh I've had my 2 commons for up on 4.5 years now (through many 800 mile trips from college to home and back) and expect them to live much longer. A year is not a good lifespan for this fish, if your fish made it a year and celebrated, you're doing it wrong. My 2 started in a 5, moved to a 10, and now are about 6 inches long and living in a 29 gallon tank. I hope to get a 55 soon to watch them grow even larger.
Good for beginners yes, but beginner isn't the same as lazy. Feeding once every two weeks is not enough at all.
ren - 2009-06-05 Being proud of keeping goldfish alive for a year and a half is like being proud of keeping a cat alive that long. This species, with proper care, lives to be 15+ years old. Research before you obtain any other goldfish; keeping them in small, unsuitable conditions condemns them to a short, unpleasant life.
serra10 - 2009-03-08 I know this is a question. Sorry. Anyway, my former common goldfish died shortly after the tips of her tail turned black. Did this have anything to do with it?
fish man - 2008-10-27 I had 2 common goldfish plus my sister's 2 common goldfish all in a 2.5 gallon tank (yes I spelled that right 2.5). The largest being almost 4 inches and the others being no smaller then 2.5 inches. I did not have any routine water changes, I fed them once a week-once-every two weeks(sometimes longer), and they lasted over a year and a half!
Fish Owner - 2008-10-18 Ok, I have to say I am disgusted by a lot of the comments left. Just because comets are cheap people need to take into consideration what they are getting into. They should NOT be kept in a small tank, and you surely don't need a whole lot in a small tank. They grow fairly big and no they won't grow that big or live long in a small tank for that exact reason, it's unhealthy! It's not that they live a week, it's how you treat them! I have 5 comets and I love them dearly. I'm a sucker for them because of how A LOT of dumb owners treat them! I'm sorry if this offended you, but A LOT of people need to hear this!
Dennis - 2008-09-07 I put a couple of hundred feeder gold fish in my pond which is about 1/3 acre and 1 to 4 ft deep this spring All feeder fish were gold in color. This fall it looks like I might have 1000 or more fish swimming around in my pond. I have never fed them. The water I pump into the pond is from a drainage ditch. Water quality is awful. I am down stream from a large dairy that dumps their waste from time to time in the drain ditch that I pump from. Never the less I have never seen a dead fish. All I can say is that feeder fish are tough SOB's.
My question is; will the feeder fish change colors? From Black to Gold? Do I have to worry about them over populating? If so what should I do. The only enemy they have now is a great blue heron which I enjoy watching. Not sure I will like it if these fish make it to 6 inches in size however.
sue wolf - 2008-09-02 I have an 800 gallon fish pond (my broken hot tub reborn). I don't want to use filtration, so I wanted to keep just a few gold fish. I started out with 4 6" fish last spring; but I now have an additional 15 3" fish and dozens of 1". I guess I was successful at creating a perfect breeding pond. I have 2 questions. Is there anything you can do to diminish breeding, and what do you do with unwanted fish?
Goldfish are fun to watch... just look at all the different colors of these beautiful fish!
I don't understand how most of the people that have postd here are proud to have overstocked fish tanks / aquariums. A goldfish needs a minimun of 20 gallons for one goldfish and then add an extra 10 gallons for an extra goldfish. Some people are proud to have as little as 5 litres, 15 litres or 10 gallons, which none is goon enough even for 1 goldfish. If people bothered to read even a little about how to care for their pets (goldfish) they would not be so proud to learn that they're not caring for them properly and how misrable their poor fish must be.
I can not stress enough how important it is to get the right size tank in orderto keep healthy goldfish and just because some goldfish manage to live for 2 or3 years in very poor conditions, it doesn't mean that those 2 or 3 years were not agony for the poor fish. I can't think nothing crueler than sujecting your own pet to that kind of torture. It would be more humane to acctually kill it than inflict all that suffering for that period of time. If you are going to have pets then the least they deserve is to be cared for properly. Please Please Pleae people read up on how to take care of goldfish properly
I adopted a small goldfish from an ill relative this summer, did my fair share of newbie errors in the beginning, but now he's thriving with two buddies (veiltails) in a well-sized aquarium. There are a few comments here that implies goldfish cruelty by lack of knowledge, but all in all, it seems like more and more keepers are aware of how to treat their pets and wants for them to be happy. I guess I wanted to point out that we all have to start someplace, even though the best would probably be to gather as much knowledge as possible before adopting a scaled friend...
Thanks for providing all this helpful information on goldfish care!
Hey I'm Ally. I just won a common goldfish at the fair (the boy scouts had a booth where you could win goldfish if you won a coin toss game and I WON!) Anyway, I love him (or her, I'm not really sure)! His name is Scallop Elmo (my friend won one too and named her Shrimp Dorothy, so I'm not so crazy). I've been feeding him betta fish food because that's all I have and the goldfish foods costs too much. My friend just loaned me a tank that's a little more than a quart. He's an inch long, and I'm saving up to get a bigger tank so he can grow bigger. He is a proud one week old! Go scallop!
...wow. Uh I've had my 2 commons for up on 4.5 years now (through many 800 mile trips from college to home and back) and expect them to live much longer. A year is not a good lifespan for this fish, if your fish made it a year and celebrated, you're doing it wrong. My 2 started in a 5, moved to a 10, and now are about 6 inches long and living in a 29 gallon tank. I hope to get a 55 soon to watch them grow even larger.
Good for beginners yes, but beginner isn't the same as lazy. Feeding once every two weeks is not enough at all.
Being proud of keeping goldfish alive for a year and a half is like being proud of keeping a cat alive that long. This species, with proper care, lives to be 15+ years old. Research before you obtain any other goldfish; keeping them in small, unsuitable conditions condemns them to a short, unpleasant life.
I know this is a question. Sorry. Anyway, my former common goldfish died shortly after the tips of her tail turned black. Did this have anything to do with it?
I had 2 common goldfish plus my sister's 2 common goldfish all in a 2.5 gallon tank (yes I spelled that right 2.5). The largest being almost 4 inches and the others being no smaller then 2.5 inches. I did not have any routine water changes, I fed them once a week-once-every two weeks(sometimes longer), and they lasted over a year and a half!
Ok, I have to say I am disgusted by a lot of the comments left. Just because comets are cheap people need to take into consideration what they are getting into. They should NOT be kept in a small tank, and you surely don't need a whole lot in a small tank. They grow fairly big and no they won't grow that big or live long in a small tank for that exact reason, it's unhealthy! It's not that they live a week, it's how you treat them! I have 5 comets and I love them dearly. I'm a sucker for them because of how A LOT of dumb owners treat them! I'm sorry if this offended you, but A LOT of people need to hear this!
I put a couple of hundred feeder gold fish in my pond which is about 1/3 acre and 1 to 4 ft deep this spring All feeder fish were gold in color. This fall it looks like I might have 1000 or more fish swimming around in my pond. I have never fed them. The water I pump into the pond is from a drainage ditch. Water quality is awful. I am down stream from a large dairy that dumps their waste from time to time in the drain ditch that I pump from. Never the less I have never seen a dead fish. All I can say is that feeder fish are tough SOB's.
My question is; will the feeder fish change colors? From Black to Gold? Do I have to worry about them over populating? If so what should I do. The only enemy they have now is a great blue heron which I enjoy watching. Not sure I will like it if these fish make it to 6 inches in size however.
I have an 800 gallon fish pond (my broken hot tub reborn). I don't want to use filtration, so I wanted to keep just a few gold fish. I started out with 4 6" fish last spring; but I now have an additional 15 3" fish and dozens of 1". I guess I was successful at creating a perfect breeding pond. I have 2 questions. Is there anything you can do to diminish breeding, and what do you do with unwanted fish?