How to Take Care of Goldfish

The goldfish is always the preferred breed among ornamental fishes not only because of its beauty but as well as the minimum care that is required to maintain the fish species. A well known fact is that the goldfish can live up to 50 years if they are provided suitable environment.

Goldfish requires plenty of space, hence a larger aquarium should be chosen. Each goldfish requires about 10 gallons of water and goldfishes can really grow in size over the years. The environment in the tank improves when the size of the tank is bigger. Greater surface area helps the goldfish to get sufficient oxygen for longer and healthy life in the tank.

The water in the tank should be changed several times a week. The waste that goldfish produce increases the level of ammonia and nitrogen in the tank. To bring that to control, it is important to remove about 20 to 50 percent of water about 2 to 3 times a week. And when adding fresh water to the aquarium, it is important to ensure that the water is dechlorinated.

Goldfish is omnivorous and eats both plants and animals. They can be fed either frozen foods or the food specifically made for goldfish which may be available online or at your local pet store. Ensure that the frozen foods are thawed before feeding. Goldfish tend to eat a lot and so constantly graze on food. Hence it is important to check on the quantity of the food.

Over feeding the goldfish is fatal. The excess food tends to settle in the bottom of the tank and eventually decomposes which spoils the healthy environment and causes diseases in goldfish. In addition to this, when goldfish eats more food, it produces more waste which requires frequent change of water in the aquarium.

While decorating the aquarium for goldfish it must be remembered to avoid objects with sharp ends. Goldfish tends to hide behind something for a sense of protection and when they are sharp chances are that they get hurt. Goldfish requires a temperature between 18 to 20°C (65 to 68 °F). If the temperature increases than this, the level of oxygen declines which damages the vital organs of goldfish and eventually causes death. Hence the temperature balance is vital for goldfish. Temperature fluctuations can be minimized by avoiding locations such as near the doors, windows or heater vents.

The tank where goldfishes are kept requires filtration. There are three types of filters performing biological, mechanical and chemical filtrations. For each function separate filters are required. While mechanical filters helps to keep the water clear, the biological filters bring down the toxic level of the water and Chemical filters prevents the water from turning yellow.

Biological filter is the most important filter and even if you do not want to buy chemical and mechanical filter, ensure that biological filter is not compromised. Test kits must be used regularly for checking the nitrate and ammonia levels in the water which can prevent diseases in the goldfish.

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