How to care for a goldfish?

Want to have a real goldfish at home? Imagine it is quite possible! Of course, we will not be able to give you any guarantees of the fulfillment of three desires, as in a fairy tale, but as many tips as you can to care for a goldfish living in an aquarium. It’s easy to take care of such fish, so their maintenance will not be particularly troublesome. What are these pets really and what should be their proper maintenance? Let's get it together.

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Zoological portrait

Aquarium fish, known to us as golden or fan tails, are officially named Carassius auratus auratus (Latin) and belong to the cyprinid family. Their closest relatives in our lakes and rivers are bleak, rudd, bream, crucian carp and mirror carps. But it is hard to say exactly which family belonged to the Pushkin Goldfish, since these fish are mostly freshwater.

The following can be said about these fish:

• In home aquariums, goldfish, as a rule, do not grow longer than 15 cm, although sometimes they can reach 30 cm.
• They have a flattened lateral body in the shape of an ellipse with a sharp muzzle.
• Their long upper fin begins in the middle of the body, and the lower short fin is anal, located closer to the tail.
• The classic coloring of goldfish is red-golden on the back, yellow-golden on the sides and yellowish on the abdomen.
• The fins are painted in bright red or any reddish hues, but sometimes they are just yellow. Sometimes there are specimens of exotic colors, ranging from white to black and blue.

Important! Based on this, a goldfish may not be golden at all, but, for example, brown, pink or even spotted.

It is possible to determine the sex of a goldfish only in the pre-spawning period:

• At this time, males, ready for spawning, have a distinctive feature - notches located on the gills and on the fore ray of the first pectoral fins.
• The female who is about to postpone the game is easy to recognize by the compacted swollen abdomen.

Important! If during this period you look at the fish from above, you can see the curvature of the body, which, as a rule, remains after laying eggs.

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Creating a suitable environment for fish

To make your pet comfortable, it is important to learn how to properly care for the goldfish and create the most favorable conditions for it.

Suitable size aquarium

It is incredibly important to provide the fish with a fairly spacious “house”. Selecting a container for a goldfish is not such a simple task as it might seem at first. To choose a truly suitable home, it is important to know the following:

• Preference should be given to the classic aquarium options rather than round ones, since small round aquariums become much more polluted.

Important! When kept in a dirty environment, fish can get sick or even die.

• The optimal proportion of the aquarium for a goldfish is 60 cm per 1 cm of individual length. For example, if the proportions of the glass container are 40x40x70, then 2 fish can live in it, provided that the body length of each is no more than 20 cm.
• For the full life of one goldfish, at least 80 liters of fresh water are needed.

Important! The volume of water in a glass container designed to contain several individuals is determined depending on the number of inhabitants of the aquarium.

The temperature in the aquarium

Goldfish are quite hardy, so if the water temperature slightly goes beyond the recommended range, nothing will happen to them. Nevertheless, try to keep the temperature in the aquarium within 21-25.6 degrees, because it is best suited to maintain a comfortable environment for fish.

Useful tips on how to care for a goldfish:

• To monitor the temperature of the water, you must use a special thermometer for aquariums. Room temperature, as a rule, is already in the range of 21-26.5 degrees, however, it may deviate in one direction or another, depending on the region of your residence and the time of year.
• In general, water can sometimes become slightly colder or warmer than ideal temperature, and most fan tails tolerate this well. But you can not let the temperature fall below 15.5 degrees and rise above 37.5.
• If you live in a region where the air temperature may drop sharply at night, it would be nice to buy a special water heater for the aquarium and set it to maintain the recommended temperature.

Filtration

The aquarium filtration system is its very important component. Buy a filter at the pet store that will be suitable specifically for aquariums with goldfish - ask the seller about this.

Important! Do not buy filters that create a strong flow of water, as they are not suitable for this type of fish. Goldfish feel very bad in tanks with a strong current.

Cleaning

To care for a goldfish, it is important to remember the purity of the water in which it lives:

• Once a week, it is necessary to replace 10-15% of the volume of water in the aquarium. When a partial fluid change is made, there is no need to remove the fish from the aquarium.
• In addition to updating the water, you also need to perform the simplest cleaning of the aquarium - scrape off algae that has grown from its inner walls.

Important! A special scraper for these purposes can be bought at any pet store.

• Please note that for a partial change of water, fresh water should be close to the temperature of the aquarium itself, poured into the tank.
• It is also important to fill in fresh chlorinated water - for this you will need to purchase special chemical neutralizers.

Important! Carefully observe the dosage of the drug indicated on the package. Often after the use of such a tool, the water becomes ready for use in a couple of minutes.

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Proper feeding

To ensure the correct diet for goldfish, you should adhere to these rules:

• Choose a high-quality food for your pets - the basis of the diet for this type of fish should be cereal-based food or a granular mixture that includes all the necessary nutrients for a comfortable stay.

Important! In general, a granular form of feed may be preferable to a cereal feed, since quite often the flakes begin to crumble in the water, and it becomes more difficult for the fish to eat.

• Supplement your diet with vegetables rich in fiber - fan tails are omnivorous, that is, they can eat both vegetable and meat fodder. And if you buy some tender plants for the aquarium and plant them with fish, they can sometimes snack on these plants.
• Do not overfeed your pets, as these fish tend to eat fast, they are quite easy to overfeed.

Important! It should take no more than a couple of minutes to fully eat one serving of food in the form of flakes or granules. If the fish eats a serving longer, then you give it too much food.

• Feed your pets on a schedule - so it will be easier for you to remember to give them food.

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Breeding

To breed goldfish you need to have a special spawning aquarium:

1. During the mating season, females and males are seated and well fed, and the female and two or three males, ready for spawning, are placed together in a spawning aquarium.
2. Then the female spawns, swimming over or between aquatic plants, and the males immediately fertilize the eggs.
3. The eggs stick to the plants and become transparent the very next day.
4. After spawning, the fish must be planted, and the water layer in the aquarium should be reduced to 15 cm.
5. After about five days, fry should appear from the eggs.

Important! It is necessary to ensure that during this period the water temperature in this aquarium does not change by more than five degrees.

All further care for small fish and the conditions of their maintenance are fully consistent with the care of adults. But at first they are fed with rotifers and infusoria, and then transferred to normal food.

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Precautions against Common Beginner Mistakes

To properly care for a goldfish, you should be aware of some typical mistakes that are often made by those who first brought such pets:

• Do not overpopulate the aquarium. If you decide to increase the number of fish, then the size of their "house" should grow accordingly.

Important! In a crowded aquarium, your pets can become aggressive and start fighting with each other.

• If any of the individuals began to show excessive territorial aggression, then you need to install a partition in the aquarium that will protect the remaining inhabitants from the aggressor.

Important! Such a partition can be purchased at any pet store.

• Do not leave uneaten food left at the bottom of the aquarium, as it can become a source of trouble. Their presence indicates that you are overfeeding your pets, and also this leads to very fast water pollution.
• Never wash the aquarium or its decorations with any detergent, and do not allow chemicals to enter the water.
• Do not place the aquarium near the window. Better place the fish tank where the temperature is fairly stable.

Important! Beware of placing the aquarium in drafts or in places where the ambient temperature may change significantly throughout the day.

• Pay attention to the appearance of fish disease symptoms. If you notice something like this in some of the fish, you should put them in a separate container. This will not only make it possible to prevent the spread of the disease, but will also allow you to closely monitor the sick, treating them with the help of special medicines.

Important! Symptoms of the disease include the following:

1. Apathy.
2. Swollen abdomen.
3. Rapid breathing.
4. Appearance of white spots on the body.
5. The desire to hide in a corner.
6. Bulging eyes.

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Stock footage

If you properly care for the goldfish, then its contents should not cause much trouble. This is an unpretentious and cheerful creature. So, comfortable maintenance and competent care is all that she needs. Set up fabulous fish in the aquarium, and it may very well be that soon your wishes will come true.