Bought
Goldy?
You've got a goldfish tank all setup with fish already in
it. This is where you should be to try and ensure your goldfishes quality
of life.
Contents
Aclimatising
your Fish
Your fish will come in a plastic bag. Inside this bag is
the water, temperature and feeling of the pet store fish tank. Your fish
tank will come as a shock to your fish if you just drop him in. So you
have to 'acclimatise' goldy first. In other words this is slowly getting
him used to your tank conditions. Follow these steps:
- Let the bag (with goldy inside) float in your tank water for 10 minutes.
- After 10 minutes, scoop a cup of water from your tank into the bag.
Let the bag float a further 5 minutes.
- Afer the 5 minutes scoop another two cups of water into the bag. Let
the bag float 10 minutes again.
- Finally, carefully release your fish from the bag using a net. Try
not to let the bag water fall into the tank.
If you notice your fish is looking extremely stressed and frantic add
some stress coat into the water.
Fortnightly
Tank Clean and Water Change
This is the core job to keeping your fish tank in a healthy
condition.
Most people believe you should replace 100% of the water
in the tank, but you should not do this. Why?
- It could send your fish into shock. Everytime you take them out of
the water with a net it stresses your fish causing them to loose their
protective coating.
- It destroys any benficial bacteria which may be in the gravel in your
tank.
This is what you should be doing:
- Change about 40% of the water fortnightly (or weekly if it looks really
dirty*) by using a siphon.
- When siphoning vacuum the gravel to remove any accumulated wastes,
the gravel shouldn't siphon all the way through.
- Scrub the walls clean of Algae with an algae brush.
- Prune any live plants.
- Replace or clean any filter media if necessary.
- Replace the water with de-chlorinated water.
* (Note: if your tank is always really dirty
you may be overfeeding, see below.)
Feeding
It's hard to determine the right amount of food to feed your goldfish
and this is a skill you can only gain after experience. A good rule to
follow is to only feed your fish what they can eat in 5 minutes.
- Goldfish will eat whatever amount of food is given to them, they don't
ever seem to get full. For some reason, in the wild goldfish overeating
is no problem yet in captivity it is.
- Overfeeding will also cause your tank to dirty more quickly.
- Goldfish poo should sink and not float.
- Goldfish should be fed about two times a day. If you happen to miss
a feeding time for your fish don't make up for it in the next feeding
session by doubling the food.
- If it is possible at all to feed your fish at 3 or more intervals
a day then do it! Just make sure you reduce the amount of food for each
serving. In the wild goldfish don't have 'meal times' and eat continually
throughout the day.
I suggest getting two types of food. The pellet type and the flake type.
This gives your fish some diversity in their diet. Also try feeding them
other foods such as lettuce and peas every so often, this offers a nice
change in diet for your fish.
If you are going away on holiday you can purchase a 'goldfish feeder
block'. This is a block which dissolves slowly over time releasing food
trapped within it. However, these blocks will only last around a week.
If you are going on holiday for longer get a friend or neighbour who you
trust to feed your fish. Give them specific instructions on the amount
of food to feed them as people easily feel sorry for your fish and overfeed.
Goldfish can easily stand a day or two without food.
Dieseases/Abnormal
Behaviour
Sometimes no matter how much you care for your fish one of them will
obtain a diesease. Here are some of the most common dieseases.
- Ick
This is the most common goldfish diesease. Ick stands
for Ichtyopthirius. I've talked about the Goldfish's protective
slime coating before and this parasite will attach itself to the fish
when it is stressed and uncoated.
- Constipation
Not really a diesease but nevertheless a problem. Fatty
foods can make goldfish constipated just as in humans. To help un-congest
a goldfish feed it peas as this acts as a mild laxative.
- Fungus
A bacterial infection which looks like white furry patch
or cotton on your fish. Will usually start growing on an open wound.
- Fin Rot
Another bacterial infection which usually ocurrs when
the fish is weak from another infection or diesease. This diesease can
be attained when the fins are damaged in some way. Starting off as a
white edge on the fins, then progressing on to tear apart the fins.
- Anchor Worm
A sort of white wormish looking thing will be coming out
of your fish. It will also have a red ring around where the worm is
attached to the fish. The fish will rub on things like mad trying to
get rid of it.
- Dropsy
Scales begin to stick out from the fishes body, again
this is a bacterial infection. Unfortuneatly in this case your fish
hsa a very slim chance of surviving.
- Pop eye
This is when the eye is buldging out of the socket. This
usually ocurrs before dropsy.
- Lice
This is a greenish lice which attaches itself to the goldfish.
The goldfish will be rubbing against things to try and get it off. You
can remove it manually but you must treat the tank for the hiding lice.
This
site here will go much more in depth about goldfish dieseases. If one
of your fish is sick check out this page for symptoms and hopefully a
cure.
Most external dieseases can be easily cured with a high success rate
using medicine purchased from your pet store, if you catch the
diesease early.
----
If your fish seem to be behaving abnormally (ie. gasping at the surface
for air, shaking, rubbing against things, hiding or swimming strangely
take these steps to treat them and hopefully reduce any diesease symptoms.
- Clean the fish tank and change about 20-40% of the water.
- Vacuum the gravel and remove built up dirt in it.
- Repeat water changes daily untill your fish seem to be better.
Dangers
to your Fish
- Bugspray used around the tank can easily poison your fish. Try to
keep sprays out of the room the tank is in.
- Metals used in the tank can dissolve and poison fish too.
- Foreign objects from beaches other ponds etc. can introduce nasties
such as diesease causing bacteria or virii.
- Tapping on the glass from little children. This can stress your goldfish
out, and at worst damage their internal swim bladder which helps them
balance.
- Sudden very loud noises. Again, can stress your fish or damage the
swim bladder.
- Sharp objects in the tank. Your fish may accidentally cut itself and
open itself up for infection.
|
