Goldfish are most beautiful in the aquarium.
If you are a beginner in fishkeeping goldfish, then this detailed care guide will make you an expert in goldfish with a lot of knowledge.
So, In this article, you will learn the basics of keeping goldfish and what you need to know before starting a fishkeeping goldfish.
Read the article till the end to get complete knowledge about goldfish and there is a bonus tip at the end.
Quick Stats of Goldfish
| Information Chart | Goldfish |
| Scientific Name | Carassius auratus |
| Family | Cyprinidae |
| Care Level | Easy |
| Temperament | Peaceful |
| Color | Red, koi, black, etc |
| Lifespan | 10 to 15 years |
| Size | 2 – 14 inches |
| Diet | Flakes, granules |
| Minimum Tank Size | 20 gallons |
| Temperature | 73 to 75 degrees Fahrenheit |
| Water Conditions | pH should be around 6.5 to 7.5 |
| Tank Mate Compatibility | Plecos, Otocinclus, Dojo Loach, etc |
What are goldfish and where do they originate
Goldfish is a freshwater fish that can be kept as a pet in indoor aquariums. Many people are releasing goldfish fish into the wild and they become an invasive pest in parts of North America.
The scientific name of the goldfish was Carassius auratus and the family was Cyprinidae native to China. They originated from east Asia and are a relatively small member of the carp family.
There are various species of goldfish that can be found in the world can be shown below.
As they are native to china, you need to maintain the water temperature otherwise the fish may show some erratic movements or affect some health issues.
What is the appearance of goldfish?
The beauty of goldfish will touch our hearts and the appearance of goldfish varies according to the type of goldfish. The color of the goldfish looks like gold, red, black, orange, etc.
Now you can see the mixed color of goldfish with a lot of fins, double tails, etc. They are known as fancy goldfish.
The common goldfish have short fins, short tails, and different combinations of colors. They have a classic body shape that will attract us.
What are the different types of goldfish?
There are different types of goldfish with a lot of variations such as fantail, oranda, etc.
Now let’s look at each one in detail.
Comet Goldfish
Comet goldfish are the most popular types of goldfish that can be hard to see because they are unique in personalities and desirable looks. They are easy to breed and found in many pet stores.
Comet fish was similar to common goldfish but the tail was longer. The flowing tails and fins gained popularity for comet goldfish.
They come in a variety of colors like red, yellow, orange, etc. Comet goldfish are peaceful fish with a maximum size of 12 inches.
Like common goldfish, the comet goldfish have the ability to swim faster and they need a lot of space for swimming.
So I recommend using at least 50 gallons of the tank for comet goldfish.
That’s all about Comet Goldfish.
Shubunkin
Shubunkin was a type of goldfish that have three varieties such as American shubunkin. London shubunkin and Bristol shubunkin.
Shubunkin has color patterns that include a combination of orange, white, blue, and black. They are easy to care for and need a lot of space for swimming.
Like comet goldfish, they have the ability to swim faster. The maximum growth and size of the shubunkin were nearly 12 inches.
So you need to provide a 75-gallon tank for shubunkin. That’s all about the shubunkin goldfish.
The bristol shubunkin was difficult to find because it was a variety of shubunkin.
Fantail
Fantail was a beautiful fish with double tails and their body shape looked like an egg-shaped one with dorsal fins and long double tails.
They are a little difficult to care for because they can affect common diseases or sudden changes in the water parameter making them stressed.
Fantail comes in different combinations of colors such as red, orange, black, yellow, etc. As a beginner, I will not recommend choosing the fancy goldfish because they need specialized care.
The maximum size and growth of fish are nearly 8 inches and you need to provide a 30-gallon tank for them.
Oranda
Oranda goldfish have a variety fleshy mass on their head that will attract us. They were a little difficult to care and oranda comes in a variety of colors such as white, red, orange, and a combination of white and orange.
One of the main important things is don’t keep the fish with single-tailed goldfish because the common goldfish will attack the double tails.
As a beginner, I won’t recommend choosing oranda goldfish because you need to learn and experience common goldfish and provide good care for them.
After some experience, you can choose the fancy goldfish.
There are a lot of types of goldfish, but I was not going for more detail.
Which Type of Goldfish do you need to pick?
Goldfish are one of the best pet fish. They are peaceful and social but sometime they may become aggressive towards other fishes.
So you need to carefully choose the fish according to the tankmates and the temperament and caring will vary according to the type of goldfish.
“As a beginner, you can choose common goldfish for your tank and provide a good caring for learning and experiencing the fishkeeping”.
Each goldfish has unique needs and challenges. So need to be very careful while choosing a fish.
When I started fishkeeping, I don’t know the suitable tankmates for goldfish and I put the goldfish with my aggressive barbs. After a day, the goldfish got some injuries and bleeding.
Habitat
When we look at the habitat of the goldfish, It was a freshwater fish that moves slowly as they are relative to carp. Goldfish may become aggressive while feeding them.
They love to stay near the live plants and the bottom side of the aquarium. In wild, they tend to live in small water bodies without movement or slow swimming.
Many people release goldfish into river water when they become adults because it was not easy to care for them. When they become adults, they may show some aggressiveness toward other fishes.
Temperament
Goldfish are social and peaceful fish that loves to live with groups of fishes. They are suitable for any fish that are social and peaceful.
Sometimes they may become aggressive towards other fishes and start chasing them. I have found lots of incidents and it was when the time of feeding the fish.
As a beginner, you can put the goldfish only with suitable tankmates and feed them on two sides of the tank.
Size
The common goldfish has a maximum size of 14 inches and there are small fishes whose size can vary.
For a small indoor aquarium, you can keep the size of 1 to 3 inches size goldfish. The goldfish will grow larger if you move them to bigger tanks.
For faster growth of goldfish, you can keep them in large tanks.
How to Setup a Tank for Goldfish
For setting up a goldfish tank you need to know the basic equipment and water parameters for the goldfish.
For goldfish, you need to set up a 20-gallon tank as a minimum size. But I recommend using a 100-gallon tank for goldfish because they are growing day by day, so you need to upgrade the tank when they reach a big size.
You need to choose the different equipment such as filter, heater, substrate, plants, and aquarium hood cover.
As a beginner, you need to check the water parameters every week and ensure there is no ammonia spreading in the tank.
Many beginners are not caring about the water parameters and they don’t know the importance of filter equipment.
What are the Water parameters Required For Goldfish?
Water parameters are an essential part of goldfish because sudden changes in the water parameter make them stress and healthy issues.
As a beginner, you need to maintain the water parameters and don’t overfeed the goldfish for faster growth.
I also have done mistakes like overfeeding and not providing equipment for the goldfish tank. After some days, the goldfish start showing some erratic movements and start dying. So don’t make silly mistakes.
The water parameter required for the goldfish tank.
Temperature:73 to 75 degrees Fahrenheit
pH Level: 6.5 to 7.5
That’s all about the water parameter required for goldfish.
Now let’s know the importance and equipment needed for a goldfish tank
What are the types of equipment Needed in a Goldfish Tank?
For setting up a goldfish tank you need to use different equipment that is listed below. Before setting up a fish tank, you need to buy this equipment as it was essential for goldfish.
Filters
Filters are essential for every fish because they will clean the water and remove debris and toxic ammonia from the tank.
As a beginner, It was compulsory to use an aquarium filter in the goldfish tank to maintain clean water. Otherwise, the water becomes dirty and the fish may have some breathing problems.
Sometimes it may affect the health of goldfish.
So you need to keep a good filter in the aquarium and clean the water every week.
Every month you need to change the water for the effective growth of the goldfish. Cleaning the fish tank was a heavy task, so you can keep a filter for cleaning the water.
Heater
Aquarium Heaters are used of maintaining the water temperature in the goldfish tank. It was very important to use a heater in the low-temperature area of the world.
To maintain the water temperature you can use a heater for increasing the water temperature.
You can set the heater temperature and it will automatically cut off when it reaches the water temperature.
The required water temperature for a goldfish tank is 73 to 75 degrees Fahrenheit.
Substrate
For setting up a goldfish, you need to choose the substrate for the tank. In a goldfish tank, you can use substrates such as soft sand or gravel.
Sharpe edge substrate will harm the body and there may be a chance of bleeding. So it’s very important to use a soft substrate for the goldfish tank.
The substrate will hide the uneaten food waste and goldfish poop in the bottom and the fish tank looks very neat and clean.
Live Plants
Live plants are an important factor in the aquarium because they will convert carbon dioxide into oxygen in the tank.
Not only that, but the fish can also eat small organisms on the leaves of plants. But there may be a chance for algae spreading in the tank.
So you need to put an algae eater in the tank to reduce the spreading. The algae eaters are fishes like plecos and otocinclus.
Air pumps
Aquarium air pumps are used for generating oxygen content in the tank. But if you have a filter then not need to use air pumps.
The filter will do the job of an air pump, but if the oxygen content is low in the tank then you need to keep both the filter and air pump.
If the oxygen is low then fish struggles to breathe and stay at the top every time.
Tank Maintenance
Tank maintenance is important for fishkeeping. You need to clean the water once a week and change the water once every month.
Cleaning was essential for every fish tank because it will enhance the growth of fish. If your fish tank looks dirty and the fish struggle to breathe then you need to suddenly change the water.
Here are some tips for cleaning the fish tank.
For cleaning the fish tank you need to use some equipment such as algae scrapper, bucket (5-gallon), gravel vacuum, and water testing kit.
Firstly you need to remove the algae from the glass using the algae scrapper and use a gravel vacuum for removing it from the tank.
After the water reaches the lower, you can prone the live plants and clean the waste from the bottom substrate.
After that, you can fill the fresh water into a tank.
It was a simple process, but you need to carefully clean the water.
Care guide for Goldfish
It was pretty simple to care for the goldfish.
As a beginner, it will be a little difficult to care for the fancy-type goldfish, So I recommend buying common goldfish for easy care.
You need to check the water parameters every day and make sure that every types of equipment was working well.
If the equipment doesn’t work properly then it will affect the health of the fish. Make sure that water was clean.
You can use a water testing kit for checking the level and use the thermometer to check the water temperature.
Ensure the fish’s condition before feeding. Sometimes the fish may show aggression toward other fishes while feeding.
If their health was good then you can feed them. But don’t overfeed.
Overfeeding make the water dirty and there will a chance of spreading toxic ammonia in the tank.
If you see the fish chasing the goldfish then immediately separate the goldfish to another tank. Otherwise, the fish may have bleeding or the tail may break.
Water parameters and feeding were important for caring for the goldfish. If the water becomes dirty then change the water immediately.
That’s all about goldfish care guides.
What is the Lifespan of Goldfish?
The goldfish was a freshwater fish that can lifespan of a range of 10 to 15 years.
It was an average calculation from many experts.
If you don’t care about the goldfish then they will die faster. So you need to provide quality feeds and an aquatic environment for them.
Try to avoid harmful tankmates and provide social and peaceful temperament fishes as the tankmates for goldfish.
What Are the Best foods For Goldfish?
The goldfish are omnivores and they will eat any food that you feed them. I recommend feeding them quality foods for better results.
Here is the Best food for goldfish
Top Pick
How to Feed Your Goldfish?
Before starting to feed the goldfish, you need to keep a schedule for feeding. The schedule was used for healthy feeding and to avoid overfeeding.
You can feed the goldfish twice a day and if you see any food floating in the tank or at the bottom then you need to remove the waste from the tank.
Otherwise, there will be a chance of spreading toxic ammonia. You can feed a small pinch of pellets or flakes to goldfish twice a day.
If you see the goldfish showing aggression while feeding them then you need to feed them in multiple places.
Other fishes may be attacking the goldfish and not getting enough feeds. So you need to feed them in multiple places to reduce the aggression.
Now let’s look at the suitable tankmates for goldfish.
Best Suitable Tankmates for Goldfish
Goldfish will get along with any fish, but you need to choose peaceful and social fish as the tankmate for goldfish.
Here is the list of suitable tankmates for goldfish tanks.
- Rosy Barb
- Platey
- Cherry shrimp
- Plecos
- Otocinclus
These are the fishes that get along with goldfish.
What are the Common diseases that affect Goldfish?
If you don’t care about the goldfish, you see the goldfish have some health issues.
Here is some common disease that can affect goldfish.
- White String Poop
- Ich Disease
- Polycystic Kidney Disease
- Swim bladder disorder
- Goldfish eye cloudy
- Goldfish tail bent
Conclusion
Now you have goldfish care guides and as a beginner, you need the help of an expert.
If you have any questions regarding the goldfish care guide then comment below and don’t forget to subscribe to the newsletters.
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