Q&A for How to Take Care of Goldfish

I'd avoid it in general. Goldfish get buoyancy issues, indigestion issues, and bloat issues really easily. Keep them on a diet that's specifically made for goldfish.

There's a lot of different things you can do to vary their diet. Variety can come in the form of flakes versus pellets and floating food versus sinking food. Even different brands can give you different ingredients and different ratios.

Put the goldfish in a hospital tank, meaning a bare bones aquarium with a simple filter and simplistic decor, and watch the fish for a period of time. Don't add the goldfish back to the original system until it has been healthy for a period of 30 days straight.

Do a 25% water change every week to keep your goldfish tank clean. Goldfish waste can be hard to filter out, so change the water often.

Use an aquarium testing kit to monitor ammonia, nitrite, and pH in your goldfish tank.

Feed your goldfish 1 or 2 times a day. Feed them only as much food as they can eat in 1 minute. Make sure you don't overfeed your fish.

Your fish are in danger. There's not enough oxygen in the tank and you will need to fix this as fast as possible. They can die quickly if they don't have enough oxygen.

Sleeping fishes usually move around. If its gills are moving, then the fish is alive. If you can't see its gills, then you can lightly tap the aquarium glass on the spot where your fish is. If it moves, then it was sleeping.

They do not tend to like a lot of direct sunlight because it often heats up the water to an uncomfortable level.

Female goldfish have rounder and thicker bodies than males. The female's back tail is larger than a male's as well. The anal vent on a female looks like a raised surface on her abdomen. Male goldfish have a thinner body and their vent looks like it is concave. Look for a midline ridge, a raised line from the back of his pelvic fin to his vent underneath his belly.

It's normal for goldfish to have big bellies, but make sure you're not overfeeding them. If you have both male and female goldfish, it's possible that she's pregnant.

No, because you only have to feed it twice a day. Other than that, goldfish are pretty independent.

Parasites are found in dirty water, dirty tank accessories and infected fish. The parasite clings on to the fish and slowly eats away their fins, scales, etc. Infected fish should be kept away from healthy fishes so that the healthy fish don't catch the parasite.

Yes. Make sure you add water conditioner to tap water before adding it to your fish's tank. Saltwater fish are especially sensitive to water changes.

No, that will be too small. If you don't want to spend a bunch of money on a tank, get a betta fish tank. You will have to clean the tank with room temperature water every day. Goldfish are water breathers, not air breathers. If you don't keep it clean, your fish might die due to low oxygen.

Don't keep the tank near a window as this will increase the amount of algae growing. The amount and type of food might also increase algae. The leftover food, hidden in the gravel, turns into ammonia. All of these things help prevent algae from growing on the glass. In order to get rid of current algae, scrub the sides of the take a little every two days.

This is completely normal. Your fish associates your hand with food and so it attracted to it when you put it in the water.

Your goldfish probably is used to the light during the day. After about five to 10 minutes, it should get used to the dark. About after a week or so, it won't panic as much.

It is okay, but tap water has more essential minerals. Make sure to dechlorinate it.

Perfectly normal. The goldfish just wants to see if you'll feed it. If you wish to stop this behavior, feed the fish only as many times you would normally feed it, so that the goldfish gets to understand that you refuse to feed it when it isn't supposed to eat.

Fin rot can lead to fish death if not treated quickly enough. Seek out an appropriate medication, and follow the directions on the container.

Your goldfish shouldn't stop eating if it is healthy. In fact, due to their short attention spans, many goldfish can eat themselves to death. You should probably take your fish to a vet, pet store, or aquarium shop, and have them make sure it is okay.

You don't treat it. Swim bladder disease should go away quickly and easily, and usually without human intervention. If you are worried anyway, you can quarantine your fish and put it back in when it's healthy again. See further: How to Fix Swim Bladder Disease in Goldfish for more help.

Probably. Goldfish won't stop eating in the presence of food, so most likely the goldfish ate so much they ruptured their own internal organs, or the decaying food caused toxic levels of ammonia in the water, which would also kill your fish. That being said, little kids make mistakes, you should try to avoid making her feel too bad about it.

With proper care, a goldfish can live an average of five to ten years.

Yes, but the comets are faster to get to the food, so you need to make sure that the fantails are fed as well.

Yes, but make sure it is a big enough tank. And don't keep a big one and a small one in the same tank, sometimes big goldfish will eat the smaller goldfish.

You should only have 1 goldfish in a 4 litre tank, 2 goldfish in an 8 litre tank and so on. The fish need that kind of space due to oxygen levels.

Yes, you can. This will make the fish more curious about their surroundings.

Yes, but it won't be getting the right nutrition, which can cause a short life span.