hould I try and get my Goldfish rehomed and if so how?

[Honeydragon]

Ok .... I know I may get a fishy flaming but I do need genuine opinion.

Four years ago we decided to get fish for ds's and our own pleasure. I had liked the idea of tetras (very warm house) or minnows. Went to pet store, explained had tank set up - they suggested we get fancy goldfish. I said no as too big and messy, the sales lady pointed us in their direction and ds fell in love with them, they were weeny. The sales lady then told us that the ones she had shown us were bred not to get bigger.

We left with two.

We now know that she lied

Last summer I decided we need to get a larger tank - this time I decided to go to a well known pet superstore for advice. Long story short they sold us a Biorb! I have since - thanks to Mumsnet realised this wasn't good advice. I now have one goldfish left in a 30l Biorb (the other died 6 weeks ago), I maintain and check the water regularly. I cannot afford another tank and don't have the space for anything larger .

I got advice from World of Water who said my options were rehome the fish to someone with a large enough tank as iot will just keep getting bigger - I don't know anyone.

Or

Maintain his lonely existence (I daren't put anything else in with him)- in the biorb.

Can I do this, keep him in the Biorb?
Am I horrible to do so?

And how the hell do you rehome a goldfish anyway?

Sorry so long.

Freecycle. Someone will snap it up

What if it ends up in a pond

Will a nice fish owner want it?

Someone will. Had my goldfish not met a sad end I would have freecycled them along wiht the tank. You can specify in your post that you want X done with them, you should be able to tell from the replies who is serious.

Well at least it is a potential option, I think ds will understand that we might not be able to keep him forever although he'll be devastated. The fish is ok now but eventually he will grow to large to lift out the tank.

I know you say you don't have the space or money, but this could work both ways- you could ask on freecycle for a bigger tank and see if you can squeeze it in? Our local tip always has big tanks for about a tenner too.

a lot of fish stores will take fish back
my friend had an angel fish that she couldn't keep and our local fish shop took it from her.

I measured up for a larger tank, I simply can't get one anywhere, the only spaces I could couldn't support the weight of the tank.

He looks ok now but I am starting to worry about his size. I cannot believe how attached you can get to an animal that you cannot interact with.

A 30 litre biorb is way way too small for a goldfish (or any fish really). It will shorten his lifespan considerably being kept in a tank that's too small. A pox on the woman that told you they don't get any bigger!

Fancy goldfish are too delicate for life in a pond which does limit your options a bit but there are other places you could try.

If there is an aquatic club near you then they might know someone that can take it.

You could also try Fish Orphans, they are temporarily closed but they might know someone that can help you out.

Finally you could try a fishkeeping forum, there are loads and loads of them and there's bound to be someone that can give your goldfish a good home.

aaaaw thank you. I have managed to speak to a manager of an aquatic centre (who guessed immediately which pet store sold me the biorb). He told me that some breeds can manage in ponds as we are right in land and that if I waited till May to give him the summer he would then be fine to survive winters - he said until his ponds became fully stocked he had adopted a fair few fancy fish under the same circumstances as mine .

On the plus side he gave me good feedback and said that I was taking good care of him. I still feel so that I fell for such waffle in the first place, and again over the tank. When I was a kid the only reason we had (normal) Goldfish was because we had a point they could eventually be relocated too.

I think as i still have some time I will keep looking around to find the best home I can ideally in a tank I think, and look into the options advised on here.

Thank you for being so nice all.