Goldfish won at the fair.

[ALMazing]

DS won a goldfish last weekend while at the fair - I was not with him.

Please tell me how to take care of him. I am quite attached already but know nothing about them. So far I have just been chucking a pinch of food in every day and changing his water every other day. He is in a bowl at the moment. Can he stay there or will he need a tank. How long will he live etc etc? I would be really grateful for any information.

IMHO its kinder to keep goldfish in a filtered tank.
Mine live in this one. Got it in Pets at Home, but Argos do it too. It has a filter and air line to make bubbles
My fish are now nearly 2 years old.
I change 1/3 of water each week and the filter pad every few weeks.

Does this help??

Forgot to add, if setting up a new tank it needs to settle for 24 hours before adding fish.
It helps to put fishy in a bag containing bowl water and sit it in the new tank for 20 mins or so to give the water a chance to equalise temp, then tip it in.

I also use a squirt of Aquasafe after a water change

Thanks UT. Will visit argos at the weekend. Looked at tanks in our local over priced petshop and they were rather expensive.

Also heard that fairground goldfish don t last for very long so wanted to give him a fighting chance at least. Also when you change the water do you use a net or just tip your fish back and forth? Could I get him a mate or will that annoy him? Thanks again.

oh shit, do not get me started on goldfish at fairs I mean wtf? I think its sick actually. Oh and goldfish bowls, I feel similarly about, hate them, cruel.

Anyway now you have it, you really need to get the fish another one for company, same size if poss from a pet shop/aquatics place.

But first get,as has been suggested, a tank with filter like here

www.argos.co.uk/static/Product/partNumber/0352026/c_1/1%7Ccat_9554618%7CPetcare%7C9554691/Trail/sear chtext%3EFISH+TANK.htm

and here

www.petsathome.com/find/category-is-3+fish/category-is-3a+aquariums/category-is-3a01+fun+and+kids/pr oduct-is-15048

Thanks so much. Bought the Scooby tank today and dh set it all up. Just sitting there full of water now because the instructions say to leave the fish out until 24 hours have passed. Just feel so sorry for him stuck in his crappy little bowl but I suppose one more day won t hurt.

By the way I too disagree with fish being won at fairs but I was just presented with this one so want to do the best for him to make up for his crappy start.

Am going to get him a friend but I don t particularly want any reproducing going on so how do I tell the difference between male and female. Thanks again.

Hi ALMazing, I'm a fairly novice goldfish owner too. have just had to treat ours for fin rot .
Main thing I'd say is to make sure you get the right drops from the pet shop to add to the water at the start and when you change it (stuff to deal with the ammonium and chlorine in water etc.). The guys in the shop will tell you what to get.

If I think your fair goldfish has landed on its feet, erm, fins?

(no idea how to tell if they're male or female - sorry!)

Good luck, wig

Are goldfish as prizes not banned now? Makes me so so angry when they do this.

Goldfish can live for decades if treated correctly, unfortunately so many don't because there are so many myths circulated about them (and because we all grew up with goldfish using incredibly unsuitable tanks).

To flourish they need at least 10 gallons of water per fish in a filtered aquarium. (Ideally you should have 20 gallons for the first fish and 10 gallons for each subsequent goldfish). There is a popular myth that they only grow to a suitable size of the tank and then stop - but in reality they become stunted and their outsides stop growing, but their insides carry on growing causing a painful and prolonged death.

Even a "small" fancy goldfish comes massive at adult stage. Pop to a reputable fish shop and see the adult fancies there - they're like massive cooking apples with fins. Easy to see then why tiny tanks are so unsuitable. Also, they are very messy fish so need adequate filtration and regular water changes to keep the healthy.

The scooby tank listed there is only 3 gallons. Please consider getting a larger tank. Also, as you have a brand new tank, you will probably need far more regular water changes than weekly until the friendly bacteria builds up in your tank - if this is neglected, deadly ammonia can build up in the tank and kill your fish (also known as "New Tank Syndrome"). Google for "Cycling with Fish" for more info (this refers to the ammonia cycle, not a pedal cycle!)

Some more information here:

Practical Fishkeeping Goldfish FAQ
Make a Goldfish Live for Decades
cycling with fish

Incidentally, is your son over 16 or did he have another adult with him? Just looked up the law and they are NOT allowed to give goldfish as a prize to unaccompanied children under the age of 16 - worth contacting the RSPCA with details if that's the circumstances.

My dh won a goldfish at a fair when he was 13. it's still going and dh is now 31. We're wondering if it's going to outlive us all!

DH's fish was in a smallish tank at his mums house for about 15 years until they moved and now it lives in their pond in the garden.

He was with his grand parents. When they told me I said "so you will be keeping it at yours then?". "Oh no dgs wants to bring it home". Oh big surprise. Mind you it is not a bad thing as MIL is a woman who thinks nothing of flushing them down the toilet according to dh.

Will start with the Scooby tank and move on in a few months.

Will get along to the pet shop for drops tommorrow before moving Frederick/Frederica? into his/her new accommodations.

You can tell the gender of a goldfish by looking near the fishes anal fin, females will have a small vent whilst males do not. I wouldn't worry about them breeding as goldfish and notoriously hard to breed. Is your fisshie still alive?

Probably died of old age by now

this has to be up there with the weirdest zombie thread revivals.

Poor probably-dead fishy. I hope he had many happy years with the OP

I won a goldfish at the fair when I was ten, it lived for like 5 years and I had him in a n actual bowl I changed every couple of days and fed him every day, at about 4 half years a friend bought me a tank with all accessories and moaned that the fish "needed it" and it died a couple of months after so I don't think it was helpful at all, I've had fish after in tanks and clean it properly ect and they've not lived long at all

Rubber ducks comment is rubbish and factually incorrect aswell, goldfish don't live decades only wild ones of a slightly different breed. Also the average life span is about 4-8 years of a domesticated one and the water ratio is way off

Err what?

The natural lifespan of goldfish (not the wild carp they are descended from) is 25 - 30 years. Sometimes more.

And healthy goldfish are HUGE, totally unsuitable for an aquarium.
A full grown goldfish should be minimum 30cm long, not including tail!