OK dont laugh but what do I do with a goldfish???

[NoChristmasMojo]

we bought 2 for DS in October, but one has already died (sad accident involving plastic weeds in the tank) and dont really want to have to explain to DS that no2 has gone too! We have a simple, basic lower end of market tank with built in filter.

SO...
How often do I need to feed it?? (currently I large flake every other day)

How often should I change water??? and how???
so far I have changed water once by scooping bit out & topping it up with cold tap water. Do I need to put in any safestart or check ph levels???

Is there anything else I should be doing???

I have had Dogs & Cats in the past & thought a goldfish would be the easiest option for us

Not a goldfish expert, but ours survived for about three years, so probably not doing too badly.

From what I have been told:
Don't use tap water. The chlorine is poisonous. It is, however, safe to use after being allowed to stand for a day or two to allow the chlorine to disperse. I always use rainwater from the water butt.

Over feeding kills more fish than under feeding.

Ours love daphnia from the water butt (or mosquito larvae).

Tap water is bad for all fish. The chlorine kills the good bacteria in the filter and then the fish are basically poisoned by their own poo.

Goldfish aren't a good beginner's fish really, they grow massive and live for about 20 years so you have to really really want one to spend that much time and money on it (my goldfish set up cost over £200 and that was cheap).

If you want a small fish tank I would get some tropical fish because there are plenty of those that stay small. You'll need to do plenty of research though to make sure you get the right ones. Fish are not really low maintenance or easy to look after.

I have a few different fish I can honestly say my paradise fish are the easiest to care for but you can only really keep one.

They are hardy to disease and temperature's they have very little waste in fact the tank hardly ever needs a good clean and it never gets murky but as I said they are predators and best kept alone.

It's worth investing in a glass tank with a decent filter otherwise you'll be forever dealing with foul water. Goldfish need a high level of filtration because they tend to be quite dirty fish and will cause a lot of mess which decomposes and fouls the water.

You feed them a small pinch twice a day and buy the Aquarian filter flakes because they don't decompose as readily as some of the cheaper makes.

You change about 30% of the water every week and add some water conditioner.

A clean environment and decent food will go a long way to prolonging the life of your fish. Goldfish will quickly develop diseases and die in dirty water. Most people don't filtrate enough. You can't overfiltrate with goldfish. Buy a filter that's more than the requirements for your tank and you'll be okay. Change the carbon every two weeks.

Sorry it has taken me a while to reply but been quite busy since I posted. However, I hate it when OPs dont reply after I have posted on a thread so wanted to just wanted to say thanks to all of you for replying.

I have a glass tank with filter but no heater, which is why we went for cold water fish. However, think i know what im doing now!