Category: Goldfish Care

Treating Fin and Tail Rot On Goldfish

Post author By GoldfishCare
Post date September 3, 2008
32 Comments on Treating Fin and Tail Rot On Goldfish

By Jamie Boyle

Before you learn how to treat fin and tail rot on goldfish you first need to make sure you have properly diagnosed your goldfish illness. So what is fin and tail rot you may ask? Fin and tail rot is a goldfish disease that you can see that affects the fins and tail that appears to be rotting away. If left untreated the fin and tail will rot right to the body itself. You will know its fin and tail rot as you will see ragged, ripped,frayed and torn fins whith a white-pinkish layer at the edges and often red streaks as well. The good news about fin and tail rot on goldfish is that it’s easily treatable.

What Causes Fin and Tail Rot On Goldfish?

The cause of fin and tail rot beginning on goldfish is a bacterial infection has set in. Bacterial infections are mainly caused by poor water quality. As I’ve said it many times and I will say it again, the #1 reason fish get sich is because of water quality. They become stressed, there immune system lowers and goldfish parasites attack or bacterial infections arise. Another cause for fin and tail rot developing on goldfish is sometimes a result of an injury your goldfish have suffered. The most common cause of fin and tail rot is usually poor water quality.

How Do I Treat Fin And Tail Rot On Goldfish?

You can treat fin and tail rot on goldfish with several medications. The ones I like to use are Melachite Green and Melafix. Melachite Green works very well but it’s more harsh then Melafix but it works. With Melafix it’s an all natural medication that won’t disturb your biological filter. Melafix also work well at healing goldfish and rejuvenating tissue. The PondCare melafix I beleive is one cap full for every 50 gallons. Please read manufacturers label for recommended dosage. You can also buy Melafix for aquariums as well.

Just the other day I was reading an interesting article about treating fin and tail rot with peroxide. I myself have never tried that myself but I have used iodine to treat fin and tail rot. Sometimes there are household products that can work but medication specifically for fin and tail rot for goldfish is much better.

Is there anything I can do to prevent fin and tail rot from happening in the first place?

The best way to prevent fin and tail rot from happening on your goldfish would be to make sure you maintain your water quality. Do water tests on a regular basis to make sure fish don’t become stressed and living in poor water quality. A proper maintenance shedule that you stick to will help prevent many goldfish diseases from happening in the first place. Don’t want fin and tail rot to happen to your goldfish? Then proper goldfish care is essential to have healthy goldfish.

Sincerely,

Jamie Boyle
The Goldfish Guy
“Helping Goldfish Owners With Advice, Fish Care and Fish Medication Treatments for Goldfish Diseases, Illnesses and Parasites”

Tags Fin and Tail Rot, fin rot, Goldfish, goldfish care, Goldfish diseases, goldfish diseases and information, tail rot, treat fin and tail rot

Cloudy Eye Goldfish Goldfish Care Goldfish Diseases

Goldfish Help – Cloudy Eye

Post author By GoldfishCare
Post date August 19, 2008
9 Comments on Goldfish Help – Cloudy Eye

Jamie:

I stumbled upon your goldfish blog while looking for assistance to determine what, if anything, is wrong with one of our goldfish, which live in an outdoor pond. After going outside to feed them this afternoon, I noticed the right eye on the smaller fish was a blue-ish-cream color, almost a cloud-like color. I did not see any noticeable sign of swelling or
evidence the eye was protruding outward, both of which I have seen mentioned elsewhere concerning infection/disease. Though by no means am I a goldfish expert, I knew this condition was a new development and likely an abnormal one indicating an infection or disease or what have you.

I have done some research into it, but having limited knowledge about goldfish, and therefore am a bit reluctant to read a description of an ailment and decide, “That must be it.”

That said, I came across your goldfish blog and decided to snap a few photos of said eye with the hopes that you could ascertain what, if anything, is causing this and how to treat it. Attached are three photos of the aforementioned eye. Photos are not as clear as they could be owing to having the auto focus on, which can be thrown off by the water…so if need be, I can snap additional photos (I have a Canon EOS 20D, so taking clearer photos is not a problem if need be.).

Thank you for your help,

Joseph

Tags Cloudy Eye, Frequently Asked Questions, Goldfish, Goldfish diseases, goldfish diseases and information

Feeding Fish Garden Ponds Goldfish Goldfish Care

Do Pond Goldfish Need To Be Fed?

Post author By GoldfishCare
Post date July 6, 2008
2 Comments on Do Pond Goldfish Need To Be Fed?

By Jamie Boyle

Goldfish in a pond, do you really need to feed them? Well yes and no. When people build a garden pond in their backyard they want to enjoy it, add some pond plants, water lilies and most importantly some fish. The best part about having a water garden feature in your pond is feeding them. Feeding your goldfish is just one of the joys of having a pond. You can relax, observe your fish swimming so gracefully in the water and watch them feed and perhaps even feed them by hand. Kids and adults all enjoy this part of taking care of the pond and fish.

But do you really need to feed goldfish in a pond? Technically no as depending on the size of your pond there is plenty of food in the pond itself. You see goldfish will pick and feed on just about anything, they will eat the mosquito larvae, water fleas, worms and just about any insect that will come close to your goldfish. Goldfish are basically a scavenger and very similar to the koi in that aspect. On top of all the microscopic animals in the water that your goldfish can eat and consume there are always plants that they will nibble on such as duckweed ( which is very good for fish )and your fish will also eat the algae that is in your pond as well. Any green vegetation such as duckweed or algae they will eat.

One Of The Many Ponds At Country Koi Fish Farm With Goldfish, Sarassa Comets, Koi and Butterfly Koi. It Also Includes Many Different Types of Water Lilies and Yellow Flag Water Iris along With Other Types Of Marginals.

So when people ask themselves do you really need to feed your goldfish in a pond the answer is yes and no. If you want to enjoy your fish come feeding time then go ahead by all means and feed them, other then that your fish will just be fine with all the available things it contains in your pond. So it really depends on you and what kind of enjoyment you want out of your goldfish pond.

In my opinion you should feed them as this is a great way to observe your goldfish come feeding time to see for any signs of injuries or diseases. Plus feeding them is the best part of having a garden pond other then the looks and sounds that a water garden can bring to your backyard. So go ahead feed them and see the beauty that your fish bring to your water garden.

Do you feed your goldfish in your pond? If so, what type of goldfish pond food do you feed your fish?

Sincerely,

Jamie Boyle
The Goldfish Guy

Do Goldfish Have Teeth?

By Jamie Boyle

Many people believe that goldfish do not have teeth but the true fact of that matter is that YES goldfish do have teeth. When feeding goldfish and you watch them eat you will not see teeth in front of their mouth like us that we use for eating but they have teeth further back used to break up and digest their food. Goldfish have some teeth in their jaws but most goldfish teeth are in their throat called pharyngeal teeth.

Just because you cannot see goldfish teeth doesn’t mean they’re not there. Lots if people believe that goldfish don’t have teeth but they do. Here is a picture of goldfish teeth so you can see what I am talking about. You can see these bony teeth like structure deep inside the mouth of this goldfish. Pretty neat eh!

So when people tell you that goldfish don’t have teeth, you can correct them and show them this picture.

Sincerely,

Jamie Boyle
The Goldfish Guy

Tags Feeding Goldfish, Goldfish, Goldfish Teeth

Goldfish Goldfish Care

Black Spots On Goldfish

Many people have left comments on my goldfish blog telling me ” My Goldfish Has Black Spots, Help ! ” so I figured I would do a post on this. Black spots on goldfish is a result of poor water quality being that the ammonia level in the aquarium has spiked. When the ammonia level in your tank increases it causes black spots to appear on the goldfish body and black tips to appear on the tail, pectoral fins and dorsal fins. These black spots are a result of ammonia burn.

People should think of ammonia like acid, when the ammonia is extremely high it cause ammonia burn, just like acid would do to human skin. It causes discomfort in your goldfish and high levels of ammonia can kill your goldfish. As I’ve mentioned before people really need to take care of their goldfish properly. If you have an aquarium or goldfish bowl, you need to have water test kits around. This is a necessity if you plan on keeping your goldfish healthy and living a long life free of black spots.

Now don’t mistaken black spots on goldfish being ammonia burn all the time. Goldfish do change colour from grey to common colour orange so that may be the case as well. Even though your goldfish aquarium water may be crystal clear, doesn’t always mean that your water quality is perfect. Clear water could also contain high levels of harmful properties in water chemistry. Never rely on clear water being safe for fish. Check your water quality often to ensure that you don’t have black spots on goldfish and ammonia burn to happen.

Test often, perform regular maintenance such as water changes and have equipment working properly will be the first step to proper goldfish care and eliminating chance of black spots on your fish called Melanophore Migration.

Sincerely,

Jamie Boyle
The Goldfish Guy
Goldfish Care Information Diseases & Treatments
“Helping Goldfish Owners With Advice, Fish Care and Fish Medication Treatments for Goldfish Diseases, Illnesses and Parasites”

Have your goldfish suffered from black spots and ammonia burn before?

Tags Black Spots, Goldfish, goldfish black spots, goldfish care, Goldfish diseases, goldfish diseases and information

Goldfish Goldfish Care

Goldfish Hearing – Do They Hear Sound?

Post author By GoldfishCare
Post date February 27, 2008
11 Comments on Goldfish Hearing – Do They Hear Sound?

Goldfish Hearing Sound - Do They Hear? Yes!

People often wonder, do goldfish have hearing, do they hear sound?The answer to this question is yes! Many people are often curious whether goldfish can smell, taste, touch, how they eat, do they sleep and can goldfish hear. Goldfish can hear but it’s not like us how we have ears in through which we are able to hear sound. On goldfish they don’t have ears on their outer body like us, instead they have hearing from within their body.

Your probably wondering how do we really know they can hear? Well if you go to a tank and you tap on it you will see them dart away as they become frightened and scared. They heard it! Goldfish hear through an inner organ which is located within the head of the goldfish. It’s not the same as in humans as we have a main sensory organ called the cochlea and goldfish do not have that. Now with goldfish since they have no cochlea, they have something different within called the otolith which is a hard stone. Now remember when I mentioned above about tapping on a golfish aquarium or tank that the goldfish can hear this, well the otolith is what actually detects sound.

Goldfish hearing is all heard through vibrations which sound vibrations are transmitted through the water and the otolith detects it. It’s pretty neat understanding the anatomy of fish and how they react and hear things.

So goldfish can hear to answer everyones question. I know I did some research on the cochlea and we hear very much the same actually. There is fluid within the ear that has small hairs that move with sound or vibration in which then the brain comprehends into sound. It’s pretty neat actually and goldfish hear through the water in which vibrations goes through the fish’s body to the otolith, neat to know how sound is perceived. Just don’t tap on fish tanks really as it can kill fish through vibrations. It can cause fish stress and other things to occur, they can hear so don’t do it just to test the hearing theory and care for your goldfish.

Tags Frequently Asked Questions, Goldfish, goldfish care, Goldfish Hearing, Goldfish Information

Breeding Goldfish Goldfish Goldfish Care

Are My Goldfish Pregnant?

Goldfish Varieties Hardy Water Lilies Pond — Goldfish Varieties Not Pregnant But Possibly Full of Eggs Ready For Breeding/Spawning in Hardy Water Lilies Pond

One of my readers asked me a question ” How To Tell If My Goldfish Are Pregnant” and I decided to write a post about this. Many people often get very interested in goldfish breeding and wonder are my goldfish pregnant and are there going to be little baby goldfish. What people first need to realize is that goldfish don’t become pregnant. Goldfish are not livebearers, meaning that they don’t have live young. Goldfish are called egg layers meaning that when goldfish breed during the spawning process eggs are released and fertilized by the male and then the eggs hatch into young fry a few days later. Seeing goldfish breed is very neat and interesting to see the whole process in motion.

So goldfish don’t become pregnant but you can tell the differences between males and female goldfish by viewing them from above. In order to tell when and if your goldfish will breed involves proper planning, recording temperatures, sexually mature goldfish and knowing when the eggs are ready and matured inside the female goldfish. The eggs need to be fully developed and ready in order for successful breeding to occur.

If you want to learn more about goldfish breeding visit some other posts I’ve made on breeding and raising young goldfish.

Sincerely,

Tags Breeding Goldfish, Goldfish, Sexing Goldfish

Cloudy Eye Goldfish Goldfish Care Goldfish Diseases Goldfish Medications

Cloudy Eye Goldfish Problem Treatment & Fish Medication

Post author By GoldfishCare
Post date January 14, 2008
91 Comments on Cloudy Eye Goldfish Problem Treatment & Fish Medication

Cloudy Eye Goldfish Fungus Disease - Fish Medication Treatment Required

Cloudy eye is a goldfish problem often affecting goldfish sometimes caused due to bacterial infections and there are symptoms, causes and treatments to get your goldfish health back to normal. The thing with Cloudy Eye or eye cloud this can be prevented by regular maintenance on your aquarium. Water quality is the #1 reason that goldfish diseases and bacterial infections occur and cause your goldfish to become ill, sick or even death.

What Is Cloudy Eye On Goldfish?

Cloudy eye is when a whitish film starts to cover the goldfish eyes. It may affect either one eye or both and the eye then has a cloudy appearance pretty much how this bacterial infection got its name. There are many possible causes of of how cloudy eye infected your fish. Like I said before mostly due to poor water quality and conditions is where most diseases and bacterial infections are all started. There is always a reason why goldfish get sick, just need search to find out why it happened and correct it. When goldfish have Cloudy Eye they sometimes show signs of distress like clamped fins or appear sluggish.

Treatment For Cloudy Eye

Cloudy eye can be treated and prevented by doing regular water changes and keeping water chemistry in proper levels reducing stress and chance of goldfish diseases and bacterial infections from occuring in the first place. By adding salt to your aquarium when performing water changes will help from goldfish problems from happening. Salt is a good prevention for Goldfish Diseases. What you need to do to treat Cloudy Eye is to find the appropriate medication for the problem. You will be able to find goldfish medication at any of your local pet stores or online as well. A good treatment for Cloudy Eye is MelaFix which is used to treat cloudy eye and other goldfish bacterial infections like fungus, red ulcers and fin and tail rot. This form of bacterial treatment will heal your goldfish quickly. Just follow the recommended dosage and instructions to treat your fish.

Perform regular aquarium maintenance and you’ll have healthier goldfish and much happier goldfish. This will definitely help ensure your goldfish health and stop problems like Cloudy Eye from occuring. I will post Cloudy eye pictures here a s well for people to see. Good luck with your goldfish and make sure they stay healthy.

Jamie Boyle
The Goldfish Guy

How Fast Do Goldfish Grow

Post author By GoldfishCare
Post date January 6, 2008
23 Comments on How Fast Do Goldfish Grow

How fast do goldfish grow is a question on every ones mind. Goldfish growth really depends on certain factors that will influence how fast they will grow. Some factors that directly influence goldfish growth is:

1. How clean is the water for your Goldfish?
2. How big is the environment, goldfish bowl, goldfish aquarium or goldfish pond?
3. What kind of goldfish food are you feeding your fish?
4. The genetics (DNA) of the goldfish parents passed on to their offspring.

How fast do goldfish grow is really a tough question to answer really. As mentioned above these factors will influence the growth potential of your goldfish. For example the how clean your water is impacts how fast they will grow. If the water is too clear then lacks algae and food to feed on. Second if water quality is not kept up with proper maintenance causes stress on goldfish which may impact the goldfish desire to eat. If goldfish don’t eat, they don’t grow, therefore growing slower then normal.

The environment or home for your goldfish plays a big part on how fast goldfish will grow as well. For instance if you put a goldfish in a goldfish bowl it won’t grow as much as it would if it were in an aquarium or garden pond. The environment plays a major part in goldfish growth. Goldfish will only grow to the size of their environment in which it can handle. Also the more space a goldfish has will help increase the size of your goldfish and won’t stunt your goldfish from growing. When goldfish have big aquariums or tanks to grow in it will make less maintenance for you and much happier goldfish. Another reason goldfish grow faster in larger environments is there is more food readily available to eat. There is always food in an aquarium to eat for goldfish especially in ponds. Goldfish will grow fast due to abundance of algae to eat and also the live microscopic animals and insects to feed on. Goldfish basically have a buffet at anytime they want with the amount of food they will find to eat living in ponds. Goldfish will grow extremely fast as well if the water is green like pea soup or they are grown in mud ponds. You will see your goldfish grow fast.

The goldfish food that you feed them plays a part in their growth as well. If you want your goldfish to grow fast consider feeding them a wide variety of food. Also high growth food will help as well maximizing the growth of your goldfish. You can also feed them several times a day just make sure they eat all the goldfish food that you give them within 2 minutes other then that discard uneaten food as it will foul your water. Goldfish food will play a part in their growth as well.

So to really answer the question, “How Fast Do Goldfish Grow” really has too many factors to really answer. Also genetics plays a part in this as well. If you look at some people today some are skinny, some are large, medium, petite, tall and short. Everyone grows differently and the same goes for goldfish. For example I’m 6’4″ while my parents are like 5’6″ so I grew taller. Usually if you come from a tall family you will have tall kids which happens most times through DNA passed on to kids. So goldfish genetics and DNA sometimes will impact how fast goldfish grow as well. Really a question with no true answer but definitely things people can do to grow goldfish faster by doing several things. Biggest thing that will help grow your goldfish fast is give them the space they deserve don’t confine goldfish to small tanks go bigger and you will have bigger goldfish.

Tags Feeding Goldfish, Frequently Asked Questions, goldfish care, Goldfish Growth

Aquarium Care Goldfish Goldfish Care

Taking Care Of A Goldfish Bowl

Post author By GoldfishCare
Post date December 19, 2007
59 Comments on Taking Care Of A Goldfish Bowl

Goldfish Bowls - Taking Care of Goldfish

The first step into having goldfish is to have a home for it whether it be a goldfish bowl or goldfish aquarium and learn how to begin taking care of your new pet. Goldfish bowls are an excellent gift for your kids and they will love taking care of goldfish, their new friend. The only thing is with small goldfish bowls they do require more work and maintenance then a regular aquarium or tank would. Goldfish bowls are not the ideal home though when taking care of goldfish.

Why are goldfish bowls more work then goldfish aquariums?

Well that’s easy! The thing is a goldfish bowl has no filter, and has no air pump as well. So taking care of a goldfish in a bowl will be more work. What you will need to do in this case, you will need to keep an eye out on your goldfish more often. The less water that your goldfish have to live in the more work is required.

Goldfish bowls - Kids Taking Care of Goldfish

Goldfish Bowls Water Quality

Some things you should do in taking care of a goldfish bowl is to perform regular water changes to keep water clean and healthy for your fish. Also when performing water changes make sure you add chlorine remover to the new freshwater your putting in. You should also make sure the temperature of the water your adding in is equal to the temperature of the water inside the bowl. Shocking goldfish with a sudden change in temperature can result in goldfish diseases, sickness and even death. The general rule of thumb is try not to go more then a degree over or under and make it as close as possible. Another thing to do is check the water chemistry in your goldfish bowl frequently as things can turn for the worse quickly when you have less water, no filtration and no air pump. Water quality checks are very important when taking care of goldfish bowls.

Having a goldfish bowl for beginners are great. Just need to be a little more cautious thats all. Goldfish are a dirty fish and they can foul up your water in no time if left unchecked. Goldfish eat and it pretty much comes out the other end right away. By performing regular goldfish bowl maintenance you should be safe and your goldfish healthy.

Goldfish bowl, baby kitten starring at goldfish

Goldfish bowls like I said are great for beginners and kids but only good for one fish really. If your like me I would like to see more goldfish then one swimming around. So the prefect question you and others should ask themselves before getting into hobby is “Goldfish bowl or Goldfish Aquarium -Tank?” What are the pros and cons and how much time you really want to spend taking care of goldfish? One last little goldfish advice or tip if you have any cats, try and keep them away or your new little friend might just be lunch 🙂

Goldfish Bowl - Cat Looking To Eat Goldfish For A Treat

***** Goldfish bowls are too small for goldfish really and should not be kept in them, if person does decide to do this as their own choice be careful and take proper care of them. Goldfish bowls are just plain too small, would you like to be confined in a small area??? Goldfish need space to live and be healthy.********

Tags Goldfish Bowl, goldfish care