Category: Goldfish

New Goldfish Forum – PetGoldfishForum.com

Post author By GoldfishCare
Post date January 22, 2009

Dear readers,

For a while now you all have been visiting my blog GoldfishCareInformation.com for all your goldfish related questions. It started off as a small blog with limited traffic but now receives almost 400-500 hits a day with around 900-1000 pageviews and growing each and everyday. I thank everyone for stopping by and looking for answers to their questions or seeking advice on how to treat their goldfish. This blog did not only just grow from the content but grew from all your posts and from people who shared a link to come visit my blog all across the Internet. Thanks again! 🙂

Now to help everyone and to give back to you I have been planning a forum so that each and everyone will be able to communicate with each other and talk with other pond and fish owners. Over the last few days I have been setting up a goldfish forum for anyone who would like to join and talk with other goldfish owners, share stories, pictures or simply look for more help. This will give everyone a chance not just to talk to me but to speak with other people involved in the hobby from aquariums, ponds, goldfish, koi etc… It will be a great way to share tips, see product reviews, learn about what fish medications treat what etc.. The biggest thing I want is for people to learn, meet people, offer help to one another and just have fun. Basically what I want to do is create a social network similar to Facebook but with a close group of people with all the same interests. Here on this fish forum people will be able to talk all about water gardening, ponds and fish.

The goldfish forum has just been set up and is operational right now. There is a sample of the forum above in which I will continue to work on it and spice it up with graphics and more. You can join add posts, comment on others threads etc.. For anyone wishing to join the forum they can do so here at www.PetGoldfishForum.com I hope for everyone that decides to join that they have fun and learn a thing or two at the same time. For anyone who has any suggestions or feedback on what other forum topics they would like to see please feel free to comment. I hope that everyone will enjoy the forum as I will try and make this one of the biggest goldfish resources on the Internet.

Thanks to everyone and see you all soon at PetGoldfishForum.com !

Sincerely,

Jamie Boyle
The Goldfish Guy

Tags Goldfish, goldfish care information, Goldfish Forum, pet goldfish forum

How Long Do Goldfish Live?

Post author By GoldfishCare
Post date December 20, 2008
31 Comments on How Long Do Goldfish Live?

By Jamie Boyle

Well this goldfish question “How Long Do Goldfish Live” is one I’ve been asked many many times. The lifespan of a goldfish differs greatly as it all depends on how well people take care of their goldfish. If people provide proper goldfish care they should live a long healthy life.

The true fact of the matter is that we are the ones truly responsible for how long goldfish live for. What we feed our goldfish, how big their aquarium is, having proper equipment such as filters and air pumps and not overcrowding their tank can increase how long goldfish live. By doing the following can drastically reduce the chance of goldfish diseases occurring as well as increase the years that your goldfish live.

Goldfish can live up to be 20 years old or older but the above mentioned goldfish tips need to be carried out if you want your pet to live a good life. Most goldfish I would say don’t live to be 20 years old as they are just too many factors to consider. The lifespan of a goldfish reduces drastically when one attempts to keep fish in a goldfish bowl. Taking care of goldfish in a bowl is not recommended and people shouldn’t expect their goldfish to live for years and years in such a small environment with usually no filter or air. If people want their goldfish to live long lives provide the essential care required for healthy goldfish.

So how long have your goldfish lived for you? Lets here some comments and ages and type of some of your goldfish. How old are your goldfish?

Tags Goldfish, goldfish care, Goldfish Health, Goldfish Information, goldfish life expectancy, goldfish lifespan

Garden Ponds Goldfish Goldfish Care Goldfish Ponds How To Pond Predator Protection

How To Protect Your Goldfish From Pond Predators

Post author By GoldfishCare
Post date September 13, 2008
2 Comments on How To Protect Your Goldfish From Pond Predators

By Jamie Boyle

Many pond owners today often face the problem of pond predators visiting their water garden and they need to learn how to protect goldfish from pond predators before becoming their next meal. A lot of people don’t even realize they even have a problem until it’s too late. People should always try and count their fish come feeding time to make sure all fish are accounted for. It also makes a great time to observe your fish for any signs of goldfish diseases or parasites.

If you notice your fish scared or frightened or any goldfish missing then you may very well of had a tall-feathery creature stop by for a meal or two. Herons, kingfishers, raccoons, snakes, cats and even frogs are pond predators. Yes! Even frogs! I have seen many frogs shoot out there tongue and catch small fish when they dash up to the surface. You see a frogs tongue is shot out based on movement and we have seen many goldfish eaten at an early age. The good news about pond predators is that there are many ways you can protect your goldfish from wildlife and I’m going to show you how.

How To Protect Your Goldfish From Pond Predators?

The first step in protecting your goldfish from predators is to go out to your local hardware store, pet store and often even garden nurseries today who stock pond supplies and equipment and purchase a heron decoy. A heron decoy will stop other herons from dropping by as they are very much territorial. They automatically assume that there is already a heron there so there must not be too many fish left. In turn the heron continues flying on in search of a free water source to fish. I know many people who have had pond predator problems and they have used them and they haven’t had any problems since.

Another way to protect your goldfish from pond predators is to buy a scarecrow sprinkler system. These work great! Why you may ask? Is because they have a built in motion sensor so when anything comes even remotely close to your pond a blast of water shoots out scaring off anything near. This is a sure way to defend your goldfish and give them a fighting chance. It’s also a great laugh in the scare you put the pond predator through with a blast of water right at its butt! 🙂 It will make that heron or other animal think twice about coming back 😉

Another suggestion pond owners can do is to protect your goldfish pond from predators using a pond netting. Again you should be able to buy pond netting at any local hardware store and also you can buy it online as well. Using pond netting will protect pond fish but it takes away the beauty and look of a pond. I know I hate using pond netting but hey, if it protects your pond fish then you did solve your problem. It also stops leaves from going into the pond and falling to the pond bottom messing up the water. It works, but what you decide to choose is up to you.

I hope these above mentioned ways at learning how to protect your goldfish pond from pond predators has helped. Pond predators are annoying but at least there are things we can do to help protect our pond fish.

Have you ever had pond predators drop by your pond? What did you do to protect your pond fish from being eaten? Lets here your stories on the problem that faces many pond owners – pond predators. How to protect your fish from pond predators? A question most pond owners will have one-time or another.

Sincerely,

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

Tags Fish Pond, frogs, garden ponds, Goldfish, goldfish care, Goldfish Pond, goldfish protection, herons, Pond Predators, raccoons, snakes

Fin and Tail Rot Goldfish Goldfish Care Goldfish Diseases

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