Goldfish

Chesty LaRue

Just purchased 2 goldfish for my 7yr old son. They have lasted a week so far (fingers crossed)! Past purchases didnt get pass the 10day mark. I have noticed they tend to stay near the bottom of the bowl and not swim around very much. Is this a sign that I could find them floating on the top pretty soon?

juanyjuans

Gold fish are not that active a fish. If the goldfish is sitting on the bottom in the both the day and night time then it may be sick.

10 days is not good

the biggest goldfish killer is over feeding. One tiny pinch of flakes, once a day is enough food for the 2 fish you have.

Magenta

Bowls are really not good to keep fish in, no wonder they are not lasting. Goldfish are very active when kept in a proper tank and will live for years if looked after properly.

Cerocco

Was told this ages ago in wackers pet store. Feed the fish not the bowl. I always remember it when feeding mine. The temptation is to put lots in for the poor ickle fishies:p

terenc

I think tap water is your problem and maybe too many changes of water.
Chlorine in water will eventually kill the fish. To get round this fill a container with water from the tap and leave overnight, the chlorine will disperse and the water will be safe to use or use a product which will get rid of the chlorine immediately (tapsafe) can be bought in the pet shop.
My wife had two goldfish which lived for 5 years and 6 years. I got quite fond of them.:):)

Chesty LaRue

Thanks all. Spoke with the pet shop, they use ROS for their fish water. I bought a treatment for the water and yes on past experience I may have been feeding them too much. Pet shop told me to feed them sparingly every 2nd day even though the food pack says 2-3 times daily. Dont have space or finances to purchase a fish tank, and know lots of people whose goldfish lasted in the bowl so fingers crossed.

Mary-Ellen

I know I sound a bit evil saying this but 10 days is crazy
It sounds like you're getting/killing fish for giggles

I sounds like they're being overfed.
I've two minnows and 2 goldfish is a 14 litre bowl and I give them a teeny bit of food about twice a week.

A few other things they don't like:
The tank is probably not too small for two small fish but it will be when they get bigger. Minows don't grow really but when my gold fish get big enough they'll be moving into my parents aquarium so if you're ever getting fish again go for the little ones they'll be happy in your tank for longer.

I hope no one's tapping the tank, it can scare the little fishies.

When you change the water, leave it reach room temperature before putting the fish back in (I try for about 5 hours) and a make sure the net is wet fully before touching the fish with it, it can hurt their little scales. (God, I sound like a sap)

Most bowls don't come with a filter, might be worth getting oxegen tablets or changing a little of the water once a week. (I do about 500ml once a week and the tank doesn't need to be clean fully as often ) don't change too much water at once though or the change in temperature will be too much. I do this when they hang around the top of the tank more often.

It's crazy how those tiny little fish have me so whopped
Good luck hope these ones have long happy lives

Magenta

Chesty LaRue wrote: »

Thanks all. Spoke with the pet shop, they use ROS for their fish water. I bought a treatment for the water and yes on past experience I may have been feeding them too much. Pet shop told me to feed them sparingly every 2nd day even though the food pack says 2-3 times daily. Dont have space or finances to purchase a fish tank, and know lots of people whose goldfish lasted in the bowl so fingers crossed.

It depends on what your definition of "lasting" is though. They will not thrive in a bowl. They have no decent area to swim in, there's usually no filter or aerator so they are swimming in stale water and have to spend half their day gulping in air from the top to breathe.

Fishyfreak

Bowls should be banned. It is a terrible environment for the poor fish.

The fish is swimming in it's own waste, that's why it is listless. It's called ammonia poisoning.

Get a small filtered tank, dechlorinate the water when doing weekly partial water changes and learn about the ammonia cycle. If you do this the fish could last 20+ YEARS!

Magenta

Fishyfreak wrote: »

Bowls should be banned. It is a terrible environment for the poor fish.

The fish is swimming in it's own waste, that's why it is listless. It's called ammonia poisoning.

Get a small filtered tank, dechlorinate the water when doing weekly partial water changes and learn about the ammonia cycle. If you do this the fish could last 20+ YEARS!

The difference in them when you put them into a proper tank is unreal but it's just too much effort for the "ah shur it's only a fish" crowd.
10 days is a pathetic life for a fish.

Alkers

You can manage in a bowl but for decent water you would want to be changing maybe twenty percent of the water daily. Leave the fish in the bowl, remove a fifth of the water and top up with fresh water which has been treated to remove chlorine and allowed to get up to room temperature. Where are you based actually? I have a small tank (fifteen litre I think) that came from aldi that you can have if you can collect (near ucd - I drive a motorbike). It's nothing special but it has a filter and at least it would do better than a bowl for the poor fish.

Plascebo

I have two fish in, I think, a 30-40 liter tank with filter. After losing 5 fish in as many months, instead of doing a full tank every month or so, I'm doing a 10-20% water change every weak (replaced with water left overnight to get to room temperature etc.).
My question is if I do this 10-20% water change every week (with one of those tubes (with attachment) that sucks the waste from the stones) do I need to do a full tank change Ever again?

Magenta

Plascebo wrote: »

I have two fish in, I think, a 30-40 liter tank with filter. After losing 5 fish in as many months, instead of doing a full tank every month or so, I'm doing a 10-20% water change every weak (replaced with water left overnight to get to room temperature etc.).
My question is if I do this 10-20% water change every week (with one of those tubes (with attachment) that sucks the waste from the stones) do I need to do a full tank change Ever again?

You should not ever be doing a full tank change.

Satyr_The_Great

My neice has a goldfish, she keeps it in a bowl. She has the gold fish 9 years now.

Alkers

9 years is nothing to brag about, kept properly a goldfish should live to over 20 years.

Satyr_The_Great

Simona1986 wrote: »

9 years is nothing to brag about, kept properly a goldfish should live to over 20 years.

WHo said i was bragging???? nobody. Read the whole thread and you will see that others here have said that bowls are bad for goldfish and they wont live long in bowls...
My post simply shows that not all goldfish die quickly if kept in a bowl.

Alkers

Sorry if I came across harsh there. I have read the whole thread, the fact remains that a bowl is a bad place to keep any fish particularly a goldfish which are a messy fish with a long lifespan which grow quite large.