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Picking
the perfect goldfish friend:
Picking a good goldfish is more tricky than it sounds. A lot of
goldfish will carry diseases that are dorment or have diseases already
visable. A fish store with one sick/dead fish usually means many
of them have the same disease already working in other fish. So,
when choosing your goldfish, look at every
tank the fish store has while answering these questions: Do the
fish look properly cared for (are their tanks clean and do the fish
look well-fed)? Are the fish swimming in the tank lively or listful?
Are there any dead fish or obviously sick fish that you can see?
Is the color good, none of the fish are molting or loosing scales,
and none of the fish are fighting?
Choose a fish from a healthy tank (I know this may seem extreme,
but even if other tanks are sick and the tank you want to choose
from is healthy-looking, I'd advice against it and just wait or
go to another store. The reason is because many fish stores use
a central filtration system,
so all water mixes with one another. Meaning, if one tank gets sick,
it's likely it's already in the healthy tanks). The fish in the
tank should be swimming, looking inquisitively for food; there should
be no dead/sick fish and no fish that are listlessly hanging in
the water or having difficulty swimming. Ask a clerk to feed the
fish in the tank a bit of food and watch the fish: do they swim
up to get their fill or do they ignore it? Choose a fish that looks
particularly lively and dives at the food.
Remember, don't be afraid to ask questions! Ask the clerk when this
shipment of fish arrived (if it was in the last 48 hours, I suggest
putting your fish on hold and coming back in a day or two. This
will mean the fish is less stressed and therefore more likely to
survive the trip to yet another new home). A
bit of warning: do not trust the color descriptions they
give for goldfish. Many of the goldfish you see are actually juveniles
and their coloring will change
as they grow older. This is particularly true for the black and
orange goldfish; the black has a tendency to fade away very quickly.
So, you've bought your fish and it's in
a nice little baggy...
You will need to acclimitize your fish to the temperature of your
tank. Float the baggy in the tank water for 20 minutes, but no more
than 40 minutes. Then, scoop out the fish with your hand or a net
and put it in the tank, discarding the water in the baggie. I make
this suggestion because it's an uncomfortable thought introducing
foreign, unknown tank water to your tank.
Don't feed your fish as soon as it enters its home! It won't be
as interested, it's got a lot of other things to explore! Give the
goldfish at least an hour before you give it its first feeding.
Quarantining
If you're adding more goldfish after
you've already added some goldfish to your tank, it's suggested
that you quarantine the new tank so, in case there's an agent the
new fish are carrying, it won't be introduced to the tank and the
other goldfish. For this, you will need a quarantine tank, tub,
or bucket. If you are using a quarantine tank, the tank size can
be as small as 10 gallons, and have a sponge filter on it (which
is inexpensive and can even be made yourself!) and a small pump
with an airstone. In a pinch, you can also use a bucket, or a large,
plastic tub and put in an airstone attached to an air pump. Remember:
if the bucket/tank/tub you're using is less
than 10 gallons, you must do water changes every 2-3 days and monitor
the water parameters carefully! Since this is actually good during
quarantining periods, don't worry about the goldfish.
Next:
Adding Your Fish >>
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