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Care for Goldfish from Schmeg.com |
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| Jan. 2006 | |||
This manual is made for people who want to get into the goldfish-keeping hobby, but have utterly no idea how to start. Since a lot of people get false information about goldfish-keeping from many mediums (pet store clerks, books, articles, word of mouth, etc.), this guide will help the reader get a leg into the hobby correctly. But, this guide is not only for the beginner, a novice might find useful information here, too. and popularized in Japan in the 15th century. The fancy goldfish varieties you see in the store are actually mutations of the regular carp that were exploited and which created the strange looking goldfish that are now sold in stores. In nature, these mutations would have lead the young that had them to die, and nature would have moved on. As a result, today's fancy goldfish varieties cannot live in the wild; their strange features make it impossible. They need the help of their owner for feedings and care. Especially some of the very fancy types like bubble eyes and celestials, which are half-blind due to their "imperfections." The goldfish was introduced to the western civilization as late as the 18th century, and it was even later still that the goldfish was introduced to the New World, the Americas. (more info about goldfish varieties) Contrary to what you see in pictures, goldfish are not meant to live in bowls. In ancient times, wealthy oriental rulers would display their goldfish in glass vases and bowls; perhaps this is where the idea of bowls was adapted from. However, those bowls were much larger and the wealthy probably had someone to take care of the fish everyday. Today, the industry is much more commercial, with many types of tanks and if you do a little hunting, you can usually find a good sized tank that will make your goldfish happy. When stocking your tank, remember the classic rule: Only 1 goldfish for every 10 gallons of water and plan accordingly. Think in the long term: How many fish do I eventually want? How many fish will keep me satisfied? How much space can I give these fish? and buy your tank upon those answers. Of course, everyone is held back by finances, but don't think, Well, I'll overcrowd my tank now and buy a bigger tank later. Keep to the 1 goldfish for every 10 gallon rule and add fish at a later date! Goldfish also need a lot of surface area, so that gases can exchange at the surface of the water. If there are two tanks, one with more surface area (longer), and one with less surface area (taller), it will be the longer tank that can hold more fish. The best shape for this is a rectangular tank. It gives the most surface area for its shape. You will now be entering a pet-keeping hobby and it's good to have a pet store that you consider trustworthy and that can give you good information about their fish and their fish supplies. Don't hesitate to ask your pet store clerk all the questions you want; the more questions you ask, the more you know whether the clerk knows what he's talking about! Remember: wrong advice can lead to a dead fish. If you have a store in your area devoted entirely to fish, lucky you! Usually, those stores that are for fish only have clerks with more experience (usually), as a lot of the clerks will have fish, themselves. Whatever local pet store you choose, always look at the fish they sell there. If the fish look healthy, it's a sign that this store knows what it's doing (for more advice on healthy-looking fish, go here). Many people think that entering into the fish-keeping hobby will be relatively cheap and easy. This is a common misconception, because keeping fish requires time, caring, and money. Since people like to (usually) keep more than one fish, a bigger tank is required. The bigger the tank, the more stable your water conditions will be. Not only that, but there's the price of fish, food, supplies, etc. To get started into the hobby, you should have set aside as much as $500. Of course, your personal experience may differ, but it saves money to get the best products to begin with, instead of bad products which make you loose fish (which makes you buy more fish and spend more money) and then finally just buy the better products to begin with. But, the best thing to realize is that goldfish keeping is not a "cheap and easy" hobby, it does require time and money.
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