# Trying goldfish - advice?



## Gizmothefreaky (Apr 10, 2011)

So! I fell in love with these goldfish (who will be moving to a pond when it warms up this spring), and i want to make sure i am doing everything right for them in the meantime. 

They are in the 30 gallon (i have up on the live bearers and rehomed them. Winter is now in a 2.5 gallon heated tank, and the loaches and frogs have the seven gallon). It is double filtered ( technically triple filtered.. i have three hang on the back filters going in it right now. lmao!), i offer them both goldfish pellets and flakes, and there are plenty of snails in there for them to entertain themselves with, because i was told they may or may not eat the ramshorns. True or not, i dont know, but im not worried about it. XD


Here are some pictures. a couple of them look thin and a bit sick, what do you think?










































The white one and the orange and black one are the smallest, they look the skinniest too. i am not sure if it is just because they are small or not.


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## daniomania (Feb 12, 2012)

probably jus tsmall. i nthe mean time jst feed change water and keep the temp right!


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## Gizmothefreaky (Apr 10, 2011)

Yeah... They are only about two inches and smaller. lol! 

I am doing a couple 30% changes a week with the water, is that enough, or should i do more/less?


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## PaintingPintos (Dec 27, 2011)

The goldfish don't look thin at all, unless they are Fantails, which one of them looks a bit like. They will eventually become more "meaty" but you don't have to worry. Don't EVER overfeed because goldfish will literally eat themselves to death they are so piggy. You don't seem to be doing anything wrong, and it's nice you're concerned for the "easiest care" animal on the market...goldfish.
They shouldn't eat the snails, unless they don't react quickly enough. They usually learn to pull their little eye stalks back into their shells as soon as a goldfish makes a beeline towards the tasty snail. Good job so far 
EDIT:
The temp for goldfish can range from 55-80 which should be somewhere on the lower half. You shouldn't really worry about it though. And your water changes are fine, as long as you're not freaking the fish out and making them bang into everything. Cute fishies, by the way. The first fish's mustache is just too cute


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## Gizmothefreaky (Apr 10, 2011)

Nope! No fantails. As far as i know they are comets. XD 

I feed once a day, flakes one day and pellets the next. The snails arent really a concern for me, they are overpopulated in the tank anyway. XD The more that die the better. (sad, but true) They are at room temp right now, which is averaging about 67-69 ish, depending on the time of day. 

The first fish is my favorite, the reason i got them in the first place. XD Any way to tell gender?


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## thekoimaiden (Oct 19, 2011)

While it's great that you want to put them in a pond in the summer, you've got a lot of work on your hands. Comet goldfish grow fast and are very high waste producers. You should be doing 50% water changes every other day to keep up with the water quality. Over-filtering can only handle so much and it won't remove nitrate. You are also going to want to drop the temp down around 60F if you can. At the very least, don't heat the tank as heat speeds up their metabolism and will make more mess for you. Another way to cut down on the waste is to only feed them every other day. 

As for their health, I thought I saw some ich spots on the brown one. It could just be reflection from the glass, but you're going to want to watch for flashing and other signs of distress. The one in the second picture has some clamped fins, but it could just be from being confined and having a flash in his face. Either way, watch them for signs of laboured breathing and flashing. When you are overstocking a tank like this, any disease can be deadly. 

The only way to tell goldfish gender is when they are spawning. Yours are too young to spawn. Next spring you might see some spawning behaviour in your pond. The females will look much more plump from above as they are filled with eggs and the males will be chasing the females and nosing at her vent. So for now, just kinda name them whatever you feel like. 

Do you already have a pond or are you going to build one?


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