Goldfish Guide

....The RIGHT way to keep indoor Goldfish

Index

Introduction
What size tank do I need?
Where should I keep my aquarium?
What else do I need for my tank?
Which Goldfish do I want to keep?
How do I get my new pet settled in?
How often and what should I feed my fish?
How do I keep my tank clean?
How do I keep my goldfish healthy?
Checklist
Suggested Shopping list

Originally from China, Goldfish have been kept as pets here in Europe for over five centuries! They are now one of the UK’s favourite pets and are bred all over the world. Their huge popularity is understandable – they are a fun, easy-to-keep and a beautiful family pet.

Buy the biggest tank or aquarium that you have room for and can afford! The more space they have, the happier and healthier your Goldfish will be – remember all pets need room to grow! We suggest 2.5 cm (1 inch) of fish (from tip of nose to fork of tail) max., to every 5 litres (1 gallon) of aquarium water, in a well-filtered tank. Without a filter you’d need to half that. An ideal starter size tank would be 45 litres (approx 10 gallons). Be advised by your local shop as to the most suitable tank for your needs.

To work out the volume of water held by a tank, multiply the length x width x depth,
For litres, take the measurements using cms. then divide by 1000;
For imperial gallons, take the measurements using inches then divide by 276.
For small aquariums/bowls, fill with a jug to measure volume.

Remember, when working out the volume for adding water treatments or medications, you’ll need to subtract any water, displaced by gravel, rocks, aquarium decorations etc. (allowing 10% is usually enough.)

You can keep your tank in any room in the house, really. The only things to remember are:

• Place it away from heaters and drafts
• Keep it on a strong, stable surface, on a sheet of polystyrene or for larger aquariums, a purpose built stand
• Don’t put it near a natural light source i.e. by a window, this causes algae growth & greenwater.

Unlike land pets, fish live in a completely contained environment, they live, eat and breathe in the aquarium water.
Goldfish produce lots of waste and if it builds up in the water, it’s toxic to fish, so you need to install the best filter you can. There are several types of filter on the market, so discuss the best one for you with your local aquatic shop. You need to set up your tank for a couple of days before adding any Goldfish. Tap water contains small amounts of several substances, like chlorine, which are harmless to people but which are bad for fish. When you first fill your tank, add Tap Right, this makes tap water safe for fish. Keep the bottle, you’ll need it again later when you are freshening up the water.
It’s a good idea to add some ‘fish-safe’ rocks or ornaments to your tank, to make your Goldfish feel comfortable in their new home. If you want to grow live plants you’ll need gravel and extra lighting too – your aquatic shop will advise you on which gravel and fluorescent tubes to buy. Mind you, it can be quite tricky to grow a good display of real plants in a cold water tank as Goldfish like eating them! So some people opt for plastic plants instead.
After a few days (be guided by your shop) you are ready to buy your first goldfish. Just before introducing your fish, add Water Right (good bacteria) to kick-start your filter.

There are loads of different varieties available - Comets, Sarasas, Shubunkins, Black Moors etc. Whichever you chose, look out for these signs of good health:

• Lively & alert with bright eyes
• No unnatural marks or spots
• Good strong fins and tail.

When you’ve chosen your fish, the aquatic shop will put the fish in a bag with plenty of air and enough water for you to get them home. What next?

a. Roll down sides of bag & float in tank for 5-10 mins.
b. Pour out 1/3 bag water & replace with tank water.
c. After 5-10 mins. repeat stage b.
d. 5-10 mins. later, goldfish should be swimming freely.
e. Tilt bag and let the fish swim out in its own time.

Moving home is stressful for anyone, so once your fish has settled in, it’s an idea to use Disease Right (treatment for common diseases) to make sure the fish don’t come down with anything. Ideally, you shouldn’t add any more fish for a fortnight, until your first fish has settled in.

For the first 2 weeks only feed your fish every other day and only as much as it will eat in 2 minutes. After that, you can increase feeding to once a day but still only a small amount. Fish are like dogs and will always appear hungry, however, it is dangerous to keep on feeding more than they can eat in 2 minutes.
It’s really important to feed your Goldfish with good quality food to keep them healthy. Flake foods are probably the most popular type of food and are a good source of nutrients. Just like us though, Goldfish benefit from a varied diet, so try other options like frozen Blood-worm and pellet foods. You can give your fish an extra boost by adding Vitazin vitamin supplement to their food. Even the finest dried foods, lose their vitamin content after they’ve been opened.

Living in a tank with dirty water will cause your Goldfish stress. What makes your water dirty?

• Overfeeding
• Rotting food
• Too many fish
• Poor filter or pump
• Faulty or blocked filter or pump
• Corpses or dead plants.

Once a week it’s a good idea to check how clean the aquarium water is, by using Waterlife test-kits, available from your local aquatic shop. The two most important tests to carry out are:

1) Ammonia (colourless waste produced by fish's gills)
2) Nitrite (another almost colourless chemical)

You could also check the temperature and the pH (how acid or alkaline the water is) regularly as well, if these are wrong it can cause your fish stress.

Even a filtered aquarium needs its water refreshing from time to time. How often you’ll need to do this depends on how many fish you have in relation to your tank, how much you feed them and how good a job your filter is doing.
Generally, you’ll need to change 25% of the water at a time but never change more than 50%.

Rough guide: A 45 litre aquarium, 2 x 5 cm (2 inch) Goldfish, with under-gravel filter = 25% water change every 2 - 4 wks.

We’ve covered the most important way of doing this already – keep tank water clean. Otherwise Goldfish are generally very hardy little pets. However, just like us, fish are more likely to get ill if they’re stressed or by:

• Introducing a new fish to the tank which is already sick
• Introducing snails, which carry diseases
• Feeding your fish with unsterilized food
• Not having a balanced diet.

The good news is though, most illnesses, caught early, can be cured using one of Waterlife’s disease treatments.
The diagram (right) and chart (below) should help you diagnose the problem if your fish is sick.

A.Fluffy grey / white marks on fishesbody or fins.

B. Hundreds of white spots on the fishes body.
Fish not really eating & is breathing quickly.

All the above information is given to the best of our abilities and knowledge. However we cannot be held responsible for any losses or damages caused by misinterpretation or misunderstanding or caused by misdiagnosis or misuse of Waterlife products.
E & OE 11.03 pos001