Goldfish advice needed.

I'm posting because I'm not that up to speed on goldfish and looking for a little advice.
So my 10 year old cousin went to a fair last night and came home with a goldfish. Putting aside the whole issue of carnivals giving away goldfish in general, some lousy carny sold the fish to him after he wasn't able to win one. And he got way more than the 30 cents they probably paid for it. So I'm probably going to have a word with someone about that.
Anyways, I have my 10 gallon quarantine tank that I can temporarily house this fish in. I just moved the quarantined fish into the main tank so it will have it to itself. Luckily I hadn't completely broken the tank down yet.
This looks like a common goldfish to me. And it's probably not like carnivals are giving away fancy goldfish as prizes.
So what advice can you give me on its long term care? Specifically, what size tank will it need? And anything else I should know.

I’d say, for a common goldfish, 55 gallons minimum. Recommended size is 75 gallons. I had goldfish (2) in a 36 gallon aquarium years ago, and I couldn’t keep the ammonia levels below 8. I was a beginner and didn’t know anything about goldfish. But now I know that they are very, very, messy!!!

Sadly, it is very unlikely to live long enough to need the 75 gallon. Hopefully you got a good one.

Endlersendlers said:

Sadly, it is very unlikely to live long enough to need the 75 gallon. Hopefully you got a good one.

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I'm pretty certain that this was a feeder tank goldfish that they got for like 30 cents. So yeah, it's probably inbred and came from a disease ridden tank. I told my little cousin that it might not make it but we're going to give it the best chance possible. I'm looking forward to mentoring him on fish care.

Hello shark. These Goldfish are generally feeders for larger fish. They're raised by the hundreds in marginal conditions. That's why most don't live long. However, I have some I got just to see if I could keep them alive with good care and surprise, surprise, some I've had for several years. Goldfish are social, but one will do fine. One fish will be fine in 30 gallons of water. Just feed a little and change half the tank water every week, no excuses. You miss a water change and the fish's immune system will weaken a little due to poor water conditions. Just don't feed too much and change the water.

10 Tanks (Now 11)

10 Tanks said:

Hello shark. These Goldfish are generally feeders for larger fish. They're raised by the hundreds in marginal conditions. That's why most don't live long. However, I have some I got just to see if I could keep them alive with good care and surprise, surprise, some I've had for several years. Goldfish are social, but one will do fine. One fish will be fine in 30 gallons of water. Just feed a little and change half the tank water every week, no excuses. You miss a water change and the fish's immune system will weaken a little due to poor water conditions. Just don't feed too much and change the water.

10 Tanks (Now 11)

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What would be a good floating plant for a goldfish tank? I'm thinking Anacharis or maybe even duckweed.

You betcha ! Put some duckweed in there . They love to eat it .

sharkweek178 said:

What would be a good floating plant for a goldfish tank? I'm thinking Anacharis or maybe even duckweed.

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Hello. Goldfish will remove Duckweed in just a few hours. Anacharis is pretty good, I've found that Goldfish really don't care for Dwarf Water Lettuce. The Lettuce leaves can get quite large, so it won't work for a small tank very well. I have it floating in my 300 gallon tank and if it gets good light, it grows very quickly. Here's a photo of the plant in my outside 300 gallon tank.

10 Tanks (Now 11)

Here's a question for goldfish keepers. Should I get it a goldfish formula for food? Or can I feed it the same food I give my other fish. I feed New Life Spectrum Flakes and Fluval Bug Bites.

Hello. I feed a food specifically for Goldfish and mix together some other foods. I add Spirulina to the diets of all my fish. It's a good supplement for a healthy immune system. It can be taken by anything that lives in the water and everything else that walks or crawls on the land.

10 Tanks (Now 11)

Endlersendlers said:

Sadly, it is very unlikely to live long enough to need the 75 gallon. Hopefully you got a good one.

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It's been doing this a lot.



Doesn't look like a good sign. It's not eating off the substrate. It's just kind of sitting there. I've fed it very sparingly. Once since Sunday. I think it might have swim bladder issues too.

sharkweek178 said:

It's been doing this a lot.

View attachment 322018

Doesn't look like a good sign. It's not eating off the substrate. It's just kind of sitting there. I've fed it very sparingly. Once since Sunday. I think it might have swim bladder issues too.

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Awww, poor little guy (gal?). I have to admit I don’t know much about goldfish except that they put out a lot of ammonia. I think you know all this but I’m going to throw this on here anyway. https/www.fishkeepingacademy.com/how-to-reduce-ammonia-in-a-fish-tank/?expand_article=1 it makes me feel like maybe I helped, ha ha ha.

I didn’t mean to be so blunt about his outlook, I was just imagining you investing heavily in a 75-gallon set up and then losing the fish shortly thereafter. Double whammy. Not that it would be so bad to have a 75 to fill if that happened…

Endlersendlers said:

Awww, poor little guy (gal?). I have to admit I don’t know much about goldfish except that they put out a lot of ammonia. I think you know all this but I’m going to throw this on here anyway. https/www.fishkeepingacademy.com/how-to-reduce-ammonia-in-a-fish-tank/?expand_article=1 it makes me feel like maybe I helped, ha ha ha.

I didn’t mean to be so blunt about his outlook, I was just imagining you investing heavily in a 75-gallon set up and then losing the fish shortly thereafter. Double whammy. Not that it would be so bad to have a 75 to fill if that happened…

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It's going to get a water change a few times a week.
And don't worry. I'd find a use for a 75 gallon. That would not be wasted money.

sharkweek178 said:

It's going to get a water change a few times a week.
And don't worry. I'd find a use for a 75 gallon. That would not be wasted money.

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Well in thaaat case… let me help you out. The goldfish should have at least 5 friends at 75 gallons for the first fish and 50 gallons each thereafter. Therefore, you will need a minimum of 325 gallons. (You know I’m making this all up, right?)

sharkweek178 said:

Here's a question for goldfish keepers. Should I get it a goldfish formula for food? Or can I feed it the same food I give my other fish. I feed New Life Spectrum Flakes and Fluval Bug Bites.

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If the fish get plenty of plant matter in their diet, they can eat a normal tropical fish food. They should get live aquatic plants as part of their diet regardless of what they are fed.

The fish in the picture in post 11 appears to be dying from poor water quality (ammonia). It also has black edging to the fins, which is often associated with ammonia burns. However, the black could also be colouration but I don't think it is.

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BASIC FISH FIRST AID
Test the water for ammonia, nitrite, nitrate and pH. Post the results in numbers here.

Wipe the inside of the glass down with a clean fish sponge. This removes the biofilm on the glass and the biofilm will contain lots of harmful bacteria, fungus, protozoans and various other microscopic life forms.

Do a 75% water change and gravel clean the substrate every day for a week or until the problem is identified. The water changes and gravel cleaning will reduce the number of disease organisms in the water and provide a cleaner environment for the fish to recover in. It also removes a lot of the gunk and this means any medication can work on treating the fish instead of being wasted killing the pathogens in the gunk.
Make sure any new water is free of chlorine/ chloramine before it is added to the tank.

Clean the filter if it hasn't been done in the last 2 weeks. However, if the filter is less than 6 weeks old, do not clean it. Wash the filter materials/ media in a bucket of tank water and re-use the media. Tip the bucket of dirty water on the garden/ lawn. Cleaning the filter means less gunk and cleaner water with fewer pathogens so any medication (if needed) will work more effectively on the fish.

Increase surface turbulence/ aeration to maximise the dissolved oxygen in the water.