Your New Friend, The Goldfish?

The Dos and Don’ts!

By Zachary Lahana

Hello There, Darling!!

As if I even need an introduction, I am a Goldfish (Carassius auratus)! I am quite the popular fish, with people keeping me as a pet for over a thousand years! Because of my history and my beauty, people often think I am easy to take care of and bring me home as a first pet for kids, but it actually takes a lot of time, patience, and hard work to keep me happy! I would love to be friends, but I should be brought home once you’re a little older, more experienced with animals, and are ready to give me the best life I can live! For now, though, let’s learn a little more about me, and the Dos and Don’ts of keeping me!

First, let’s learn a little more about me!

I am a type of carp, and we are medium-sized fish mostly found in the Northern half of the world! My species originally came from East Asia, but due to the pet trade I can now be found almost all over the world! I tend to live in freshwater, like lakes and rivers, where I tend to be happiest in a school of carps just like me!

We carps have no stomachs, so we are constantly eating and going to the bathroom! We are not picky when it comes to what we eat, for we are omnivores, but our favorite foods tend to be plants!

Like dogs, there are several different breeds and varieties of us goldfish, bred by humans for different colors, patterns, and features! 

Forgetful people often say they have “the memory of a goldfish”, but that’s simply not true! We’ve actually been observed to be quite intelligent, and we can tell our human keepers apart, often swimming towards them when we’re hungry so they’ll give us a snack! 

People often see us as a small, short-lived fish, but with proper care, we’ve been observed living for over 40 years, and getting almost two feet long!

Now, to start on the Dos and Don’ts!

DO Give us a lot of space! The minimum size my aquarium should be is 30 Gallons, but I’m happiest with other goldfish (schools of 3-6 are the best!), and 10 more gallons should be added for every additional fish I live with! You can decorate my house with wood, rocks, and caves found in a pet store, but avoid things with sharp edges! Live plants are good for our water, but we often end up munching on them, so do your research and be careful!

DON’T Put me in a fishbowl! While they are cute, they are way too small for me, and the way the glass curves can really hurt my eyes!

DO Keep my tank clean! Like I said earlier, my lack of a stomach keeps me eating and going to the bathroom constantly, and my waste can make the tank dirty and dangerous for me fast! Would you want to be stuck in a dirty bathroom? The best way to keep my tank clean is with a strong filter, and changing about half of my water every 1-2 weeks. An air pump can also be helpful for keeping the water fresh and healthy!

DON’T Give me gravel or a heater! We will sometimes dig through our substrate to look for food, and if we try to eat the gravel, we might choke! It’s safest to either keep us with sand or no substrate. For heat, we prefer cold water, so unless you live in an extremely cold area, we don’t need a heater, and having one might stress us out!

DO Keep us healthy with a varied diet and monitoring our health! We should be fed 1-3 times a day, and our main diet should be a high quality fish flake that’s made specifically for goldfish! We can also be given treats in the form of cleaned bits of veggies and frozen feeder insects, but the flakes should be the main food we eat everyday! Use a fishnet to clean anything we don’t eat after a few minutes so it doesn’t dirty up the tank! 

Like you, we can unfortunately get sick from time to time. If you notice us moving slower, not eating, losing color or scales, moving frantically, or swimming upside-down, please try and call a veterinarian for advice!

DON’T Release us into the wild if you can’t care for us anymore. When we enter an ecosystem we don’t normally live in, we can cause problems for the other animals and plants around us! We can introduce diseases, eat too many native animals and plants, not leave enough food for other animals, and pollute the water! If you can no longer care for us, please reach out to a local pet store or animal shelter for advice! 

Sounds like a lot of work to keep me happy and healthy, right?

While I don’t think I’m the best choice as a first pet for you, we can definitely still be friends! And once you have some experience taking care of other animals, maybe then you can bring me home and give me a happy, healthy life! In the meantime, here are some animals that are a little bit easier to take care of than I am that can teach you how to keep an animal happy and healthy while still being fun! 

Hi! I’m a Dwarf Gourami (Trichogaster lalius). I’m peaceful and slow-moving, come in lots of colors, and can live in 5-10 gallons of water comfortably with relatively easy care!	Hi! I’m a White Cloud Mountain Minnow (Tanichthys albonubes). I can live in a 10 gallon tank, I’m great in a school, I can live with other fish with similar care, and I don’t need a heater!	Hi! I’m a Guppy (Poecilia reticulata). I come in lots of beautiful patterns, I can live in 5-10 gallons with other guppies and peaceful fish, and if you keep boys and girls together, we might have babies!

Thank you for taking the time to learn about me and what I need to be happy! While I may not be the best pet for you right now, I appreciate you taking the time to learn about my needs, and I hope it’s given you a new appreciation for us goldfish and what it takes to take care of a pet! Even the easier pets I recommended can be hard to take care of at times, so don’t be afraid to ask a grownup for help if you need it! I hope you’ve enjoyed learning about me, and whether I am your pet or not, I hope this is the start to a happy friendship!

Glossary

Aquarium: An enclosure filled with water for fish or other aquatic animals.

Aquatic: Living in the water.

Barbel: A small, hairlike piece of flesh around the mouth of some fish.

Carp: A group of freshwater fish found in the northern part of the world, typically defined by a lack of a stomach and small barbels around the mouth.

Domesticated: A living thing that humans have specially bred for keeping at home, usually with traits making them more useful or calmer around humans.

Dwarf Gourami: A small, slow-moving gourami native to Southeast Asia.

Ecosystem: An area where all the living things in it contribute to a healthy and safe area for those who live in it.

Enclosure: The space where a pet animal lives.

Filter: A device that constantly moves the water and collects particles of dirt and waste as it works.

Fish: An aquatic animal with gills and fins for breathing and moving in the water.

Freshwater: Water that does not contain significant amounts of salt (unlike the ocean).

Gills: Openings on the side of a fish’s head that allow them to breathe through water.

Goldfish: A medium-sized carp native to East Asia that has been domesticated.

Gourami: A group of slow-moving fish native to Southeast Asia that can breathe air and make bubble nests at the water’s surface.

Guppy: A small fish native to South America and the Caribbean that gives birth to live young.

Minnow: A small, slender fish related to carp.

Omnivore: An animal that eats both animal and plant matter.

School: A group of fish.

Substrate: A layer at the bottom of an enclosure of dirt, sand, gravel, etc.

Veterinarian: A doctor who specializes in taking care of animals.

White Cloud Mountain Minnow: A small, schooling minnow native to China.