Goldfish Question....

[Kath2003]

It was probably shock of being dumped in a new pool of water. You need to match the temperature VERY VERY carefully - goldfish can die if you dump them in something too warm or too chilly. They need time to adjust. If you keep him in a plastic baggie with a bit of his original water when you change the water you can leave the baggie in the new water for a while to allow the water temperature to adjust.

 

[RobInBigKC]

We have had a number of goldfish over the last 15 years -- some have lived for 2 or 3 years, some for 2 or 3 days. This sounds kind of bad but I've come to think of them as fairly disposable. At 19 cents each, we just buy one or two and eventually (and it usually doesn't take too many) we get one hardy enough that it lives for quite some time.

Of course, we still do water changes, filter, air pump, feeding, etc. -- we don't just sit back and let them fend for themselves.

-- Rob

 

[MzDiz]

Feeder fish usually don't live that long. You're lucky if you have one that lives more than a week. Fancy goldfish can live for years if cared for properly. I've never had much luck with them, since they're picky and like to die if things aren't just so. I gave up on goldfish.

Remember to change a portion of your water every few days, and I'm not so sure about the distilled water since I've read that it's not recommended. I don't remember why though. We use plain old tap water and de-chlorinator in our 55 gallon community tank and our fish are fine. Well, most of them.

 

[ConcKahuna]

It was probably the distilled water. Distilled water has very little oxygen absorbed into it, so he probably couldn't breathe. Lucky for him most carp can "air gulp" to get oxygen

I had a pair of carnival gold fish for 5 years. They lived in a little hexagonal bowl in the bathroom. The bowl had some gravel, a small air pump, and one fake plant. The goldfish lived until my aunt decided to clean the bowl while I was away. She scrubbed it out with hot water, filled it up, then dumped the fish in. She of course forgot to let the water reach room temperature, and it was still steaming when the poor fish were put to death.

 

[Kath2003]

I have a goldfish back home, Zebedee - he lives in a small "bio-orb" with my sister's goldfish, Jim. He was bought for me by my then-boyfriend when I was 15 - I'm now 23 I originally had two but one died 3 years ago at the age of 5. Zebedee is going strong and is huge. He has a beautiful floaty tail

 

[flying_babyb]

I dont know, I have a ariator in my goldfish bowl. It cost 5 bucks at the walmart. I jsut feel better knowing theres more air then he needs in his tank. I bought a cheap 2 gallon tank for mine in the begining. Now we have two tetras in there too.

 

[kmp1191]

Love the fish stories! Sorry to hear about the steamed ones... I guess the distilled water is out and plain ol' tap in back in! I already refilled the jug for the next cleaning. Diamond & Sparky seem to be doing ok...gosh, if they make it a month, maybe I'll upgrade their environment. (although I really do like the round bowl I got them....pretty blue & green glass pebbles and a fake plant....looks kinda cool)
Might check into the ariator this week.

Oh, and the boxer loves looking in at them...he still can't figure out what they are!

 

[RobInBigKC]

Oh, and the boxer loves looking in at them...he still can't figure out what they are!

Ok, I wasn't going to post this but I can't help myself. As I said, we've had goldfish for about 15 years (and a cat or cats for about 19 years) but this cat is the first one we've had that's had a real interest in them:

-- Rob

 

[kmp1191]

Great picture!!!
Did he/she ever catch one??

too funny!

 

[RobInBigKC]

Great picture!!!
Did he/she ever catch one??

too funny!

No, I think his little kitty brain is all confuzzled as it tries to work out his desire to get the fish vs. his desire to avoid getting wet. He will dip his paw just barely to the surface of the water but never into it.

-- Rob

 

[LOVETHATMOUSE]

Our kitty likes to drink from the top of the bowl. Never dips her paws in, only puts her head in it to drink. She never bothers Anastasia and has never gotten sick herself from doing it. We got a pic of her doing it once. I'll try to find it and post it. The funny thing is our other cat did it too - at least till he was too old to jump high enough onto the back table to do it. I guess they like there water flavored too just like us humans!!

 

[jackskellingtonsgirl]

Our fishbowl is in DS's room. He swears the fish took a flying leap out of the bowl one night, and he had to get out of bed and put the fish back in the water. DH and I were kind of skeptical, and we FULLY expected the fish to die after that. But he didn't.
Now we keep a mesh dishrag secured over the top of the bowl with a rubberband. DH said it was my fault for filling the bowl too full.

The whole temperature thing is another reason we keep the jug of tap water set aside. That way it is already room temp when we clean out the bowl. We never use soap in the bowl - just plain water and a paper towel.

 

[Doesney]

We have one little fish also won at a school function 7 years ago. That's right, we have a 7 year old fish named Darcy. Funny thing is this is my second fish that has lasted over 6 years. The first one committed suicide by jumping out of the bowl. It jumped out often and I always was there to save it except the last time Our current fish lives in a round bowl on tap water and fish flakes 3x a week. She is a survivor.

 

[Nomi]

In response to the OP, yes, you can suffocate a goldfish. By putting them in a bowl. (Sorry if anyone already answered this, I admit I skipped through the replies rather quickly.) It disheartens me, as I love goldfish, (I own three fantails myself), to see so many people say they keep their goldfish in bowls.

Here is some info on goldfish care....

First off, goldfish should NEVER be kept in bowls. Goldfish are very hardy fish, and can live live up to 20 years (the oldest living goldfish I believe made it past 40.) but they are very messy fish, and in a bowl they will suffocate in their own... well, mess. I would suggest at least 10 gallons per fish, as all goldfish (yes even feeders) get quite large (and very pretty. It's a shame they are sold as feeders really, but hey, other fish gotta eat.) And since they are so messy, they need a filter.

Here are some goldfish care websites! http://www.kokosgoldfish.com/care.html http://www.petlibrary.com/goldfish/fishcare.htm http://www.goldfishutopia.com/information.php?pID=12

A wealth of more information can be found with a quick search.
If anyone has any more questions about goldfish, I can try to help answer.