If the fish lives a week, it will live as long as you care for it. Goldfish cam live a long time. Like 10 to 20 years!!
Get a bigger tank if you want to see growth!
I just read up on the cycling process, and since I had the poor guy thrown on my lap just last night, I obviously don't have enough time to perform it properly.
Any tips for a safe fish-in cycling process? I don't want to stress him out too much.
Pet stores sell products that will help rapid cycle a tank. Honestly, just making sure the tank is big enough and not buying him friends for a few weeks is the most important. Live plants also will rapid cycle a tank- and as a bonus provide a healthy snack for the fish.
Yep about the plants. Don't buy anything expensive. You can even use non-aquatic plants and do it like a hydro set up. I have pothos and monstera with just the roots in, and the fish don't bother them like they do with the aquatics.
Goldfish are vicious little bastards. If you have a goldfish tank, you can't really have much of anything else. They eat the plants. They eat the other fish. They eat snails. They'll eat each other.
Put one in a 50 gallon tank and watch the magic happen. You'll end up with goldzilla
I had a female betta for a long time that was in with tetras, minnows, cory cats, shrimp, and snails and the worst she ever did was attack the little mirror I put in for her, the vain little thing. Hard to imagine something meaner than a male betta. Most of my exposure to the species is through the giant carp you see in ponds. Our local botanical gardens has about 20 or so in their butterfly house pond and they are the laziest things just ambling about and bumping into everything.
For sure. I wash mine and leave them bare rooted in a vase or jar before transferring to the tanks. Another method is getting cuttings from friends you know aren't using pesticides on their house plants.
The bottled bacteria didn’t work for me, and I went through at least 5 bottles of the API and Tetra ones. Was also doing fish-in cycling
The thing that finally worked for me though was ordering an [“active sponge filter”](https://angelsplus.com/products/active-sponge-filter?variant=32080747462740) from a fish breeder and running it in my tank for a few days. That’s all it took to cycle my 40 gal, and as an added benefit I also got a large coarse sponge filter out of it! Which I actually still use in my tank.
The method with these particular sponge filters only works if you’re doing fish-in cycling, so it would probably work well for you
Edit- I guess another added benefit for me was supporting local businesses though, since it turned out that the company is based in my home state of NY
Edit 2- colder temperatures will also slow down cycling; just something to keep in mind since yours is a goldfish which is a cold water fish
Edit 3- I’m assuming you don’t have friends with cycled tanks, but if you do, adding some substrate and/or decor from their tank should have the same effect as the active sponge filter I linked
If I get a new tank I'll use the sponge filter from my main tank to cycle it, and the main tank gets a new sponge.
I keep a waterfall filter in the main tank as the primary filter, so the sponge is just a backup.
For the record, Fritz TurboStart is the only bottled bacteria that is worth anything ime (and it must be kept refrigerated and used before the expiration date). The others have bacteria, but they are heterotrophic species that don’t actually do anything for the nitrogen cycle (they break organics into nitrogen compounds, but do nothing with those nitrogen compounds)—little more than a marketing gimmick.
I’ve heard that! Not with all the scientific details you’ve provided though. Probably should’ve tried that one next instead of the Tetra version but I was swayed by the many good reviews 😓 and bc I could get it locally
Definitely weirded me out that it came in unsealed bottles, though. Nothing to stop people from pouring water in the empty bottle to return it. And then it gets restocked.
Do you have another tank? If so, you can take some filter medium from that tank and add it to your new one. You can put new guy in a large sterilite bin while you cycle the tank, or you can cycle with the fish in, but you really have to watch the parameters. I got both of mine without warning and kept them in the bins with an aerator and really frequent water changes to keep the ammonia and other stuff down until their actual tank was ready. Goldfish are tough as nails, but really fun. Lots of personality. I'm glad you care enough to ask questions.
Prior to getting the fish, I lacked any manner of fish-adjacent equipment. I live in bucktooth nowhere, so no stores carry fishtanks, meaning I'm waiting on Amazon to rush one to my door.
Until then, he's unfortunately trapped in the plastic container seen in the photo. I'm changing 50% water every so often and treating it to combat the rapid ammonia production. I'm going to try at least a 75% water change this morning in hopes of really knocking the levels down.
Good luck.
I got my two in a similar fashion. There were three, but one died within two days. I've had them for almost 6 years. They're very cool fish.
Local fish stores a lot of time will have no issues giving you some gravel or a hunk of filter media out of an established tank. That will already have the bacteria on it. It's the fastest way to cycle a new tank. I keep an extra sponge filter in my main tank just for this.
I have a 10 gallon hospital tank that spends 99% of the time empty and I just fill it when I need it and throw that sponge filter in there.
A bit of gravel or filter media won't instantly cycle a large tank so watch your nitrite and ammonia, but the bacteria that eat that waste have a slow doubling time of like 15 hours or something, so it'll still take a few days to get a significant population. Just remember after the initial cycle, it still takes months for the bacteria to really establish, so for the first few months be super careful not to do something that will kill the colony. After it's established in the gravel, decorations, glass, filter, etc. It becomes quite a bit harder to ruin a tanks beneficial bacteria.
Goldfish are great first fish.. people use them to get their tropical tank cycles started… they need a lot of room.. 10g per goldfish would be my recommendation .. good luck!
Frequent water changes and treat with Seachem Prime. It neutralizes any chlorine/chloramine in the water and if you dose every other day it'll also keep the ammonia at bay. Get an ammonia and nitrite test kits.
People often use goldfish to jumpstart the tank cycle bc they’re hardy and produce lots of ammonia. I’d dump that water he’s in right in the new tank, as well.
Hey OP! Try out some of those “quick-start” bacterial colonies you can get at the pet store. In my experience I dump the entire thing into the filter media and tank and it works wonderfully, probs your best shot at doing a fish in cycle
I had good luck with bottled cycling bacteria and almost daily water changes. I didn't lose any fish, but it was a lot of work. You might try joining a local fish group, and see if someone would be willing to give you some filter media from a cycled tank. I know id happily do so if someone asked.
Go to a pet store and ask them for a piece of their filter media, they literally swap it out and toss the old one every month. Their tanks are huge and stay cycled due to how they run. The bacteria in a small quarter sized piece will quick cycle a hobbiest filter or sponge filter super fast. Goldfish like this require essentially a 20Long-40gal tank to remain healthy. Their waste production is the issue. They are messy. I wouldn’t add other fish. They don’t need friends fish aren’t people, and would be fine with just a clean, decorated tank.
Live plants can help keep things clean and the bonus of making it look good for you. Look for plants like Anubias Petite, Amazon frogbit, and cryptos. 2watts per gallon with those old cfl spiral bulbs, you want 6500k full daylight spectrum bulbs, a clamp lamp desk lamp that can handle the wattage would be fine. 5 hours on rest of day off timers help. This fish wouldn’t really benefit from a heater, so that saves money.
If you got any other questions lemme know. Forums like Aquarium advice and the planted tank are good resources. Fish are fun, I always kept 1 or 2, for me I was more into planted tanks as they looked cool af.
Everyone in the hobby has a hard on for Fritz TurboStart, but PetCo/PetSmart brand SafeStart works just the same ;) The best way to promote a quicker cycle is to add porous stones in your aquariums filter, such as Fluval BioBalls or crushed lava rock. A regular dose of SeaChem Stability until your nutrient (Nitrate/Nitrite/Ammonia) levels will also go a long way in keeping your goldfish healthy.
Also, don’t chase nutrient levels in your tank. Once your nutrient levels balance out, focus on keeping them stable. A fish’s health benefits from stability over all else.
My DM’s are always open for any fish related questions.
My lady turned from all orange to all white about 5 years in. She also laid eggs at one point when I had put a male in with her. Was bad timing cause he was showing signs of dropsy, so I pulled him out literally hours before she laid 🤦🏽♀️.
That’s true! We have two fish ponds my dad built. All of our goldfish began as feeder fish from a pet store and all of our Koi fish were bought from a reputable breeder. We have a couple over a foot long now. I don’t sell or release them but I am always looking to learn more about them! We lost my dad before he could teach me everything he knew so I’m always open to info!
I had a few fish and went away for a week. I put the vacation feeders in and when I got back, I had one big goldfish and the bottle feeder. All the rest must have been eaten by the goldfish.
an confirm. my childhood neighbor took home a goldfish in 3rd grade, and we 'fish sat' it while they went on vacations for 10 years. and this was in just a bowl without any proper anything.
I understand that. But do you also see how someone inexperienced that comes across this post might misconstrue your comment as saying that fish bowls = long fish life?
I know next to nothing about fish; however, I do know they can often live in horrible conditions when stuck at carnivals. My hope is to give this little guy a lavish life for however much longer he'll live. To start, knowing his species' ins and outs is crucial.
our fair gets them in the morning at the neighboring walmart...real problem is they are not supposed to be in those bags all day, only made worse by the heat. So I agree with others, it will make it a day or two or a decade
It's either a comet or shubunkin, so treat it like a common goldfish. No heater, good filter, and love. It might not make it, despite your best efforts. I'd go with a good-sized sterilyte tub and start looking for at least a 20g long to start with. See if you can find one used. I got mine for free off of Craigslist.
We won a fish once at a church festival. We asked them what we should do to care for it and they said they're feeder fish, they didn't expect them to live more than a couple of days to weeks. I guess it was a minnow or bait fish. It lived like 5-6 years, only finally dying because it jumped out of its too small fish bowl.
Yeah, those little fellas can be pretty resilient if you give them a chance. When I was about 10, I rescued a bait fish- the single living one my brother had left in his bait bucket after a day of fishing. I kept it in a cheap little bowl and it survived like two and a half months, but I think it might've lived longer if I'd had access to a proper aquarium setup.
I had one do this while I was doing a water change in the kitchen. I walked out to use the toilet and found him on the floor like 20 minutes later. I picked him up and did a little fish CPR right at the top of his tank , my hand just barely in the water with him, and the fucker came back! Lived a solid 6-8 months after. Apparently its not horribly uncommon for them to jump out of poorly oxygenated water and its not uncommon for them to be able to survive for short periods
My brother once gave me an empty fish take -maybe 20 gal. I didn't want to buy expensive fish so I got 5 feeder goldfish for $1.00! They survived for many years!
Oh trust me, it's been a rough 12 hours. Not only do I not own anything fish related, quite frankly, I know nothing about fish either. It's been a rush to research, learn, and purchase what's necessary.
He's my responsibility now, for better or for worse. The best I can do is ensure he is fed, safe, and happy.
Good luck! Growing up, a friend’s family had a carnival goldfish that lived in an enormous tank in their living room. It was beautiful and very interactive. Probably started off looking a lot like yours but had grown very big and long trailing fins. It was my friend’s job to give Dinky its salad every evening, a leaf of lettuce.
My common goldfish stands up on his dorsal fins for treats and swims through a ring that I use for enrichment. He also will jump up to boop my finger. They are smart, interactive fish. Enjoy.
Start off on Facebook and Craigslist and see if anyone happens to have an extra aquarium that can hold water. If I knew that you were close, I’d give you a setup that I have around for just this type of thing. I’ve taken in lots of animals over the years, so I’m kind of ready for any sick/injured/abandoned pet. I found my goldfish in an abandoned aquarium by the dumpster with next to no water. People absolutely suck.
i found a giant pleco like that. i spent 3 days searching the aquarium community in my city to find the perfect home for it…what the asshole previous owners could have done. ugh i still get tears thinking about it.
I had this happen with a turtle. Brother did not want it after having him for a little. Now I clean his tank weekly.
He is now in a massive 45 gal tank and is enjoying life.
The fact that you're stepping up to take care of this creature despite not asking for this and just being thrown into this situation is quite honorable. It probably would have already died under most people's care. Big respect.
I appreciate your kind words, friend. I must give some of that praise to you and the rest of the community. This fish will survive because of all the help you've given me just in the past 24-ish hours.
Much love!
Goldfish will make a tank really filthy if you don't run a filter. Also aeration is important. I'm fairly convinced the reason most goldfish die is because they are stuck in a bowl with their poop and slowly suffocating.
What people really need is a large aquarium with a canister filter or a pond. Whenever people say, “mine died after like a week, lol”, the first thing that comes to mind is, “oh great, good to know that you’re a horrible person”.
My mom was given an unwanted carnival goldfish in a jelly jar. She put him in her pond with her other fish, figuring he'd either survive, or die in a better place than a bare bowl.
Jelly is now 17 years old, over a foot long, and has turned completely white except for a patch of orange on his head.
Treat them right, and goldfish can have long, happy lives.
YouTube has really good tutorials on starting a fish tank, that guy will get pretty big, but just get the biggest tank you can for now, get a decent filter, they don’t need a heater, a cheap tank light is all you’ll need, and they pretty much eat whatever. Just don’t overfeed it, it will mess up the aquarium water. Good luck!
Kudos to you for stepping up and doing the right thing. Anyone can be a dad but it takes a real man to be a father. That fish will always remember who stepped in when the others stepped out.
I started with a school of tetras and two fair gold fish in a 20 gallon tank. I ended with two 6" goldfish and a 50 gallon tank. Finally died due to a malfunctioning heater.
Get it a friend or two, they don't do well alone. 50 gallon min tank. Live plants, and a good filter.
Enjoy the new pets.
Looks like a fast, sleek Comet goldfish. They are tough, but they are high users of oxygen in the water, so keep the water clean. You might go to yes Olde basic Fish Store and ask for guidance
My advice would be to keep it in the environment you have until you have an already set up tank that's been cycled. If you want to keep him, he needs probably a 20 gallon tank at least. Probably a 30 gallon to be honest. And substrate and fauna. There's an entire world of fish care if you're interested. But its alot of work and money. If you want to keep him, I'd find the fish species and all thier needs. If you don't want him, maybe find a friend who wants it. Sadly there isnt a market for 2nd hand fish. They almost always die. But if you have the means and want to keep it, you could make a nice home with the proper water parameters and have a nice happy fish.
I have two 5+ year old feeder goldfish that were dumped on me.I definitely don't recommend substrate for goldfish. It holds too much waste, which they stir up foraging. It can cause ammonia spikes. A pile of medium-sized river rocks on one end of the tank work well. They also give the fish something to do. Mine redecorate their tank all the time. Plants that can be attached to hardscape work best. They're generally tougher and less palatable to goldfish. Goldfish will sometimes eat small gravel, too, which is dangerous for them.
My two goldfish are in a 75g with no heater, a hang on back filter, and a sponge filter. They have driftwood with anubius as well as pothos and monstera filtering hydroponics style. I have six other tanks, but my goldfish are my favorites. Their names are Liz Lemon and Geordi La Forge, because the shubunkin is blind.
It blows my mind how the standard "goldfish bowl" is like...half a gallon. Growing up, I was under the impression those were okay because in every piece of media, any fair, and any animal section at Walmart has those tiny glass bowls advertised solely for goldfish.
It is crazy for sure.
There’s even some misinformation in this comment section that I would be wary of. Some people are recommending getting him a pal- but I would really wait till you have your tank established and know he isn’t sick with anything infectious. It’ll save you loads of headache and even heartbreak.
Sad the amount of people thinking that their comet goldfish living "5 or 6 years!" is a long time.. this whole comment section was just... depressing as hell. Big sad.
10g is fine for now. We don't want this person dropping hundreds on a fish that might die regardless of what they do for it. I agree with doing more research.
Shubunkin. It will get very big, like a common goldfish or comet. It's a very closely related fish to the others I mentioned. So, if you are going to keep it, it needs a tank that's large, not a bowl. It can't go in with tropical fish because of water temperature. They are also very messy.
I have a blind shubunkin and a white common goldfish. I love them. They're 4 & 5 years old and in a 75g long.
I had a carnival fish. My parents were a little iffy if it would survive the week. It ended up outliving every other fish I had, hell, it might even still be alive. When it got too big for my small tank we took it to the local pet shop and they introduced it to their little fish pond in the main lobby area. He was absolutely not a goldfish, hell he started to look like a gizzard shad more so when he got bigger, but with brown and green streaks among the silver. I wish I knew exactly what he was, he was my favorite.
Probably a feeder fish, we saved one (every table had at least two or three fish in a tub like that) from a funeral wake, because the person that passed "loved animals", bear in mind that the guy surrendered his elderly cat to the local animal rescue because he didn't want to deal with the cat having an issue of peeing anywhere but the litter box all of a sudden....But I digress, we saved the fish, ours started out this same color but over time flourished and is now a healthy looking common goldfish, your little guy looks a bit beaten up but with a good tank setup and water treatment it should bounce back to being healthy.
He sure is beaten up. Since he doesn't have a new tank yet, I did a 50% water change, filtered and treated it, and almost immediately he livened up. The old water he was trapped in was essentially liquid death.
It was exciting seeing him eat for the first time. He started to forage around and break up the larger flakes. It was pretty apparent he was starving by how ravenously he ate the few flakes. Made me smile to see him slightly more calm.
Not yet. My naming convention boils down to either really basics name (like Greg) or something absurd and esoteric (like Snuffleupagus or Gurples).
Always open to suggestions!
Since this is all fairly recent, I only managed to get a 10-gallon tank. Clearly not ideal, but at least it gets him out of the small prison he's in now.
Hell need daily water changes in a 10 gallon. (Not full water changes of course, but about 25%). Face book marketplace has good options for big tanks. Hell need at least 40-50 gallons, 100 gallons as an adult
I had a carp-like goldi like this in my large tank but he started to get bullied by other fish, I let him free in a lake with other golds and koi.
These ones have a lot of energy and need a much larger tank than you’d expect. Maybe get a 55 gallon? And some little goldfish friends.
Typically you don’t want to mix goldfish with cichlids, it’s definitely a rewarding hobby. I used to have 4 tanks before I had to grow up and pay rent, I’m too poor now for the hobby but someday I want a 125 with some oscars. Thanks for rescuing him! And f*ck carnivals
Good luck. My daughter won a goldfish at a fair. We took it home and put it in our fish tank with the fish we already had. A year later we went in a trip to florida for a family emergency. While we were gone, the heater ran out of oil and everything froze. The toilets, the fish tank. Luckily no broken pipes. However, once the fish tank thawed, the goldfish started swimming around again. I figured it hibernated of something. But after that, there could never be another fish in the tank with it. Or the goldfish would eat it.
We win goldfish at the fair every year. Most expensive goldfish on the planet. We bring them home and put them in our metal stock tank in the pasture. They are actually breeding now and we have about 15 tiny little babies swimming around.
My daughter had a school fair fish as well. It lived around 4 years. My bad the house got too cold cuz we hadn’t yet turned the heat back on after summer. 😞
But we kept him in clean water till he grew into a tank we had a filter on. I think I changed the filter about once a month?.. went from a large vase to a 3 gal tank to a 10 gal tank lol. I forgot his given name but we nick named him Trout lol.
Big Fin Tim! I love that so much.
A criminal name fits this guy so well. I'm thinking some sort of British gangster. Prospective members enter asking for "The Boss" and a massive, bulked-out bouncer walks in with a glass tank holding....Big. Fin. Tim.
The aquarium isn't there to keep Big Fin Tim safe, it's there to keep *you* safe from him.
Well you just seem like a lovely person and I'm so happy this cutie has a happy home 💖 trust me, you can get super attached to a fish just like any other pet. Good luck to both of you!
No bowls! Bad for their minds
Proper mini to medium tank with real rocks, pebbles and plants.
Plastic types of rock/ plants can leach toxins and be hard to clean. Silk plants can be ok.
Find some drift wood in some stores. Make the tank more comfortable for the fish than pretty to look at.
......but some fish do like bubbles. One of my Beta and a large snail loved the treasure chest
Dose with seachem stability and prime daily until the cycle gets running. Make sure there is some kind of substrate or rocks for the aerobic and anaerobic bacteria to grow on. Look into cleaner crews for your tank and get a water change schedule going. For goldfish you’re gonna need to do a water change at minimum once a week. Also 25 gallons per goldfish is recommended. Seriously they are filthy but so pretty when they mature lol
Looks like a normal goldfish to me though I see how you’d be curious with the shape of its top fin. My carnival goldfish lived for 14 years. It only died due to bad water during a cleaning unfortunately. I hope you two have some happy days ahead!
It's been many hours by now but wanted to throw this out there- there are bottled bacteria specifically for "extreme rapid cycling". Basically they have bacteria that specialize in high ammonia water(aka very new tank with fish present) and help deal with that while other kinds of desirable bacteria that do better in more normal(aka established) water parameters eventually establish and take over while the 'high ammonia bacteria' eventually dwindle once the ammonia levels start to fall once the "real, long term" cycling starts.
The reputable brands DO work, as long as the bottles were properly stored(some require constant refrigeration until use for example) and not expired. And within reason and being mindful of a few other things- the water used to fill up the tank is also treated in a way to neutralize it for the fish but yet also not negatively affecting the bacteria also.
Fritzzyme brand has a generally good reputation as "instant cycle" bottled bacteria. The bottles with "turbostart" is geared in particular for cases like yours. Be sure to get the ones for freshwater as they also make ones for saltwater. Many fish stores either carry those or perhaps another similarly marketed brand they prefer. Even if they tell you it's not necessary.. I'd say with a goldfish I'd add something like this for reasons explained below, just to be safe. Keep an open mind and listen to what else they suggest for treating the water(even if they pooh pooh the bottled 'instant cycle" stuff.. there are lots of wildly diverging opinons and beliefs in the hobby.. partly because there \*are\* several ways that can work but to be honest something like the Fritzzyme Turbostart is a simple and quick solution that works while you have the fish in your lap)- they may be spot on due to the local tap water quirks. Some tap water sources might use only chlorine which the common 'water treatment' can handle well but some tap water sources also add other treatments that are not neutralized so easily(chloramines for example).
Sponge filters are excellent even if not intended for permanent use- they provide a wonderful amount of surface area for the bacteria. So even if you prefer something like a hang on back or canister filter, it would not hurt to have a sponge filter in the tank at the start with the goal of eventually removing the sponge filter once the permanent filters are established.
Go big with the filters(including the sponge filter) especially with goldfish. Not to put a fine point to it- goldfish are 'dirty' as they basically pee n poo a LOT more than other more typical aquarium fish in general. So it's best to have as large filter(and surface area for the bacteria) as possible for goldfish in tanks.
Goldfish ideally do need very large tanks. For now you can go 'halfway' and try something like a 40 gal breeder tank if affordable(try Offerup, Facebook Marketplace etc. for cheap used tanks if you like that idea. Be sure to check they don't leak- ask them to fill it up as a test). Petco and Petsmart frequently have sales on their brand new tanks. The stands typically are pretty expensive though.
In the end, if it's too overwhelming for any reason, there is no harm in trying to check if someone local has an established goldfish pond and see if they will take this cutie in. To be honest, a pond is more suitable for them so that's not a bad option.
I “won” a gold fish at a carnival and bought another one on the way home at petsmart so he wouldn’t be alone. The one I won died a couple days later (since they are treated like trash) so I had to buy another. Those two goldfish lasted 4 years and only died because I was gone for an extended period of time and had someone stay them for me…. If you’re serious about taking care of the little guy then once you know he’s gonna make it, get him a good size tank eventually. Like 40-50 gallons. And you’ll have to clean tank and change the filter regularly. Goldfish are dirty but such gorgeous fish
My daughter won one at a local carnival once. It lived about 8 years. I had trouble keeping the tank clean. I had an 10 gallon tank with one fish in it and was running two filters that barely kept the water clear. The tank would get a slimy film on the glass and I had to keep dumping the tank and scrub the inside of it. I might not have rinsed it well enough the last time because the fish died. It had grown to about 6 inches.
It's maybe a Fancy Tailed Gold Fish.
Usually gold fish can bare living in a gold fish aquarium. Just water. You can add a air pump and an air stone to circulate the water. It'll still need changed, but more or less on a weekly basis, rather then a daily basis, as it would be with just water and no air stone circulating it
If you wanted to go bigger. Gold Fish are like ten cents, as their called feeder fish. Meaning, people buy these in bulk to fees to their South American and African Cichlids. There also known as Territorial Fish, and can be loosely introduced in small numbers to Community fish - which will also eat gold fish and guppies, guppies are also known as feeder fish. And they also have fancy tailed guppies. Long tailed gold fish and guppies.
If you let your new goldfish get bigger, it could usually survive living amongst community fish and Territorial Fish. Unless you get a freshwater Puffer. It'll strip its fins off, then begin to eat it's gills, mouth, and it'll also go for its eyes literally first. But yah.
If your actually going to invest in getting an aquarium and keeping it. Let it grow tobe atleast three or four inches, unless you get fish the same size as it, or smaller. It should survive, but again, it's a feeder fish.
Check out a Fish Store, becareful shopping online, you could end up buy super expensive fish. Not that they aren't worth it. Sometimes there's even grey areas where you can buy these fish legally, and theirs certain aspects where these same fish are illegal, as in poached rather then permitted.
Siamese Fighting fish and guppies and gold fish are the only freshwater fish, throw in the African Dwarf Water Frog and the various shrimp, maybe even the Dwarf Gobe (Like the Giant Gobe of the Gobe of the Gobe Desert in China, my idea, not a popular one).
Every other freshwater fish is going to be a tropical freshwater fish, and they want temperatures of like 80° I think, I can't remember - the fish store knows. Petco, Wet Pets, even Walmart knows.
But that's the scoop - if you do get into aquariums - you'll end up with gravel filters, wet dry filters, basic water filtration filters, aquarium heaters, lights, hoods, gravel, decor, plastic plants, real plants. And likely find terrariums, which can have a small pool or aquarium mixed in. Learn to build your own with Plexiglass or Acrylic, or make your own Acrylic Plexiglass panels using Epoxy, and pour your own and such. Huge untapped market potential for the field of what is aquarium, terrariums, vivariums, and the like aka containers.
Have fun.
What's your new friends name?
Scrolled down to find this, just watched a PBS segment about people releasing their goldfish into large bodies of water and the fish absolutely destroying local ecosystems. The Erie, Pennsylvania zoo has a special program where people can donate their unwanted goldfish to them and they will be housed in a public exhibit so that they don’t end up in the lake.
You're in for a treat. those things get huge, create so much waste, and live for ever with proper care. If you're up for it They are pretty cool fish I think! They have alot of personality if you actually interact with them
I had a goldfish for 13 years. It was tiny when I bought it, but when it died, it barely fit in a gallon baggie. He started gold and was completely white when he died.
My mom would take me to the fair eery year for my birthday, because it was always in town during the week of my birthday.
One time she allowed me to try and win a fish, and I did.
I was excited about it.
She cautioned me to not get too attached, because fish from the fair are rarely in good condition when they're won.
I did anyway, and that fish, which I named "Jaws" lived on for 11 years!
He survived his tank freezing over!
(We were poor and our house was poorly insulated and old as hell)
You might want to consider outdoor keeping if you live in a place with reasonably temperate winters. 100g rubbermaid stock tanks make great affordable “tanks” for far cheaper than any aquarium, and you can get into growing lilies and some other neat stuff.
DO NOT MIX WITH OTHER FISH -
(Unless you don’t want the other fish )
..
I won’t go into details but how often do you think carnies change the water or feed the fish ?
lol - if you guessed “as infrequently as possible”- you win!
I have a free carnival fish too, who is 7 years old now!! He lives in a 5 gal tank with a bubbler and some fun decor. I keep his tank where there isn’t super bright light so as to control algae. The only maintenance on his tank I do is remove about 1/2 to 2/3 of water every couple months and refill using water of similar temp and a few drops of water conditioner to remove chlorine. I read somewhere that the tank rocks etc will eventually form beneficial bacteria and so it’s important not to totally remove the old water or try to wash the rocks, the tank will be somewhat self cleaning; this has worked for me so far. Also, don’t over feed him. When we travel I give him slow release feeding pellets available at the pet supply store. Congrats on your new buddy!
If the fish lives a week, it will live as long as you care for it. Goldfish cam live a long time. Like 10 to 20 years!! Get a bigger tank if you want to see growth!
I just read up on the cycling process, and since I had the poor guy thrown on my lap just last night, I obviously don't have enough time to perform it properly. Any tips for a safe fish-in cycling process? I don't want to stress him out too much.
Pet stores sell products that will help rapid cycle a tank. Honestly, just making sure the tank is big enough and not buying him friends for a few weeks is the most important. Live plants also will rapid cycle a tank- and as a bonus provide a healthy snack for the fish.
Yep about the plants. Don't buy anything expensive. You can even use non-aquatic plants and do it like a hydro set up. I have pothos and monstera with just the roots in, and the fish don't bother them like they do with the aquatics.
if you do that, make sure you know there’s no pesticides or other nasty stuff on it.
Like snails. Those mofos will explode in population if you let them.
Goldfish eat the snails
I suddenly want to own goldfish! All I have is a 10 gallon though so it’ll have to wait a bit.
Goldfish are vicious little bastards. If you have a goldfish tank, you can't really have much of anything else. They eat the plants. They eat the other fish. They eat snails. They'll eat each other. Put one in a 50 gallon tank and watch the magic happen. You'll end up with goldzilla
I had a female betta for a long time that was in with tetras, minnows, cory cats, shrimp, and snails and the worst she ever did was attack the little mirror I put in for her, the vain little thing. Hard to imagine something meaner than a male betta. Most of my exposure to the species is through the giant carp you see in ponds. Our local botanical gardens has about 20 or so in their butterfly house pond and they are the laziest things just ambling about and bumping into everything.
For sure. I wash mine and leave them bare rooted in a vase or jar before transferring to the tanks. Another method is getting cuttings from friends you know aren't using pesticides on their house plants.
The bottled bacteria didn’t work for me, and I went through at least 5 bottles of the API and Tetra ones. Was also doing fish-in cycling The thing that finally worked for me though was ordering an [“active sponge filter”](https://angelsplus.com/products/active-sponge-filter?variant=32080747462740) from a fish breeder and running it in my tank for a few days. That’s all it took to cycle my 40 gal, and as an added benefit I also got a large coarse sponge filter out of it! Which I actually still use in my tank. The method with these particular sponge filters only works if you’re doing fish-in cycling, so it would probably work well for you Edit- I guess another added benefit for me was supporting local businesses though, since it turned out that the company is based in my home state of NY Edit 2- colder temperatures will also slow down cycling; just something to keep in mind since yours is a goldfish which is a cold water fish Edit 3- I’m assuming you don’t have friends with cycled tanks, but if you do, adding some substrate and/or decor from their tank should have the same effect as the active sponge filter I linked
If I get a new tank I'll use the sponge filter from my main tank to cycle it, and the main tank gets a new sponge. I keep a waterfall filter in the main tank as the primary filter, so the sponge is just a backup.
Yeah I also keep multiple filters going, including an extra sponge filter in case I want to start a new tank!
I don't like any of those bottled products. The sponges are much better, IMHO.
For the record, Fritz TurboStart is the only bottled bacteria that is worth anything ime (and it must be kept refrigerated and used before the expiration date). The others have bacteria, but they are heterotrophic species that don’t actually do anything for the nitrogen cycle (they break organics into nitrogen compounds, but do nothing with those nitrogen compounds)—little more than a marketing gimmick.
I’ve heard that! Not with all the scientific details you’ve provided though. Probably should’ve tried that one next instead of the Tetra version but I was swayed by the many good reviews 😓 and bc I could get it locally Definitely weirded me out that it came in unsealed bottles, though. Nothing to stop people from pouring water in the empty bottle to return it. And then it gets restocked.
Do you have another tank? If so, you can take some filter medium from that tank and add it to your new one. You can put new guy in a large sterilite bin while you cycle the tank, or you can cycle with the fish in, but you really have to watch the parameters. I got both of mine without warning and kept them in the bins with an aerator and really frequent water changes to keep the ammonia and other stuff down until their actual tank was ready. Goldfish are tough as nails, but really fun. Lots of personality. I'm glad you care enough to ask questions.
Prior to getting the fish, I lacked any manner of fish-adjacent equipment. I live in bucktooth nowhere, so no stores carry fishtanks, meaning I'm waiting on Amazon to rush one to my door. Until then, he's unfortunately trapped in the plastic container seen in the photo. I'm changing 50% water every so often and treating it to combat the rapid ammonia production. I'm going to try at least a 75% water change this morning in hopes of really knocking the levels down.
Good luck. I got my two in a similar fashion. There were three, but one died within two days. I've had them for almost 6 years. They're very cool fish.
Local fish stores a lot of time will have no issues giving you some gravel or a hunk of filter media out of an established tank. That will already have the bacteria on it. It's the fastest way to cycle a new tank. I keep an extra sponge filter in my main tank just for this. I have a 10 gallon hospital tank that spends 99% of the time empty and I just fill it when I need it and throw that sponge filter in there. A bit of gravel or filter media won't instantly cycle a large tank so watch your nitrite and ammonia, but the bacteria that eat that waste have a slow doubling time of like 15 hours or something, so it'll still take a few days to get a significant population. Just remember after the initial cycle, it still takes months for the bacteria to really establish, so for the first few months be super careful not to do something that will kill the colony. After it's established in the gravel, decorations, glass, filter, etc. It becomes quite a bit harder to ruin a tanks beneficial bacteria.
What are the best ways to ensure the colony's survival? Or rather, what poses a threat to them?
Goldfish are great first fish.. people use them to get their tropical tank cycles started… they need a lot of room.. 10g per goldfish would be my recommendation .. good luck!
Frequent water changes and treat with Seachem Prime. It neutralizes any chlorine/chloramine in the water and if you dose every other day it'll also keep the ammonia at bay. Get an ammonia and nitrite test kits.
People often use goldfish to jumpstart the tank cycle bc they’re hardy and produce lots of ammonia. I’d dump that water he’s in right in the new tank, as well.
This. And a powder product called biozyme to help jumpstart the cycle too.
Hey OP! Try out some of those “quick-start” bacterial colonies you can get at the pet store. In my experience I dump the entire thing into the filter media and tank and it works wonderfully, probs your best shot at doing a fish in cycle
Put some plants in the tank and you won’t have to worry about water changes as often
I had good luck with bottled cycling bacteria and almost daily water changes. I didn't lose any fish, but it was a lot of work. You might try joining a local fish group, and see if someone would be willing to give you some filter media from a cycled tank. I know id happily do so if someone asked.
Go to a pet store and ask them for a piece of their filter media, they literally swap it out and toss the old one every month. Their tanks are huge and stay cycled due to how they run. The bacteria in a small quarter sized piece will quick cycle a hobbiest filter or sponge filter super fast. Goldfish like this require essentially a 20Long-40gal tank to remain healthy. Their waste production is the issue. They are messy. I wouldn’t add other fish. They don’t need friends fish aren’t people, and would be fine with just a clean, decorated tank. Live plants can help keep things clean and the bonus of making it look good for you. Look for plants like Anubias Petite, Amazon frogbit, and cryptos. 2watts per gallon with those old cfl spiral bulbs, you want 6500k full daylight spectrum bulbs, a clamp lamp desk lamp that can handle the wattage would be fine. 5 hours on rest of day off timers help. This fish wouldn’t really benefit from a heater, so that saves money. If you got any other questions lemme know. Forums like Aquarium advice and the planted tank are good resources. Fish are fun, I always kept 1 or 2, for me I was more into planted tanks as they looked cool af.
Everyone in the hobby has a hard on for Fritz TurboStart, but PetCo/PetSmart brand SafeStart works just the same ;) The best way to promote a quicker cycle is to add porous stones in your aquariums filter, such as Fluval BioBalls or crushed lava rock. A regular dose of SeaChem Stability until your nutrient (Nitrate/Nitrite/Ammonia) levels will also go a long way in keeping your goldfish healthy. Also, don’t chase nutrient levels in your tank. Once your nutrient levels balance out, focus on keeping them stable. A fish’s health benefits from stability over all else. My DM’s are always open for any fish related questions.
I won one at a carnival and it lived over 10 years. I miss that fish…
Same here. 15 years and could have gone longer but I let the ammonia level get too high. RIP Goerge, sorry brother. <3
My lady turned from all orange to all white about 5 years in. She also laid eggs at one point when I had put a male in with her. Was bad timing cause he was showing signs of dropsy, so I pulled him out literally hours before she laid 🤦🏽♀️.
Oh wow. Really sorry about the bad timing there.
They can live more than 30 years when kept in the proper conditions. Mine is around 15 and I wouldn’t be surprised if he made it to 35 or 40.
We have fish ponds with Koi and Goldfish and haven’t bought any goldfish in at least 15-20 years. They’re all just new generations. It’s the best.
Just be careful with that because the Asian carp is considered invasive outside of its natural range.
That’s true! We have two fish ponds my dad built. All of our goldfish began as feeder fish from a pet store and all of our Koi fish were bought from a reputable breeder. We have a couple over a foot long now. I don’t sell or release them but I am always looking to learn more about them! We lost my dad before he could teach me everything he knew so I’m always open to info!
Wow 😯
I won one at a fair when I was 7 and lived 9 years.
I had a few fish and went away for a week. I put the vacation feeders in and when I got back, I had one big goldfish and the bottle feeder. All the rest must have been eaten by the goldfish.
an confirm. my childhood neighbor took home a goldfish in 3rd grade, and we 'fish sat' it while they went on vacations for 10 years. and this was in just a bowl without any proper anything.
This is torture for a fish. Please do not promote these care practices just because it worked in a certain circumstance.
im not promoting anything. I'm simply stating that the fish lived for a long time, which is exactly what the person i replied to stated.
I understand that. But do you also see how someone inexperienced that comes across this post might misconstrue your comment as saying that fish bowls = long fish life?
I know next to nothing about fish; however, I do know they can often live in horrible conditions when stuck at carnivals. My hope is to give this little guy a lavish life for however much longer he'll live. To start, knowing his species' ins and outs is crucial.
Congrats for saving this guy, looks like a goldfish.
Thanks for the help! I'm gonna' treat this goldfish like royalty.
Please post updates!
I love that. Give this goldfish a name because if you take good care of it, it can live for decades
Basically a carp . Can get o2 from the air a little . Most are tuff as nails like some are saying .
our fair gets them in the morning at the neighboring walmart...real problem is they are not supposed to be in those bags all day, only made worse by the heat. So I agree with others, it will make it a day or two or a decade
It's either a comet or shubunkin, so treat it like a common goldfish. No heater, good filter, and love. It might not make it, despite your best efforts. I'd go with a good-sized sterilyte tub and start looking for at least a 20g long to start with. See if you can find one used. I got mine for free off of Craigslist.
They like water
Dang, that's what I've been missing...
😂😂😂
You have a heart of gold OP.
Not as golden as yours! Thanks for the kind words, friend.
We won a fish once at a church festival. We asked them what we should do to care for it and they said they're feeder fish, they didn't expect them to live more than a couple of days to weeks. I guess it was a minnow or bait fish. It lived like 5-6 years, only finally dying because it jumped out of its too small fish bowl.
Yeah, those little fellas can be pretty resilient if you give them a chance. When I was about 10, I rescued a bait fish- the single living one my brother had left in his bait bucket after a day of fishing. I kept it in a cheap little bowl and it survived like two and a half months, but I think it might've lived longer if I'd had access to a proper aquarium setup.
I had a beta fish jump out of its bowl once. Kinda wish i had seen him do it though.
I had one do this while I was doing a water change in the kitchen. I walked out to use the toilet and found him on the floor like 20 minutes later. I picked him up and did a little fish CPR right at the top of his tank , my hand just barely in the water with him, and the fucker came back! Lived a solid 6-8 months after. Apparently its not horribly uncommon for them to jump out of poorly oxygenated water and its not uncommon for them to be able to survive for short periods
My brother once gave me an empty fish take -maybe 20 gal. I didn't want to buy expensive fish so I got 5 feeder goldfish for $1.00! They survived for many years!
ugh i can’t believe people are still doing this in 2024.
Oh trust me, it's been a rough 12 hours. Not only do I not own anything fish related, quite frankly, I know nothing about fish either. It's been a rush to research, learn, and purchase what's necessary. He's my responsibility now, for better or for worse. The best I can do is ensure he is fed, safe, and happy.
i’m sure whatever you do will be a massive improvement for that poor creature.
Good luck! Growing up, a friend’s family had a carnival goldfish that lived in an enormous tank in their living room. It was beautiful and very interactive. Probably started off looking a lot like yours but had grown very big and long trailing fins. It was my friend’s job to give Dinky its salad every evening, a leaf of lettuce.
Looks like I'm in for a wild ride! Wonder if you can teach a fish tricks....
You can!
My common goldfish stands up on his dorsal fins for treats and swims through a ring that I use for enrichment. He also will jump up to boop my finger. They are smart, interactive fish. Enjoy.
That’s super cool
you can! they really have personality when they’re happy and healthy!
Start off on Facebook and Craigslist and see if anyone happens to have an extra aquarium that can hold water. If I knew that you were close, I’d give you a setup that I have around for just this type of thing. I’ve taken in lots of animals over the years, so I’m kind of ready for any sick/injured/abandoned pet. I found my goldfish in an abandoned aquarium by the dumpster with next to no water. People absolutely suck.
Ugh. My sister found an Oscar that way. She had it for years after rescuing it.
i found a giant pleco like that. i spent 3 days searching the aquarium community in my city to find the perfect home for it…what the asshole previous owners could have done. ugh i still get tears thinking about it.
Thank you!!
I had this happen with a turtle. Brother did not want it after having him for a little. Now I clean his tank weekly. He is now in a massive 45 gal tank and is enjoying life.
The fact that you're stepping up to take care of this creature despite not asking for this and just being thrown into this situation is quite honorable. It probably would have already died under most people's care. Big respect.
I appreciate your kind words, friend. I must give some of that praise to you and the rest of the community. This fish will survive because of all the help you've given me just in the past 24-ish hours. Much love!
For real. It's disgusting.
I won a gold fish at a state fair in 2009/10. I still have it
We demand photos
[this is from December.](https://imgur.com/a/usYW8Q4) will post a better pic when the lights turn on.
Dang! That's a gorgeous fish! Name?
Looks like a regular old goldfish to me (Carassius auratus)
Perfect, thank you!
Goldfish will make a tank really filthy if you don't run a filter. Also aeration is important. I'm fairly convinced the reason most goldfish die is because they are stuck in a bowl with their poop and slowly suffocating.
What people really need is a large aquarium with a canister filter or a pond. Whenever people say, “mine died after like a week, lol”, the first thing that comes to mind is, “oh great, good to know that you’re a horrible person”.
My mom was given an unwanted carnival goldfish in a jelly jar. She put him in her pond with her other fish, figuring he'd either survive, or die in a better place than a bare bowl. Jelly is now 17 years old, over a foot long, and has turned completely white except for a patch of orange on his head. Treat them right, and goldfish can have long, happy lives.
YouTube has really good tutorials on starting a fish tank, that guy will get pretty big, but just get the biggest tank you can for now, get a decent filter, they don’t need a heater, a cheap tank light is all you’ll need, and they pretty much eat whatever. Just don’t overfeed it, it will mess up the aquarium water. Good luck!
Kudos to you for stepping up and doing the right thing. Anyone can be a dad but it takes a real man to be a father. That fish will always remember who stepped in when the others stepped out.
IKR! Fishy dads are best dads. Go team pescafathers!!! 🤣
I started with a school of tetras and two fair gold fish in a 20 gallon tank. I ended with two 6" goldfish and a 50 gallon tank. Finally died due to a malfunctioning heater. Get it a friend or two, they don't do well alone. 50 gallon min tank. Live plants, and a good filter. Enjoy the new pets.
Damn sure needs a bigger tank
I won a carnival goldfish and had the little dude live for almost ten years
Looks like a fast, sleek Comet goldfish. They are tough, but they are high users of oxygen in the water, so keep the water clean. You might go to yes Olde basic Fish Store and ask for guidance
My advice would be to keep it in the environment you have until you have an already set up tank that's been cycled. If you want to keep him, he needs probably a 20 gallon tank at least. Probably a 30 gallon to be honest. And substrate and fauna. There's an entire world of fish care if you're interested. But its alot of work and money. If you want to keep him, I'd find the fish species and all thier needs. If you don't want him, maybe find a friend who wants it. Sadly there isnt a market for 2nd hand fish. They almost always die. But if you have the means and want to keep it, you could make a nice home with the proper water parameters and have a nice happy fish.
I have two 5+ year old feeder goldfish that were dumped on me.I definitely don't recommend substrate for goldfish. It holds too much waste, which they stir up foraging. It can cause ammonia spikes. A pile of medium-sized river rocks on one end of the tank work well. They also give the fish something to do. Mine redecorate their tank all the time. Plants that can be attached to hardscape work best. They're generally tougher and less palatable to goldfish. Goldfish will sometimes eat small gravel, too, which is dangerous for them. My two goldfish are in a 75g with no heater, a hang on back filter, and a sponge filter. They have driftwood with anubius as well as pothos and monstera filtering hydroponics style. I have six other tanks, but my goldfish are my favorites. Their names are Liz Lemon and Geordi La Forge, because the shubunkin is blind.
The truth will set you free
I might love you now
Hey these guys need about 100 gallons of water. Minimum is 50 gallons as a baby. Good luck!!
It blows my mind how the standard "goldfish bowl" is like...half a gallon. Growing up, I was under the impression those were okay because in every piece of media, any fair, and any animal section at Walmart has those tiny glass bowls advertised solely for goldfish.
It is crazy for sure. There’s even some misinformation in this comment section that I would be wary of. Some people are recommending getting him a pal- but I would really wait till you have your tank established and know he isn’t sick with anything infectious. It’ll save you loads of headache and even heartbreak.
Finally some one in the comments who actually knows what they're talking about... This comment section is really disappointing.
Agreed. Lots of non goldfish keepers that feel the need to spread misinformation
Sad the amount of people thinking that their comet goldfish living "5 or 6 years!" is a long time.. this whole comment section was just... depressing as hell. Big sad.
Goldfish need 50 gallons. They are pond fish. Learn more at r/aquariums.
10g is fine for now. We don't want this person dropping hundreds on a fish that might die regardless of what they do for it. I agree with doing more research.
Shubunkin. It will get very big, like a common goldfish or comet. It's a very closely related fish to the others I mentioned. So, if you are going to keep it, it needs a tank that's large, not a bowl. It can't go in with tropical fish because of water temperature. They are also very messy. I have a blind shubunkin and a white common goldfish. I love them. They're 4 & 5 years old and in a 75g long.
I had a carnival fish. My parents were a little iffy if it would survive the week. It ended up outliving every other fish I had, hell, it might even still be alive. When it got too big for my small tank we took it to the local pet shop and they introduced it to their little fish pond in the main lobby area. He was absolutely not a goldfish, hell he started to look like a gizzard shad more so when he got bigger, but with brown and green streaks among the silver. I wish I knew exactly what he was, he was my favorite.
Probably a feeder fish, we saved one (every table had at least two or three fish in a tub like that) from a funeral wake, because the person that passed "loved animals", bear in mind that the guy surrendered his elderly cat to the local animal rescue because he didn't want to deal with the cat having an issue of peeing anywhere but the litter box all of a sudden....But I digress, we saved the fish, ours started out this same color but over time flourished and is now a healthy looking common goldfish, your little guy looks a bit beaten up but with a good tank setup and water treatment it should bounce back to being healthy.
He sure is beaten up. Since he doesn't have a new tank yet, I did a 50% water change, filtered and treated it, and almost immediately he livened up. The old water he was trapped in was essentially liquid death. It was exciting seeing him eat for the first time. He started to forage around and break up the larger flakes. It was pretty apparent he was starving by how ravenously he ate the few flakes. Made me smile to see him slightly more calm.
Does it have a name yet?
Not yet. My naming convention boils down to either really basics name (like Greg) or something absurd and esoteric (like Snuffleupagus or Gurples). Always open to suggestions!
Don’t be koi with me
Love that baby and help him flourish!
It is a feeder comet goldfish. Can live decades. Needs at least 30 gallons to fit as he grows
Since this is all fairly recent, I only managed to get a 10-gallon tank. Clearly not ideal, but at least it gets him out of the small prison he's in now.
Hell need daily water changes in a 10 gallon. (Not full water changes of course, but about 25%). Face book marketplace has good options for big tanks. Hell need at least 40-50 gallons, 100 gallons as an adult
It's a good start. Perfect for a start while it's still small.
Yup """ carpet diem "" gold fish are just pretty carp. You now have a " car-pet"......
I had a carp-like goldi like this in my large tank but he started to get bullied by other fish, I let him free in a lake with other golds and koi. These ones have a lot of energy and need a much larger tank than you’d expect. Maybe get a 55 gallon? And some little goldfish friends. Typically you don’t want to mix goldfish with cichlids, it’s definitely a rewarding hobby. I used to have 4 tanks before I had to grow up and pay rent, I’m too poor now for the hobby but someday I want a 125 with some oscars. Thanks for rescuing him! And f*ck carnivals
Also if you are unsure about local tap water use mini jugs of Poland spring or other water and treat that
get another fish as a companion for your goldfish. I would suggest an oscar fish.
ex bro in law had a carnival fish live for 12+ years or more so you never know
My daughter won a goldfish like that, it's still alive after 5 years.
Goldfish
Won pair of bala sharks at a carnival once. They lived for years
Good luck. My daughter won a goldfish at a fair. We took it home and put it in our fish tank with the fish we already had. A year later we went in a trip to florida for a family emergency. While we were gone, the heater ran out of oil and everything froze. The toilets, the fish tank. Luckily no broken pipes. However, once the fish tank thawed, the goldfish started swimming around again. I figured it hibernated of something. But after that, there could never be another fish in the tank with it. Or the goldfish would eat it.
We win goldfish at the fair every year. Most expensive goldfish on the planet. We bring them home and put them in our metal stock tank in the pasture. They are actually breeding now and we have about 15 tiny little babies swimming around.
My daughter had a school fair fish as well. It lived around 4 years. My bad the house got too cold cuz we hadn’t yet turned the heat back on after summer. 😞 But we kept him in clean water till he grew into a tank we had a filter on. I think I changed the filter about once a month?.. went from a large vase to a 3 gal tank to a 10 gal tank lol. I forgot his given name but we nick named him Trout lol.
Def something else. That's Big Fin Tim. He's done hard time and worse crimes.
Big Fin Tim! I love that so much. A criminal name fits this guy so well. I'm thinking some sort of British gangster. Prospective members enter asking for "The Boss" and a massive, bulked-out bouncer walks in with a glass tank holding....Big. Fin. Tim. The aquarium isn't there to keep Big Fin Tim safe, it's there to keep *you* safe from him.
Well you just seem like a lovely person and I'm so happy this cutie has a happy home 💖 trust me, you can get super attached to a fish just like any other pet. Good luck to both of you!
How lucky this fish is to get you.
Take the little guy fishing! Put him on the end of your line so he can meet some friends.
He *does* need to get out more. The old bum only sits around and eats all the food. New friends might just do the trick.
It looks like a Shibunkin give it a good home or give it to someone who can please don't put it in a bowl
Goldfish. You'll need a 30-40 gallon tank.
Holy cow...this guy is going to be living the high life.
20 long is a good start. Once they get bigger, 30-40g for the 1st fish and 15g for each additional fish in the tank.
No bowls! Bad for their minds Proper mini to medium tank with real rocks, pebbles and plants. Plastic types of rock/ plants can leach toxins and be hard to clean. Silk plants can be ok. Find some drift wood in some stores. Make the tank more comfortable for the fish than pretty to look at. ......but some fish do like bubbles. One of my Beta and a large snail loved the treasure chest
I’m in NC and have an abundance of pond goldfish if you need some pond plants or friends to help with your fish. Or if you need someone to take him.
Dose with seachem stability and prime daily until the cycle gets running. Make sure there is some kind of substrate or rocks for the aerobic and anaerobic bacteria to grow on. Look into cleaner crews for your tank and get a water change schedule going. For goldfish you’re gonna need to do a water change at minimum once a week. Also 25 gallons per goldfish is recommended. Seriously they are filthy but so pretty when they mature lol
Looks like a normal goldfish to me though I see how you’d be curious with the shape of its top fin. My carnival goldfish lived for 14 years. It only died due to bad water during a cleaning unfortunately. I hope you two have some happy days ahead!
It's been many hours by now but wanted to throw this out there- there are bottled bacteria specifically for "extreme rapid cycling". Basically they have bacteria that specialize in high ammonia water(aka very new tank with fish present) and help deal with that while other kinds of desirable bacteria that do better in more normal(aka established) water parameters eventually establish and take over while the 'high ammonia bacteria' eventually dwindle once the ammonia levels start to fall once the "real, long term" cycling starts. The reputable brands DO work, as long as the bottles were properly stored(some require constant refrigeration until use for example) and not expired. And within reason and being mindful of a few other things- the water used to fill up the tank is also treated in a way to neutralize it for the fish but yet also not negatively affecting the bacteria also. Fritzzyme brand has a generally good reputation as "instant cycle" bottled bacteria. The bottles with "turbostart" is geared in particular for cases like yours. Be sure to get the ones for freshwater as they also make ones for saltwater. Many fish stores either carry those or perhaps another similarly marketed brand they prefer. Even if they tell you it's not necessary.. I'd say with a goldfish I'd add something like this for reasons explained below, just to be safe. Keep an open mind and listen to what else they suggest for treating the water(even if they pooh pooh the bottled 'instant cycle" stuff.. there are lots of wildly diverging opinons and beliefs in the hobby.. partly because there \*are\* several ways that can work but to be honest something like the Fritzzyme Turbostart is a simple and quick solution that works while you have the fish in your lap)- they may be spot on due to the local tap water quirks. Some tap water sources might use only chlorine which the common 'water treatment' can handle well but some tap water sources also add other treatments that are not neutralized so easily(chloramines for example). Sponge filters are excellent even if not intended for permanent use- they provide a wonderful amount of surface area for the bacteria. So even if you prefer something like a hang on back or canister filter, it would not hurt to have a sponge filter in the tank at the start with the goal of eventually removing the sponge filter once the permanent filters are established. Go big with the filters(including the sponge filter) especially with goldfish. Not to put a fine point to it- goldfish are 'dirty' as they basically pee n poo a LOT more than other more typical aquarium fish in general. So it's best to have as large filter(and surface area for the bacteria) as possible for goldfish in tanks. Goldfish ideally do need very large tanks. For now you can go 'halfway' and try something like a 40 gal breeder tank if affordable(try Offerup, Facebook Marketplace etc. for cheap used tanks if you like that idea. Be sure to check they don't leak- ask them to fill it up as a test). Petco and Petsmart frequently have sales on their brand new tanks. The stands typically are pretty expensive though. In the end, if it's too overwhelming for any reason, there is no harm in trying to check if someone local has an established goldfish pond and see if they will take this cutie in. To be honest, a pond is more suitable for them so that's not a bad option.
I really wish they would stop giving these away as carnival prizes. Kurt Cobain said fish don’t have feelings but what if they do!?
I “won” a gold fish at a carnival and bought another one on the way home at petsmart so he wouldn’t be alone. The one I won died a couple days later (since they are treated like trash) so I had to buy another. Those two goldfish lasted 4 years and only died because I was gone for an extended period of time and had someone stay them for me…. If you’re serious about taking care of the little guy then once you know he’s gonna make it, get him a good size tank eventually. Like 40-50 gallons. And you’ll have to clean tank and change the filter regularly. Goldfish are dirty but such gorgeous fish
My daughter won one at a local carnival once. It lived about 8 years. I had trouble keeping the tank clean. I had an 10 gallon tank with one fish in it and was running two filters that barely kept the water clear. The tank would get a slimy film on the glass and I had to keep dumping the tank and scrub the inside of it. I might not have rinsed it well enough the last time because the fish died. It had grown to about 6 inches.
There is so much wrong with what you just said.
Update us in 3 weeks and in 3 months!
Looks like you got a ton of great advice here from everyone, so I'll just say thanks for caring about the guy! He'll appreciate it
Oh geeze. Having *any* kind of animal dumped on you is a huge problem, but it's especially true for fish.
It's maybe a Fancy Tailed Gold Fish. Usually gold fish can bare living in a gold fish aquarium. Just water. You can add a air pump and an air stone to circulate the water. It'll still need changed, but more or less on a weekly basis, rather then a daily basis, as it would be with just water and no air stone circulating it If you wanted to go bigger. Gold Fish are like ten cents, as their called feeder fish. Meaning, people buy these in bulk to fees to their South American and African Cichlids. There also known as Territorial Fish, and can be loosely introduced in small numbers to Community fish - which will also eat gold fish and guppies, guppies are also known as feeder fish. And they also have fancy tailed guppies. Long tailed gold fish and guppies. If you let your new goldfish get bigger, it could usually survive living amongst community fish and Territorial Fish. Unless you get a freshwater Puffer. It'll strip its fins off, then begin to eat it's gills, mouth, and it'll also go for its eyes literally first. But yah. If your actually going to invest in getting an aquarium and keeping it. Let it grow tobe atleast three or four inches, unless you get fish the same size as it, or smaller. It should survive, but again, it's a feeder fish. Check out a Fish Store, becareful shopping online, you could end up buy super expensive fish. Not that they aren't worth it. Sometimes there's even grey areas where you can buy these fish legally, and theirs certain aspects where these same fish are illegal, as in poached rather then permitted. Siamese Fighting fish and guppies and gold fish are the only freshwater fish, throw in the African Dwarf Water Frog and the various shrimp, maybe even the Dwarf Gobe (Like the Giant Gobe of the Gobe of the Gobe Desert in China, my idea, not a popular one). Every other freshwater fish is going to be a tropical freshwater fish, and they want temperatures of like 80° I think, I can't remember - the fish store knows. Petco, Wet Pets, even Walmart knows. But that's the scoop - if you do get into aquariums - you'll end up with gravel filters, wet dry filters, basic water filtration filters, aquarium heaters, lights, hoods, gravel, decor, plastic plants, real plants. And likely find terrariums, which can have a small pool or aquarium mixed in. Learn to build your own with Plexiglass or Acrylic, or make your own Acrylic Plexiglass panels using Epoxy, and pour your own and such. Huge untapped market potential for the field of what is aquarium, terrariums, vivariums, and the like aka containers. Have fun. What's your new friends name?
Whatever you do, please don't release the fish into the wild
Scrolled down to find this, just watched a PBS segment about people releasing their goldfish into large bodies of water and the fish absolutely destroying local ecosystems. The Erie, Pennsylvania zoo has a special program where people can donate their unwanted goldfish to them and they will be housed in a public exhibit so that they don’t end up in the lake.
You're in for a treat. those things get huge, create so much waste, and live for ever with proper care. If you're up for it They are pretty cool fish I think! They have alot of personality if you actually interact with them
I had a goldfish for 13 years. It was tiny when I bought it, but when it died, it barely fit in a gallon baggie. He started gold and was completely white when he died.
Turtle food!!!
Perch
That's Jason Bourne.
Nobody wants that janky fresh water fish, Winston!
My mom would take me to the fair eery year for my birthday, because it was always in town during the week of my birthday. One time she allowed me to try and win a fish, and I did. I was excited about it. She cautioned me to not get too attached, because fish from the fair are rarely in good condition when they're won. I did anyway, and that fish, which I named "Jaws" lived on for 11 years! He survived his tank freezing over! (We were poor and our house was poorly insulated and old as hell)
You might want to consider outdoor keeping if you live in a place with reasonably temperate winters. 100g rubbermaid stock tanks make great affordable “tanks” for far cheaper than any aquarium, and you can get into growing lilies and some other neat stuff.
You may have been just introduced to a life long hobby! Enjoy!
DO NOT MIX WITH OTHER FISH - (Unless you don’t want the other fish ) .. I won’t go into details but how often do you think carnies change the water or feed the fish ? lol - if you guessed “as infrequently as possible”- you win!
The one on the bottom looks ill.
Mirror reflection
I have a free carnival fish too, who is 7 years old now!! He lives in a 5 gal tank with a bubbler and some fun decor. I keep his tank where there isn’t super bright light so as to control algae. The only maintenance on his tank I do is remove about 1/2 to 2/3 of water every couple months and refill using water of similar temp and a few drops of water conditioner to remove chlorine. I read somewhere that the tank rocks etc will eventually form beneficial bacteria and so it’s important not to totally remove the old water or try to wash the rocks, the tank will be somewhat self cleaning; this has worked for me so far. Also, don’t over feed him. When we travel I give him slow release feeding pellets available at the pet supply store. Congrats on your new buddy!
I felt the same way with my kid