Goldfish

Re: Goldfish

Polly P — Mon, 17 May 2010 21:23:07 GMT

I don't have a tank now, but I used to keep tropical, crabs, and marine. My little boy cat was eternally fascinated with them!

Re: Goldfish

Vicky RVN — Mon, 17 May 2010 19:24:53 GMT

My neighbours cats used to sit and watch mine when i had a small tank in my room...but then i upgraded to a lovely big one with it's own stand...and they ignored them! Jack doesn't pay any attention to them either.

Re: Goldfish

Phrin Vernon RVN — Mon, 17 May 2010 14:14:53 GMT

Just to update, we now have 2 fishies (Biscuit and Cake!), lots of plastic plants, a castle ornament thing for them to hide in, some tonic stuff for the water, and a bio-filter!

Hopefully they will be sorted now! The cat just noticed them last night - very funny! He was fascinated!

Re: Goldfish

Vicky RVN — Sun, 16 May 2010 20:10:04 GMT

[quote user="NickyVN"]

I won a goldfish at a fair when I was about 4, he lived about 15 years - Goldie he was named!! lol!! All the others I bought from shops never lasted as long - he must have been hardy being reared in such a way! I havent seen them at fairs for years and therefore had also assumed it was illegal!

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I used to work in a pet shop, when the local fair came they used to come and buy a load of our small pond goldfish. I presume they do this at all fairs, rather than breeding their own. I used to hate it when they came in...knowing the destination of the poor fish I've always kept my fish with a filter...don't like the thought of them being in unmoving, unfiltered water. Some of my goldfish from over the years are now in our pond and have got HUGE! And bred...we have a fair few more than we started with! Good job it's a decent sized pond. I now keep fancy gold fish in my tank

Re: Goldfish

Kim Buckley — Sun, 16 May 2010 19:54:00 GMT

I kept goldfish in a unfiltered tank for years until I was told to get a filter. They are all in a pond now because they got huge!

Re: Goldfish

Sal the 1st — Sun, 16 May 2010 13:50:48 GMT

I used to have two fairground fish - Moby and Jaws. Jaws lived to around 12 and Moby till he was 14. They both lived in an unfiltered 6ft tank, but then the information wasnt out there.

Re: Goldfish

Emma Purnell — Sun, 16 May 2010 13:30:13 GMT

My goldfish is now 21 years old and plodding along - have to admit spent the first 16 years in an unfiltered tank but seems to be doing ok and is happily being filtered now!

He does look a bit of a wreck though, keep worrying about euthanasia in fish in case the time comes...

Re: Goldfish

Nicola Smith — Sun, 16 May 2010 12:22:02 GMT

Re: Goldfish

Kate Claxton DipAVN(Med)VN — Sun, 16 May 2010 10:09:32 GMT

Completely agree with Polly. All tanks need filters - they are essential to house the beneficial bacteria necessary to break down the fish waste from ammonia to nitrIte to nitrAte. If you don't have a filter, all you are doing when you change the water is removing ammonia. Ammonia is toxic to fish - fish living in uncycled, unfiltered tanks suffer chronic ammonia damage to the gills. It's about fish surviving rather than thriving.

Goldfish do end up massive (20cm+ for a common, less for fantails/fancy goldfish), have a lifespan of approx 20yrs if kept in the correct conditions, and are big waste producers. I would recommend you read up on tank cycling - ideally if you have a friend with an aquarium ask for some of their used filter media and get a filter in the tank asap.

The RSPCA are trying to ban fishes at fairs - it's illegal in several countries, as is housing them in unfiltered bowls. Sadly the UK is very behind with passing this law!

Re: Goldfish

Steph Worsley — Sun, 16 May 2010 08:50:23 GMT

[quote user="Polly Player SVN"]

The must- have you'll need is a water filter. All fish need them, and the smaller the tank is, the more important it is.

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Not entirely true, as long as you do regular water changes you dont need a filter!!!! however it is recommended to have one. I have seen fish live for years without the aid of a filter!

when doing water changes it is best to either let the water stand for 24 hours or use a water conditioner to get rid of the chlorine etc, never do full water changes at the most do 1/2 and 1/2 change.

I have known a fair goldfish live to be at least 20, he was however in a water tub at a local farm so used to eat the food left round their mouths when they came for a drink....he ended up massive lol

Re: Goldfish

Julie — Sun, 16 May 2010 07:29:06 GMT

I use to love 'hook a duck' when I was a nipper. In fact it probably still is the only thing that I would have any chance of winning anything on

Hmmm, I think that I will now be on the look out for local fairs as I haven't been to one in donkey's years.

Good luck with the fishy. I'm sure it will be fine

Re: Goldfish

Polly P — Sun, 16 May 2010 00:23:18 GMT

The must- have you'll need is a water filter. All fish need them, and the smaller the tank is, the more important it is.

Re: Goldfish

Phrin Vernon RVN — Sat, 15 May 2010 23:39:06 GMT

[quote user="StephB"]

[quote user="Phrin SVN"]

Does anyone know much about goldfish? Took my little boy to the fair today, and we came back with a goldfish! I've bought a bog standard cheapo tank, and some food. Is there anything else I should be doing? Will fishy be OK on his own, or should I get another one? Planning on having a google, but thought I would ask here first

Also I was really shocked that they are still allowed to give goldfish as prizes! There was a manky tub on the floor of the stand with TONS of fish in just a couple of inches of water, and they were just scooping them out into plastic bags, and hanging them up next to the soft toys!

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honestly best thing to do is find a local pet shop that sells goldfish so you can replace it when you come down in the morning and find it floating!! lol

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Haha! I keep checking on it, and it seems OK - likes to hide behind the fake plant a lot!

When we first put it in the tank it went a bit mental and was swimming back and forth against the wall of the tank like a thing possessed! Its probably incredibly inbred though considering where it came from!

My sister had a fair goldfish that lived for years! I think she had it like 6 years before it died! I'll be gutted if this wee thing dies - its already cost me £13 for the tank, £2.50 for the food, and of course £2.00 for lil man to have a go on hook a duck!

Re: Goldfish

Anonymous — Sat, 15 May 2010 23:28:05 GMT

[quote user="Phrin SVN"]

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honestly best thing to do is find a local pet shop that sells goldfish so you can replace it when you come down in the morning and find it floating!! lol

Re: Goldfish

Sal the 1st — Sat, 15 May 2010 23:22:42 GMT

hate to tell you this but it definitely isnt illegal - I used to do quite a few fairs as a fundraiser and I was under the impression the 'boil in the bag' goldfish was illegal - one fair I was at (representing a major animal charity) there was also an RSPCA prescence - didnt make any difference because there was nothing they could do about it.

Re: Goldfish

Anonymous — Sat, 15 May 2010 22:58:04 GMT

it's legal !

Re: Goldfish

Phrin Vernon RVN — Sat, 15 May 2010 22:41:25 GMT

From what I saw today it probably is illegal the way they are being kept!

I was really torn when lil man chose one as his prize - on the one hand I didn't want to condone what they were doing by taking one, but on the other hand I knew that I could give at least one of the poor little buggers a decent home!

Ah well, its done now! We have decided to refer to it as a male, as we have no way of knowing what sex it is, and lil man has named it Biscuit because sometimes you can get orange biscuits, and the fish is orange!?? Ahh to have the mind of a 4 year old lol!

Re: Goldfish

Nick Shackleton — Sat, 15 May 2010 22:38:06 GMT

I too thought it was illegal!!!

Re: Goldfish

Caro Laithwaite VN — Sat, 15 May 2010 22:30:52 GMT

Am shocked thought it was illegal. Having said that through l bet you may well find the way they are being kept is illegal.

Re: Goldfish

Phrin Vernon RVN — Sat, 15 May 2010 22:28:33 GMT

looks like its not illegal - RSPCA link - but it should be!

Re: Goldfish

Caro Laithwaite VN — Sat, 15 May 2010 22:24:41 GMT

I thought it was now illegal to do this. To be honest l would report them to rspca as soon as possible for the sake of the poor fishes.