i won a fish at the fair, tips on keeping it alive?

M

Monday

New member
Yesterday I won a fish at the fair, and I bought a tank and food for it for £5. I got it home and kept it in its bag while my mum disinfected the tank and put drinking water and conditioner in it. We could not really keep it in a bag for long, so we put the bag in the water and let it free.
I love it so much, and I know its not going to last very long, it lasted last night, but Im not sure the average life span of a goldfish.
Soo.. Any tips on keeping a fish for longer?
 
aw and i know most people think oh if its from a fair it wont last long but coz its from a fair its prob a little survivor!! those poor things get thrown around in those bags for ages and carted off from fairground to fairground, only the tough ones survive and get won so just bein in a nice tank instead of a small plastic bag will help loads!!! :) and he should last aaages anyway, mine did :)
 
usually those things last about two days in a tank of water. however, i usually manage to keep them alive for years. my best was 5 years (though i consider it my worst because fish are such a pain lol)

you need to make sure the water temperature is not too hot or too cold, so you might want a heater and a thermometer.

you need a water filter because goldfish are dirty fish. don't clean the tank too often though or it can shock the fish. and never completely replace all the water. drain only half and fill it up again with room temperature water.

also get an air pump to put oxygen in the water.

and be sure to feed it!
 
keep his tank clean. but when you clean it only do a partial water change, remember good bacteria is growing in there too and you kill that along with the bad if you completely scrub it, plus that is stressfull to the fish. they make vaccuum tubes that will help you get the gunk from the bottom. obviously you need to make sure you are feeding him enough, but be carefull not to over feed him either, this will not only make his tank get dirtier faster, but they can die from over eating. gold fish will grow as large as is appropriate for the tank you keep him in, but stunting their growth by keeping them in smaller tanks isn't good for them.
Also remember that if you won him at a fair, he is probably one of the cheaper varieties of gold fish that are also used as feeders for larger fish. they aren't really bred for quality so sometimes even if you do everything right they die anyway... on the other hand I have seen the things live for years! good luck to you!
 
Back
Top