#fish care
As someone with fancy goldfish and in a program aimed at animal welfare and education (veterinary school), I feel the need to add a short blurb about basic fish care:
Fish require, at minimum, 1 gallon of water per inch of fish living in the tank. More than one gallon of water per inch of fish is better, but as a hard rule 1 gallon works. If you have one six inch fish, you need at least six gallons of water. If you have five one inch fish, you need at least five gallons of water. If you have, as is my case, one eight inch fish, and two two inch fish, you need at least 12 gallons of water (mine live in a twenty gallon).
A lot of this has to do with keeping water quality high and offering the fish appropriate space to swim and be a fish. If you have multiple fish, it allows them to avoid or interact with their tank mates. Filtration can go a long ways to improving water cleanliness, but stocking too many fish in one tank means filtration alone won’t cut it with the amount of waste produced.
Too small of tank size for the number of fish in the tank (even if it’s a solitary betta fish in a half gallon) is highly stressful for the fish for a number of reasons. Stress decreases immune system, a depressed immune system leads to illness, and you can guess where that leads to from there. Obviously some fish will be more sensitive, some less, but this is something important to remember when deciding on tank size and the number of fish to fill it with.
This is especially true for small fish tanks as is mentioned in the post above. Living in a tank too small for them is an awful way to spend a life. Can you imagine living in a 12x12 room your whole life? It might look cute from the outside, but it’s unfathomable from the inside. Betta fish aren’t actually lazy slugs floating at the top of the tank all day- the ones living in tiny, tiny environments are just absolutely depressed.
I am by no means a fish expert, but I feel like this is one of the most important things to know if you’re thinking about getting a fish. Do your research and help put an end to fish bowls. Knowledge seeking is your greatest tool in learning to take care of a pet.
Okay, mini essay done. Happy fishkeeping from me and my tiny school of goldies!
I don’t really have the time to go into depth here but the inch per gallon rule is outdated and inaccurate. And @doodlehorseafternoon,pleasedo some research on the minimum tank size of the fish you are keeping. There is no 8 inch fish that can be ethically kept in a 20 gallon tank. A 20 gallon tank would be at most 3 times the length of your fish. The width would be 1.5 times the length of an 8 inch fish. That fish barely has room to move! Not even considering it’s level of activity and waste production (which are different in every fish, one of the reasons why the inch per gallon rule makes no sense).
Post link
Hi, followers. I noticed that a few people commented on my last photo that Chai (my pompom oranda) “does not look okay”. Because there wasn’t much specifically said other than a comment on her appearance, I’m going to go ahead and assume those of you who thought Chai “didn’t look okay” but neglected to do anything about it (i.e. message me) besides reblogging and commenting on the photo, are referring to the pompoms on her face. These are normal facial growths - overgrowths of her nasal florets specific to her breed. A quick Google search for “pompom goldfish” will turn up results.
Just as with wen growth on Oranda goldfish, the pompoms can appear to have some white spots as new growth comes in. This is normal and does not suggest the fish is sick. Additionally - Chai is old…almost 5 years old at this point. Her scales are changing color, and over time her tail has changed from copper to a lighter gold, with some translucent/white areas coming in now. Mr. B also has some translucent areas on his tail. These have crept in over time. He is about 5 years old, too.
If anyone has some concrete advice they want to give me, or really thinks something is wrong besides the fact that they, personally, find the pompoms visually unappealing, please send me a message :) I assure you, Chai is fine. She sometimes bites her pompoms (or Mr. B will), and I find that there are more white spots after that happens. My fish have three filters running (two canisters, one sponge), get seasonal praziquantel treatments and weekly water changes, and live in a 75 gallon long tank. They have great appetites and are very responsive, moving around the tank throughout the day.
I welcome criticism and am always open to learning new things, but “Not to be mean but that fish does not look okay” is not constructive criticism. I actually don’t even know what that means, specifically; it can mean a lot of things, but there was no context. So I am just guessing here.
Sorry for the long post, guys - new photo coming.
