Goldfish

Mollies can be kept in quite small aquariums; probably down to about 5 gallons in size as the absolute minimum.

All goldfish eat the same:

Many mass produced goldfish foods go on the assumption that goldfish are vegetarians. This is not true. Although goldfish love plant material and algae they do require the mix of animal protein and plant protein to really thrive.

Other goldfish treats:

Peas - Peas are a great supplement to your goldfish's diet. They help keep their digestion moving along. I like to treat my goldfish to peas once or twice a week. Frozen peas are the best. Nuke them in the microwave for a few seconds to defrost them and squeeze the shell off the pea before feeding them to your fish. For smaller goldfish you may want to remove the shell and chop the pea into smaller pieces.

Cooked Shrimp - These are the peel and eat kind of shrimp you can buy at your local grocery store. Remove the tail then finely chopped the shrimp to feed to your fish.

Rice - Cooked rice is a good occasional treat for your goldfish.

Freeze Dried Plankton and Krill. This is another readily accepted treat for goldfish. The high animal protein is a definite plus.

Frozen Bloodworms - Frozen Bloodworms are an excellent addition to a goldfish's diet. They are very good for keeping their digestion in good shape. There are a couple cautions with frozen bloodworms. One - be sure and trust your supplier in that the worms have not defrosted and refrozen. Two - look out for frozen bloodworms with Beta Carotene added as a color enhancer. Beta Carotene does enhance the red color in goldfish but it also turns the white areas in red and white goldfish orange. No health danger; just looks weird.

Earth Worms - Earth worms are an excellent source of animal protein for goldfish. There is a caution with earthworms depending on the source. Earthworms fed to goldfish need to be raised in an organic fashion with no chemical toxins that may harm your goldfish. Also, earth worms need to be chopped up before feeding them to your goldfish. Not a task for the squeamish. Freezing the earth worms prior to chopping helps cut down on the "eeeyyyeeww" factor of the task.

Broccoli - Broccoli is a good source of vitamin A and calcium. Broccoli is best for goldfish after nuking it a few seconds in the microwave then cutting up the blooms on the florettes.

Hope this helps you!

Make sure the pleco is larger or of the same size as the terrapin, else it will get bullied by the terrapins, pleco's tail is a irresistible bait for the terrapin.

Goldfish can survive in salty water. I keep tropical and goldfish and use a certain degree of salt to keep the fish in prime condition. It is brilliant as an overall tonic and it also kills a lot of bacteria that can naturally live in non-salt water. After putting salt in my tanks, the fish all perk up and sometimes it even helps them reproduce. It is however, true that they cannot live in a marine environment so you have to watch the salt levels. Never use table salt, you can use marine salt but you have to watch the pH levels. I use manufactured salt with a pH buffer to prevent a rise in pH.

Yes, the bigger the tank, the bigger they will grow. Yes. The more resources given to the goldfish

* more oxygenated water, * aquarium plants,

* room to swim, * cleaner environments,

the larger the fish will grow

The bigger the tank you provide, the bigger and healthier your goldfish will be.

20 gallons of water is the minimum suggested requirement for one goldfish. They are nasty fish that create a lot of waste since they have a high metabolism. They will create a lot of ammonia, wastes and bacteria if not properly kept. It is hard to make a goldfish tank cycle properly. If you are keeping multiple goldfish to a small tank, you can certainly expect this outcome. You will have to keep up on your water changes and make sure filter is still good and not overfeed your goldfish in one sitting. All of this is crucial. You can imagine how hard it would be to live in a public bathroom with couple of others, a garbage can and someone that throws heaps of food at you and leaves.

Since goldfish are coldwater fish they require an aquarium with cold water. The temperature should not exceed 75 degrees F or be lower than 55 degrees F. Any temperature in that range should be just fine for goldfish.

Goldfish in the wild (carp) are opportunistic surface, bottom and midwater feeders. They don't find food on a schedule, so don't stress on a schedule. Your key is watching closely how much food remains drifting on the bottom. Amount is far more critical than either timing or frequency. Small feedings twice a day is fine, but larger feedings every other day is fine, too. Don't skip taking a weekend for yourself just because of the fish. There are also solid blocks for long weekends. A week? ask a neighbour to feed them well, once, during the week.

If you're a 'tester' you can monitor nitrite/nitrate ratio. If you're a frequent bottom air-lift siphon cleaner, smell the filtrate from your bottom suction cleaner for unpleasant funk.

Feed by sprinkling slowly, taking about a minute to distribute it all. If all the food disappears and none hits the bottom, you're underfeeding. If more than half of the food hits the bottom, you're going over.

Snails are bottom feeders so they will usually eat debris at the bottom of a tank, as well as some algae if they come upon it. They can usually eat leftover flakes from regular fish feeding, but you may want to drop in a few pellets for them here and there to make sure that they have adequate food. If you have catfish or any other bottom feeders, they will eat these as well.

Yes. It not only provides water circulation and oxygen but houses essential bacteria that keeps your water quality healthy. As soon as it's turned off, that bacteria starts to die. The only time you turn it off is when you're doing you're weekly partial water change.

Many different kinds of fish! I've often had angelfish with my goldfish and they were happy, I also have had Betta fish, neontetra, Mollys, even a pufferfish. Just make sure they are freshwater don't mix with saltwater fish, but I'm pretty sure lots of people know that as it could kill the fish.

It is possible! Sometimes the bigger goldfish of the tank gets kind of bossy and starts to think he is the "boss of the tank" and harrass the poor little ones around. This might result in your otheer goldfish being a bit quiet, or hiding behind ornaments more. It is never good to have a bully goldfish. However, bully goldfish don't always happen.

Most likely not. Fish only have a memory span of about 3 seconds. They also don't have many brain cells, and the only feeling they can probably feel is pain. Plus, fish like to swim :-) ---- goldfish do remember for much more than 3 seconds... some remember for up to a month. they will remember where they get feed and even colours. ive even known some fish that recognise me when i walk past. Its hard to tell if they're bored though... perhaps the best thing to do is just add some ornaments and plant to keep them amused.... and take them out for a walk occassionally :P ----

When goldfish are distressed, they will produce a thick slime around their body. When the slime is coming off, it will turn white. You should see little white dots and possibly a few thin strands. Don't worry too much as it will come off. They can get quite stressed when the water is too warm.

Just as we put out bi products when we breath so do fish. They also poo and wee in their environment. These products of life become deadly poisonous Ammonia as they break down. In order for things like fish and plants to be able to live, Nature developed specific bacteria to change the deadly poisonous Ammonia into relatively harmless Nitrate in water. Then the nitrate can be used up as food for water plants and algae. A "cycled" filter is simply a filter that has been running for long enough to develop the natural bacteria that converts Ammonia into Nitrate. The over abundance of Nitrate can be removed by simply doing a weekly water change.

Your goldfish will eat a lot more.

You would see lots of small white eggs sticking to the aquarium walls and fixtures.

The ones that survive hatch into tiny frys. Eggs should be removed as soon as possible because the parent goldfish usually eat them up.

The aerator in a fish tank pushes air into the water. Some of the oxygen from the air stays in the water so that the fish in the aquarium can breath it.

Even though fish live in the water, they still need oxygen to live. When they pass the water through their gills, the oxygen in the water is taken into the fish's blood stream.

Goldfish cannot live properly in a 5 gallon tank. Goldfish need 20 gallons for the first fish, and 10 gallons per additional fish after.
It's not simply about their size potential, which is big, but the fact that they produce a lot of waste.

Guppies and goldfish are not compatible as they have different water needs.

If polution/rot has set in and the water has become toxic/poisonous, then the tank will need to be stripped down for a complete clean out and scrub. The living occupants will need to be placed in containers with good clean water of the correct parameters. If the overfeeding was recent, then the easiest way I know of is to remove the left overs with a syphon tube (hose) and simply syphon the rubbish out into a bucket or other container for removal. The replacement of at least 10% of the aquarium water should be done weekly anyway if you wish to have a healthy environment for your fish. Fresh water to fish is like fresh air to us. We need it to live.

You can NOT keep female and male bettas together! Male bettas can get very aggressive and will fight to the death. Make sure to separate your bettas.

As much as it will eat in roughly 2-3 minutes. If its finished eating and there is food left, scoop it out right away or else it can pollute your tank and result in a sick fish. Also ALWAYS use high quality food. Basically the more you pay the better and also keep a watch for trusted brand names. And occasionally treat your fish to some live food or frozen food like bloodworms... They love that! NEVER buy the 'saga' brand, it is made of nothing but impurities and can kill ur fish. And keep away from supermarket foods. All the money goes in to packaging. not the food. Its basically McDonald's for your fish. It's no good.

Remember to feed it ONCE a day