Definitely not anything else carp adjacent trying to blend in. Just a normal silver colored goldfish. If you question it he will deny it and claim his mother was a comet.

48x24x24

our sweet belmont may have broken his jaw right before our move. we rescued him from a local fair and got him past the sick parasite phase with stress coat, general cure, erythromycin, etc. we’ve had him for about 4.5 months.

we got a new apartment and bought a tank upgrade for him (10gallon to 20gallon) because he’s been growing so fast and it was the perfect opportunity to cycle a new tank.

when we went to my boyfriend’s parents’ house to pick him up, we noticed his mouth wide open like an O. we’ve been monitoring it since saturday but it’s not getting better. he’s not eating, but is swimming around like he normally does and doesn’t seem to have any breathing problems. i took him out and checked his mouth for debris but nothing is in there.

today, we went back to check on him and i took him out again just to check inside the mouth one more time, and we noticed his face seems really puffy and red. his gills have turned dark like they’re bruised.

we’ve deduced he must have broken his jaw. he is VERY aggressive like a betta fish and loves to eat, so it must be something to do with that.

we would appreciate any help or advice. we’ve done a 30% water change and have been giving him medicine and added aquarium salt to the tank, but we’re preparing for the worst.

is his jaw broken? is there anything we can do?

Living their best lives!

my goldfish keeps getting stuck on the bottom. I don’t know what’s going on with it. I already tried giving it peas and it spits it out. It pooped, but it was empty and there was no poop in it. What’s going on? Please help

We noticed he had one mild swollen eye for about a month. We quarantine it for about two weeks now & it seems like it had got worse the last two days. It hinds in the corner of the hospital lot. He’s eating his food but takes a long time. Water parameters are normal. Any inputs and suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

My young lionhead will only eat if he’s hand fed?

I need some help. I’ve been doing a fishless cycle on my 40 gallon tank for over 5 weeks now and the cycle seems stuck. I’m so sad!!!

I’m using liquid API tests. Because it will be a goldfish tank, I don’t intend to buy a heater (but I know warm water helps speed up the cycle). I have an established 5 gallon, so I added an old rock from that tank into my 40 gallon and swished around the filter to add some of that slime into my new tank. I originally dosed my new tank with ammonia and API quick start and saw a spike in nitrites and nitrates, and ammonia went to 0. But nitrites held firm at 5 ppm. Nitrates sit around 10-20 ppm.

3 weeks ago by, still nitrites are at about 5 ppm. So I do a 50% water change, but still nitrites are at 5 ppm.

I wait two weeks. Now I’m on week 5, and I decided to dose ammonia again. It took 2 days for ammonia to go down to 0, I did a 30% water change as well during those 2 days. It’s been about 5 days since I dosed the ammonia and did the water change, and nitrites are still reading 5 ppm. My nitrates are still sitting around 10-20 ppm.

What am I doing wrong? Why are these readings stuck in this place? I’m getting frustrated. Please help!

Edit: note that pH is around 7.6
Edit: I have 2 air stones for oxygen, several live aquatic plants and pothos roots dipping into the water, 2 large pieces of driftwood, and a glass bottom (no substrate).

How do you - specifically you - clean your tank? If you wanna share how others do it, fine, but I really want first hand accounts of what works and doesn't for you, as well as the equipment you use.

I plan to use sand substrate in the new tank because I believe it will be easier for me to keep clean. (Disabled due to low spine issues.) The sand will be the new addition to the tank, as well as another or new larger HOB filter. In his current temporary tank, I have a terra cotta planter and small fake plant, along with a thermometer, HOB filter, and an air bubbler hanging down freely in the water in the back corner with a bare floor. I've been using a siphon to clean up after him thus far but it won't be that easy in the new tank, plus I will need to actually clean the tank walls once established, yadda yadda -- so what equipment do I need?

I want to go as least expensive as possible, but I also value time saved so hand pump and electronic options both would be considered. I do not want to be hand pumping water or scrubbing for long times if something automated can do it faster -- my back does not appreciate holding me upright at a forward tilt up for more than a few minutes at a time, or bending over, or twisting, or lifting -- but I don't want to overpay for convenience items either. Have I beat that dead horse enough?

And also, if you want, tell me what you think about my baby's red cheek. He's had it since I got him but it was hidden underneath all his "beautiful black coloring" that I've since realized was ammonia burn 😭😭 He came from the fair two weeks ago. All of his "black coloring" is fading. But the red cheek... disease? I hope not. Regardless, I'll be setting up the new tank for him.

Picture of his temporary tank. A recent pic, upclose of his red cheek. Finally a pic of him from the night he came home from the fair, in that toxic water in that tiny hermit crab cage 😭😭.

TL;DR: 40 gallon tank with shubunkin with sand substrate, HOB filter, few decorations. What equipment is needed to clean it properly?

I fished this goldfish out of a creek about 6 years ago and I was wondering how old it really was. I heard that you can count the rings on their scales to find the age, but I'm counting like 20 here which is kinda crazy. I heard that they can live for this long, but I just want to make sure that I'm counting right. Tbh tho it would make sense because this one developed cataracts and turned completely white which I heard happens to old fish.

p.s. sorry for the iffy photos, it's hard to get a good picture of a moving fish lol

Hi r/Goldfish! I'm new here and looking for some advice.

I got this pair about a year or so ago. A neighbor was moving out and had bought them for her kid and was about to get rid of them (in a terrible way, better not to know) because they didn't have enough space in the new flat for them so I took them in. 20L, plastic figurines, the bigger one floating upside down most of the time... the whole package. I bought an 80L (I know it's not enough but I don't have space for more at home) and they seemed happy. They bred three times and I got to experience raising up 13 little fish.

We recently moved to a new place. The day we got there they laid eggs and I thought they were fine but no. Both stopped eating and begging for food. Eventually one of them started asking for food and now is as fine as ever. The female, not so much: she won't eat, will ignore the food and it's like... really tired, lethargic, stays near the bottom, occasionally goes to the surface with its mouth slightly open (gills not rapid).

I took some pictures of her tail: I don't know if it's eggs or something else because it looks to me that something is stuck in it or growing through the fin.

The tank is an 80L, ammonia 0, nitrite and nitrate read fine. I bought one of those vacuum cleaners for the gravel just in case. Read after that cleaning and levels still fine. pH is high but it's always been like that.

Common goldfish, 80 L tank, 25 °C. Ammonia reads 0, nitrite and nitrate both read fine after a deep gravel clean.

Oh also the one I'm worried about has developed some whitening around her mouth. However, it looks like a change in color, I can't see any fuzziness to it or anything unusual.
Bought a light, because they had tons of natural light at home and none at the new place.

The idea was to get them healthy and then take them to a fish shop, but time flies. That's still the plan, though, because they keep growing, and sooner or later, I won't be able to take care of them anymore.

Does anyone have any idea what might be wrong with her tail or why she's acting this way? Any advice would be greatly appreciated since we don't have access to any vet. Thank you )

I hear that foam is superior for mechanical and biological filtration and others argue for less foam and more biomedia. how is your canister set up? also have heard of drilling extra holes in the pre-filter and replacing the pre-filter foam with something more coarse.

225g community tank with 3 goldfish, 3 golden dojo loaches, 10+ variatus platy, & a few hitchhiker snails.

Adding a pic in the comments of one of their previous tanks(2 years ago today). The goldfish moved between a 29 tall, 29 long, 40g, & 65g before finally settling in here a few months back.

If anyone has hardy plant/additional cohabitant suggestions I'm open to all ideas. Thanks for looking!

Waiting to see how they do with the current plants, if they don’t eat them, I’ll add more. Has a 50gallon and a 10 gallon sponge filter hiding behind the plants

Shogun goldfish super beauty

Hi all,

On September 19 I won a pair of juvenile goldfish at a carnival. A month later they're in what I currently consider their final setup. But as someone who's never cared for any types of fish, I'd love any advice—unsolicited or not—on how to properly care for them and maximize their health and lifespan.

I won them to make my almost-4 year old daughter happy having no idea the amount of work that was coming my way. 😄

I'll share this as a timeline of events partnered with a series of questions. Kindly let me know what I should have done differently or what I should be doing differently moving forward.

I'm going to be asking A LOT of questions and sharing A LOT of pictures. Feel free to cherry pick things you know the answers to and ignore the things you don't, or feel free to answer every question in detail.

I'm doing this so I can be thorough and use this thread as a one-stop shop for all the information I'll need to take care of these little guys for the rest of their lives.

For starters. Here they are today:

Do they appear healthy? Is there anything in their appearance or behavior that would concern you?

https://reddit.com/link/1xavk2p/video/s49a3fbp0nwh1/player

On September 19 they were acquired in the following tiny tank:

They were in this tank for 3-4 days before I was able to acquire a 2.5 gallon tank. They were in the 2.5 gallon tank (pictured below) for about 2.5 weeks. So the 2 fish were in just 2.5 gallons or less for about 3 weeks. This excludes any time they spent in cramped quarters prior to my acquiring them. I have no idea what their conditions were prior to me winning them.

During their time in this 2.5 gallon tank, I was caring for them as follows:

1. Daily morning feedings with the flakes that came in a Ziplock with the fish.

2. Daily changes of 2/3s of the water.

3. Daily water conditioning.

4. Water temperatures maintained as consistent as possible.

After 3 weeks, they were transitioned to a 75 gallon tank I acquired on Facebook Marketplace. I cleaned it with water and white vinegar. I filled it with water temperature at about 64 degrees Fahrenheit. The water was conditioned as instructed. I changed the bottom from gravel to sand as I read they like to pick at the gravel and it could injure their gills.

Since this time, I've been doing the following. As this is the current state of the operation, I have the following questions for you.

1. I have about 4 inches of space at the top of the tank. This is to prevent them from jumping out before it doesn't have a lid. At their juvenile size, is this sufficient for now?

2. The tank apparently was a custom tank, so unfortunately there are no lids that are made for this tank. There's no center bar to balance plexiglass or Lexan and prevent sagging. At this point, I'm leaning towards simply getting three aluminum panels of 16x20 inches at 1/16th an inch thickness. That's lightweight, would cover the whole tank, and wouldn't sag. There's about 1.25 inches on the sides to support the panels (so 2.5 inches total). I read that's plenty.

Is this a terrible idea? I can't come up with anything better save for building a custom lid, something that I just don't have the time or acumen for at the moment.

3. Is a lid 100% necessary with goldfish long term? Do common/comet fish jump out if the water i cared for properly?

4. I'm currently giving them water changes every 5 days. I'm changing out about 60% of the water. I have the tiny filter from their 2.5 gallon tank still working here to circulate any beneficial bacteria that formed. I condition the water as instructed by the bottle. I also have a new filter (will get to that in a moment). I do my best to match the temperature to the old water.

After a month, I would love it if I could do more infrequent changes. What would you recommend?

5. Is this a suitable set up for the rest of their lives? Is 75 gallons enough for 2 adult goldfish?

6. How big do you expect them to grow providing I do give them proper care?

7. Can I add additional fish that create less waste than goldfish do, or is this the maximum amount of fish I can have for gold fish to thrive?

8. I bought them the following tank stand. It claims it supports 1000 pounds. All in, I assume my tank, water, stuff on the shelves, the sand, and all the accessories probably lands me at about 900 pounds. Maybe a little less. So my question is, if a tank stand on Amazon is claiming 1000 pounds, is that reliable? It seems fine today, but I need it to be fine 10 years from now. Here's what I bought:

8. You'll notice the lights atop the tank. They are submersible LED lights (pictured below). I currently have them dragged cross the top of the water with old phone chargers (unplugged of course!) It's just functioning as "string". I can't imagine this isn't safe but do you have any reservations providing the cords are confidently secured?

9. Here is their water filter. Is it sufficient, and how often do I need to clean it/change it?

10, Here's their food. I'm currently giving them 6 pellets each in the morning, and then again in the evening. Two Part Question: Is that enough/too much? Also the one with the black fin tips is kind of a bully and really seems to eat almost all of it no matter what I do. The purely gold one tends to only get the scraps on the ground.

To be honest, I'm not even sure if it's a problem. The purely-gold one will often swim directly by a falling pellet and ignore it. She seems to prefer foraging it from the sand. The other one waits at the top of the water for every possible pellet when she sees me coming.

11. Last but not least, I use the following strips to test for all the things you need to test for. Ammonia, Nitrates, etc. Right now I'm doing it every 2-3 days. Is this sufficient. Long term, do I even need to bother if I'm regularly changing the water?

Also, is the levels it reports on (especially for Ammonia) granular enough. If I go from 0.0 to 0.5, did I need to know if it was at 0.2? Or is what you see below a granular enough indication for me?

THANK YOU!!! Please feel free to comment on any of my questions or provide any additional insights!

i have a 75 gal goldfish tank and recently changed to white sand substrate. i know the white sand will get dirty quickly with goldfish but the current siphon vacuum i have is not doing the best job to clean the debris and poop. it is a taller tank and all the vacuums im looking at have pretty mixed reviews. leaning towards an electric vacuum but wondering if anyone here has sand and has a good recommendation for a vacuum?

I'd like to keep 1-2 indoors. I have planted breeder to start with, but will upgrade as they grow.

I know some goldfish are more prone to diseases than others. I'm looking for a hardy breed. All tips are welcome!

Hi all. For the longest time i had a mopani arch in my tank with my moor, theres never been any issue with it until yesterday all of a sudden she decided she wanted to dig herself under it intensely looking for food and ended up with a gash on the gill and her side. I did take the wood out and treated the tank with some melafix. I just feel horrible and wonder if theres anything more I can do. (i did recently just rescue a ryukin and regrew its tail fins so ill be approaching it with the same things I just feel terrible)