Goldfish!

[BlueTurquoise]

Hi all,

Don't get me wrong, I love discus but i have recently rediscovered the joy and simplicity of goldfish.

My 8yr old brother has just started to keep goldfish and it has relit my interest in the simplicity and beauty of common goldfish, Fantails, Black moores and the like. I am not sure what attracts me to to goldfish but it is what I started keeping before I got this discus disease for which there is no cure... ;D

I now have a well stocked goldfish tank that eat left over discus foods (like flakes, tetra bits and sometimes bloodworms ;D ) The small ones are cute and very active and my wife seems to adore them more than my prized discus.

Just wondering, who else here keeps goldfish? Sorry for ranting on about off-discus topics but i just had to share...

[Carol_Roberts]

I used to keep fancy goldfish. I still have a few comets outside with the koi

[BlueTurquoise]

Yeah, I was thinking about Koi when I went to the last discus show (the Koi Assos. of Australia was there) hmmm :)

[Rob]

I've just started in the last year keeping discus, and similar to you I started with goldfish.
I've always kept some goldfish around, they're probably the only reason my wife can put up with my all encompassing hobby of keeping and breeding fish (she likes them).

With goldfish you don't have to give them much to make them thrive, just water and any kind of food you may have, even left overs from the dinner table will do. Effort vs. ROI the common goldfish has other fish species beat hands down.

I'll always keep goldfish, some of mine are over 4 years old and 18" long.

One of my Goldfish tanks (55gal) is in my dining room, and all the goldfish line up side by side and watch us eat, almost like they are grading us on our performance.

Anyone else have any of these 'old-faithfuls' around?

[BlueTurquoise]

18" long! wow!

my Uncle once had a really HUGE black more that was massive (for a black moore) but it died one time during a prolonged blackout :-[

[Galina]

I love goldfish, I think it is elegant (messy though). I read that they can live as long as 40 years, this is an extreme, but 20 years are normal. They becoma real pets, you grow old together, they can be tricky and some could be even trained to do simple tricks. Good thing, that you have not become arrogant and shooed away good old goldfish.

[BlueTurquoise]

20 years! you're pulling my leg right?? :o I thought 10, 12 years max but 20 is AGES!

[MonkeeFish]

Most of us started with goldfishes and as time goes on we go into more advance and pretty looking fishes. : /

[tgirl6868]

:D :D I also got a tank full of fancy goldie's that my sone talked me in to getting I haven had goldie's since I was a kid....... But I love them to they are beautifulin there own way and do they grow fast WOW you but them 1 1/2 " long in one month there 3" long I have a pearl, Lion head,a gold and blck moore,2 Red cap Orandas a Comit I love them all there nice in there own ways.....

[Galina]

No, Chong, I am notkidding, that was what I could gather from Internet and books. That is why they are so excellent for kids, even for adults, they are pets.

[BlueTurquoise]

Wow that's fantastic!

Yes my wife and I are very fond of our black moore called Bobby, he is now 2 yrs old, so he will be could be with us for a very long time to come (touch wood) :)

[DonnaMite]

Hi!
About 7 years ago, we put a small pond in our yard- I bought a handful of comets & shubunkins to throw out there. Every year, the pond gets bigger & deeper - now it's about 1000 gallons. My husband built a 120 gal indoor pond to keep them inside in the winter (the fantails stay inside year-round though).
The pond is finally deep enough, next year the rest can stay outside during the winter!
They love it though, some of the original fish are still alive, and each year some of the fry live to restock the pond a bit too.
I'll try to post a couple pictures of the indoor pond - it's really cool

;) Donna

[BlueTurquoise]

Please do!

A friend of mine had a pond with fantails and some young koi and every last one of them were eaten by local kingfishers, beautiful birds and all but but man how sad... :'(

[DonnaMite]

Ok, Here's one of the indoor pond. It has some some fantails, comets & shubunkins, and 2 plecos that go 12-18" each.

[BlueTurquoise]

Wow, did your husband build that himself? looks great! I wish i had room for something like that! when your goldfish go back outside you can keep discus in it ;D

[DonnaMite]

And here's the 1000 gal outdoor garden pond

[BlueTurquoise]

AKA landscape swimming pool! ;D ;D Looks fantastic! When he is done doing that he can come over to our place and dig one up for me! ;D

Don't forget goldfish is very compatible with tropical fish of the same size. I have at least one in each tank. A recycling expert. I have Pleco in each tank to clean out the glass. Sometimes a large 14" common pleco in discus tank. They are excellent cleaner but a poo machine. Gold fish can take care of it. With one goldfish and a pleco in a decorated tank. I don't have to clean the glass or siphon any dirts out. With a drip system and an auto-feeder and the light on 24hr. a day. You can enjoy your fish all day and night and absolutely no maintenance. My daughter has one goldfish which is 12 years old in her Angel tank. She has been telling all her friends. She donesn't feed them, no water change and they just grow and produce in the tank by themselves. She doesn't know the old dad has been keeping an eye on them. There is no need to siphon discus tank if you have one small goldfish in there. It will make your discus eat more aggressively. Otherwise they end up with nothing to eat. A healthier tank.JMHO
Jimmy

[DonnaMite]

Glad you like the pictures Chong :)

Some of the older fish are pretty huge now. I'll try to get hubby to hold one for me so I can get a picture of it too. They ARE alot easier to take care of than tropicals, at least in a pond setting, or in the correct aquarium setting. My first goldfish when I was a kid only had a fishbowl- no air pump, no filters etc - nasty to clean, and no doubt hard on the fish.

Jimmy, sorry, I don't like to keep goldfish in with my tropicals - especially the discus. The goldfish prefer cold water temps and love nice water flow- things that discus generally don't seem to care for.
:) Donna