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Posted: December 9, 2012

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Goldfish question?

~Tribalchick101 Dec 9, 2012 Student Digital Artist

I don't know if any of you can help me (or if this is the right forum even) but I'll give it a go anyway. So for almost a year I have had 5 goldfish in a bowl. Now don't jump down my throat about the bowl thing, first read the facts:

The bowl is VERY big (well for a fish bowl it is), its diameter is a bit over a foot, it's around 35-40 centimetres in diameter, and my five goldfish (they arent huge fish) have stacks of room and are by no means crowded or anything like that. I have had these five fish living in there for almost a year and they seem to be in perfect health and happiness, no issues at all. BUT. when I was in my old bedroom, they would occasionally peck/gulp at the waters surface, I have no idea why. It would even keep me awake at night sometimes with the splashy gully noises it would make. But ever since I have moved into my new room about a month ago, they seem to be doing it constantly, during the day and almost every night. I even have to sleep with earplugs in to block out their noise. Now the noise and sleep issue is not the problem, I rather like sleeping with earplugs in. I just want to know why they are doing it, what is the issue here? I will do/buy anything for my goldfish, their health and happiness is all I care about, I love my fish so much!

So can anyone tell me what the issue could be? And what I can do or get to help?

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*SleepingSnowWhite Dec 15, 2012 Hobbyist Digital Artist

a filter would help... and plants

~Tribalchick101 Dec 16, 2012 Student Digital Artist

I am excited to say that I am getting my tank very soon!

*SleepingSnowWhite Dec 16, 2012 Hobbyist Digital Artist

yah!!! I think you fish will be fine though. We got that sometimes at my old job-- i worked at petsmart

~KUHwin Dec 14, 2012 Student

That bowl is DEFINITELY not enough space. If you have five goldfish, it would be better to have a 30 gallon tank, and even that may still be too small. Goldfish grow to be really big and can live for yeeaaars.
If their going to the top of the water, that means they need more air in their water. You should purchase a sponge filter of some kind or a bubble curtain to add oxygen into the water.

You really should have researched them before you bought that many goldfish.

If you are really serious in taking proper care of these goldfish, you are going to have to spend a lot more money. If you have any questions I can see what I can help you out with!

~Tribalchick101 Dec 14, 2012 Student Digital Artist

Roughly how many litres is 30 gallon? I am hopeless at maths conversions

~KUHwin Dec 14, 2012 Student

It's about 114 liters. I just used google. xD haha! I never really memorized conversions.

~Tribalchick101 Dec 14, 2012 Student Digital Artist

Haha thanks

at least I'm not the only one!

~DancingInTwilight Dec 14, 2012 Student General Artist

they are probably bored. thats a guess. I had fish jump out when i moved them into an area with more fish. i dunno why

maybe they need space? like separate bowls?

=puppy-dangerous Dec 10, 2012 Professional General Artist

Fish usually sip air when they don't have enough oxygen in the water.

Try live plants or a bubbler.

You can get the supplies for a a bubbler here: [link] you basically just need tubing and an air pump.

~Blubjee Dec 10, 2012 Hobbyist General Artist

Five goldfish in a bowl.. Goldfish can grow very big. Even the fancy ones can get to 25+cm if kept properly (although it depends on the species, some stay a tad smaller, but still get very big). They don't belong in a bowl.
It's probably a good idea to save up for a big tank or bring the fish to a pond. (I'm not sure where you live, if it's really cold you have to wait until spring).

Do you have a filter in your bowl? If not, buy a filter in a pet store. In the filter bacteria lives that convert the waste of the fish (ammonia) to nitrate. Plants absorb nitrate.
If your filter doesn't fit in a bowl, go buy a watertight plastic box. Like these: [link]
They are pretty cheap and it'll give your fish much more space.

In my goldfish tank, I measure a minimum of 50 liters (about 13 gallon) per fish. That seems much for a small fish, but small fish need space to grow. Also, goldfish produce a lot of waste and that's why they need so much space.
Another thing is that goldfish produce 'growth hormone'. When they grow, they produce growth hormones, and it will build up in the water. When there's too much of this hormone in the water, the fish will stunt. That means that the body of the fish stops growing, but their fins, eyes and organs keep growing. That way, stunting can cause very serious damage to the fish.

For now on, do a 50% water change every day. Make sure that the water is the same temperature as the water in the tank (goldfish don't like temperature changes). That can already help a lot.

Here are some sites that can help you:
[link] Goldfish and Aquarium Board. A lot of articles about how to keep goldfish the proper way, diseases and more stuff.
[link] Kokosgoldfish, a forum about goldfish. It's very informative, and there's a lot of information too.
[link] A very informative site.

I hope I've helped you with this and your goldfish get happy and healthy

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