Goldfish. Who Knew?
Saturday, we won nine common goldfish at a local event, and made a mad dash to a pet store to get a bigger tank for them. I was expecting a 10 to 20 gallon tank, and some goldfish food. Nope. It turns out goldfish are a bit more complicated than they seem.
Goldfish get BIG. It's just a myth that if you keep them in a small tank and don't overfeed them, they'll stay small. Furthermore, goldfish eliminate a LOT of waste, which makes keeping the water clean a challenge. And, dirty water can mean sick or dying fish.
We ended up with a 55 Gallon aquarium (which is too small), two filters, a bunch of plants, a water testing kit, two kinds of fish food (pellets and flakes), and a few decorations.
I've never owned a real aquarium before, so I've been watching videos and reading up on goldfish and aquarium care in general. Some things are surprising. It's a mistake to clean the inside of the tank TOO well. The aquarium needs the bacteria that live there to help control the ammonia and nitrites that come from decomposing fish food and waste.
Luckily, about 400 feet to the West of my front door, there's a small pond shop that has several display ponds on the property. I went and asked them if I could rehome about five of the little guys, and they agreed. Luckily, one of the small ponds was empty, so we gently tipped them out of their little carrying tank, and set them free.
Here's hoping they have a nice life.