Dorothy the fish!

Introducing Dorothy the fish, today is her or his fourth birthday! How long do Goldfish usually live? That's not a third eye on his or her back , it's a water bubble! :lol:

 

I've heard of well taken care of goldfish in ponds can live to 10 years, proby a year or two less in an indoor tank but congrats and happy birthday :y_the_best:

 

Goldfish can actually live anywhere from 20 - 40 years.

And BTW, I really hope you don't keep Dorothy in a bowl. If you do, quite frankly, I'm amazed she's survived that long. At the very least, she looks incredibly stunted. Common goldfish, like Dorothy, get over 12 inches long and need at least 50 gallons.

-Chelle

 

Yeah chelle is right if you don't get her moved soon a bone might grow into her vital orgens.

 

Dorothy

is in the bowl because I was cleaning her tank and I got the idea to take her picture while she was there. Stunted? Why does she look stunted? She seems perfectly fine to me but I don't know that much about fish so I could be wrong.

 

Re: Dorothy

Well, I'm glad you don't keep her in a bowl. How big is she? I thought that might be a standard sized goldfish bowl. If it was, that would make her about 3" which is way too small for a 4 year old goldfish.

-Chelle

 

dorothy

he/she is small definetly not more then 3 inches.

 

What size tank do you keep her in?

A 4 year old common goldfish should be closer to 10".

-Chelle

 

little dorothy

she normally is in a 5 gallon fish tank, is that big enough?

 

Re: little dorothy

Nope. That's why she's so stunted. Since she's been stunted for 4 years, she probably won't reach her full potential size (which would requrie at leat 50 gallons). But I would get her at least a 30 gallon tank.

-Chelle

 

wow!

I never even knew that! Thanks so much I will take care of this right away and as soon as I get her new digs I will post a pic of them.Here I thought I was doing something right for him/her to have lived so long!

PS, would I be safe in getting a companion to share the tank?

 

http://www.kokosgoldfish.com/care.html#Bowl%20vs%20tank

is a goldfish site... I think a 30 gallon for one fish is a little much. especially since it is only 3 inches after so many years. It says on that site that a 10 gallon is as low as you should go. Check it out it has a lot of information on that site.

 

10 gallons is the bare minimum recomendation for fancy goldfish which don't get as large as commons. And even then, I think 10 gallons is too small. My 3" fantail looked cramped when he was in a 10 gallon. Aquarium size recomendations aren't just based on the physical size of a fish. It also has to do with how much waste they produce (the more water, the more diluted the waste is and the longer it will take to reach toxic levels). Goldfish are notoriously messy fish (worse than most cichilds) so having the extra water means you will be able to go a little longer between water changes.

-Chelle

 

Looking good, nice fish.

 

dont feel to bad, when i frist taking care of fish (though this incident wasnt even close to taking care) the guy at walmart told me that 1 gallon was MORE then enough for 4!!!! 4!!! Goldfish, and extremely discouarged when 1 week they were all dead. If its the best you can do get a 10 gallon, chelle is usaly right though so try to get a 30 gallon soon. Good Luck and again congrats that your goldfish has lived so long, you cant have done to much wrong if he/she has lived this long :y_the_best:

edit: do fish really have bones? i always though they were just very thick cartiledge?

 

Most have bone. Fish in the class Chondrichthyes (mainly sharks & rays) have cartilage.

-Chelle

 

It's too bad that so many of us had to learn about goldfish needs the hard way. People that sell pets should have to make sure that the pet will have a suitable home. I started with fancy goldfish myself. Some lived a year or so in a gallon bowl as I was told a goldfish was the only fish that could survive w/o filtration, etc. I think the petstore employee meant to say a beta!!! :x !!! I had one though that lived 4.5 years in a gallon bowl and I was heartbroken when it (Giggles) passed away. Your fish looks happy though! Happy Birthday! I think you must be avid at cleaning and changing the water for your fish to have survived this well! At least you can go out and spend a little $$$ on the fish's B-Day and get him a propper set up without feeling guilty about buying the tank you have wanted!!!