I am fish ignorant. It is amazing that we have been able to keep our two goldfish alive these past few years. Usually they are in the toilet within a few days of bringing them home. My neighbor gave us his goldfish and I want to place him with our other fish. Can I just dump him in my tank or do I need to do something special? I would hate to kill the ones we have. Thanks in advance!!!
Fish are cold blooded. That means their body temperature adjusts to its surroundings. What that means practically, is that you need to take the new fish AND THE WATER IT IS IN and put it in a baggie. Your fish's body is aclimated to THAT water temperature. Then put the baggie in the bowl with the other fish. The old water and the new water will eventually reach the same temperature. After 24 hours, you can put the fish directly into the new bowl. If you were to put the fish directly into the new bowl without aclimating it first, the change in temperataure could be too much and could kill it.
You don't have to wait 24 hours, but a good hour or so should do it. Water temps change quickly to the environment. What kind of fish do you have now? Is the tank heated?
I sure hope so! lol He is an active little guy. He kept trying to jump out of the aquarium he was living in, so the neighbors decided to give him to us since we have a cover on ours. Thanks for your help!!!
I was once told that you have to be careful what fish you put in with goldfish as they produce a lot of waste that can be toxic to other finned fellows. Seems like as long as they are all goldfish should be fine though. Recently bought a small LED lit tank with a few glofish for my daughters room. It's like watching a confused rainbow.
My sister had a goldfish once that she kept on the bottom shelf of her nightstand. One day she set a magazine over the top of the bowl and somehow (I have never understood how) she forgot about her fish. 6 months later she was clearing off her nightstand and panicked when she realized she had forgotten about her fish. She quickly found that not only was the bowl relatively clean but the fish was still alive! The only noticable difference was the fish had gone froma bright orange to transparent white color. She quickly pulled the bowl off the bottom shelf and moved it to her dresser. She started feeding the fish again and it lived for several more years. It was the toughest little goldfish I have ever known.
