Goldfish and constipation

Cartoon of a goldfish with a big belly due to constipation

All fish can potentially suffer from constipation, regardless of the type of diet they are fed, and goldfish are no exception. As goldfish are prolific eaters, constipation is one of the more common problems they face.

So, if you’re wondering how to tell if your goldfish is constipated – and what you should do about it if so – then read on to learn more about constipation in goldfish.

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Where do goldfish come from?

Cartoon of a goldfish looking at a world map

Have you ever thought about where goldfish come from? You might have picked them up from the pet store, but how did they get there?

Why did people start keeping goldfish as pets? And where do pet stores get the millions of goldies that are sold every year?

There’s a fascinating story behind the first pet goldfish and, if you haven’t heard it before, you’ll never guess how it happened!

Read on to find out more.

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Goldfish and ulcers

Cartoon of a goldfish with an ulcer

Ulcers in goldfish can be caused by a range of different diseases, but they are almost exclusively bacterial in nature.

The two most common types of bacterial goldfish ulcers are Aeronores and Pseudomonas. However, as the treatment of bacterial goldfish ulcers are the same regardless of the bacterial strain responsible, in this article we will simply refer to them as “ulcers” rather than drawing the distinction between different strains.

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Decoding goldfish behavior

Cartoon of two goldfish chasing each other

If you keep pet goldfish, you have almost certainly spent many hours watching them go about their daily lives, interacting with their surroundings and each other, and doing all of the normal things that goldfish do!

But have you ever watched your goldfish swimming around and wondered exactly why they are doing what they are doing, or what their behavior means? Many of us have!

Goldfish are generally thought of as being fairly simple creatures, and the different behaviors that they exhibit are not difficult to interpret, if you know what you are looking for. Read on to learn about how to decode some of the most common pet goldfish behaviors.

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Are your goldfish happy?

Cartoon of a smiling happy goldfish

Something that fish keepers often ask themselves when they watch their goldfish swimming around in their tank is “are my fish happy?”

Of course, goldfish do not purr, wag their tails or have other obvious ways of indicating their mood to us, so it’s not always easy to tell!

However, if you do everything in your power to learn about the proper care of your goldfish, provide for all of their needs and do what you can to avoid stress, your goldfish should be healthy and happy.

All responsible goldfish keepers know the basics of goldfish care, such as not keeping fish in a bowl, providing the right food, and ensuring adequate aeration and filtration in the tank. But, if you really want to go the extra mile, here are five tips and insights to help you to raise happy fish…

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Cotton mouth in goldfish

Cartoon of a goldfish with cotton mouth disease

Cotton mouth is not one of the most common afflictions of goldfish, but is one of the more serious ones and one that often gets wrongly diagnosed. It can lead to a wide variety of health problems in the goldfish, and should be dealt with as soon as it is spotted, as it is very contagious and can soon go on to affect all of the goldfish within your tank.

If you want to ensure that you will be able to diagnose and treat cotton mouth if your spot it, read on to learn more.

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Goldfish and flukes

Cartoon of a goldfish with flukes

“Flukes” in goldfish doesn’t refer to an actual disease, but rather a parasite, which comes in two different varieties depending on whether it affects the body or the gills of the fish. Flukes are one of the most common types of aquarium and pond parasites, and one of the largest too, which can be seen with a very low magnification but still, not with the naked eye.

While there are two different types of fluke parasite- gill flukes and body flukes- treating them and eradicating them is undertaken in the same way.

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