behavior

Decoding goldfish behavior

2014-05-14 by TheGoldfishTank 4 Comments

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. [Read more…] about Decoding goldfish behavior

Are your goldfish happy?

2014-05-06 by TheGoldfishTank 1 Comment

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 the 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… [Read more…] about Are your goldfish happy?

Do goldfish get lonely?

2012-04-05 by TheGoldfishTank 9 Comments

Q. Do goldfish get lonely?
A. No, goldfish probably don’t get lonely.

It’s normal to wonder whether your goldfish will get lonely if kept in a tank on his or her own.

You see your goldfish swimming around the same tank, all day every day, by themselves; looking at the same plants, sticking their noses into the same bits of gravel, swimming under the same ornamental bridge…

You leave for school or work for hours on end, so there’s nothing going on outside the tank for them to look at, they’re not being fed regularly throughout the day, and you just found out that the “three second memory” is a myth.

Surely a goldfish will get bored unless you get another fish for them to play with, won’t they?!

Actually, no, they won’t!

There’s no definite answer to the question “do goldfish get lonely?”. After all, nobody can enter the mind of a goldfish to make absolutely sure! However, we can say that it is very unlikely that goldfish get lonely. They’re just not the same as humans – they’re not social animals in the same way that we are, and they don’t have the same capacity to get bored or long for companionship!

In fact, many of the longest living goldfish have lived perfectly happily in aquaria all by themselves (and some goldfish live a very long time!).

So, should you keep more fish to avoid your goldfish getting lonely?

As it’s unlikely that goldfish get lonely, you certainly shouldn’t get more fish just to keep your current goldfish company. But if there are other reasons why you want to get more fish, then that’s entirely up to you!

However, if you do decide to get more fish then please remember: you must ensure that your tank is big enough and that the fish you choose are suitable tank mates.

behavior

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