How does one care for fancy goldfish?

team lowkey — Fri, 18 Apr 2008 10:02:28 -0800

I just rescued a couple of fancy goldfish, and I could use some advice on how to properly care for them. Is it normal for them to rest on the bottom of the tank? How much should I feed them? The marketing department at my girlfriend's office decided it would be a good idea to purchase 40 live goldfish to use as party decorations, with no plan for what to do with the fish once the party was over. I took two of them, and want to give them the best home I can.

They are apparently calico telescope goldfish, about an inch and a half long. A lot of sites I've found say that you need 5-10 gallons of water per fish, but I can't do that. I'm not even supposed to have fish in my office, and having a full size aquarium would definitely get noticed. I've got a 2.5 gallon tank, but I've got a filter and a bubbler, and my plan is to exchange 25% of the water once a month. Is that sufficient to keep the water clean?

I've gotten a lot of varying advice on how often to feed them, from 3 times a day to once every other day. I've had them for a week, and I've been feeding them a small pinch of food once a day, and they seem to be doing pretty well.

The thing that concerns me is that one of the fish spends a lot of time laying practically motionless on the bottom of the tank. Is that normal? One of her gills is also very red, but I don't know if that's just her coloring.

I've never had fish before, so this is all new to me. Any advice you guys can give would be much appreciated. By me and by Grimy and Blush.

Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with fancygoldfish

How does one care for fancy goldfish?