2 goldfish in seperate tanks..need advice

Nevakonaza

Hello everyone,

firstly i hope this is posted in the right place...if so im sorry mods,

well we just got two Goldfish,and a 2x small round tank to start with.
my sister has one fish in her room and i have one in mine.

only,i noticed my Goldfish keep going to the top of the tank and like blowing out of the water.
i was reading somewhere on google and they said its because hes gasping for air?
also i noticed that my sisters doesnt move around alot and just sits at the bottom of the tank.
is he/she ill?

my Goldfish is realy active and swims everywhere in the tank so i know mine is fine exept i dont understand why he goes to the top of the tank and blows bubbles lol.

JouteiMike

I don't like the way "2x small round tank" sounds when referring to Goldfish. Exactly how big are these tanks? And what kind of filters do you run?

Each fish needs 30 gallon minimum, a good filter, and a good water change schedule. Goldfish are huge waste producers, and consume lots and lots of oxygen in the water. This is most likely why your fish is gasping for air at surface, as in such a small tank, oxygens levels can be depleted quickly.

On a side note...what are you feeding your fish?

Nevakonaza

the tanks are no bigger than a dinner plate,sorry for the stupid example but its about this big lol

http://www.tablewaredirect.com.au/ca...ges/TDP002.JPG

it doesnt have any filter,but i was told by the guy in shop that they will be okay without a filter or pump.

i change the water every two days,its kept clean.

i just feed them regular Goldfish flake food.
they eat it so it must be okay lol

JouteiMike

You were told wrong by the guy at the store. That is unless you actually received Betta fishes and and not actual Goldfish. Even betta fish deserve a bigger tank and filter too in my opinion.

Do you have a picture of the 2 fish?

If they are Goldfish, they cannot live in a small bowl. They grow very quickly, and will pollute the small bowl in no time. And there's very little oxygen in a bowl and an extremely small surface area on top for gas exchange. They need a much bigger tank, a good filter, and good maintenance habits. Do them a favor and pick a bigger tank and filter, or I suggest you return them.

Nevakonaza

thanks for your replies,

im going to but a big tank then,you know the ones with the case stand and everything.

ive seen one with a pump included,the bricks for the bottom and some artificial plants to make it look nice.

ive just put my camera batteries on charge so when theyre done i will take a picture of them.
they are not betta fish because i googled it up and they look nothing like what showed.

bettababy

Are these fan tailed Goldfish (fancy Goldfish) or standard comets (feeder Goldfish)?
30 gallons is only going to buy you a little bit of time. Comet Goldfish grow to 14 inches long, and fancy Goldfish average about 8 inches. Minimum tank size for an adult fancy Goldfish is about 90 gallons for 1 - 2 fish, and for comets, 125 gallons or more for 1 - 2 fish.
Healthy Goldfish grow very fast... to go from 2 inches to 6 inches within 1 yr is easy and should be expected.
Fancy Goldfish need to eat sinking pellet food so they don't gulp a lot of air, as it causes swim bladder problems that can lead to an early death of the fish. Comets are fine with flakes until they get larger, then you can feed them Koi pellet food to keep them going strong.

With a bowl and no filter that water would have to be changed at least once/day every day. Their temp should be kept as cool as possible (65 - 68 degrees is optimal). The warmer the water the less oxygen is in it, so changing part of the water a few times/day (a cupful or 2 at a time) would help a lot until it's in a filtered aquarium where it belongs.

Goldfish can live 25 (fancy) to 75 (comet) to 100+ (Koi) yrs, so this should be expected to be a very long term committment.
If this seems a bit overwhelming, you might want to consider taking the fish back and exchanging them for something more suited to your needs. A betta makes a wonderful bowl pet if it's properly taken care of, which isn't hard to do. A small tank would hold a few tropical fishes that would also be easy to care for.
If you need help/suggestions, please let us know!