Stopping Pet Goldfish From Getting Ill
Thursday, December 11th, 2008 | Places
The old saying Prevention is better than cure is always excellent advice and this advice also applies to stopping your goldfish becoming ill in the first place, instead of trying to cure it once it has become established. There are a few practices that you should follow in order to minimize the risk of a domestic goldfish becoming unwell.
When new fish are added into the aquarium they require extra care to get over any stress caused by transportation and being moved into a new aquarium. New fish are more likely to suffer from goldfish illness as a result of this stress. To reduce inital stress, let the bag float they arrive in the tank for about 20 to 30 minutes so they become adjusted to the water temperature and their new environment. Keep a close watch for goldfish ich disease also known as goldfish white spot disease after adding new fish.
Like all creatures, Goldfish require to be fed on a reasonable quality food that supplies them with their dietary needs. A decent goldfish food can be well digested, limiting the quantity of waste material the goldfish release into the water. Inferior quality goldfish feeds can result in a diet that could be lacking in essential nutritional requirements, and they might also lead to too much waste in the aquarium, messing up the gravel bed and polluting the water.
Every aquarium needs a correctly sized filter which acts to extract solid and liquid wastes. The basic function of filters is to extract waste and pollutants to help keep the water quality high. Every goldfish tank requires an oxygen supply to supplement the oxygen absorbed by natural means at the water surface. This is done utilizing an air-pump in tandem with a tube and an air stone or similar device to dissipate the pumped air into lots of tiny air bubbles. A quality air pump will achieve this quietly and efficiently. Gravel at the bottom of the aquarium needs to be cleaned occasionally with a gravel siphon because accumulated detritus can affect water quality. Water should be changed at 3 to 4 weeks. Mains water needs to be treated using a proprietary water conditioner obtainable from online pet stores and aquatic centers.