Fish of the Month!

     The Goldfish (Carassius auratus) is a freshwater species originating in east Asia.  It was one of the first fish in the world to be domesticated by humans some one thousand years ago. The Goldfish comes in many variety’s due to selective breeding. After centuries of domestication many types have been developed.  These fish learn to react to the their keeper to entice an extra meal.

       The Goldfish is a long living fish being able to reach 10 years and even in some cases four decades old. This long time also allows the goldfish to grow to very large sizes, anywhere from the size of a baseball in some variety’s to a foot long in others. Due to the size, and their need for good filtration the Goldfish is ill-suited for living in a bowl.  The goldfish lives a much healthier and happier life in an aquarium with decent filtration to deal with the large amount of waste produced by this species of fish.                                                                                         

While a heater is not required it would allow you to keep tropical fish in the same aquarium; Just keep the temperature in the mid 70’s and stay away from any fish that would nip at the goldfishes fins and fish that the goldfish could easily swallow. The goldfish is best kept in a basic pH, maintained with regular partial water changes. No matter how “advanced” the hobbyist, keeping goldfish is universally enjoyable.