Fish is a God’s gift to humankind. There are so many fish in this world. From the tiniest one to the biggest one, they all do exist in this world’s water. One of them is Goldfish. Its Latin name is Carassius Auratus. It is the everlasting pet fish in this world. Goldfish was first found by Chinese Dynasties. They are Jin, Tang, Song and Ming dynasty. The former Goldfish was known as the inheritance from Asian crap. The goldfish is a mutated fish from Prussian crap and crucian carp (wikipedia.com). As the time went by, Goldfish was spread throughout the world and have been genetically mutated. There are a lot of goldfish’s varieties nowadays. They are Oranda, Ranchu, lionhead, bubble eye, celestial, telescope, pearlscale, chinese pom-pom, veiltail, fantail, ryukin, common goldfish, shubunkin, and comet. Yet, there are just only four famous varieties of goldfish. The first is fantail. This fish has a tail which is like a fan, so it is called fantail. It is also a variety that we can see commonly in many fish store. The second is Ranchu. Actually, this fish comes from Japan. Ranchu is a very different variety. It doesn’t have dorsal fin like other variety. It has egg shaped body. The third is Ryukin. Its body is almost the same as Ranchu, but it has dorsal fin. It also comes from Japan. The last is Bubble Eye. This fish is the most weird from other varieties. Its head has two bubbles, which are attached near its eyes. So when it is swimming, the bubbles will be nodding all the time.
Goldfish are also divided into three types. They are head growth type, eye type, and tail type. Head growth is a type which classifies goldfish based on their head. Head growth goldfish have a head which can grow bigger than others. Eye type is a type which classifies goldfish based on their eye. The varieties of goldfish which are included in this type are bubble eye, celestial eye and telescopic eye. They all have uniqueness on their eyes. The last is tail type. Unlike the head growth and eye type, this type are divided into two, double tailed and single tailed. Double tailed is a type of goldfish which have two back tails. They are Oranda, Ranchu, Pearlscale, Veiltail, Fantail, Ryukin, and Chinese pom-pom. All them are genetically mutated and also more beautiful than the next type. The another type is single tailed type. This type is the type for Common Goldfish, Comet and Shubunkin. Those fish are like ordinary fish. Their plus is only on the mark of the body.
Now, it is about how to keep Goldfish as our pet. The first thing is that we have to consider where we will buy the goldfish. There are many places to buy goldfish. Local Fish Store (LFS) are the good place to buy. We can have advices from the seller about the fish. So, we will not be dissapointed for buying Goldfish at there. The other places are Outdoor pool center and garden center, but we will not have some advices at there. The seller doesn’t know much about the fish, because they are just selling them. We are supposed to buy goldfish in LFS. Besides the advices, we also can choose and pick the fish that we like.
The second thing is that we have to consider where we will place or keep the fish. Actually, there are many places to keep like ponds, aquarium, bowl, and pools, but not all of them are good as places to keep the fish. Ponds and pools have many weaknesses. They are temperature change, PH change and filthiness. When we put the fish on pools or ponds, they will live shorter, because the temperature in pools and ponds is easily fluctuated due to the weather and humidity. The PH is easily changing, because the water quality of pools and ponds is difficult to be controlled. That makes the PH changing all the time and it is not good for the fish’s health. Pools and ponds are also easily dirty. It is because pools and ponds are opened, and the dust can go into the water. That is what makes pools and ponds are dirty faster than other places. The next is bowl. It is the worst place to keep goldfish and also other fish. It doesn’t have any filtration system. The fish will not have long life. The secretion of the fish will not be filtered and it can cause illness to goldfish. Aquarium or tank is the best place for goldfish and also other fish. It has filtration system. We can add some filtration tools in order to keep the water fresh and healthy. The filtration tools are filter pump, intake, filter mat, gravels, bio ball, and carbon filter. Aquarium can also be added with aeration system. It is important, because the nitrogen that is produced by the fish cannot easily evaporate. So, we have to add aeration system consisting of aerator, aerator stone and hose. Afterall, aquarium is really recommended for all hobbist of goldfish.
Besides places, water is also important. Water is a medium of goldfish’s life. The temperature of the water must be 40 deg F- 80 deg F. The temperature change can affect the fish’ growth and health. The way to overcome is to add heater. We can manage how high the temperature is. Beside that, we have to do water change. it is really necessary in order to keep the freshness of the water though we are already using filtration system. The last about the water is to be dechlorinated. The tap water is not safe for our fish. We have to add anti-chlorine liquid or just stand for 24 hours.
Now about the food, there are many kinds of goldfish’s food. They are flakes, pellets, earthworms, assorted bugs, mosquito larvae and frozen bloodworms. From the examples before, the practical food are flakes and pellets. They are made of fish meat and many vegetables. It also contains a lot of vitamins and proteins. We can feed the fish with flakes and pellets twice a day with enough measurement, because if we feed excessively, it will cause clouds and finally the aquarium have to be cleaned up. Fresh food or living food are also important, because it doesn’t contain any chemical substances and actually, it is safer than chemical food. One thing that we have to remember is that do not overfeed. Goldfish is a kind of greedy fish and it will eat all food that we give. The result will be the death of our fish. So, feed them regularly is the best way to feed.
All fish have diseases and so does Goldfish. The most common diseases of goldfish are ich (ichthyophytirius), fin rot and swim bladder. Ich and fin rot are basically the same. They are caused by fungus and bad water condition. The way to treat are to add anti-fungus liquid and change the water more frequently. That will heal the disease faster and don’t forget to change the water weekly or twice a week and maintain water quality. The swim bladder is a disease that affect the digestion system of goldfish. It is caused by eating hard pellet or flake. The flake and pellet are not appropriately digested by the fish and it can trigger death. The way to avoid is to soak the pellet or the flake first before feeding them to the fish. The pellet and the flake will be softened and it will be easy for the fish to digest.
Breeding goldfish is not really difficult as most people think. Before we start our breeding process, we have to be aware of many things. They are finding information about the good breeding, choosing good varietes and good “parents”, noticing for the defects, and deciding the methods to breed. There are two methods of breeding Goldfish. The first is Flock method. This method teachs us to breed in fast way. We have to massage the male’s stomach to get the sperm and also the female’s stomach to get the eggs. Then, we join them together in one tank and let the eggs hatched. Unlike the flock method, the pair method is a traditional way of breeding. We have join the female and the male together and let them “ripe”. Then, the female will produce eggs and we have to take out the female and the male will fertilize the eggs. Actually, the result of the flock method is better than the pair method, because we can choose our best fish to breed without joining them first.
Finally, breeding and looking after Goldfish is beneficial. We can train ourselves on how to keep something. Then, we believe that we will be able to keep someone. That is why looking after goldfish is advantegeous. For the breeding, we can earn money from that activity though it is just fish thing. So, let’s try look after and breed goldfish. Someday we will know that it is a promising prospect to do.
References
• Goldfish. Wikipedia, Retrieved September 2010, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Goldfish
• Goldfish, Part 1-The Varieties. (1999). Aquarticles.com. Retrieved September 2010, from http://www.aquarticles.com/articles/ponds/Wilkinson_1Goldfish.html
• Goldfish, Part 2-Housing and Maintenance. (1999). Aquarticles.com. Retrieved September 2010, from http://www.aquarticles.com/articles/ponds/Wilkinson_2Goldfish.html
• Goldfish, Part 3-Breeding. (1999). Aquarticles.com. Retrieved September 2010, from http://www.aquarticles.com/articles/ponds/Wilkinson_3Goldfish.html
• Goldfish, Part 4-Diseases. (1999). Aquarticles.com. Retrieved September 2010, from http://www.aquarticles.com/articles/ponds/Wilkinson_4Goldfish.html
• All The Secrets Revealed To The Most Harmful Goldfish Diseases. Articlesbase.com. Retrieved September 2010, from : http://www.articlesbase.com/pets-articles/all-the-secrets-revealed-to-the-most-harmful-goldfish-diseases-77108.html
• Goldfish for Beginner. Aquarticles.com Retrieved September 2010, from http://www.aquarticles.com/articles/ponds/Pegasus_Goldfish.html
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