It is difficult to accept, but no matter how much they genuinely care, goldfish keepers occasionally make mistakes that they regret.

We all make mistakes, but taking care of your goldfish is very easy if you learn and educate yourself about the common mistakes goldfish keepers make and do your best to avoid them.

So instead of beating yourself up for being unable to take good care of them in the past, read the following tips to help your goldfish live a longer, healthier life.

9 Mistakes to Avoid as a Goldfish Keeper

1. Choosing a small tank/fishbowl

A no.1 mistake that beginners make is choosing a small tank or a fishbowl for their goldfish. A single goldfish requires approximately 20 liters of water to grow properly and a fishbowl or a small tank doesn’t offer the ideal conditions for them to develop properly.

2. Not cycling the aquarium before adding the goldfish

Never put your goldfish in the fish tank or aquarium as soon as you buy it. Cycling the tank first helps establish a colony of beneficial bacteria. Unless these bacteria are present to break down the harmful ammonia produced by fish, your new finned friends would be swimming around in toxic waste.

3. Not maintaining optimum oxygen level in the tank

Your goldfish may suffocate and develop a number of respiratory ailments if you fail to maintain the oxygen levels in the aquarium. Always keep the oxygen at the ideal level and watch out for signs of low oxygen such as your fish coming on the surface or moving around less.

4. Adding untreated tap water

Tap water contains harmful chemicals and bacteria that may be toxic for your goldfish as well as for the good bacteria in the tank. Treat tap water with a good fish water treatment product before adding it to the goldfish tank.

5. Overfeeding

Goldfish don’t have stomach and therefore, fish food passes very quickly through their body. This means, they produce more waste by overfeeding, which may be harmful to them.

6. Not using appropriate filters

Always use a good quality filter to build up a colony of bacteria in your filter sponges and keep your tank water safe for your fish.  Choosing a filter that turns over around 10x the volume of your tank per hour may help maintain a suitable environment in the aquarium.

7. Adding unsuitable tank mates

Choosing inappropriate tank mates for your goldfish may be life-threatening for both the fishes.  It is believed that goldfish can’t be kept with any other fish but this is not true. Goldfish are compatible with mystery snails and other fishes like dojo loaches and Rosy barbs.

8. Adopting incorrect methods of water change

Ideally, your goldfish’s water should be changed once a week. Not changing the aquarium water often enough can be risky as harmful waste products may spike ammonia. Furthermore, changing too much water at once can also be risky as it may interfere with the proportion of good bacteria.

9. Not placing the fish tank in the right place

An aquarium is not something you will shift frequently. Therefore, before deciding on the final place for your aquarium, choose the perfect place for it. An aquarium should be placed nearby electrical outlets and water sources for ease of handling. Furthermore, make sure it is not placed near sound sources as they like to sleep in peace.