Published on 09-06-2019
Most of us that get their first Goldfish keep them in bowls. Bowls are cheaper to buy and require very little space in your room. However, they aren’t the best way to keep Goldfish.
When keeping Goldfish in a bowl, care needs to be taken that the Goldfish receives adequate oxygen, food supply that is not excessive and a way for them to pass their time. Goldfish are very curious creatures. The bowl also needs to be cleaned regularly.
On this page, you will find everything you need to keep your first Goldfish healthy. I have a complete Goldfish Care Guide, in which I’ve explained in detail what you need to do so your Goldfish has a long and happy life. Keep in mind that this article is for people who are already keeping Goldfish in bowls. If you haven’t got your Goldfish yet, I recommend you read the Goldfish Care Guide first.
Air supply in a Goldfish bowl
Goldfish need a continuous supply of fresh air to their bowl. One of the ways that air is absorbed by the water is through the water’s surface. The larger the surface area, the more air is exchanged. In a Goldfish bowl, however, there is very little surface area. Because of this, the oxygen levels in the water will go down rapidly and your Goldfish will suffocate.
You can avoid this by installing an air pump in your bowl. The pump continuously takes air from outside the bowl and releases it into the water in the form of bubbles, so fresh air is constantly added to the bowl and your Goldfish can breathe freely.
Feeding guidelines for Goldfish in a bowl
As Goldfish do not have stomachs, they need to be fed 2 to 3 times a day. You can feed them floating pellets or sinking food. They should be fed only as much as they can eat in 5 minutes.However, be sure to remove any uneaten food after 5 minutes are over, as it will start to decompose. And that will rapidly make the water dirty and unfit for the Goldfish.
Goldfish bowl environment
The bowl should have some substrate, like gravel. The substrate collects dirt and helps in keeping the water clear. Be sure to use substrate specially made for aquarium use, or you could also use natural rocks/stones that have been cleaned. The bowl should be kept away from direct sunlight, room heaters and kitchen stoves. Goldfish do not handle higher temperatures well. You can also keep small decorations in the bowl to keep your Goldfish busy. They tend to spend a lot of time looking around in their bowl/tank.
Maintaining water quality in a Goldfish bowl
As with all other species of fish, Goldfish also have a set of water parameters that they thrive in. They have certain temperature and hardness requirements. They also poop a lot, which means that the water gets dirty more quickly. Since Goldfish bowls are so small, even the slightest changes in these parameters can be very dangerous to your fish, as there isn’t enough water to dilute the poop, toxins or uneaten food.The water will also heat up or cool down far more quickly.
In larger tanks, if one end starts heating up, it takes some time for the other end to heat up as well. This gives you some time to recognise that something is wrong and act on it. To read more on these parameters, you can click here.
Aquatic plants in a Goldfish bowl
Keeping real plants in a Goldfish bowl is a good idea. They provide filtration by using the nutrientsfrom Goldfish poop, thereby enhancing the water quality. They also make the tank look more beautiful. While plants release oxygen into the water during the day, they also use up oxygen during the night. This is not a problem in larger tanks that have a few plants, but tanks with lots of plants will need more oxygen supply from air stones.
Keeping a plant or two in a bowl makes it even more important to keep and air pump in the bowl, because the bowl barely has any air exchange from the water’s surface. Now adding that factor to a bowl that has no air stone is basically a death trap for your Goldfish, and it probably won’t make it till morning.
Keeping the Goldfish bowl clean
In an aquarium, cleaning is made more convenient by the filter. As there isn’t enough space for a filter in a bowl, you will need to do water changes more frequently. You need to change 50% of the water daily, or at least every two days.If you’re using tap water, you should put 1 or2 drops of dechlorinator in it and leave it for an hour before putting it in the tank. (You can get it at the fish store or online)
You can move the gravel around before removing the dirty water, as that will release the trapped poop particles which will be removed along with the water. If you do not remove the solid waste particles from the gravel regularly, dangerous gases will build up over time can be very dangerous to your Goldfish. They can even kill your Goldfish! Since they are invisible and stay undetected unless you check water parameters regularly; you will be left wondering why the fish died all of a sudden.
Space required to keep Goldfish healthy
Goldfish require a certain amount of space to feel comfortable. Giving them more space also makes it easier to clean the tank and have enough water so that their constant pooping doesn’t make the water quality plummet down quickly. How much space you need to give them depends on how big your Goldfish is going to get and how many fish you intend to keep. If you’re having trouble identifying your Goldfish’s breed or want to know how big it will get, you can click here for the Goldfish breed profiles.
For a single 4-inch Goldfish, I would recommend having a long tank that can hold at least 15 Gallons of water. (But don’t keep just one Goldfish though, the little fishy will need some friends) So for each additional 4-inch Goldfish you need to increase the tank size by 10 Gallons. For example, to keep four 4 inch long Goldfish happy, you will require a long tank that holds 45 Gallons. (15 Gallons for the first fish + 10 Gallons each for the other 3 fish, i.e. 30 Gallons = 45 Gallons) A long tank is a tank whose length is more than its height.
Now, a single 8 inch long Goldfish is twice as long as a 4 inch fish, so it will need a tank that is twice as large right? Well, the length may be twice, but the total mass in 4 times that of a 4 inch Goldfish. This means that the 8 inch fish will eat 4 times the food, require 4 times the space and poop 4 times as much!So, a single 8 inch long Goldfish will need a 45 Gallon tank to have enough room to move about freely, and also have enough water in the tank not to have massive fluctuations in water quality.
Stunted growth in a bowl
When a Goldfish is kept in small, constricted spaces, it takes much longer to get bigger in size. Depending on how much space it has, the fish could even reach a certain size and stop growing further! For instance, a Comet Goldfish, which can grow to be 1 foot long, may stop growing after reaching 7 inches. When this happens, the body stops growing, but the internal organs continue to grow, and problems arise when there isn’t enough room for them to grow any more. This basically leads the Goldfish to a slow and painful death.
So be sure to get a proper aquarium for your Goldfish! Hope you’ve found this article helpful! I’ve written a complete and comprehensive guide on Goldfish care. It covers all the basics, right from introducing a new Goldfish to a tank, to identifying and caring for sick Goldfish. You can read it by clicking here.