Buying New Fish ? Options

[jhansolo]

if u got spare room, not in use or your study room not fully utilised, then can do it. just say put in hall too messy. must keep hall nice and cosy. so shift the tank to room. then slowly expand from there lor.

My wife would have tell me to

[The Matrix]

   

Good for you to have room as well as tubs and tanks of difference sizes to cater for such mass buying.Not many of us have such facilities .I bet changing water and monitoring their health and progress must take a hell lot of time since these are not centrally processed.A potential risk of infection to note may be using the same hose to execute the water change.Are you a professional in the aquatic industry? If not such abundance of arrivals usually will lead to early abandonment of tedious tasks and commitment as exhaustion take the toll out of the ordinary keepers!Truly amazing passion...    

wah liao, mana wu eng do this kind of professional. only got to know a few people nia lah.

After chatting with so many people, i only find a common mistakes among all who quit. And I actually do agree with Geert on one of the condition to be a good goldfish keeper - devotion.

[CP]

I know of someone even convert the 2 toilets to fish tank room. he told wife so he can change water faster and won't mess up the place. And got guests come, surprise them with fish tanks in there. hahahaha ... a place to "relax".

kekekeke.........see my avatar,me too!

But now no more lah,bathtub use as hospital tank.

[gohks]

OK, since no one wants to start, I should give my 2 cents worth of goldfish selection experience.

Selection of a healthy goldfish is as important as on how to maintain and upkeep a goldfish (unless you do self-breeding). At some point and some time we will make some purchase or acquire to replenish your goldfish stocks (as no goldfish will lives forever) and selection on a healthy fish (besides the beauty) is one of very important goldfish keeping processes (if not utmost) everyone has to go through. No matter how beautiful the stock you acquire, you will not have it for long if it’s not healthy. No matter how tip-top your tank conditions are, or the best feeds you provide, you will loss your precious catch if it already has its problem at its source. At worst the deceases may even spread to your other dwellers (even after quarantine, as the lenght of segregation period is subjective).

I have seen goldfish with inherent/genetic deceases that are dormant for months or even years! and that one fine day just explode without warning and pass-out, not to mention those that perish within a few days during the quarantine.

People will just wonder why they loss their pets, and start to blame on their skills, setup or food, but a lot of actual reasons lie with the source (where you got your goldfish).

In short, nothing can replace or substitute the health of goldfish, if it already has its problem. As the saying goes, to have an excellent goldfish keeping, a good start is a MUST (right selection of stocks).

Now, the Selection Criteria for a Healthy goldfish:-

Fish Movement:
Take some time and patience to observe your fish of interest swims, before making the catch. A lot of tell tale sign can be observed if you carefully watch.

a) Is the fish lively and actively looking for food, or merely staying motionless. The latter can be sign of problem (can be subjective as the fish could be resting).

b) Does the fish show problem of swimming, e.g it is dragging itself or struggling through the water. When it stop swimming, does it starts to float upwards/downwards or sway sideway,. Are the fish perpetually staying near water surface or at the bottom? Never chose fish that sway sideway, head/tail standing, flipped or overturn. As all these are sign of incurable swim bladder deceases (buoyancy/floatation problem).*

c) Is the fish gasping for air near the water surface, this is sign of gill deceases (can also be subjective as may due to setup and overstocks).

d) Is the fish speed of movement normal? Is the fish darting upon perturbation (sign of stress), or moving slowly and lethargically (sign of weakness). Is the fish rubbing itself against object (sign of skin deceases, e.g. ick). Is the fish wriggling near water surface?

e) Is the fish has poo trailing from its anus (sign of constipation or digestive problem).

Appearance:
Next observe the fish closely on your palm on every parts of its body. You may also find some tell tale sign of its health.

a) Does the fish shows fading of coloration or pigmentation? Color loss and fading are sign of weakness and deterioration. Best to chose a fish with vibrant color, as its sign of good health (pink of health).

b) Examine the head carefully and look for
- Mouth: Any rot or mold? Is the gasping and movement fast and erratic?*
- Gill: Is the movement normal? Is it well closed and balance? This is sign of incurable gill deceases*
- For fish that got wen, any hole or whitish discharge? Any sign of rot?*
- Eyes: Are the eyes bulging (can be subjective as some goldfish have inherent protruding eyes). Are the eyes cloudy or with cataract whitish membrane? Never ever get fish with loss of any eye, as there could be some hidden deceases that cause the eye to drop or decompose.*

c) Look at the body closely for
- Sign of open wound, sore, patches, spots, fungus.
- Is any part of the scale standing, or losing of scales. This could be sign of incurable dropsy or pine-corn deceases.*
- Are the stomach well balanced, imbalance is again sign of swim bladder deceases, dropsy, kidney problem or water retention, or simply egg impaction. Sunken stomach is sign of thinning deceases.*

d) Last but not least, look at the finnage:-
- Are the fins torn or shredded, again these are sign of weakness and deceases. Fish could have recovered from an outbreak, after strong medication or are attacked due to sickness.
- Are the fins clamped or drooped, this is sign of stress.
- Do the fins have serious blood streaks problem, this is sign of bad water conditions or stress. Actually not very sure about this as I observed white fish used to have more of this, may be just normal.

* Recommended not to compromise at all, even how beautiful and perfect the fish is. You will not have the fish for long.

Others you may want to take some calculated risk and hope that the problem will disappear, if you really like the fish.

These criteria are genral rule of thumb, may be too stringent and we may end up buying no fish, but is better then buy and loss your precious catch, dumping away your cash.

Lastly, one thing which I still can’t figure out is how to identify a runt (fish that are not well fed and kept by previous owner or having genetic problem, resulting a permanent undergrowth). May some experts give some advise here. ;)