It makes me mad whenever I hear this:
“Yeah, we tried keeping a goldfish once. But of course, it didn’t live more than a few weeks.”
While it’s true that goldfish do have a reputation for being short-lived pets…
… do they deserve it?
No way!
In this article I’m going to blow your mind about how long a goldfish can live – and the REAL reason so many goldfish die early.
Let’s cut to the chase!
Goldfish CAN Live to be 40+ Years Old
There, happy I didn’t keep you in suspense? 😉
Yep, in fact:
Goldfish are the longest lived of all aquarium fish.
Just take a look at the chart below:
They are also one of the longest living of all popular domesticated pets!
Goldfish can easily outlive a cat, dog or even a turtle.
Now isn’t that absolutely amazing? 😀
But there’s a catch:
This is really only true of slim-bodied goldfish, like Common and Comets (typically given away at fairs as prizes).
Fancy goldfish on the other hand, have a much shorter lifespan – with good care, 5-10 years is the average.
This is because selective breeding has drastically removed them from their original form and caused them to be much more fragile genetically.
That said:
Some of the hardier (and less extreme) fancies, like Fantails, have been known to exceed the 15 year mark.
Of course, such long goldfish lifespans aren’t the norm for fancies.
Oldie Goldies: Check Out these Long-Lived Fish!
Who is the oldest goldfish in the world?
Let’s have a look at the proof.
A goldfish called Goldie passed away at the ripe old age of 45 several years ago.
That’s nearly half a century old!
Sadly, Goldie was disqualified from the title of the world’s oldest goldfish in The Guinness Book of World Records because his owners couldn’t provide the necessary documentation…
… So the official crown (get it? off-FISH-ial? Sorry, I couldn’t resist 😉 ) ended up staying with Tish the goldfish.
Tish had passed away a while before Goldie at age 43.
And these aren’t the only champions:
Recently, two comet goldfish fair friends (Fred and George) were recognized for passing the 40 year mark in Britain, outliving the family dogs.
There is no question that goldfish have the ability to live for a very long time.
Now:
This brings us to the more puzzling fact…
Most Goldfish Always Die Rather Quickly
So, exactly what is the average lifespan of a goldfish kept in captivity?
I’ve been unable to find any stats to offer a definite answer, though fancy goldfish (with proper care) typically reach 5 to 10 years in captivity.
This is because their modified bodies makes them less resilient than their slim-bodied relations, who can survive much longer in the wild.
However:
It’s a safe bet that most goldfish don’t make it past a few years once acquired (many don’t last more than a few weeks). Those who manage to make it to even twice that are somehow seen as “superfish.”
That’s still nowhere near how long they should live – let alone 40 years!
But people think this is normal – that goldfish don’t live long because they can’t.
(We now know that isn’t true.)
By now you should be beginning to see that something isn’t right with this picture. We have goldfish can live long, but they usually don’t.
What gives?!
Well, good news:
I’m here to shed some light on the 2 main reasons why goldies are only making it to a fraction of their potential lifespan.
Reason #1 Behind Such Short Goldfish Lifespans
It’s true that some goldfish just aren’t able to live out their full lifespan because of factors out of our control, such as undernourishment during the early years of a goldfish’s life.
But high death rates in most cases are caused by 2 major things…
First:
Water quality.
Most people – even those at pet stores – honestly have no clue about the needs of the fish they are buying or selling, and in many cases hold to outdated and downright false ideas about what it takes to make this species thrive.
So it is rare that a goldfish will be able to survive in the conditions they are kept in – it isn’t right for them.
Here is a handful of all-too-common no-no’s that cause untimely deaths:
1. Keeping their fish in an unfiltered bowl or tank
Put your goldfish in a bowl?
Many times they will die quickly unless they are set up properly.
Bowls can be extremely dangerous environments for a goldfish if there is nothing to remove the waste that the goldfish continually puts out – which increases with the more they are fed.
Because they get dirty so quickly, the level of toxins so high that it literally burns the fish alive, often leading to sickness and infection (if they don’t die from the burns first).
It’s amazing they last as long as they do!
But don’t worry…
There are things you can do to protect them from this.
Read More: Goldfish Bowl 101
2. Feeding them an improper diet and/or overfeeding
Goldfish (especially the fancy ones) have very specific needs when it comes to what to eat and how often to eat it.
Sadly, goldfish flakes are the go-to staple that often causes constipation, excess protein and overfeeding (it’s about impossible to tell how much you have actually fed!).
Overfeeding causes a host of problems, from throwing off the biological balance of the tank to terminal conditions such as dropsy.
Not good!
3. Not cycling the aquarium first
All aquariums are closed environments. They need filtration, and that filtration has to have a colony of beneficial bacteria built up over time in order to work.
That’s why we need the cycling process – to give us that good bacteria.
Not cycling the tank can be a huge mistake that causes goldies to die from the totally imbalanced water parameters that result from a lack of “good bugs.”
Contrary to popular belief:
You can’t just walk home from the pet store with a NEW fish and put it in a NEW tank that doesn’t have a good bacteria colony or any live plants and sit back, thinking everything will be fine.
Reason #2 Behind Short Goldfish Lifespans
This one is something most people never think of.
Picture this:
You do everything right for your new pet, care-wise. You are the epitome of a perfect goldfish owner.
BUT…
The fish gets sick and dies within a few months (or less) regardless.
What happened?
Well, it could be that your fish got stressed out from the whole pet store ordeal.
See, they ship the fish around a lot from place to place, and it stresses their immune system. Then they are exposed to a bunch of other fish, many which are carrying diseases. When the fish is weak is when it is susceptible to picking up a problem.
So what happened in this case only could have been prevented by buying your goldfish from a reputable supplier or breeder (which is the only way to buy goldfish that I recommend).
Admittedly, this doesn’t happen to all pet store goldfish.
Some are treated better than others.
Some are also hardier than others.
But you eliminate a lot of the risk by not shopping at the pet stores. 🙂
These are 2 big reasons, but there are 3 main other ones.
Read More: Why Did my Goldfish Die?
The Secret to Having the Longest Lifespan for Your Goldfish
People don’t necessarily do these things because they want their fish to suffer – they just don’t know any better.
In fact:
Most fish owners are shocked when they learn how long goldfish can live!
But it gets worse:
There are way more care mistakes than what I’ve brought up in this article – mistakes that people make at the expense of their pet’s life.
I don’t have time to cover all of them in this article, which is why I spent the last 2 years of my life pouring my wealth of goldfish care knowledge into one resource, The Truth About Goldfish.
It has EVERYTHING you will ever need to know in order to master the art of goldfish care to ensure your fish lives its life to the fullest.
Check it out 🙂
In Conclusion
We’ve busted the myth that goldfish can’t live a long time.
I’ve also revealed the reason they usually don’t.
Now I want to hear from you.
Did you learn something interesting?
Maybe you want to share the age of the oldest goldfish you ever owned?
Either way, drop your comment below.
We got our goldfish at a harvest festival over 8 years ago. He’s been in a glass bowl with no filter. I feed him regular goldfish food and he even comes to the side of the bowl when it’s feeding time. We are AMAZED he’s lasting this long!
You’re actually proud of that???
This information makes things a bit more clear for me. Last week, my wife won some gold fish for us at a carnival. I was told not to over feed them, and when they’re constantly swimming towards the top of the tank it’s time to change the water. 2 out of 3 have died already. So now i have one left. I’m trying to learn all that i can because i don’t want the fish to die necessarily.
Hi Judie, We also have our goldfish in a 2.5 gallon glass bowl without filtration, he is now 18.5 years old. Around 10 years ago he got very ill and was floating upside down, it was do to bloating from that dry goldfish flake food, he got gas and it caused him to float upside down. I fed him a cooked garden pea and it saved his life, since then I only feed him frozen fish food and he is happy and healthy.
Wow, thanks for sharing Darlene 🙂
Hey fish lovers!
I got two goldfish for my daughter when she was 2 yrs old . One unfortunately died a couple of years later. But i still have 1 left. My daughter is now 15 yrs old.
I feed him only once a week with vitamin fortified pellets and clean out the tank only twice a year. He is very happy and healthy.
Our gold fish, called fishfinger, lived for 17 years in a very large bowl.
That’s awesome!!
Our pair of goldfish were prizes from the local fair. Immediately given a nice home in a 20 gallon long tank, not a tall tank as they tend to swim laterally rather than up and down. Tank is filtered and aerated and cleaned regularly. We feed them softened peas from time to time. They seem happy and healthy and are the largest goldfish I’ve seen in a tank.
Who this helps so mush all my friends are going to read what i am writing and they will want goldfish to because they live so long. I really want goldfish but if my parents won’t let me i will do the research that proves they are the best pet ever!
Glad it helped you, Rebecca! Hope you get to have a goldfish soon!
My goldfish is 21 years old. She us the offspring of goldfish my son won at a fair. She is a white comet. She is kept in a clean 55 gallon tank. Her tank mate and sister died last year. She had a fancy tail also white. I’ve heard most goldfish live 20 years if kept in good conditions in captivity. I change the water 20 per cent per week add water conditioner. Also I use spring water with a ph if 7.2.
Thanks for sharing Lina!
I inherited 4 goldfish in my pond when I bought my house 9 years ago – they had been there for over 10 years. There is no filtration system as it’s too far up the garden and I don’t feed them. Two of them have since gone – I did see a seagull dive in once and also magpies are very interested in them, so I recently put some netting over the pond. They are quite long and fat.
I’ve been a bit more proactive recently with them – I bought a pond vacuum and more plants, so I hope they survive this attention. I’ve only vacuumed a quarter of the pond so far. The pond has got blanket weed lately so I remove it by hand
It’s quite the story how I ended up with my goldfish.
Firstly, a friend of mine moved down to North Carolina and she couldn’t take the goldfish she had won at the local fair with her, so she gave her pet to me to care for.
“Guffy” the single tailed, common goldfish was in a fish bowl and all alone, gasping for oxygen at the very top constantly. I felt horrible about this, so I set out to aquire a better tank and some other fish for tank mates.
I eventually came home with a 10 gallon aquarium kit and a few days after that, I introduced Guffy and the other three new fish to the new habitat.
Not one of them was at the top of the tank gasping and they all seemed lively and content, so I thought I was all set.
Then I learned about how huge goldfish get, and I realized that they would need a tank far bigger than 10 gallons. I felt awful.
I went back to the pet store and bought the biggest tank my cramped apartment could accommodate, which unfortunately was only a 38 gallon aquarium – but I figured it was still much better than 10 gallons!
I do the best I can do to take care of them all. They’re my babies, as silly as some think being so attached to fish would be. They actually have very sharp memories. They follow me from one side of the tank to the other, recognize my voice, and hang out and watch me if I sit nearby.
I love them so much. I would totally give them that 180 gallon aquarium or pond if I could…
Aww thank you so much for sharing your story, Rachel. Kudos to you for doing your best to give them a great life!
This was so nice written. I too have my gold , 4 years old, who follow me, from one side of the tank to the other side as i pass the tank. I love my babies.
I acquired Chuck & Norris after hearing my Boss telling a friend on the phone she was sick of caring for them. She was actually planning on throwing them into the retention pond behind her home. I immediately confronted her and asked to take them. She brought them over in a small goldfish bowl with a live plant that was nested atop a paper plate with the roots in the water. They appeared healthy, water changes done weekly. These guys were won by her daughters at a church fair 3 years prior. I upgraded them to a larger bowl but not long after Norris died. I researched a little and found Chuck needed a bigger tank and added air. So far Chuck lives and I have had him 3 years. He always comes to the front of his tank to greet me and seems content. I hope he lives a long time!
That was so nice of you, Donna! It’s always great to hear stories like this. Thank you so much for sharing and stopping by to leave your comment!
When I was a kid I won a goldfish at the fair. My Mum put hi in the (small) pond in the garden. He grew big. When they sold their house 25-26 years later he was still swimming around (a lot bigger). Also, even though this is a goldfish site I want to add that our Jack Russell lived until it was 17 (had to be put down because of cancer) and our cat which we took in as a stray at around 2 years lived for another 21 years (also had to be put down sadly). I don’t know what my Mum does to animals but boy do they live long.
Ask her what she feeds them 😀
Bought our son starter tank and added fish later. This was for his 8th birthday present. Shubunkins didn’t hang around long but goldfish still going. Son’s coming up 28 next year. Goldfish has survived moving in to new larger tanks and has changed colour from the standard gold to white with some gold. Mum and dad do the caring for fish and tank cleans these days!!
That’s amazing, Kim! Thanks for sharing! That makes nearly 20 years!
I have two goldfish, one my kid won at a carnival which is a orange comet and the other we bought from a pet store (which is a white fancy fantail) to keep the other company. I had them both for 10 years now. However the fancy one I bought from the pet store, appears to be dying. It is swimming rather oddly and didn’t eat in a few days, it also look like it lost weight. I’m wondering if it’s sick or if it’s dying of old age. The other fish is fine.
It sounds like old age.
We have a goldfish named Spunky that my daughter won at a fair when she was young. We figure he is now around 14 or 15 years old. He has always been in a tank with filtration. He started acting funny a couple years ago and I switched him from flake food to pelleted food, and he’s been fine ever since. He has a Koi for company. I am planning on putting them both in a hundred gallon tank soon, for more room for both of them.
Neat!!
I built a small pond (4′ x 3′) about 12 years ago. at first we stocked it with a dozen store bought goldfish. 5 of them have survived over the years. I added more gold fish twice and 2 koi once, all died but the 5 original goldfish. I feed them the flakes once a day in the winter and twice during the summer. I add new water every 3 months (more often in the summer). They have all gotten huge except one has a growth. i was concerned when a wandering turtle hung out for 3 weeks, but he didn’t seem interested in eating the goldfish .
I hope your fish keep going strong, Ron! Those 5 must be pretty tough little guys!
I have three different types in a large tank they are all ten years old and quite large I enjoy them alot and do my best to care for them and there environment.sadly the black one is not looking to good so I’m hopeing it bounces back
I hope he does, too, Angie! Thanks for sharing!
Cool read. We have had our 3 goldfish from the fair going on five years! I was telling my husband how much my fish love me. Its true they just float around in such happiness and follow me around the tank. 2 are orange 1 has a longer feathery tail and the last is bright orange and white. Those 3 seriously sleep on each other and just cant get enough of one another they really are just so pretty and neat to have. I do have a filter and bubbler some plants gravel and a skeleton in their tank and honest to God that tank is always so crystal clear its amazing how clean they keep it. 10 gallon and i feel like sometimes they should he in my 20 gallon lol. I can only hope they live til 40 and im sure my oldest son who is 5 will be the one to want to keep them
Aww, thanks for sharing your story! Goldfish do have such personality, don’t they? If you could get them a larger tank, I bet they’d have an even better chance of living a long time 🙂
Very interesting article. I believed the myths about goldfish not living long, and only having 3 second memories. I got my son 2 goldfish in one of those plastic small tanks, thinking that they only have 3 second memories so why would they need a big tank?! Sadly one died not long after we got him, he’d always seemed poorly though. But the other, Bob, is still doing well (he was 2 this summer) and he has got his own little personality. Some faces scare him but others don’t?! He used to be scared of the neighbour’s cat, but now they both just look at each other for ages! When Bob first saw the cat he’d swim as far away as he could and you could see he was panicked. So he must have learned that the cat isn’t a threat (I never leave the cat alone with Bob!).
I’m pleased to say that he is now in a lovely big glass tank, he’s got so much more room and is a lot happier. I just didn’t realise how playful goldfish were, he loves to swim up the the filter and let the stream of water blow him back! It’s so lovely watching him in his new tank with so much room to play. I’m ashamed I didn’t realise the importance of a proper tank at first. I’m hoping he lives for many years to come!
Your story is very touching, Beth! Thank you for sharing your experience so others can learn too. We all make mistakes along the way of our fish keeping journey, the good news is Bob has a great life thanks to your care and research 🙂
We are a prop management company and adopted 2 abandoned goldfish 22 years ago and they are still going strong to this day
Awesome, Gilly! Do you know what breed of goldfish they are?
When I was a kid, I had a carnival goldfish (a comet?) live some dozen years in a decent-sized bowl. We had no bubbles or filter pump, but we regularly changed out the water in the sink. (He seemed to ) (I think our city has pretty good ground water, not chlorinated or artificially fluorinated.)
He (or she) had temporary mates at different times, but none lasted long. He never showed signs of parasites or petechiae or distressed behavior. He was always pretty interactive, right up to the end, a great pet. (If I remember correctly,
I’ve had no such luck with any fish since, despite real fish tanks, treated water, bio-filters, etc. 🙁 Still trying!
Every fish is certainly different! I’d recommend picking up a copy of our book to help you on the right path with keeping other fish 🙂
Our fish Goldie passed away 2 days ago. Goldie was 13 years old. Our grandchildren thought he was special. When it was feeding time my granddaughter would let Goldie when he came to the top of the tank. He will be missed.
I’m sorry to hear you lost Goldie 🙁 13 years is still a long time!
Our fish Goldie passed away 2 days ago. Goldie was 13 years old. Our grandchildren thought he was special. When it was feeding time my granddaughter would pet Goldie when he came to the top of the tank. He will be missed.
Have had goldfish for the last 35 years or so. 3 gallon glass Globe bowl with about 2 inches of marbles. No filter or pump. Flake food every day, small amount. When the bowl gets nasty ( every 2-3 months or so ) I scoop the ( single) fish out, clean the bowl and a complete water change with well water, no chemicals. Put him back in. That’s it for tank care. Mr Fish was a 69cent pet store refugee and is 17-18 years old, has nice clear eyes, good color and is still frisky. The previous one made it to 13yr going strong but an overzealous cleaning lady killed him with Pledge overspray. Believe it or not, that one would let me “pet” it and also allow me to grab it barehand before cleaning, I swear it recognized me.
They do recognize faces 🙂
Hi I got two Oranda goldfish 2 comets and 2 common given to me,they was in a small 10 gallon tank and I couldn’t see them that way so I went out got a 5ft tank built 300 plus gallon and put them in there with a good diet of frozen shrimp/bloodworms and veggies as often as I can and pellets daily
And they absolutely love it
I had no interest in fish until I had them given to me and couldn’t watch them suffer and no I absolutely love my carps and wouldn’t change a think
I will be getting a goldfish for Christmas I am 8 I hope to see while I grow up
What kind of goldfish did you get, Carver? 😀
Our goldfish named Fishy is alive and well for over 15 years. Goldfish were given to all the children at a Birthday party my son attended when us was 6 and he is now 21, all of other children’s fish died within days. We put our fish into the standard round fish bowl and always use filtered water from our under the sink water filtration system. I have two bowls one is filled with water about 2 days before to gets to room temperature and then he is switched out. He was orange and is now turning alittle whiter. Would this be due to age? He has a great personality and always seems to be on what ever side of the bowl that I’m on. I recently got a bigger bowl. Do fish stop growing when they hit a certain age? or do you think that he will get bigger now that I have put him in a bigger round fish bowl?
Yes, fish will eventually stop growing. Fading color on older goldfish is normal too.
I am 55years old , and my goal is to have my two goldfish , #7 and tangerini out live me . Initially I had a 2 1/2 gal fish tank. I killed 6 goldfish because of lack of knowledge and buying sick fish. UGH! I studied hard and learned each goldfish would like 10 gals each.my wife told me she was going to the basement to get my birthday present. I imagined a large fish tank. Then I thought nah she wouldn’t get me that for her kitchen However there she was carrying my new 20 gal tank up the steps. She loves me for sure! #7 got his name because I killed 6 fish before him. Fish are well. I have all live plants. I use ammo chips and aquarium salt . Water changes are key. If fish acts odd. A partial water change may just do the trick. I vary their diet with three different foods.
Thanks for sharing your story, Michael! I hope your fish live a very long time and they will definitely do better with a bigger tank. Kudos to your wife!
I have one fish (Mrs. Fish) in a bowl that I clean regularly. I got her for a dime from the feeder fish tank at a pet store. I don’t have time, space, or finances for an aquarium, but I figure she has a better life than being eaten…
Do fish do better with a partner? Or solo? She is 3 years old and seems happy!
I would definitely not recommend getting another fish in that setup. Most likely it will kill Mrs. Fish.
We just lost our goldfish, who lived in a 50-gallon water trough at the stable for at least 15 years. I changed the water once a year and fed him occasionally. I was always careful about keeping a bucket of old water for him and then refilling the trough gradually, so the temperature and PH wouldn’t shock him. We have well water, so chemicals weren’t in problem. Mostly he lived on the grain the horses dropped in the trough and whatever else fell in the water. He started out as a 10-cent, 1-inch goldfish and grew to 7 inches. We live in Virginia, so it gets down in the single digits once or twice during the winter. The trough did not have a heater. It froze over many times, but he was always there when the ice thawed. Recently, though, we had two weeks of subfreezing temps, culminating with a night at -4 degrees. After the water thawed, he floated to the top. Don’t know why he didn’t make it this time. My guess is the water froze all the way to the bottom. I tried to post a PDF of him but it wouldn’t take.
If the water freezes solid, it can kill the fish 🙁 Sorry for your loss, he sounds amazing!
I currently have a 75 gallon tank with 3 Common Goldfish, 1 Shubunkin Goldfish, 1 Bristlenose Plecostomus, and 3 Fathead Minnows. Two of
these fish I am especially surprised of! The first is Carp. He is a 5″ Common Goldfish who I’ve had for about 1 year. The second is Pepper. He is a 3 1/2″ Common Goldfish who I’ve had for about 4 months. The third is Shuby. He is a 3 1/2″ Shubunkin Goldfish who I’ve had for almost a year or so. And the last two are…Tip and Tiny! I’ve had Tip the longest, about 1 1/2 years! I got him at a carnival! He was in a large plastic trash barrel filled with untreated hose water, no aeration, no filtration, and out in the beaming sun! I won him, along with 3 others ,who were “Tip, Cream, and Reggie”, and immediately put them in the only tank I had in the house. I put them into a 15 gallon high tank with an Aqueon Quieflow 20. I didn’t know I had to treat the water from chlorine and chloramines, and I had no clue about “cycling” the tank. Sadly, Reggie died first. Next, Cream was suffering, so I had to put her out of her misery. All I did was feed her to my Garter Snake, Knot. But miraculously, Tip has lived, and grown a lot! I don’t assume he’ll grow much, as I assume he has bad genetics, but when I got him he was about 2″, now he’s 3 1/2″! He is now with Carp, Pepper, and Shuby, Carp being his “BFF”. And another fish was like Tip. He is named “Tiny”. I got him last year at another carnival to give to my brother as a gift, but my brother has no earthly idea on how to care for anything but himself and cats (and not even that well!), so I took him back. He is unusually small, but I’m not surprised. I got him when he was only 1″, but now he’s 2″! To conclude, I am very happy for my fishcakes (is what I call them!), and I hope they live for years to come! I must be doing something right, as they’ve all been alive for longer than they would’ve been in the small, cramped, over-stocked, 20 gallon long, Petco “Feeder Fish” tank stocked with over 50 other small/large Goldies! (FYI, I really want to start a Goldfish Rescue!)
That’s quite a story, TheRatDragon! A goldfish rescue is a fantastic idea 🙂
I had 3 goldfish in a bowl filled with water. One of them died (January 6, 2018, to February 5, 2018). And then, the smallest white one died (Jan. 6, 2018, to Feb. 8, 2018). I still have one more left, and I can’t get a bigger container 🙁
And it has the wrong date. The real date for me is on February 8, 2018 at 8:47. Also, I buried the two fishes in my backyard. RIP. :/
I’m sorry to hear that, Amy 🙁 Changing the water regularly will be very important until you can upgrade.
We won our fish a fantail at a fair twenty one year’s ago and he was kept in a medium sized bowl with no filter etc. He never had any health problems and he was a very much loved family pet to six children over the years.He sadly died yesterday.
Aww, 21 years is a long time though 🙂 It must have been hard to lose him 🙁
Very interesting reading all the comments. This week we brought our 20+ years old ordinary goldfish indoors. We used to keep fish indoors then built a large pond and our current Goldie was bred in our pond about 25 yrs ago when we had about 45 goldfish, then when we moved 16 yrs ago we brought 25 with us to a new pond. 8 yrs ago we had to fill in our pond as venomous snakes came to drink from it and also eat the fish. The remaining 22 were placed in a very large outdoor tub without filtration, only aeration and they lived until 18 were killed 7 years ago when the local council sprayed the streets for mosquitoes – without warning. Goldie was the only one left by Feb 2018 so my daughter gave me one of similar size from her tank, for a mate. In the pond I only fed them every 3-4 days with normal flakes and all lived quite well on that until the mosquito repellent episode. Now the two of them are in a 64 litre (17 gallons) tank with filtration and aeration and fed only a tiny amount of flakes each day. One point: our have always lived in rain water, not tap water and this new tank was filled with rainwater. Just hoping the will live
I have a goldfish from the county fair in August 2006. He is still alive today and lives in a five gallon fish tank with a filter. I also have a fancy goldfish I bought from petsmart in 2009 he is still alive today and lives in a 29 gallon tank.
Those are some long-lived fish, Brandius!
My goldfish has recently turned 10 months old and he is 6.5 inches long already, I had only started researching goldfish a few months before my boy hatched and I have learnt so much in the past year. He currently resides in a 50 gallon tank and I cannot wait until I can upgrade him!!
That’s amazing how fast he’s grown! 😀
I know right? Im just wondering how big he will grow, being this big already!!
Was the persian new year recently and it was custom to buy gold fish. We have four little ones and we kept them in a fish bowl. I changed the water every week using bottled water (Poland Springs) as it didn’t take long for them to pollute the water. Finally I got them a bigger mini 3.5 gallon tank and they seem happier now. They don’t greet me anymore and beg for food anymore though. The only think is one of them was a silver goldfish who has gone black since adding black stones to the bottom of the tank. Kind of weird. Natural camouflage I think.
Thanks for sharing, David! You might want to try testing the ammonia, as turning black is indicative of burns.
Its so sad seeing how many people in the comments keep their goldfish in a bowl and still dont know its terrible ?
Yes, Freya, hopefully they will check out our article on bowls here.
I have five goldfish in a three thousand gallon pond. I would like to get a couple more but worry they won’t get along, any tips?
Goldfish are community fish and should get along. Usually when they don’t it’s spawning season.
My son chose a one eyed fancy tail gold fish along with an all white one. Wish I knew exactly how old they are but they would have to be around 7 years old now. The white has a gorgeous flowing tail and One eyed Willy is smaller, Willy often has to be feed peas because of their food. Just recently moved the into a 50 gallon tank and I love that they have so much space now. So happy to see that they have such a long lifespan. Looking forward to enjoying them for many more years. 🙂 Will look into a better food option for them.
Sounds like you are doing a great job for your fish, Tracy! Keep it up!
My goldfish is 18 years old and gets excited when I come home from work as that is usually feeding time. Tomorrow I have to transport him 170 miles to our new home in the Scottish Highlands.
18 years?! You go Michael!
Hello! I had two fancy oranda goldfish about 2 inches or so. I just lost my orange oranda Goldfish Harry to disease and I believe swim bladder issues. I buried him in my backyard and his sister Hermione seems to be doing well now! I hope hermione lives a long happy life with me!!! Thank you for all the tips you have included in this they are very helpful and hopefully will help me be able to keep baby Hermione growing, thriving and surviving!!!!!!!
Haha thanks for stopping by Julia, hope Hermione has a great life with you with many years to come!
Having had salt and fresh water before (and after losing a very big 5 to 6 inch fan tail in 94 and quitting, decided to give it another shot. Got a baby fan tail, had to gradually build the tank sizes again because all my stuff was gone and we went from bowl, 5, 10, 20, to 40 gallon and he got pretty good size as was happy. I would come home and wave at him and he would wag his body. Unfortunatley this past Hurricanne Florence we lost power for four days and my ph levels went wack, and the filter was acting strange, woke up at 1AM and he passed. Burried him, dont know if I can do another fantail.
Aww I’m sorry to hear that :'(
I’ve kept Goldfish all my life and have a calico butterfly moor / telescopic eye which spawned in 1999 and she’s still going strong and still producing eggs. She’s around 12″ long (including tail) which is huge for this type of fancy goldfish. She lives in a 5 foot tank with 2 young males. After the next spawning I’ll separate the males and leave her in there with another female to live the rest of her life in peace.
That is AWESOME!! Would love to see a photo posted to our group 🙂
Not sure how to post / upload a photo here?
Does this link work:
http://rs2000.co.uk/wp-content/gallery/test/MVIMG_20180508_182840-2.jpg?i=745554784
I’m not on FB btw, hence can’t post on there.
That link isn’t the best photo of her but its enough to give you an idea. She’s a picture of full health and so much energy for a fancy going on 20 years old.
Although this fish isn’t quite show quality her Mother won best in class at a national show in the late 90’s so she’s from a good bloodline.
The secret is:
1) Water Quality
2) Water Quality
3) Water Quality
4) Healthy varied diet fed small amounts regularly including Saki-Hikari pellets, prawns, bloodworm, mussels, mealworm, peas, earthworms, broccoli etc.
What a gorgeous fish! You’d never know she’s 19 years old!! I was thinking to myself, “I wonder if she’s got a longer body or a round body” and your photo confirmed. I think the longer-bodied fancies are way hardier. Thanks for sharing your secrets too, water quality is super important! 😀
Her body isn’t quite as long as that photo makes out, but longer bodied fancies are much less susceptible to swim bladder problems. Shorter bodied rounder fancies look better but they usually don’t go past 6 years old without getting swim bladder issues.
Here’s a couple more photos of her and one showing the males who’ll be spawning with her next year.
http://rs2000.co.uk/wp-content/gallery/test/Oct-2018-males.jpg?i=482278018
http://rs2000.co.uk/wp-content/gallery/test/Oct-2018.jpg?i=1342761802
I loooove Broadtail moors. 😀 Those are so showy! Bet the babies would be amazing. I really can’t believe she still spawns at that age! You are definitely a master 🙂
I built a pond in my livingroom, its about 16″ high, 8 ft long and 3-4 ft wide. put lots of rocks, gravel, a filter that lives in the basement so it is not seen. its output comes out to power a rocky waterfall. I seasoned it well with water and rocks from an established tank. Pond liner is under everything. I added 6 feeder fish i got for $1.00. 1 died in a few days, the next one died 6 years later leaving me with 4. The other 3 lasted 10 years and died within a month of each other. the lone survivor is now going on his 14th year and has become huge!
Wow! Sounds like your fish has quite the life!
Any recommendations for a tank, food and (live?) plants? My son won a fish (Finnagen or Finn for short) at our summer fair and he’s so peppy and cute and greets us in the morning and throughout the day. I never thought I would put money into a goldfish but he’s been with us over 6 mo and I’m determined to give him a good life now that I know they should live so long. I think he’s a little bloated (is trying to stay straight…one side wants to go up slightly) and I read some raw peas could help? I’m looking at 10gal tank on amazon as I read that’s what one goldfish will need and I’m getting some good pellet food instead of the terramin crud we have.
Finnagen sounds like a fun little guy! You can check out here for plant recommendations and here for good quality goldfish food picks. Don’t forget a filter 🙂
I had a bubble eye goldfish. I got her around 5 months ago but she died from a fungus that I caught to late. She lived in a 2 gallon tank with no filter and I cleaned the water weekly. I was just wondering if you knew what I could’ve done to help her.
Bubble eyes are pretty sensitive to live in an unfiltered environment. The smaller tank size increases the ammonia concentration. Next time you get a fish (if you decide to), I recommend getting a filter and a bigger tank if possible 🙂
I have two tanks,one is a 55 gallon with 4 multicolored gold fish that are between 8 and 10 inches long.The other tank is a 15 gallon tank with 3 gold fish about r5 inches long.The larger fish are 5 years old and the others are about 2 years old.The big thing is to change the water at least once a week and don’t keep the water to warm because these fish are pond fish.If the water is too warm they will have breathing problems and die on you. Don’t over feed them too much and use the clear water formula.I hope to have them for as long as I can.Hope this helps some of you all. Thanks ,Paul, boat6768@hotmail.com PS-I use aquenon filters and no heaters.
Great tips Paul!
Bad goldfish care is one of my biggest “pet” peeves. I don’t keep them because I don’t have the space for them in my narrow flat, but I grew up with them at my parents’ house. They currently have six goldfish over ten years old that were all around 12+ inches long the last time I saw them, living in a pond out back because they outgrew their tank and my parents didn’t have space for a bigger tank, so they dug up a corner of the backyard and put a simple, basic pond in instead. There’s mesh over the pond to protect them from the snakes and raccoons, the space has some fencing and a roof around it to protect them from the harsh winters, and they’re big and happy.
Just because some goldfish manage to live long lives in inappropriate conditions doesn’t mean we should be smug about it. Humans can live in a small cell in reasonably good health as well, but that doesn’t mean they’re happy. Taking on the responsibility for a life means we should provide that life as optimal conditions as possible.
Thanks for sharing your thoughts, Sunny!
Hi all
Iv been reading all the comments and there are so many versatile was people are looking after their gold fish. I required two beauts at the cricket club fair. I was actually horrified fairs are still being so cruel. My to boys went on hook a duck (you can’t loose) and they were adamant the fish is their prize even though I encouraged them to choose a toy. Anyhow ? I immediately came home to get them out of there plastic bag wtf! Fuming I was. That was 2years ago. They have a tank with a filter and bubbles obviously ? I choose times of the day for the bubbles to mix it up a little. However Iv never been comfortable with this flake food tbf. A few things I have wore down from the comments are frozen fish food? And vitamin fortified pellets? I saw some gold fish pellets in a shop recently and was tempted to buy but then was worried I’d upset the apple cart as they seem ok. Gold fish are greedy I have learnt. As they don’t have a stomach I think they would eat forever or a least till it kills them. However, I do worry if I’m feeding them appropriately. There are so many differing accounts online it’s difficukt to know which is accurate. Any advice I welcome. For vinny & Wendy ??
Thanks for sharing! You may want to check out our article on goldfish food 🙂
My toddler absolutely LOVES fish, and my husband and I would like to get her an aquarium for her birthday. I’ve had many aquariums throughout my life, but I want to make sure to make this one is as healthy and balanced as possible so she’ll have her fish friend for a long time. We’re planning on a 20-gallon tank with live plants, possibly with a couple small catfish or algae eaters to keep things clean, and at least one common or comet goldfish. Would you recommend getting one or more goldfish for a tank that size?
I would do 2 so one has a friend 🙂
I was hoping you would say that 🙂 I would hate for him/her to be lonely.
Thanks for your help!
We got our two goldfish, Moby and Dick, March 2009. This morning Dick was floating at the top of their 30-gallon tank. He’s always been the smaller of the two. I moved him to a separate bowl and tried to resuscitate him, but he passed away while I held him.
Goldfish do have personalities and memory. I’m very shaken up about losing Dick. Moby is quite a bit larger, and has always been more extroverted. Should I be concerned about Moby’s health also?
Thank you.
Probably old age, good job keeping him alive that long!
Awesome and informative! Thank you for taking the time to compile this article.
The guy that said “are you really proud of this” is a Numbat, you should be proud of it because of the love and effort you put into the text. Well done !
Thank you so much for your kind words, Tony 😀
I have an Oranda named Peach! She’s going on 5 years! I love her so much she’s my world. I never knew fish could live this long or have such personality like she does. She always gets excited when I come over to her tank and one of her favorite activities is “riding the wave” from the filter or when I add fresh water. I hope she lives for a long time<3
Peach sounds like a fun fish to have around, Sara!
2 years ago a dug a 2-level pond and bog system that is about 3,000 gallons. Water from the larger, deeper pond (15 feet in diameter) is pumped to an undergravel manifold in the bog pond (10 feet in diameter). I have water plants such as papyrus in the shallower bog pond.
I intended to raise tilapia in the larger pond, but initially put in some feeder goldfish from Walmart (39 cents) as canaries in the coal mine. The sales girl was so happy I wasn’t going to feed them to a snake. They did well. The originals are now 4-6 inches long and have had many babies.
I was worried about introducing the tilapia, but they all get along just fine. The tilapia are also reproducing, so I now have 75 or more goldies, 30 maturing tilapia, and maybe 200 tilapia fry. I know this is too many and am trying to figure out how to reduce my herd.
I exchange a percentage of water from my well occasionally and have waterfalls and fountains to provide O2. I feed a mixture of flake food so the minnows can eat, and pellets for the tilapia, which are immediately hogged by the goldies. I also grind oats into a powder to feed the smaller fish, but entire population loves the oats.
I’m going to a reputable pet store today to get turtle food and ask about adoption of some of the smaller goldies.Then I will just have to figure out how to capture them.
Thanks for sharing, Michael!
My son won 3 goldfish at our local fair 10 years ago. Two of them didn’t last. They died within the first year. The third one Bubbles is still alive. His tank is about 3.5 gallons and has a small filter. I also add a stress coat and a stress zyme as the water is not that great. He’s very active. Loves the filter, has knocked it down many times. I think he’s getting too big for his tank. Will be moving in about 3 months. I’m thinking of upgrading his tank, but I’m a little scared he might die. He’s a beautiful abalone colored long tail.
Sounds like you’ve got a good thing going! I wouldn’t change anything myself in case something went wrong.
So…we just got 2 new goldfish from the fair. We bought a starter tank and put conditioner/stress stuff in it but have to wait 24 hours before transplanting them and I’m TERRIFIED they’re not going to make it until then!!! The little tank they are in now is so filthy and it’s day 2 that they will have been in there (they won them at a fair out of town so they had to travel home from that because they’re aunt lives an hour away). I have some bottled water that’s ph balanced for humans that I was thinking of heating up a little (to room temp or so since it’s been in the fridge) and taking some of that nasty cloudy water out and the ph balanced in until our 24 hours is up. Sigh…I just don’t know what to do! Dad and the girls also fed them with the flakes that the tank came with and it was TOOOO MUCH! I don’t know how I know that, I just do. I keep blowing bubbles in the water for oxygen for them but I don’t even know if THAT’S a good idea for not. I just don’t want them to die. 😔😔😔
You do not have to wait 24 hours. Bubbles are a good idea. The main thing is that if your starter tank isn’t cycled, it could cause issues in a few days. You will want to read up on fish in cycling.
Fishface is over 10 years old and has grown from about 1″ when brought home from Walmart to about 8″. Over the years it has had multiple friends, but none have survived. It has been evacuated from a wildfire (a week spent in an RV) as well as been moved about 200 miles to a new home. Fishface has its own 22 gallon aquarium and doesn’t get special care, other than adding water, cleaning pump filter and goldfish flakes.
Thanks for sharing about Fishface, Stephanie!
I have a goldfish for 11 yrs. He has turned white & has a bend tail. I use to feed him 2x daily but have since changed his feeding to once daily. I just started treating the tank water because he was getting sick every 2 weeks after I would clean the tank. My fish is most happy when I completely drain his tank & give him fresh water. I have even taken this fish with me on vacation! Crazy, I know. I acquired this fish at a school carnival. Who new 11 yrs later it would still be alive
That’s fantastic, Hill! Vacationing with goldfish must be fun!
I am the proud owner of a 141/2 year old goldfish named Splash! He lost his fins due to hookworm when he was less than a year old, and has erratically propelled himself with his tail ever since. In his excitement, he would often splash water around, hence the name splash. He is fed tetra fin flakes twice daily and his filter and cage are cleaned monthly. He outlasted all of his friends and is alone now, yet he is the happiest little fish you could ever meet! This little dude is truly a superfishy!
I also have two other fish, tiny and big, who have lived happily together for 6 or 7 years in a tank adjacent to Splash. Tiny has an huge beautiful fan like tail. Same procedures for them. Goldies outlive any pet if you take care of them!
Wow thanks for sharing, Eric! 14 & 1/2 is a long time!
My goldfish 12 years old now and name them Nemo/Moby and Willy… still going stronger and nearly 13 years in October this year..Love them like my babies.
Keep up the great husbandry 😀
We had 2 school carnival goldfish that were almost 3 years old in a bowl, they outgrew it and 3 weeks ago we put them in a bigger tank. Let it sit, conditioned, let the bio filter do it’s thing etc…put them in, all seemed well. Daughter wanted to add 1 more. Last week, we did get a pet store goldfish. Within 24 hours of letting it acclimate etc…the fish was dead on the bottom of the tank. I thought it was from stress. Then, yesterday came home within 48 hours of that one and one of our long timers was dead on the bottom. This morning our other one was floating. My daughter is devastated, I feel bad that we did something wrong. Wondering if we should try again? I don’t want to be a bad fish person.
Quarantine can help prevent this scenario. The dead fish may have fouled your water or spread disease.
My goldfish usually doesn’t survive a year in my aquarium… I often buy them for my pet turtles to chase around the tank. Good news for any goldfish lovers is that usually
I don’t buy goldfish often for my turtles cus’ those fishes could have parasites! Even if you buy them from Walmart, Petco, or Petsmart!!!! And the turtle tank water tends to become filthy within a week sometimes to the point where you can’t see anything in the murky water. (I clean on the weekends) If the goldfish managed to survive long enough, I would probably name them. Except whenever I named them, they end up dying… Either through my older sister’s carelessness or getting munched on by a turtle. This year is much my easier for the newer goldfish to survive in the turtle tank now because before, the turtles could almost always get into the basking dock’s cave that was shelter for the goldies. Now, the turtles are restrained a bit because they can only stick their heads through an opening. (I combine 2 docks into 1) Yet now that I have read some more info on goldfish, I know that it’s basically a living nightmare in hell for the goldfish. It’s a slow death sentence. The survival probability rate of goldfish in my turtle tank is a 0.20%
I have a two year old goldfish I bought at Walmart for 10 cents as a feeder for my Oscar he somehow lived and has grown the size of the Oscar his name is champion and he’s about 7-9 inches long he’s in a 70 gallon tank I feed them both everyday if I don’t the Oscar chases him around the tank lmao but he never catches him they are both very fast lol
Wow! That’s quite a combo!
My son won a goldfish at the school fair when he was 6 (sadly daughters one died after a week). We got 2 more from the pet shop and they are all still going strong. My son will be 27 next birthday making them almost 21 assuming they were less than a year old when we got them. They live in a 300 litre cylinder tank now as they are 7-8” long. I spend a lot of time keeping the water clear and feed them twice per day. The tank is a conversation starter when people visit as are the somewhat elderly fish!
Wow that’s so neat!
We got a fish and he got be older than 20 years as my dad got a big tank for his 50. My dad is now 70 he still going strong
He might make it to 30 at this rate!
I have had my two goldfish now Barry is from Barry Island and is now 8 and garry is from a fayre he is now 5 I keep them now in a very very big quarter of a tonne tank they absolutely love it as much as I love them, ie always kept my filters clean using tank water and only feed them flake food and peas, they are also part of a family along with 2 cat fish, 15 various guppies, 3 plecos and a sucker loach and they all get on famously, this page has been a wonder to come across some very valuable comments to learn from, I also only do a water top up as appose to a water change and this works really well with treatment of course, thank you all for sharıng your lovely stories x
Sounds like your fish are quite happy Cameron, and will probably be around for a good while to come!
Thank You,
I spent all my 20’s working on the ocean. I purposely didn’t go to college to get 3 different Captains Licenses. So……of coarse a Goldfish is very simple and easy.. I’m very pleased to say I was wrong….Thank You Merideth for your commitment to these stuff little Awesome fish…..You have inspired me to have a little speaker close to my Goldfishes bowl only playing Smooth Jazz…..
Aw thanks for sharing your goldfish story & your kind words, Captain Mark!
I have a common orange straight-tailed goldfish that I rescued 3 years ago from a biology lab at my uni. I keep her in a 10 gallon tank (cause that’s all I can afford) and have a good filtration system and bubbler and I clean the tank every couple weeks and make sure to always use conditioner and leave 20% of the water in the tank so I don’t take out the good bacteria. I have tried feeding her all sorts of frozen or fresh fruits and veggies that the internet has said were safe, as well as various types of frozen/dry fish foods, but the only thing she will eat is the orange container dry flake goldfish food that they were feeding her in the lab (when they weren’t experimenting on her). I feed her a pinch a day cause I don’t want to over feed her, and she has grown from an inch long to about 4 inches long in the past 3 years and looks like she’s at a good weight. I give her all sorts of toys and talk to her and she seems happy. She went blind in one eye a few months ago though and I don’t know why or how to help her. I feel really sad about that. Besides that though, she seems like she enjoys her life and knows my voice and always gets really excited and wiggly when I come near the tank and will follow me around and will hang out in the corner of the tank nearest to where I am in the room so I think that’s cute. She’s my baby and I do my best but I’m also a medical student so I’m hella broke and wish I could do more for her.
Sounds like you are taking great care of her!
Good stuff …Thank you Meredith. We use common gold fish (feeder-fish) in livestock water troughs (old bathtubs). I’m amazed at how long they live, feeding on mosquito larvae, and more. They receive little to no care, but they thrive anyway ..
Amazing, isn’t it!