These oldie goldies all lived to be over 2 decades years old…
… Some more than double that.
Wow!
As goldfish owners, can we find interesting secrets to goldfish keeping here?
See:
While many people struggle to have their fish live past a few months (if that)…
… Long-lived goldfish are proof that their owners are doing something right.
Let’s start with Bob!
9. Bob
Image Credit: The Independent
Age: 20
This little old guy’s a fighter!
Bob made headlines across the world when he survived tumor removal surgery in 2017.
The owners paid $250 to have the procedure done on their beloved fish.
8. Byker Family’s Goldfish
Image Credit: Chronicle Live
Age: 21
One of the oldest goldfish in the UK, this fish was never given a name.
Owner Samantha speculates not overfeeding (and sometimes missing meals) contributed to his longevity.
7. Sally
Age: 23
Sally made her great debut on Youtube after her owner designed a harness out of an old swimsuit and a cork to fix her swim bladder problem.
6. Tom & Jerry
Image Credit: Chronicle Live
Age 23 and 21 (as of 2011.)
Possibly the oldest goldfish in North America, Tom & Jerry were funfair goldfish who live a simple life.
Janice said:
“We’re not doing anything in particular to keep them going. They just have a simple tank with a pump and we give them ordinary fish food.”
It appears one was recovered from “rockitis…”
“One of the fish almost died a while back after swallowing a stone. I heard a strange gurgling sound, so I took it out and gently squeezed the top of its mouth and the stone popped out . . I saved its life!
5. Sharky
Image Credit: The Daily Mail
Age: 24
Another wizened funfair goldfish makes the list!
Little Sharky has even survived being flushed down the toilet (he swam back up).
4. Splish & Splash
Ages: 38 and 36
These two fair fish shared a 9.35 gallon tank for over 30 years together until Splish passed away.
Their parents placed the new arrivals into a bowl before acquiring a second-hand plastic tank from a friend.
‘The fish stayed in the plastic tank until 2004 when I bought a tank with a filter system,’ said Mr Wright.
‘It was luxury compared to their last tank. It’s about 18 inches long, ten inches deep and a foot high. I call it their retirement home.’
Source: https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1298936/Meet-Splish-Splash-33-year-old-goldfish-old-gone-grey.html
3. Fred & George
Image Credit: The Mirror
Ages: 40 & 40
Fred & George are a couple of funfair goldfish who recently overtook the world’s oldest living goldfish.
Fish lovers around the world can sympathize with their attachment:
“We go on holiday to Devon a lot but I can never be away from my babies for too long.”
2. Tish
Image Credit: BBC News
Age: 43
Fair fish Tish clocked in at about 4.5″ nose to tail.
He overtook the record-holding goldfish Fred who died at age 41 in 1980.
Owners believe:
“…the secret of his long life was not being overfed, and being put in the sun occasionally.”
He had a habit of jumping out of his bowl until they added a protective net over the top.
1. Goldie
Image Source: BBC News
Age: 45
Goldie was housed in an 18 inch (smaller than 10 gallon) aquarium with a few aquatic snails, some plants and shells.
The fish was even the star of his own movie!
However, Tish remains the officially longest-lived goldfish as further documentation was needed for Goldie. A scale sample could have been taken, but the owner was not willing to have the fish subjected to the stress.
Observations on These Record Holders
Look carefully and you’ll notice all these long-lived goldfish have these surprising things in common.
1. All Were Stunted
These fish would all be considered “undersized.”
(No 12″ common or comet goldfish here!)
This is one more argument to show that stunting is not bad for goldfish.
If it was, none of these would have survived decades beyond the large goldfish (which normally typically live only up to 20 years).
Conclusion:
Stunted goldfish actually can live longer.
See More: Stunted Goldfish: Is it Harmful?
2. Living in Unheated Environments
Colder water slows the metabolism of the fish.
It also slows the growth of the fish.
The results?
A prolonged lifespan.
Conclusion:
Slower growing fish can live longer.
3. Living in Smaller Aquaria
Smaller homes concentrate the growth hormone.
This indirectly produces smaller goldfish.
Rather than following the typical guidelines for these types of goldfish, which can grow 12″ in a larger environment…
The humble fish bowl (so often ridiculed) was the first home for many of these fish – and for Tish, remained his forever home.
Others were housed in tanks around 10 gallons.
For what it’s worth:
Tank size doesn’t have to cause limited growth.
These people kept the water very clean for their fish via lots of water changes, consequently their fish (which were 10 and 9 years old in 2015) grew much larger.
Conclusion:
Smaller does not automatically mean bad.
Related Post: Why Goldfish Tank Size Isn’t As Important as You Think
4. None were fancy goldfish
Every one are your typical feeder/fair fish common or comet goldfish.
It’s been the observation of many experienced fish keepers that fancy goldfish just don’t live as long due to their more extreme body shape, which compresses the organs.
These long-lived fish are closest to their natural ancestor, the carp.
Conclusion:
Less extreme goldfish breeds can live longer.
Last Observation
All of these goldfish (except Bob) lost their color in their old age.
(Maybe Bob’s still got a little while to go before that happens.)
Why?
Just ask the next 80-year-old you run into why they have gray hair 😉
Why do most fair fish live such short lives?
In my opinion:
The real reason most fair fish don’t live long is because of 3 main problems:
- Overfeeding resulting in ammonia poisoning because they have no filter or live plants to take care of the waste they create.
- Many (if not most) pet store and fair fish come with parasites or other diseases which gradually kill them.
- Stress from everything they’ve been through to get to where they are
Of course, genetics can also play a role in longevity.
Hence why one can die in 2 days while the other lives 2 years – they’ve both been through a lot of stress, but one is just hardier than the other.
That said:
It’s not right that goldfish so often die within a few weeks or months of coming home.
Personally I think most fair fish have the potential to live into their 20’s and 30’s no problem…
… but no amount of genetics can overcome the 3 problems above.
But given the right conditions?
They can be long-lived pets for sure!
Conclusion
I hope you had fun reading this post!
Or perhaps learned something interesting.
Maybe this overturns some of what you’ve previously been told about goldfish.
Either way, age certainly can hold wisdom – wisdom we can use to broaden our knowledge of the fascinating goldfish species.
Want to share your insights?
Leave your comment below!
Very nice insight. Direct and no bs. Love it.
Thank you 🙂
Are these all UK goldfish? Any source of info about goldfish elsewhere in the world? curious what you\’ve come across!
I\’ve been enjoying your site since my young niece talked me into taking in three comet goldfish. They were among others in a no-longer-tended pond. I am thinking of it only as a trial fostering… and that I could take them back there, if it is fairly soon. We are in Georgia in the U.S., so it will not get terribly cold but there will be winter lows.
I can commit to their care if they do ok without any electric tech, for filtering or heating. I’ve had them a week and they seem untroubled in a 3 gallon drum shape bowl of conditioned tap water, with an Amazon sword. I could do water changes frequently if that seems to work. 30% every week, or less but every few days? also maybe there is a specific deconditioner I can use against ammonia build-up? along with minimal feeding, as I gather from what I’ve read from you!
I’ll welcome any specific advice! But of course I can and will keep perusing your helpful writings for info on these things. So I’ll be most grateful if you can answer with your view on this main question :
Are their prospects — for survival, with an ok quality of life! — all the better with me, in a very low-tech set-up* versus the outdoor pond? You (and I) would probably need to know more about the conditions to assess, but maybe you could answer in these terms:
Do you think it fair to figure I may as well do what I can for them, even if not ideal, given their alternative…?
Thanks for any response to this rather long note!
No, these aren’t all UK goldfish.
Obviously a pond is considered the most ideal habitat for a goldfish rather than any indoor aquarium as they have natural food and sunlight with unlimited space. However if it was up to what’s most ideal, none of us would have any pets 😉 I think you are doing great. Test the water & only change as necessary.
I have a goldfish that’s about 8 years old and 8″ long. What size tank would you suggest for him? I read somewhere that goldfish need the width to be twice as long as their bodies. Then the length must be six times longer than the fish. Is this a myth?
There’s no strictly scientific answer to give you for the length of the tank in relation to your fish’s body length. We can really just use our best judgment and make sure the fish can swim comfortably. The Japanese used a 3-4x the body length rule for Tosakin. They were goldfish masters so it’s probably not a bad rule of thumb. Hope that helps 🙂
UK (again sorry) My Jimmy A ye old Common Goldfish is the same age as myself. he was hatched the same year i was born (i was born in Feb 1982, Jimmy who was my first ever fish, Hatched May 1982) I still have him now. Not sure how much longer sadly as he has cancer growths under his gills. but he’s 37 years old 🙂 Also Stunted and lives in a 200l tank (most of his life has been spent in a 120l tank with the exception of when he was a fry, where he was in a 20l tank)
Wow that’s amazing, thanks for sharing Annabella!