Hi Annalyn,

How is water quality? Have you tested the water for ammonia or pH lately? If your goldfish spends a lot of time at the surface, that’s an indicator that there’s something wrong with the water. If you haven’t done so already, I’d definitely recommend getting a freshwater test kit – you can buy them at any local pet store and the liquid version lasts years (I find them to be more accurate than strips). These help you determine common problems with the water, so you can maintain high water quality and help prevent diseases. You can even bring a sample of your aquarium water to the pet store and have them test it for you, though it’s much more handy to have your own test kit. Then you can test the water each week when you do your water change.

Have you changed the water recently? I recommend weekly water changes, changing out 25% of the water each week. This will help keep ammonia levels down and oxygen levels up.

Also, how large is your aquarium? You might be facing an overcrowding problem – this is common with goldfish aquariums. Fancy goldfish enjoy 20 gallons at the very minimum for one or two fish (preferably more). For three fancy goldfish, you’ll want 30-40 gallons of water or two 20-gallon aquariums. Goldfish excrete tons of waste and can quickly face an ammonia problem in an overcrowded tank.

I hope your goldfish starts to feel better! Let me know if the problem gets worse and definitely test the water if you haven’t done so already. In the meantime, you should continue doing 25% water changes every week, or more frequently (2-3 times per week) if your aquarium doesn’t meet the 20-gallon minimum.

Hi Im Annalyn,
Im so glad to see your site about how to give complete care of the fishes. We have three gold fish they are common types of goldfish. One is separated to other aquarium because she is very agressive to other shes always attacking and i dont have any idea just to keep the other stress frêe. Her name is Raffy. And two are Tobby and conny they are together in the aquarium. But Sad to say and Im quite worried of Conny because she did not eat for three days now i have a feeling that shes ill because shes really weak these days, swimming up and down but mostly she stay at the surface. We decided to isolate her to avoid spreading of disease if ever she really have and Tobby is affected. What should i do to save Conny. Please i want to hear your advice. Thank you

Hi Alannah,

Does the white goldfish with black and orange spots have bulging eyes (like the lens on a telescope)? If so, this goldfish might be a telescope goldfish or a telescope fantail. If the goldfish has a caudal fin (tail fin) that looks like it’s split in two down the middle, each side long and flowing like a veil, you may have a calico fantail (or if the fins are very long, especially the pectoral fins – the part on the body where hands would be – you probably have a calico veiltail).

The smaller goldfish might be a white comet, but if the tail fin is split down the middle, there’s a possibility the second fish is a white fantail.

Mr. Mosley and Shimmer are very cute names. 🙂 I’m so happy they’re getting along with each other!

Yep, some goldfish can grow to be over a foot long! These are mostly comets, commons, and shubunkins. So if you have a comet goldfish, he’ll most likely get a lot bigger if you take good care of him!

Cudi and Kenobi sound adorable, Josephine! Goldfish are certainly clever and will often dance with anticipation at the sight of food. If you feed your fish at a specific time per day, they’ll definitely know when to expect munch hour. My goldfish can even recognize the cans of dry food I sometimes feed them in the mornings.

Thanks, Thalia! Glad you enjoyed this article. There are actually many more goldfish varieties! They can be very fascinating fish. 🙂

Hi James – there are definitely more types of goldfish than the ones listed! Over a hundred breeds according to some sources. That’s a lot of goldfish! But the variety of goldfish available is one of the things that make this hobby so interesting, at least for me. They each have their own personalities and traits! What’s not to love? 🙂