Common Goldfish

Carassius auratus

The *Carassius auratus*, or Common Goldfish, is absolutely the most iconic, abused, misunderstood and mistreated fish in the history of world aquariology. Aesthetically it retains the robust, elongated and muscular hydrodynamic shape of the wild carp from which it descends, but sports a solid, brilliant and stainless dark orange, red, yellow or metallic white livery. Despite being sold for a few cents as a disposable 'bowl fish', it is a formidable, intelligent and massive cyprinid that reaches 30 centimeters (12 inches) in length and can live happily for over 25 years. Its exceptional biological resistance is its condemnation: it tolerates conditions of pollution and asphyxiation that would instantly kill any other tropical fish, enduring silent agonies in tiny volumes. In reality, it is a tireless cold-water swimmer, destined exclusively for huge aquariums or outdoor ponds.

Family: Cyprinidae
Origin: Asia Orientale (Cina). Esemplari ancestrali selvatici abitavano fiumi a lento corso, laghi e stagni fangosi; oggi le varietà commerciali sono il risultato di oltre 1000 anni di selezioni in cattività.
Tank use: Used in 0 tanks

Temperature

10 °C - 24 °C

7 - 8

Water type

Freshwater

Tank level

Tutti i Livelli (Nuotatore infaticabile). Esplora costantemente l'intera colonna d'acqua: raschia il fondo in cerca di cibo, perlustra i vetri e sale in superficie in attesa che il padrone gli dia da mangiare.

Adult size

30 cm

Description

The Deadly Murderous Gravel and Involuntary Mute Suffocation (The Sharp Stones and the Fatal Oral Entrapment):

Goldfish have an irrepressible, biological, maniacal, infinite and perennial instinct: to spend the entire day rooting. They swim down, suck up a large mouthful of sand or gravel from the bottom, hold it in their mouth rolling it to scrape bacteria or invisible food particles, and then spit out the clean stone. If in your asphyxiating aquarium you put sharp, angular or medium-large sized ceramic quartz gravel (the famous 1/4 inch colored stones)... YOU ARE CREATING A LETHAL SUFFOCATION TRAP. The fish will forcefully suck the stone, which, being angular and the exact size of its silly mouth, will fatally wedge itself like a block in the pharynx! You will see it thrash crazily, with its mouth wide open blocked by the stone, unable to breathe or eat, slowly suffocating. Put ONLY very soft fine sand or huge pebbles as big as apricots (impossible to swallow).

Care and observations

The Holocaust of the Glass Bowl (The Prison of Suffocating Agony, Ammonia Burns and Induced Blindness):

The reassuring and postcard image of the happy little goldfish in the round and tiny 1-gallon glass bowl without air on the bedside table is THE BIGGEST, INFAMOUS, CRUEL, SADISTIC AND LETHAL COMMERCIAL LIE IN THE HISTORY OF HUMANITY. The round bowl is an asphyxiating medieval torture chamber. The round shape tragically distorts the external view ruining the fish's eyes and causing it paranoid optical stress. The narrow water surface prevents the basic and fundamental gas exchange: the fish will gasp at the surface, panting, suffocating slowly from lack of oxygen. And worse: producing immense and continuous feces, in 1 gallon the water will saturate in half a day with lethal chemical ammonia that will burn alive and slowly corrupt the scales and gills of the poor helpless animal, killing it burned alive and intoxicated among atrocious, mute and unspeakable torments in a few months, against its natural 25 years of glorious life! IT NEEDS FORTY GALLONS NET AND FILTERS AS BIG AS CAR ENGINES.

The Silly Fake and the Massacre of the Tiny Ones (Why the Goldfish IS NOT a Companion for Guppies or Slow and Peaceful Neons):

Another huge and very common beginner's mistake is buying the heated tropical little aquarium at 79°F (26°C), sticking 10 very sweet and tiny blue Neons and 5 very colorful and minute Guppies with veil tails in it, and then, to please the incautious child, throwing in a nice 3-inch Goldfish believing it an inoffensive silly angel. VERY WRONG. First: the hot water constantly at 79°F will abnormally accelerate the metabolism of the poor cold-water goldfish, making it age, get sick and wear out in a year, turning it off. Second: the goldfish's mouth is a huge vacuum nursery! At night, while the docile and minute tropical fishes sleep suspended helpless in the dark, the silly and peaceful goldfish will grope the dark blindly sucking the water. It doesn't do it out of malice, but out of greed: your Neons or small Guppies will be sucked up alive whole, swallowed without chewing, and in the morning you will desperately wonder what happened to the little fishes.

Fish profile

Temperament: Estremamente Pacifico e Socievole (Il Gigante Buono). Totalmente inoffensivo e gregario. Non mostra mai aggressività verso compagni o altre specie, se non per pura e goffa goffaggine o fame cieca (ingoierà qualsiasi cosa gli entri in bocca, compresi avannotti neonati). Ama nuotare in gruppo.
Diet: Onnivoro Insaziabile e Vorace (Lo Spazzino Instancabile). Divora letteralmente di tutto e ha sempre fame, poiché è privo di stomaco e digerisce in modo continuo. Fondamentale fornirgli mangimi affondanti (pellet per pesci rossi) per evitare che, mangiando in superficie, ingurgiti aria compromettendo la sua delicata vescica natatoria. Necessita di un enorme apporto vegetale (zucchine, piselli sbollentati sbucciati, spinaci, lenticchia d'acqua) per favorire il transito intestinale e prevenire stipsi letali.
Tank level: Tutti i Livelli (Nuotatore infaticabile). Esplora costantemente l'intera colonna d'acqua: raschia il fondo in cerca di cibo, perlustra i vetri e sale in superficie in attesa che il padrone gli dia da mangiare.
Minimum group: 2
Adult size: 30 cm
Minimum tank: 150 L
GH: 8 dGH - 20 dGH
KH: n/a
TDS: n/a
Conductivity: n/a
Sex ratio: Indifferente, ma meglio in piccoli banchi (3-5 esemplari in grandi vasche). I maschi in fregola (riconoscibili dai tubercoli nuziali bianchi sulle branchie) inseguiranno le femmine in modo incessante ed estenuante in primavera: in vasche strette questo stress può uccidere la femmina, per cui serve spazio di fuga o un rapporto di 1 maschio ogni 2-3 femmine.
Feeding frequency: 2-3 piccole porzioni al giorno. Meglio poco ma spesso. L'eccesso di cibo è la prima causa di inquinamento estremo dell'acqua e di occlusioni intestinali (blocco vescica natatoria, facendolo galleggiare tristemente a pancia in su).
Bioload: Estremo (Macchina produttrice di Ammoniaca). Sporcano in modo spaventoso. Masticando tutto, triturando e defecando copiosamente, richiedono cambi d'acqua parziali (30-40%) settimanali rigorosissimi e un filtro esterno potente con abbondante materiale biologico (cannolicchi).
Flow: Corrente da Moderata a Lenta. I pesci rossi comuni (forma a siluro) sono ottimi nuotatori agili e sopportano bene le correnti dei potenti filtri necessari a smaltire il loro biocarico.
Reproduction: Disseminatore Libero Prolifico. Nelle mattine calde primaverili, i maschi spingono la femmina contro piante fitte o mop, inducendola a rilasciare migliaia di uova adesive trasparenti. Immediatamente dopo, se non separati, i genitori stessi divoreranno voracemente il 99% della propria deposizione.
Compatibility: Mantenimento Esclusivo (Vasca Monospecifica per Acqua Fredda). Non va MAI, MAI abbinato a pesci tropicali (Neon, Guppy, Scalari): le temperature sono incompatibili (i tropicali muoiono al freddo, i pesci rossi in acqua costantemente a 26°C accelerano follemente il loro metabolismo invecchiando e morendo in pochi mesi logorati). Inoltre, la bocca enorme del pesce rosso adulto ingoierà interi i pesciolini piccoli di notte. Ottimi compagni (in laghetto) sono Carpe Koi o Misgurnus. DA EVITARE l'abbinamento con le varietà "Fancy" (Oranda, Black Moor): i Comuni sono troppo veloci e ruberanno tutto il cibo, lasciando i lenti Fancy a morire di fame.

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Live aquarium/observation photo from iNaturalist for Carassius auratus.