How to Choose a Healthy Goldfish

If you are getting a goldfish as a pet for someone or you yourself are in the market of finding one it is important to choose a healthy goldfish at the store. It can be quite devastating when a pet goldfish dies for a child, and even an adult really, and so choosing a healthy goldfish is certainly something that you want to do. There are some things that you can look for when choosing a goldfish to help determine that the fish is indeed healthy.

Finding a pet store that is known for quality pets can certainly help you choose a healthy goldfish. While shopping around be aware that some times the goldfish that are priced low may not be the best quality of fish. Many people find that they have had luck purchasing a goldfish from either a private breeder or from a pet store that has a good reputation for its pets. Although where you get the goldfish from is very important looking at the goldfish and its environment is equally important when choosing one.

If you are looking at an aquarium of goldfish and see that one or more of them are deceased this is a huge red flag. Not only does this mean that the goldfish that died could have died from a disease but their corpse have been in with the other goldfish, and that is not healthy. If you examine a well cleaned aquarium full of goldfish you can examine the goldfish themselves more closely to determine a healthy candidate for a pet.

You want to make sure that the goldfish that you choose is not injured or ill. Some signs of illness or injury may be gulping air at the surface of the tank, having clamped fins, swimming erratically, lying on their sides at the top or bottom of the tank and if they are rubbing, or scratching, themselves against objects in the aquarium. A torn fin does not always mean that the fish is injured, some tropical goldfish species just have torn fins. If it appears that one tank has many fish that are showing signs of a disease you will want to avoid buying fish from that tank.

In addition to having a look yourself it can help to question the seller of the fish, inquire about the condition of the goldfish and what they have been treated for. Having someone who you can trust when discussing the goldfish is clearly important and again selecting an honest breeder or reputable pet store is very important.