Waterworld Craze

A filter keeps the aquarium running and is necessary for most of the settings. It mimics the ecological environment that fishes are habitual to. So, how long can a fish live without a filter?

Fish can survive in an artificial environment without a filter for about 3 days to a maximum of a week. The number of days is mostly dependent on varying factors such as the number of fish, measures you are going to take to ensure filtration, the resources you have, and alternatives.

Now, you might also think that goldfish do really well in a fishbowl without a filter, as well as few show-fish. Or is it just an iconic memory from a movie that shouldn’t be practiced? Do you really need a filter for your aquarium? Let’s get to the root of it all.

How Do Fish Live In Natural Environment Without Filters?

This is the very first question that would come to anyone’s mind if one has to debate on the need for a filter for their aquarium.

Isn’t clean water enough for them? Don’t they just need water to ‘breathe’? Actually, no. This would be simplifying their problem.

Fish don’t just need water but the oxygen that they get from water. Still waters hardly ever have fish in it.

You can find fish in rivers or even oceans too where water circulates. But shallow ponds can also breed fish better than still waters, why? Isn’t it interesting? We’ll get there too in a while.

Role Of The Process ‘Cycle’ In Artificial Setting

Now, let’s try to understand what we are exactly trying to mimic in an artificial setting (fish tanks and aquariums) through the process called cycle.

Fish produce ammonia and if that gets accumulated in a fish tank, it will get lethal for them to survive. It can affect their life expectancy and health.

To counter this problem, live bacteria are added to the aquarium. These live bacteria attach themselves to the sponge and other filtering material – your standard filter. Once they start to live and breed, they consume this ammonia and create nitrite.

Then, a second set of bacteria makes their home in the filter and consumes nitrite to produce nitrate. This whole process is called a cycle.

Since ammonia and nitrite are highly toxic for fish, it is essential to ensure there is a bacteria growth in your aquarium before you put them in it.

A filter pumps air and circulates water inside of the aquarium. When the filter stopped working for any reason, the first hit is always caused to the bacteria living in the aquarium – they will start dying off.

Still, water doesn’t have enough circulation to produce oxygen. Hence, your fish will be swimming up to get some ‘gasp’ of air. Those fish who cannot do that will suffer more.

How Do Fish Survive In Shallow Ponds?

Rivers, oceans, and freshwater lakes all have natural filtration available to them via live bacteria, water circulation, etc. However, if there are many fishes in a shallow pond, they tend to live to a quite much extent.

It is because the movement of fish in shallow water creates enough air and oxygen to circulate in the shallow pond. Also, since the space between water and air isn’t so far, thick or deep, they can get oxygen much more easily.

However, it is not an ideal environment to live in and they do not tend to survive for a longer period because of other factors such as predators, water evaporation, no frequent change of water, etc.

Do Fish Like Goldfish And Betta Fish Do Good In Fishbowls With No Filter?

The short and simple answer to it is – they don’t. Any new fish-keeping hobbyist might be in such an illusion.

Doing this will either make your resolve stronger in maintaining the fish better or leave fish-keeping as a hobby altogether. Maintaining fish is not an easy or cheap job.

As we have cleared it before, clear water is not enough for fish to survive. People generally tend to keep fishbowl with the idea of saving space and money. Why buy filters when you can fill it up with clean water?

Without a filter, you will have to regularly filter water, changing it, and refilling it – maybe every day or at least every 2 days. Otherwise, you will observe your fish dying. In such cases, it is better to have a fish or two in a bowl, nothing more than.

Moreover, it is never a great idea to fill the fishbowl close to its brim. In every aquarium, it is always beneficial to fill the bowl or a tank till half or little over half if there is no filter there. In case we have a filter, then you can fill it close to the brim.

We all remember iconic stills in movies where a hero or heroine will be observing a fish in a bowl, swimming, all clueless – while our protagonist muses over it. But as a fish keeping practice, this is tedious work and even harmful.

After all, they never show what happened to the fish in the bowl as the movie ends. Did it ever have a happily ever after? These are the questions we need to ask.

How To Save Your Fish During A Power Outage?

The downside of having a filter would be keeping it vulnerable to a power outage. If your area has power outage issues, this is going to create havoc for the fish.

Your fish can survive this if you are ready to save them on time. Let’s first tell you the simplest and basic solution to it.

Getting a generator or inverter will help your filter, heater, and everything running smoothly. Inverters are generally cost-friendly for a longer term than generators as it needs fuel and the former needs batteries.

If you do not want to keep your fish vulnerable to the power outage, especially when you cannot be around to change the water and do the needful – it is good to invest in the inverter. If you want to go for generators, it can work out nicely as well.

Now, let’s get to the part where you cannot always afford to have an inverter or generator. There is nothing to feel bad about it but you have to be proactive about saving them.

You have a time window of 24 hours maximum to make the necessary arrangements!

This is how you can do it.

Buy an additional water tank where your fish can swim. Fill half the tank with the existing water and exactly half of it, nothing more.

Balance the population. The idea is to make fish swim in the water and induce circulation through their movement. If it gets overcrowded, shift half of them in another tank.

If you have larger fish, it is always a good idea to buy a kid’s pool (bathtub) and shift them there.

If you have plants in the tank, do not add them. Aquatic plants also need oxygen they get from water. This way, they will not be competing for oxygen. You can keep them stored in a plastic bag filled with water.

Do not feed the fish. They can live up to 2 weeks without food. The reason not to give food to them is that it will dirty the water. Filter always cleans food particles along with water circulation and pumping air. Leftover food will also deplete oxygen present in water.

Do not mindlessly add live bacteria to the new tank. The live bacteria may be able to eat ammonia, but it will not be able to properly form a second set of bacteria that eats nitrate. This will not produce a cycle that we are intending to create. Instead, it can get toxic for your fish.

The best thing to do would be to check the ammonia level in the water, pH as well as water temperature. It should be according to the needs of the fish. Just when the ammonia level rises in water, you would need to change it.

In case you are doing this for bigger fish and shifting them to a kid’s pool, make sure that you cover it with a net so that they do not jump out of water.

If these things get really tedious for you, you can ask your friends for help and shift your aquarium to your friend’s place who has an inverter or generator available to them.

Make sure that when you refill the water again in the tank, do not put the fish and wait for it to create a cycle. It is better to add ammonia in the water and wait for it to create a cycle, and then add fish back to the tank.

Not all fishes have eyelids to indicate they are sleeping, except for sharks. They sleep with their eyes open (a technique that would have been so useful to us humans in boring situations). So, can fish sleep with the lights on?

The short and quick answer to it is no, they cannot. It disturbs their biorhythmic cycle, as light is a big indicator of their sleep and wake cycle. Keeping the lights on will keep them ‘awake’ and it will lead to sleeping, behavioral, and health disorders. Hence, they should be getting their beauty sleep at night just like we all do.

Since fishes sleep with their eyes open, people who are new in the fish keeping community might consider them to be awake all the time. But how do fish ever sleep if their eyes are always open? Would your room-light disturb their sleep? Let’s explore all these aspects.

Keeping Their Eye Open For Threat

One of the reasons why fishes do not look like they are sleeping is because they do not have eyelids. We can perceive others to be sleeping when their eyelids are closed.

Since fishes do not have it, it is common to mistake them as being ‘awake’ all the time. However, there is a distinction to make here – they never have their REM sleep.

To understand their ‘sleep’, you have to understand their brain structure and survival mode. Fishes, especially smaller ones, are prone to be eaten by any predatory animal. Hence, they have to be more alert than the other species.

They are fully awake and alert in the daytime. But at night time, they prefer to hide anywhere they find to be safe and ‘sleep’.

Now, some fishes will form a group and go in hiding together to feel safer when they sleep. Some will be lone rangers. They will go to the bottom of the sea or aquarium and hide behind plants and lush.

The idea is to be swimming gingerly in one place and take naps. They do not sleep as we do. They are prone to sleep in breaks than at full stretch.

When they are in their deep sleep time, they tend to go ‘blind’ to their surroundings – just like when we daydream. You can even catch a fish (without disturbing it or touching it) and shift it to another tank –and it will still be sleeping.

An alert fish will be swimming and showing some kind of movement or resistance to the move.

Just like us humans, fishes are prone to get irritated, get jittery, or get insomnia when their sleep cycle is disturbed.

Fishes deliberately wreck their sleep cycle if they are migrating or spawning or when they are taking care of their fry. This can make them aggressive for a while but it is rather temporary and small in impact.

Chronic sleep deprivation can make them lethargic, lose orientation, affect their health, and pick up a fight with other fishes in the tank. A lot of it has to do with the light they get in their aquarium.

Sleep And Its Relation To Light

Light affects most of the living organism’s biorhythmic cycle on the earth, including ours. Daylight indicates the body to wake up and be alert and the absence of it prepares the body to rest.

The main aim of sleeping (or even taking continual naps when we talk about fishes) is to replenish the body and mind. If one gets too much or too little of it, the body and mind suffer. This holds true for fishes as well.

Keeping the lights on for too long or keeping the lights too bright for some of the sensitive species can cause them to feel disoriented. Not only that, algae will start to flourish at twice the speed.

At one point, fishes and algae will be fighting for their spot in the aquarium. Some lights might even cause a change in temperature and this can affect your fishes as well as aquatic plants. Too much sunshine indeed creates a desert.

Fishes will sleep when you turn the lights off. Just make sure they get 12 hours of daylight and prepare for sleep by nighttime.

Interior fish lights are necessary for some species of fishes and aquatic plants, especially when your area doesn’t get a sufficient amount of light indoors.

Goldfishes are known to lose color if they do not get sufficient light. If you have corals and plants in the same setting, the requirements can get even more specific. We shall jump into that topic next.

But before we get there, there is one more question that one might be curious to know – do fishes get disturbed by your room’s light? Does light and sound from your television cause sleep disturbance to your fishes?

It depends mostly on the species of the fishes and the environment you create for them. If you have fishes that are habitual of riverside and seaside, they may be able to tolerate a quite decent amount of television volume and sleep comfortably.

But if you have fishes who come from more quieter areas, they might need more peaceful silence.

Even though sound travels faster in water than in air, it will not cause any disturbance to the fishes, as there is a barrier between the two medium – the glass tank.

If you create any noise source inside of the tank, they will get highly disturbed, but they cannot be much disturbed by the outside noise. However, you shouldn’t be listening to deep bass, as its effect can penetrate in water and disturb their sleep.

When it comes to room lights, do not keep it on when they are sleeping. If it is absolutely necessary to put the light on in the same room they are sleeping, put a thick blanket over the tank so that they do not get disturbed.

Types Of Lights For Your Aquarium And How To Choose The Best One

There are 2 types of tanks that a hobbyist mostly keeps:

Freshwater tank

Saltwater tank

There are subtypes to both types of water tanks:

Fish only tank (only fishes and no other aquatic species. Level: Beginner)

Fishes with only live rock tank (introducing plants, sponges, invertebrates, and others in the tank. Level: Intermediate to expert)

Reef tank marine aquarium (little to no fishes, mostly corals, and invertebrates. Level: expert)

You can mix and experiment with the lighting system only when you have full knowledge of the species you have in your tank and if you have a genuine enthusiasm for it. Else, improper lighting can ruin everything.

Find lights that are in your budget and are relevant to the dimensions of the tank.

A fish-only tank will require a simple lighting system without getting too fancy. However, fishes with only live rock and reef tanks need very specific light requirements.

There are four main types of aquarium lights available.

Normal Output Fluorescent Lighting

Normal output fluorescent lighting or standard fluorescent lighting is ideal for freshwater and fish-only saltwater tanks. They are enough to illuminate a tank efficiently.

There are other popular variants of these fluorescent lights that have different light-emitting qualities.

Actinic White Bulbs – Helps in mimicking marine type light and environment. Helps in coral growth for reef tanks

Color enhancing bulbs – Ideal for a fish-only tank (both saltwater and freshwater). It helps in enhancing the glow of the whole aquarium and the fishes.

Plant bulbs – Ideal for fish with live rock settings or settings where there are plants that need photosynthesis.

Daylight bulbs – Used to mimic natural sunlight. Ideal for both saltwater and freshwater aquarium

High-intensity bulbs – Ideal for marine aquariums and stimulates deep marine light conditions.

Compact Fluorescent Lighting (CFL)

CFL produces double the amount of light as compared to standard fluorescent lights and is more operating friendly.

You get the same benefits as the former but with less amount of lighting equipment. It is ideal for both freshwater and marine aquariums.

High-Intensity Metal Halide Lighting

Metal halides lightings are efficient for lightening aquariums that are deeper than 24 inches. Other light sources may not be able to illuminate effectively at deeper levels of water and this is where metal halides lightings come in handy.

Light Emitting Diode (LED)

LED lights are almost new in the aquarium lighting field but they are doing an efficient job in emitting light at less amount of energy. It may be a little costly initially but it saves your money and energy in the long run.

It is good for a fish-only tank for both freshwater and saltwater tanks. More research needs to be done if they are really efficient for other types of tank given that we can also control the color temperature with LED lights.

Many of us dream about having an aquarium in our homes but are worried that it is too much work. I have also looked into getting an aquarium and did some research as to how much work it really is and which aquarium will suit me best.

Aquariums are, in fact, not that much work to keep, depending on the type of fish that you decide on, the size of the aquarium, and whether it’s a freshwater or saltwater aquarium. Many see the initial setup of the aquarium as the most work.

You should also start your tank off right to ensure that you don’t begin your aquarium with water that is unhealthy or even toxic to your fish. To do this, you need to first decide what type of aquarium you want.

In this article, we’ll look at both freshwater and saltwater aquariums and how to start them the right way so that your fish will have a healthy habitat to live and grow in.

The Differences Between Freshwater And Saltwater Aquariums

The basic difference between freshwater and saltwater aquariums is that a freshwater aquarium mimics a freshwater habitat (like you’ll find in a lake or a dam, for instance).

A saltwater aquarium, on the other hand, mimics a saltwater habitat, like that found in coral reefs in the ocean, for example. The fish, animals, and plants you’ll find in these different types of aquariums, therefore, differ a lot.

Because of the difference in habitat, there is also a difference in the cost between freshwater and saltwater aquariums.

Because of the more specific and (sometimes) harder to mimic habitat, a saltwater aquarium is more expensive to set up and look after than a freshwater one as other equipment is necessary.

Most aquarium keepers agree that freshwater aquariums are easier to start with when you want to get your first fish tank.

However, if you really want to start with a saltwater one, the best idea is to have a fish-only saltwater aquarium and to rather leave a reef aquarium for later when you have more experience.

If you are unsure about the types of fish that you can keep in home aquariums, here are the most popular ones. Of course, there are some fish, like piranhas, which are sometimes also kept as pets!

The freshwater fish that are mostly kept as pets are probably also the most well-known and popular fish.

Popular freshwater fish include:

Neon Tetra

Guppies

Goldfish

Angelfish

Zebra Danios

Oscar

Bettas

Kissing Gourami

Freshwater fish are generally speaking hardier than saltwater fish as they can better cope with changes in water pH, for example.

This is another reason why freshwater fish is sometimes a better place to begin your fishkeeping adventures — they are a lot more forgiving if you make mistakes!

Saltwater fish being kept as pets have become a lot more popular over the years. This is not only because of the movie Finding Nemo (2003) but also because newer technology makes it a lot easier to mimic an ocean environment for the fish using specific equipment.

Saltwater Aquarium

Popular saltwater fish include:

Clownfish (these days also often called “Nemo”)

Green Chromis

Wrasses

Damselfish

Tangs

Diamond Watchman and Orange Spotted Gobies

Butterflyfish

Saltwater fish live in water with a 7.8 — 8.4 pH, meaning that there isn’t that much room for making mistakes when you have a saltwater aquarium. However, with the correct tools, you’ll soon be an old hand at it!

Which Equipment Is Necessary To Start An Aquarium?

It’s very easy to go out and buy one of the all-in-one aquarium kits, but you should be careful to make sure that it contains everything you need to set up the aquarium.

You should also make sure that the brands used in the kit are trusted ones — even though it may mean that you will need to pay more. In the end, you’ll have the peace of mind that the equipment won’t break soon after buying it and place your fish’s lives in danger.

Here’s a list of everything (except the fish and food) that you will need to set up your basic aquarium. Of course, you can also add plants, some underwater “castles” or even a “sunken pirate ship” if you like!

Saltwater Aquarium

Freshwater Aquarium

Aquarium

Aquarium

Substrate (sand or gravel)

Substrate (sand or gravel)

Live rock

Filters

Salt filters

Lighting

Filters

Water testing kit

Powerhead

Hospital or quarantine tank

Protein Skimmer

Thermometer

Lighting

Chlorine neutralizer

Water testing kit

Hospital or quarantine tank

Thermometer

Chlorine neutralizer

As you can see, there is some equipment that is necessary for a saltwater tank that you don’t need for a freshwater aquarium. It is usually this equipment that push the overall price of the aquarium up.

The fish you decide to buy can also range drastically in price. Some freshwater fish you can get for as little as $1-$2, while some saltwater fish can cost upward of $100.

How To Prepare An Aquarium For Fish

Although it’s very tempting to just fill your new aquarium with tap water and add the fish, this is the worst thing you can do. Before you can add fish, you first need to prepare the tank correctly to ensure that your fish have a healthy environment to live in.

An aquarium can be made ready for your fish in just a few steps:

Plan the size of the aquarium and which fish you’ll keep

Clean the aquarium

Add the substrate and water

Install the aquarium equipment

Add the plants and other decoration

Cycle the aquarium and add your fish!

Next, we’ll look at each of these steps in detail.

Plan The Size Of The Aquarium And Which Fish You’ll Keep

First of all, you need to decide which type of aquarium you want and the species of fish that you want to keep. This will dictate the size of the aquarium that you’ll need.

There are various online calculators that can help you figure out the size of the tank you’ll need depending on the species and amount of fish you want to keep.

The larger the aquarium, the happier your fish will be; it’s untrue that fish “grow to the size of the tank”. In fact, if the tank is too small for the fish, they will be stunted in their growth which causes health problems.

The fish can also become aggressive because of the stress and lack of space.

Also, keep in mind where the aquarium will be kept — and keep the weight of the filled aquarium in mind as this can be hundreds of pounds depending on the size of the tank and the amount of water and substrate.

The aquarium furthermore needs to be kept away from direct sunlight and a lot of noise. Basically, you can’t, for example, put the aquarium next to a window and beside the TV.

Make sure first that you can afford to buy the size of the aquarium that you will need for your fish, all the equipment that goes along with it, and also that you have a suitable place to put it.

Once this has all been figured out, it’s time to go out and buy everything you need — leave the actual fish for now, though — and get the tank fish-ready.

Angelfish in a freshwater aquarium

Clean The Aquarium

Once you get the aquarium home, you will need to wash it, but be careful as you should never use any chemicals like cleaners on your tank.

Use warm water and – if the tank is dirty (for example if it’s second-hand), use white vinegar to wipe it down before rinsing it very thoroughly with warm water.

Remember to always keep the cloths, etc. that you use for the aquarium separate and only use it on the tank. This will ensure that no chemicals get into the aquarium’s water by accident.

Adding The Prepared Substrate And Water

Once the aquarium has been cleaned thoroughly, you can add the prepared substrate (gravel) and water.

To prepare the substrate, you will need to wash it — but, again, only using warm water.

The easiest way to do this is to place the substrate into the bucket you’ll use for the aquarium and add water. Swirl the water, discarding the dirty water.

Repeat this process until you find that the water is completely clean when you swirl the gravel around.

Add the substrate to the tank, creating a layer at the bottom.

Next, add the dechlorinated tap water to the tank. If it’s going to be a saltwater aquarium, you can also prepare the saltwater. Once you’ve added all the water, you can begin installing the equipment like the filters, thermometer, etc.

Installing The Aquarium Equipment

Following the instructions on the packaging, install the filter, thermometer (somewhere that’s easy to keep an eye on), and you can also install the heater now if one is necessary.

You can also add the protein skimmer, etc. if you are planning a saltwater tank.

Make sure, however, that you first rinse equipment that will be in the water with some water as well to remove any dust which may have collected on them.

Add The Plants And Other Decorations

Next comes a very fun part — adding the plants and decorations. Again, make sure that you’ve washed the plants (rinse them in clean water) and other decorations (that pirate ship) before placing them in the water. Note that both live and plastic plants should be rinsed beforehand.

If you’re using live plants, you should always plant the roots gently below the surface of the substrate, leaving the crown — if the plant has one — above the substrate. You can also use an aquatic plant fertilizer on the live plants.

Have fun while planting, decorating and creating a happy, healthy habitat for your fish. Just be sure to leave enough space for your fish to swim around in – don’t overdo it!

It’s always easier to add some more plants later rather than filling up the tank with plants and have your poor fish always swimming in a labyrinth of leaves.

After adding the plants, you need to cycle your aquarium.

Cycle The Aquarium And Add Your Fish!

Cycling the aquarium is one of the most important steps in getting your aquarium ready. Be sure that this is completed before adding any fish.

This is where your patience will be tested as you wait for the nitrogen cycle to complete naturally and for enough good bacteria to build up in the biological filter.

This is essential for the health of your fish as the bacteria will turn ammonia into nitrites and then nitrates. Ammonia and nitrites are toxic to fish, so you really don’t want these building up in the aquarium! Your regular water changes will take care of nitrate build-up.

How To Cycle Your Freshwater Aquarium

First, add some ammonia that you got from the fish store to the tank. Be sure to follow the directions on the bottle to a T regarding doses.

Leave the tank, but test once a week to check the levels of ammonia and nitrite. You’ll see that the levels spike first and then drop. Once the levels reach zero (0ppm) it means your tank has been completely cycled and is ready.

How To Cycle Your Saltwater Aquarium

To cycle a saltwater aquarium, you will need “live rock” where the bacteria can build up. Choose light rocks that have a lot of nooks and crannies for the bacteria.

Be sure to transfer the rocks as quickly as possible to keep too many of the bacteria dying off.

If needed, you can also add ammonia to the water to kick-start the cycling.

It’s important to know that cycling can take around 6-8 weeks before it’s finished. Once the levels of ammonia and nitrites reach 0ppm, do a 50% water change to get rid of a build-up of nitrates.

The video below shows some more tips on how to cycle a saltwater aquarium.

When To Test The Aquarium Water After Cycling

For new aquariums like the one you’re prepping, you will need to also check the water daily.

Check the following:

Water pH level

Ammonia levels

Nitrites levels

Nitrate levels

Water hardness

You will still need to check and test the water every few weeks in an established aquarium to ensure that there are no compounds that can affect or even poison your fish. When the nitrate levels spike, you will need to change some of the water.

Now that your aquarium is fully prepped, you can add the fish! However, you can’t just put the fish in straight from the container in which you brought them home. You need to acclimatize them first.

How To Acclimatize Your Fish

Make sure that the aquarium lights are off and dim the lights in the room (or draw the curtains/close the blinds).

Take the bag with the fish that you have bought and float it in the aquarium. This will ensure that the water inside the bag is adjusted to that in the aquarium. This will ensure that you don’t shock your fish during the next steps.

Open the bag and add half a cup of water from the aquarium to the bag with your new fish. Repeat this step every 5 minutes until the bag is filled with water.

Pour out half the water that’s in the bag into a separate container – not into the aquarium.

Start adding aquarium water again, half a cup at a time every 5 minutes until the bag is full again.

Now you can use a net to carefully pick your fish up out of the bag and add it to the aquarium. Discard the bag and water into a separate container.

Be sure to watch your fish closely over the next 24-48 hours to ensure that they settle in well, are eating, and aren’t showing any stressed behavior.

Final Thoughts

Now, we have to add that, if this sounds like too much work and something that will just take too long, that you should either re-think getting fish and an aquarium in the first place, or either opting for a species of fish and size of aquarium that you will be able to manage.

Just remember that large amounts of water — and, therefore, larger aquariums — are much more forgiving when it comes to changes in the water chemistry; so you should also not go too small.

Also, an aquarium will not only teach you patience but will also open up the underwater world for you. Watching an aquarium and looking after your fish is even stress-relieving and calming.

Making sure your aquarium is set up right from the start will also give you peace of mind when you add your fish to their new habitat.

In the end, what you get out of keeping fish more than make up for the patience you needed while the tank was cycling and you were waiting for your fish to come to their new forever home.

Now that you have purchased a 10-gallon tank, you need to think about its inhabitants, and how you will make that corner of your house interesting, which was previously occupied by your grandmother’s coat stand.

To have a well-rounded ecosystem in your 10-gallon tank, you need to have all sorts of colorful fish that beautify the corner.

With a tank this huge, you have the opportunity to fill it up with as many species as you want. However, since bottom-dwelling fish are an important part of the aquarium, the question here is ‘what type of bottom dwelling fish can you keep in your 10-gallon tank?’

The answer to what type of bottom-dwelling fish can you keep in your 10-gallon tank is not a definite one. Bottom-dwelling fish play an important part in the ecosystem, and that is the part of cleaning up their homes.

Therefore, you need to think carefully about the choices you make because there are over a dozen species that can keep your 10-gallon tank populated and attractive.

Before we get to the list, here are a few more things you need to know:

Knowing Your Fish

When you step into a pet store, more often than not, you get confused when it comes to selecting the inhabitants for your aquarium.

The staff at your local store may present you with a lot of options but keep in mind that most of them might just be trying to increase the sales and earn their commission without really listening to your needs.

Even worse than this is following the name tags on the display tanks that are supposed to clear your doubts but may be flat out wrong.

Therefore, the question remains… How are you going to fill up your 10-gallon tank? Here are a few tips:

Do your own research (This article can serve as a guide)

Learn in-depth about aquarium care and the different species of fish

Keep in mind that some fish may be appropriate for your 10-gallon tank but they may not be easy to take care of

12 Bottom Dwelling Fish for Your 10-Gallon Tank

1. Cory Catfish

This species of bottom-dwelling fish is one of the most popular ones. They remain tiny and do not normally grow longer than a few inches. They are highly compatible with other species, but most importantly, they are omnivores.

This means they not only keep the tank clear of algae, but also eat any dead fish and anything else found at the bottom of your massive tank.

2. Otocinclus Catfish

These can be another great addition since they only grow up to 2 inches. They are called by several other names like Oto cats, algae scrapers and dwarf suckermouths.

Brown algae are their personal favorite – so there goes your worry of cleaning up the tank often.

They are also a bit sensitive and tend to do the best when they are added to an established ecosystem.

3. Siamese Algae Eaters

As their name suggests, Siamese algae eaters love algae no matter what the type is, therefore any algae that might be toxifying your tank may not be found the next morning.

As these fish age, they will need alternative food like pellets, but rest assured algae will not be a problem anymore.

You should not confuse them with Chinese algae eaters that grow more than the Siamese do.

4. Snails

Another popular species of bottom feeders that enjoy sucking on smooth surfaces so you will always find the sides of your 10-gallon tank clean.

They are highly efficient at their jobs so you will find them sucking day and night. However, you need to be careful since some snails reproduce faster than others do.

The Mystery Snail is one of the best choice since they do not reproduce fast and are compatible with other fish.

5. Amano Shrimp

The Amano shrimp is adaptable to various tank environments and are one of the most productive algae eaters in the family of shrimps.

Another cool characteristic of the Amano shrimp is that they will eat any leftover food that will otherwise turn into bacteria.

They only grow to an inch and a half, and are a great friend to other fish.

In addition, they are beautiful to look at with their spotted translucent bodies.

6. Crayfish

While this will sound odd to many fish enthusiasts, Crayfish are actually excellent bottom feeders. They even devour dead fish.

Apart from that, they are colorful and vibrant with their bright blue color, so it makes sense to keep them in the tank to do the dirty work.

One thing about crayfish that you need to know is that they get insecure if they do not find a hiding spot; therefore, you need to make sure your tank has plenty.

7. Kuhli Loach

Loaches have a unique personality and love to live in groups with other species of fish, so there is passion and it is seen in their movements around the tank.

They really enjoy digging in the gravel of the tank and find their meal.

They are so dedicated and persistent with finding their food that they may even move decorations and are often found stuck under those items at times.

One thing you need to take care of is to prevent them from crawling out because they are sneaky and like their time out as well.

8. Plecostomus Catfish

The Pleco fish lives between 20-30 years and may grow as long as 2 feet. It not only constantly feeds but is nocturnal too.

The moment you switch off the lights is when Pleco fish starts its day.

However, when it grows to 12 inches, it will eat a lot and poop a lot, too, but rest assured your algae problems would not remain.

9. Corydoras Catfish

They are cuter than Cory Cats and flit around and scour the bottom of the tank all day.

Usually, they stay small, but other species in the family may grow to different lengths.

They are also quite peaceful but you might notice some squabbles unless you keep them in a big group.

10. Synodontis Catfish

They are really active but also shy at times.

Like the Synodontis Catfish, they may squabble amongst themselves but they are peaceful and ignore the smaller fish in the tank.

The best part about these species is that they are fun to watch when they wiggle out of their hiding to cruise around the tank for food.

11. Botia Loaches

Their small appearance is interesting and their behavior is quite intriguing too, but some of their species can grow to a certain length that may not be suitable for a 10-gallon tank.

They are fun to watch since you will find them manically scouring for substrates at times or lounging like a kid in front of a TV at other times.

They prefer being in big groups if you want them to be non-aggressive.

12. Geophagus

The name of this species literally translates to earth-eater or sand-sifter.

They are known for taking mouthfuls from the ground, sifting through it and then spitting out the rest.

They have several species, amongst which some of them might grow too long to fit in a populated 10-gallon tank while others may be too aggressive.

Here is some advice that may come in handy – surround the plants by big rocks to avoid them plowing through.

Other bottom-dwellers

Like the 10-gallon tank that you might not want to overpopulate, without overloading you with information, here are a few other bottom-dwelling fish that might interest you:

13. Adolfo’s Cory 14. Bandit Cory 15. Pictus Catfish 16. Kribensis 17. Twig Catfish 18. Fresh Water Shrimp 19. Panda Cory 20. Weather Loach

How Many Fish to Get for a 10-Gallon Tank?

While there is no definite answer to this question, the best way to go about it is to do your own research on the different fish species you like. Learning about them will help you evaluate whether or not they will go well with the other species.

The Rule of Thumb

The general rule of thumb in such cases recommends one adult fish per gallon. Therefore, for a 10-gallon tank, you can stock around 10 fish (if you choose to follow the rule).

However, rather than relying on a basic method or a simple formula, it is better to do your own homework and find out more about the fish species you intend on getting for your tank.

Comparing them will help you come up with the right combination of species to inhabitate your tank. While you’re at it, don’t forget to come up with a backup plan as well in case the fish species you get do not mix well.

Your fish will give you indicators that something isn’t right in their tank even if everything else seems to be fine.

Why are my fish hanging around the filter? There are several reasons why your fish are spending time together around the filter. It could be in their nature to do so or there could also be an issue with the tank itself.

Analyzation of the situation is needed to help your fish. Look at their behavior and the type of fish that are staying near the filter. To help you out below are questions that need to be answered.

Read further to discover the reason your fish are hanging out near the filter and what you can do to help.

What the filter does and pinpointing the issue

First, we have to look at exactly the filter does in the tank. Its main purpose is to clean out the pollutants from uneaten food, decaying plants, and the various chemicals caused by your fish.

This vacuum also creates a current in the tank mimicking their natural environment. The cleanest and most oxygen-rich water will be near the filter.

There are a variety of reasons why your fish might be spending time near the filter.

To determine the reason we need to ask some questions.

Are all of your fish staying near the filter?

When was the last time you cleaned the aquarium?

If it is only a few are they the same species?

What is the gender of the fish that will not move around the tank?

What size of the fish is near the filter?

What size is your tank and how many fish do you have?

Answer these questions will narrow done the issue. Also look at when this behavior started, if they have always been near the filter or if it is a sudden change.

Just because your fish are staying near the filter doesn’t mean they are sick, but if it is a sudden change then it does mean that there is something wrong either with the tank or their health.

Reasons why and what to do about it

While some issues are obvious, all of your fish near the filter or the top of the tank points to an issue with either the tank, filter or water chemistry.

Smaller numbers of fish point to something behavioral such as territorial behavior or mating. Some issues are interconnected if you have a bully in the mix, they might not be compatible with the other fish or the tank itself is too small.

Some others are less obvious, such as the feeding process for each particular fish.

Corydoras pygmaeus

Below are the top reasons for this behavior and ways that you can fix it, read each one thoroughly to get the main reason instead of what may be just a symptom.

1. They need a breath

The main purpose of the filter is cleaning the toxins from the water it also creates a current in the tank. This is for two reasons, it mimics the fish’s natural environment and the disruption of the water gives the fish oxygen to breath.

When the water flows by their gills it gives them a chance to take a breath.

If all of your fish are handing out near the filter it has something to do with the tank itself, most likely that they are not getting enough oxygen. Your fish are suffocating. Since the current is faster near the filter it will create the opportunity to catch a breath.

There are a few ways to help get more oxygen in the water. First, you want to make sure there is a current flowing throughout your tank.

This can be done by either increasing the speed on the filter itself or if you have low current fish adding a pump to another section of the tank. Or you can add a bubbler to the tank to break up the surface of the water bringing oxygen down into the tank.

Adding plants strategically around the tank will also create oxygen by absorbing the toxins in the tank created by your fish.

If you have a lid to your tank make sure there is some space between it and the surface of the water.

2. It’s a fast meal

Life in the water is a harsh environment for those who inhabit it. A lack of food being one. So your fish are naturally opportunistic when it comes to eating.

The big fish will eat the small fish because in their mind they don’t know when their next meal will come so you might as well eat now. A part of the opportunist attitude is getting food the easiest way possible.

If they can just hang out and have food brought to them they will.

If the filter In your tank is causing a high current smaller fish will be sweep away in the waters allowing larger fish to just hanging out by the filter to snatch them when the smaller one passes by.

It’s like a delivery service for your fish. Make sure your fish are compatible with one another or of a similar size.

Fish have an array of ways to feed. Some eat pellets or smaller fish, scavengers, and filter feeders. If there are only certain species that are hanging near the filter it could be due to how they feed.

Some types of fish are filter feeders, meaning they have a specialized feeding system where they filter out food through the current. Sometimes filter feeders will hang out near the filter since it is the best food source.

3. How clean is your tank?

Another reason why all of your fish are hanging out near the filter could be because the water near the bottom isn’t clean. Since the filter is drawing in water that section of the tank is the cleanest.

If the bottom is dirty then they are drowning in their waste.

Check the bottom of the tank for any uneaten food or decaying plants. If this toxic matter is abundant first check the filter to make sure it’s working correctly. If your filter is working check the water by conducting tests.

You can buy a simple tester kit at your local pet store.

To prevent this from happening in the future don’t overfeed your fish so that there are little leftovers. Also, purchase compatible scavenger types such as shrimp to eat uneaten food.

Adding plants will absorb the toxins in the water created by your fish and will put out oxygen.

4. There is a bully in the group or it’s breeding time

Some fish can be territorial when it comes to space. Unfortunately, the bigger fish will pick on the smaller ones. If there is an inadequate place to hide they will go where they feel there is more cover. Sometimes that is the filter.

Look at the types of fish that you have and make sure they are compatible with each other. Sometimes introducing larger numbers of the ones that are bullied will create more of a balance in the tank.

Similar to bullied fish if all of your female fish are hanging out near the filter it might just be the best place for them to hide during breeding time.

Smaller fish need a place to hide and feel secure.

Adding plants, caves and decor provide safe places for the smaller fish to run to when the larger are becoming aggressive.

5. Your tank is overpopulated

Fish can be quite territorial so they need their own space to get completely comfortable in a tank. If you have a small tank or have too many fish for your tank it will cause the above issues from lack of oxygen to an unclean tank to bullying by larger fish.

Check the correct size for the varieties of fish that you own and for the number of fish. With community tanks the larger the better. Larger tanks allow all of your fish to have their own space with those of their kind which most fish enjoy.

Due to the communication barrier, your fish can’t tell you if something is wrong, but they will let you know in subtle ways. Pay attention to their typical behavior so that when they change you can get down to the issues quickly.

Some fishkeepers love to see their fish thriving in harmony, then there are some who love to see their turning into a Roman colosseum! If you don’t fall into the latter category, you might be worried about your fish fighting or eating each other off. Good thing that we have the answer to that!

Why are my fish fighting? The sudden aggression among the fish can have various reasons – territorial fights, too many male fish living together, mating season tension, stress, scarcity of food, or natural aggression of the fish.

These are only the major reasons behind your fish being aggressive. There are a number of other secondary reasons. Polluted water, non-compatible tank mates, overcrowded tanks, the unsuitable water temperature can be the culprit too.

However, things can be deceiving at times. You might think that they are fighting, whereas they are actually playing together. So, you need to understand the difference.

8 Probable Reasons Your Fish are Fighting

Don’t Worry, It’s Just Natural Aggression!

Not all the fish are calm in nature. Some fish have the aggression coded into their DNA. Think of the breeds like Piranhas or African Cichlids.

These fish will obviously fight. If they don’t fight, then you should worry!

So, before seeking an answer, ask yourself, if you are keeping any breed that should fight naturally.

In most cases, the naturally aggressive fish are carnivorous. Here is a list of most aggressive fish breeds –

Arowana

Piranha

African Cichlids

Oscar Fish

Flowerhorn

Rainbow Shark

Tiger Barb

Red-Tailed Shark

Being Territorial

A lot of wild animals like tigers, wolves, and hippos tend to be territorial. The same can be said about a lot of fish.

As you are keeping them in a confined space in an aquarium, they can turn against other fish for the sake of territorial defense.

Cichlids, Tetras, Barbs, Goldfish are some of the common territorial fish. Maintaining and defending territory is the crucial trait of these fish.

So, it’s very common for them to attack other fish entering their territory of the tank.

Betta Fish are known for fighting against each other

Too Much Testosterone!

If there are more male fish compared to females in the tank, things can take a bad turn.

The male fish can fight other males to show dominance and strength so that the females see the male as a better mating partner.

Such clashes are even more common during the mating season. So, you should be aware of the male fish fighting and take the necessary steps.

On the other hand, if there are more male fish in the tank compared to the females, they can even attack the females during mating season.

Temperature and pH Level Fluctuations

As a fishkeeper, you should always keep a keen eye at the temperature of the tank.

For example, Betta fish or Tiger Barbs are tropical fish that prefer being in the 78°F sweet spot. In winter, the temperature can go way below that point if you don’t have a heater in the aquarium.

The colder water temperature can make them stressed, and they tend to behave aggressively, leading to fights.

The same can be said about the pH level in the water too!

So, we would suggest you keeping separate thermometer and thermostat so that you can maintain the tank temperature at a constant level.

Toxins in the Water

Are you familiar with the vicious nitrogen cycle in an aquarium? Well, this is an inevitable cycle that you need to be prepared to handle.

When fish poop, the fecal wastes turn into ammonia, nitrites, and nitrates in different stages of the nitrogen cycle.

The same can be said about other kinds of rotten elements like dead leaves, plants, and dead fish.

If you don’t change the water periodically, the water contamination stresses the fish badly. In many cases, stress makes the fish aggressive.

Are the Tank Mates Compatible with Each Other?

Okay, here’s a simple fact most of the new fishkeepers tend to forget while designing the aquarium – they don’t plan out the fish compatibility issue.

Not every fish can live happily together. This is even truer with the carnivorous fish. It’s only normal for the “rival fish” to fight against each other.

For example, you can’t keep guppies and Koi together in a tank. Koi will definitely bully the smaller guppies.

On the other hand, guppies and bettas will live happily without having any quarrel.

Do the Fish have Enough Food?

Food scarcity can change the nature of many fish. The omnivore fish will attack other small fish for food if they can’t find enough food for survival.

For example, Koi will eat minnows and guppies if they can’t find other food sources. So, never leave your fish unfed or neglect their natural eating habit.

Having Too many Fish in a Small Tank?

You need to give enough roaming space for the fish in a tank. You should never stuff up your aquarium with too many.

Even if the fish are not territorial or naturally aggressive, they will attack each other to gain enough space for swimming freely.

For example, Koi will need at least 50 gallons of water for every fish. You can keep the young ones in a 30-gallon tank but not smaller than that.

Are the Fish Fighting or Playing? Understand the Difference!

Suppose, one day, you see one of your fish, chasing after another one. You might instantly think that they are fighting each other.

Hold on, that might not be the only case!

Fish can chase each other normally, often it is an act of playing together. Some fish socialize, some tend to show their affection with partners in such a manner.

Think of such an act as the mating behavior of the dogs.

Mating dog couples often wrestle with each other before mating. But it’s nothing more than a mating ritual.

So, how can you differentiate between typical playfulness and acts of aggression?

If one of the fish is being attacked, you will see the following incidents:

Scars and visible injuries on the body, especially on the fins

Smaller fish cowering in the corner or hiding behind any other covers

These are the only two normal parameters. Still, you should consult with a vet or an expert to be sure of the situation.

How Can You Prevent the Fish from Fighting?

Okay, now that you know about the probable reasons behind fish fighting each other, you need to know what could help in such a situation.

Here are some of the possible solutions that might do the trick for you:

Aggressive Fish Segregation

Try to separate the breed of fish, which are naturally aggressive.

It’s best to keep them in separate tanks altogether. While planning out your aquarium design, you should think of the probable tank mates to avoid future fights.

For example, no matter how much safety measurement you take, Koi and Sharks will fight each other. There is no way you can stop or prevent them from fighting.

Add Enough Hiding Places

If you are determined to keep more than one territorial fish breed in the same tank, at least separate their territories with rocks, plants, or other types of separators.

In this way, the small fish in your tank can have some kind of hiding place from the large ones. Moreover, you can enhance the beauty of the tank at the same time.

Get a Bigger Tank

It’s always better to give an ample amount of space for your fish to roam freely. Yes, bigger tanks will cost more, but it can save you from the grief of having your favorite fish from dying.

Moreover, if your fish die from the attacks of other fish, their death will be your responsibility – trust us when we say, that can hurt.

This table should give you a brief idea about the probable tank size for the fish:

Fish Breed

Minimum Tank Size

Koi

50 gallons

Goldfish

20 gallons

Betta

5 gallons

Guppy

5 gallons

Cichlids

30 gallons

Tiger Barbs

20 gallons

Change the Water, Regularly!

Changing water is a must if you want to see your fish thrive. No matter the quality of your filtration system, you can never escape from the duty of changing water.

It will save your fish from ammonia and nitrate toxicities.

The rule of thumb is to change 10% to 15% of the total water every week. In the case of a heavily stocked tank, increase the percentage to 20%.

If you don’t have a filter, you should change 25% of the water on a weekly basis.

Try to Maintain a Steady Temperature

Temperature plays a crucial role in the mood of your fish. Imbalanced temperature leads to stress that eventually leads to aggression among the fish.

But set the temperature according to the species of fish you are keeping. Obviously, not every fish prefers the warmth level.

For example, bettas prefer living at 78°F temperature while goldfish find a bit colder water more comfortable. Goldfish feel cozy in the 68°F to 74°F temperature range.

So, it always depends on the breed of the fish.

Offer an Adequate Amount of Food

Never keep your fish hungry for a long period of time. In fact, you should provide them food maintaining a strict timetable. You don’t want to agitate your fish for food shortage.

If you have omnivore or herbivore fish, have edible plants in the tank. In this way, they will never have any scarcity of food even when you are not in your home.

A Balance Between Male and Females

As we have said earlier, having too many males in the same tank, they will fight other males to gain affinity of the females.

We suggest having fewer males compared to females. This reduces the chance of the males fighting with other males over mating partners.

Separate Breeding Fish in Other Tanks

If you are planning to breed fish, you need to take additional measures. First of all, not all fish will mate in an open tank. They feel shy as the mating process makes them vulnerable.

During that process, you don’t want them to feel stress at all.

Besides that, you need to keep in mind that other fish might hunt and eat all the fry in your tank.

In the wild, betta fishes are found in shallow waters like floodplains, rice paddies, and canals. So one might think that using artificial lights in their aquarium may not be too good for them. But, are betta fish sensitive to light? And if they are, what are the effects?

Betta fish are not sensitive to light. They thrive in natural lighting and need a proper day and night cycle. However, they can behave erratically when they are overstimulated by light. You can see this in their feeding behaviors. Therefore, there should always be a balance between light and dark.

In this article, we are going to discuss the proper light and dark cycle for your betta fishes. Also, we will talk about some of the effects of overstimulating them with light. So hush your worries as more likely than not, when you have the proper lighting, your betta fishes will do okay.

Do Betta Fish Like Light?

Yes, they absolutely adore the light! Given that they originated Laos, Thailand, Cambodia, and Myanmar, they are used to places with a lot of light as well as warm temperatures. Therefore, having natural sunlight for your betta fish will be perfect for them.

Just a word of caution, we are not talking about constant exposure to direct sunlight as this may also be bad for them. This is the case as the aquarium will be prone to overheating. More than that, there might be too much exposure to the ultraviolet radiation from the sun.

You really should not be concerned about your betta fishes burning in their aquarium, but constant exposure to natural sunlight can hurt their adorable but sensitive eyes. If you just place their aquarium in a room with windows that have curtains, they should be fine.

Effects Of Too Much Light On Your Betta Fish

Much like humans, too much exposure to light can bring some harmful effects. For us, we can get sunburned or even skin cancer, but for your betta fish, they become stressed and overstimulated. Take a look at some of the effects.

Refusal To Eat

As they are overwhelmed with light and cannot tell the day cycle from the night cycle, they can overexert themselves. Since they are so confused about what cycle it is, they will refuse food.

Illness And Injury

A stressed betta fish will surely have a lower immune system. Therefore, they are more prone to getting diseases. Also, in their weakened state, they cannot evade other fishes that are bullying them (if they live in a community aquarium) so the chances of them getting injured are high.

Lethargy

As your betta fish is confused as to when he is going to eat, play, sleep, etc. he will just keep on swimming and doing a lot of activity while there is too much light. You might just find him at the bottom of the aquarium when he is too weak to even do anything. Aww, the poor thing!

What Are The Lighting Needs Of Betta Fish

As we have already established that betta fishes are not sensitive to light, but they should also not be overexposed to light, it is a matter of finding the right balance.

More than that, it is also important to use the right lighting in such a case where you do not want to go natural in terms of lighting.

Natural Lighting

Although this type of light is good for betta fishes as this is what they are used to, it is not that highly recommended. The reason for this is that constant exposure to the natural sunlight causes the influx of algae in the aquarium.

This algae growth can pollute the water which can then lead to the formation of harmful bacteria in the aquarium. Also, as we have mentioned earlier, the natural light can affect the water temperature as the tank somehow acts as a magnifying glass (especially for small ones)

Unsteady water temperature levels can stress your betta fishes and can be even the cause of their deaths. So in the event that you plan to go the natural lighting route, it requires a lot of checking and maintenance.

You should also make sure that you put the aquarium in a place where there will be shaded areas so your fishes have an area where they can cool down.

Artificial Lighting

In the event that you want to use artificial lighting in your aquarium, the most important thing to note is that you should pick one that will not alter the water temperature in your aquarium. As far as temperature goes, it is okay for it to be between 74 to 78 degrees Fahrenheit.

If it goes higher, it can be dangerous to your betta fishes. So make sure that you keep the temperature in those levels. Here are some artificial lighting tips:

Incandescent bulbs are not that efficient as they give more heat compared to light. It is as if they are “mini suns” They will not do well in small aquariums.

LED lights are a good option as they mimic natural light, but they do not encourage the growth of algae. They also do not consume much energy, so your electricity bill will not suffer.

Fluorescent light bulbs are also a good option next to LED lights. These are mostly used by people who have betta fishes.

Balance The Day Cycle And Night Cycle

Betta fish are diurnal fishes. This simply means that pretty much like humans, when the sun is up it means that we go on with our daily activities, and when the sun goes down, it is time to go for bed.

Therefore, your betta fishes should know when it is time to play and eat and when it is time to rest. This is why it is important to turn off the lights in your aquarium.

Your betta fishes need at least eight to 12 hours of light and 12 to 16 hours of darkness. So do not forget when you should turn on and turn off their lights.

For a lot of betta fish owners, they sometimes forget to turn on the lights as they leave it to natural sunlight. But you should keep in mind that too much darkness can also be harmful. It can affect their colors and the overall ph level of the water.

How To Maintain A Proper Light And Dark Cycle

By this time, you know that having a proper day and light cycle is crucial for the lives of your betta fishes. There should always be a balance as too much light and darkness can have some consequences for them.

Of course, you also have your life and you have to go to work or go on social events. So you really cannot always check on the light and temperature in your aquarium. What can you do?

You can simply purchase lights with a timer. In this way, all you have to do is to plug in your lights and set the time on when they should be on and off. You can go about your day without even thinking if you turned on the light in your aquarium.

Betta fishes are considered as the second most popular fish for simple home aquariums. They are so popular that one might think that like goldfishes, they just tend to wander in their aquarium and do nothing. Which may lead you to the question, are betta fish smart?

Betta fishes are actually very smart. With proper training, they can recognize their owners and do a lot of tricks. Some examples of these tricks are; they can go swim through hoops and can even shoot a ball to a goal. Not only that, but they also exhibit some behaviors that ensure their survival.

Are you surprised? Well, you will be even more surprised as you read through this article as the betta fish somehow garnered a bit of a bad reputation. The truth is, they are also fascinating fishes which have their own quirks and personalities.

So keep on reading to find out more about them!

The Betta Fish: In A Nutshell

One might not think that a betta fish is smart as first when you go to pet shops, they are always presented in a separate plastic bag. Therefore, you may think that they are just “disposable” fish. Second, there is really not a lot of intrigue about betta fishes.

First off, just to get it out of the way, betta fishes are separated in plastic bags as it is for their safety and the safety of other fishes as well. They are also called Siamese fighting fish as like what their name suggests, they love to fight other fish, especially the males.

The truth is, this fish requires a lot of stimulation and even space. By default, they are territorial and aggressive so they need to have the means to express their personality.

Although it is not advised to house male bettas in one tank (as they will fight, even to the death) you can easily handle and train a single male or female betta.

 Are Betta Fish Smart? Yes, They Are!

Let us now go over the reasons as to why the betta fish is actually a smart fish. As we have mentioned earlier, it has a lot to do with proper training, but they also have instinctive behaviors that prove that they are one of the smarter fishes in existence. Let us take a look at the following.

1. Betta Fish Can Conserve Oxygen

It is interesting to note that bettas have a unique organ called, labyrinth organ. Simply put, this organ allows them to breathe air that comes from the surface. In turn, they can survive in waters that are low in oxygen.

Some examples of these waters are stagnant ponds, rice paddies, and polluted waters.

More than that, they also have the ability to survive “fish out of water” instances for a short period of time, given that they are still kept moist. So given these instances, one might think that bettas are not that worried when they lack oxygen, right? But no, that is not the case.

In fact, when they feel that the oxygen level is low, they will conserve their use of oxygen. Further, they will then go to the surface and replenish their oxygen supply and do not move so much so as to save on energy and oxygen.

But what is most surprising is that they also take in water in their mouths. Why is that? The reason is that, so they can keep themselves moist when they go out of the water.

In cases where they know that their leaping or jumping may lead them to leave the safe haven of water, they “pack” some water with them.

This is the reason why your betta who flung himself out of his aquarium is still alive on your carpet. Funny as it may sound, but maybe for the last hour, he has been squirting water on himself.

Just have a look at the betta fish in the video below jumping out of the water to get to the next “pool”. This is absolutely amazing!

2. Male Bettas Create Bubble Nests

This has a lot to do with their mating habits and rituals. What happens is that after such an elaborate courtship ritual with a female betta which urges her to release her eggs, the male betta will gather the eggs in his mouth.

He will then spit those eggs in a bubble nest. Why do they do this? To ensure the eggs are kept moist and are oxygenated properly. Not a lot of fishes do this as more often than not, once the eggs are fertilized they will just leave them be for a predator to eat or what have you.

But for betta fish, they want to make sure that the eggs successfully hatch. Which is why they go through the extra effort of creating bubble nests.

3. Male Bettas Guard Their Offspring

This is yet another exhibition of their intelligence as they want to ensure that their kind successfully lives on. You might think that this is just a simple act, but not a lot of fishes guard their offspring. In fact, they may either cannibalize them or leave them to be food for other prey.

It is a different story with the male betta fish. After they finish building their bubble nest, they will then guard them against other fishes that may destroy the nest or eat the eggs. They also keep the female betta fish away from the nest.

They will stand guard until all the eggs hatch. Only then will the male betta fish move on with his life. This is clearly an exhibition of awareness as he wants his next of kin to survive.

4. Betta Fish Can Recognize Their Owners

If you interact often with your betta fish, he will eventually realize that you are his owner. You will notice that he will start following your finger as you run it through the outside of his tank.

More than that, when you are walking near his aquarium, you will see that he will follow your every move (much like how a clingy dog follows you around).

Once your betta fish exhibits this type of behavior, it means that he or she trusts you and that you can train him or her to do more complicated tricks.

They do not only recognize their owners, but they also know which one is their owner’s voice and face. You might want to try this out with some members of your family or friends.

Have them stand near the aquarium and you will see that your betta fish will hide or become aggressive to others. But when you place your face near their aquarium and they hear your voice, they will come out of hiding and try to interact with you.

5. Betta Fish Can Be Trained To Do Tricks

We are not only talking about simple tricks here where they will feed on your hand, but they can also do complex tricks. A good example is you can train your betta fish to jump and then hit your finger. For this trick, your betta fish can master it in just two to three weeks.

All you need to do is to wet your finger and put a betta pellet on it. You must hold it slightly on top of the water and you will see your betta will try to jump over your finger. If it proves to be a bit difficult for him, you can simply lower your finger.

After a while, you can pull your finger higher until he gets the point of the trick. Once he gets what you want him to do, he will jump over your finger even without the use of food.

You can also teach your betta fish to jump through a loop. Have a look at the video below! It is unbelievable how smart betta fish are! (Keep in mind, the video below show the betta fish in its training tank)

As for the complex tricks, you can purchase training kits for your betta fish like this one (click here). Some of these kits include swimming hoops and other obstacle courses.

The colorful and hardy betta is one of the favorite pet fish to keep for both novice and seasoned aquarists. While they love to interact with their owners and will always be happy to see you, many people believe that bettas are lazy. But is this really true?

So, are betta fish active? Yes – a healthy betta is an active betta. Despite common beliefs, bettas love to explore their surroundings and spend most of their days swimming in their aquariums. However, poor water conditions, inadequate tank size, low temperature can make a betta seem sluggish and affect its overall well-being.

I know this is rather short, but it answers your question for now. Continue reading to learn how to keep your betta active and what are the signs that something is wrong.

How To Keep A Betta Fish Active?

One of the major mistakes many people make is thinking that bettas are lazy fish. However, this only happens when a betta is kept in bad conditions, such as small containers in pet stores.

When properly cared for and provided with an adequate living environment a betta is active and can happily live for two to five years.

Let’s take a look at how to keep a betta active:

1. Get Good Sized Tank

Most pet stores keep bettas in small cups or bowls that hold only a few ounces of water. Bettas living in such cramped spaces don’t have enough room to turn around mush less actually swim.

Due to these practices, many owners believe that a betta doesn’t need a lot of space and can thrive in a glass bowl.

While a betta can live in a bowl, maintaining the water perimeters and temperature is a lot harder in this type of setting.

Thus, if you want to keep your betta happy and active, a 5-gallon tank is a good starting point. But as far as your fish is concerned, bigger is always better, so if possible opt for a bigger tank every time.

The smallest tank size for bettas is 2.5 gallons but should be an option only if you really don’t have enough space for a bigger tank.

2. Maintain Water Quality

Bettas prefer slightly acidic water (pH 6.5 to 7) and have to have ideal water conditions to stay active and healthy.

Don’t forget that the water in the tank must be cycled for several weeks before bettas are added to it. Cycling will give beneficial bacteria time to grow and ensure that they break down toxic ammonia and maintain water quality once bettas are added to the tank.

Using a filter and weekly water changes are also a must for a healthy and active betta.

Without a filter, you will have to change 100% of the water 3 to 4 times a week. If you have a filter, change about 10% of the water once a week and use a gravel vacuum to remove waste material.

Keep in mind that bettas don’t like fast-flowing waters and will have trouble swimming. Thus, you should be very careful when picking a filter for your betta.

Sponge filters are a great choice for bettas since the flow can be adjusted so it doesn’t affect your fish in any negative way.

3. Tropical Environment

Bettas are tropical fish and need warmer environments to stay healthy and active.

To create a suitable tropical environment, keep the water temperature between 76° and 84° F. Anything less will slow the betta’s metabolism making it appear lazy and more sluggish.

If you live in a warmer climate, you may not have to use a heater all year-round. However, be sure to add one to your tank during the winter, if your home temperature fluctuates.

4. Signs That You Have An Active Betta Fish

Due to the common misconception that bettas are lazy, most owners get concerned when their fish start swimming and moving around the aquarium. This is normal behavior for bettas and there is nothing to worry about!

Signs that you have a happy and active betta are:

1. Big Appetite

Bettas like to eat and healthy fish will never pass on the opportunity to eat as much food as they can. An active and happy betta will start eating food as soon as you put it in the tank and always look for more.

So if your betta is looking forward to every meal you have an active and healthy fish.

2. Energy

Keep an eye to see if your betta is energetic. An active betta should be swimming a fair amount every day. Furthermore, swimming should increase even more when you are near the tank.

The video below shows you how much and how fast an active betta fish usually swims.

3. Interaction

Betta is a fish that likes to interact with its owner and follow you around the tank. When near, you will notice that your betta tends to swim up and down the side of the tank actively like it wants to be closer to you.

Your fish should also swim to the top quickly whenever you are looking down in the aquarium.

4. Bubble Nests

A healthy and active betta will do certain things to attract a mate. Breeding is very important to fish and any betta in its peak will want to do it. Finding a bubble nest in your tank is a good sign that you have a happy, healthy and active betta fish.

Is Your Betta Fish Lethargic?

Now that you know what an active and healthy betta fish looks like, you should also learn what to look for in an inactive fish. There are several of signs that can tell you that your betta is becoming lifeless!

If you notice any of these, try to improve your bettas living environment right away:

1. Loss Of Appetite

A change in your betta’s eating habits is the first sign that your fish may be lethargic. While an active betta will gobble all the food straight away, a lifeless fish will barely eat.

You should be worried if your betta starts picking at its food and ignoring meals. Additionally, you will notice more uneaten food waste at the bottom of the tank.

2. Slimmer Appearance

With the loss of appetite your betta will develop a slimmer appearance and look sickly. This usually happens when fish are depressed and not in the mood for anything.

3. Loss Of Energy

A healthy betta is an active one. Hence, you should be worried if you see a decrease in your betta’s activity levels. A “lazy” betta will start to idle around the tank more and stop swimming as before.

You might also notice that your fish is just floating in the same place for a prolonged period of time.

4. Loss Of Interest

An inactive betta will not react when you come near the tank. Considering that bettas like interacting with their owners, this is a reason for concern. Besides losing interest in you, your fish may also hide or just hover inside the tank not paying attention to her surroundings.

5. Faded Color

Clammed up fins and faded color can be signs that your betta is depressed. When depressed some bettas act sluggishly while some may become more aggressive and develop irregular swimming patterns.

Your betta might experience any of these symptoms if it feels stressed out and vulnerable in its environment.

With their flashing colors and long slinky fins, bettas are one of the most eye-catching fish species you are going to see in a pet store. Besides their good looks, bettas are also known for being resilient and easy to keep, which makes them hard to resist.

But, are betta fish hardy? Yes, betta fish are hardier than many other types of fish. Bettas can survive in water with lower oxygen levels and they need less space than other species. While easier to keep, bettas aren’t low maintenance pets and have to be properly cared for to thrive. Otherwise, they can get sick and die.

Although this is a rather short answer, it will satisfy your curiosity for now. Continue reading to find out the most common betta fish diseases and how to keep your betta healthy and strong.

How Hardy Are Betta Fish?

Although they are one the hardiest aquarium fish, bettas can still get sick and die just like any other less resilient species.

You have probably seen bettas living in vases with nothing except a plant on top to feed them. While it is true that they can survive in these conditions, they won’t be happy or healthy living contained in a tiny bowl or a container.

Bettas need filtration, warm and clean water, spacious tanks, regular feeding, environment enrichment like plants and caves to remain healthy and strong. Even the hardiest betta will be susceptible to diseases and waste away without these basic things.

The most common diseases to affect betta fish are:

1. Fin Rot

Fin rot is a bacterial infection that eats away the fins, leaving a majestic betta looking crippled. In most cases, this condition is the result of poor water conditions that stress the betta and lower her immune system’s ability to fight off the disease.

If left untreated, fin rot will work its way into your betta’s body, and eventually, kill it.

Treatment consists of complete water change and medication for the initial bacterial infection. Furthermore, anti-fungal medications are also used to prevent any chances of a secondary infection.

2. Ich

Ich, also known as white spot disease is one of the most common and persistent parasite infections in freshwater fish.

The first sign of this disease is a few white spots on betta’s body, fins, and gills that look a lot like a grain of salt. However, these tiny spots are actually cysts that contain the immature stage of the parasite known as tomites.

An infected betta will rub against any surface in the tank or clamp the fins as it tries to get rid of the parasites. This condition is highly contagious and deadly if not spotted in time and treated.

Treatment includes rising the water temperature and using malachite green or other ich treatments that will encourage the cysts to detach and burst.

3. Velvet

Also known as rust, or gold dust disease, velvet is caused by parasites found in the tank’s water. An affected betta will look like its covered in gold dust or rust and will start rubbing against anything in the tank.

The treatment for velvet looks a lot like the treatment for ich and includes raising the temperature of the water, diming the light inside the tank, and treating the betta with malachite green.

You should know that velvet is highly curable when diagnosed on time, thus your betta will have a good chance of surviving.

4. Bloat

Bloat, also known as dropsy or edema is a common problem for many bettas. This condition is characterized by a swelled abdomen which causes the scales to stand out.

Overfeeding is the most common cause of bloating, however, bacteria, viruses, and parasites can also be to blame. A bloated betta might have breathing difficulties, decreased appetite and act lethargic.

Treating bloat is relatively easy and includes fasting your betta until the bloating subsides and then adjusting its diet accordingly.

Care Tips For Keeping Your Betta Hardy

As I stated earlier, bettas are hardier than most other aquarium species, but even the heartiest betta will get sick and fade away if not taken care of properly.

Contrary to popular belief bettas are not low maintenance pets, but taking care of them won’t be hard once you get used to the routine.

Here are some tips for keeping your betta healthy and strong:

1. Spacious Tank

Indeed, bettas don’t need a lot of space compared to other fish species, but keeping one in a container is out of the question! To keep your betta healthy, opt for a 5-gallon tank at least. But if possible, bigger is always better. We show you here how you should set up the tank!

2. Keep The Water Clean

While bettas can survive in poor water conditions, they won’t thrive and will eventually get sick. Thus, you should invest in a filter and do weekly partial water changes.

3. Get A Heater

Bettas don’t like cold and their preferred water temperature is between 76 and 82°F. So, unless your home is already heated to this exact temperature, you should consider investing in a tank heater.

4. Appropriate Diet

Bettas are carnivorous and will need a specific diet that reflects that. To stay hardy your betta will need to eat varied foods such as insects, insect larvae, specialized betta food pellets, and freeze-dried grub.

Make sure to feed your betta twice a day and only as much as it can eat in a couple of minutes.

5. Tank Accessories

To keep your betta hardy make sure to add plants and caves inside the tank. Live plants are always better and will create fun places for your betta to explore or hide in.

Caves and other decorations can also serve as hiding spots and will transform a dull-looking aquarium into a cozy and betta-friendly environment.

6. Cycle The Tank

Putting your new betta in an uncycled tank isn’t a good idea, and it will lower its immune system making it susceptible to bacterial, viral, and parasite infections.

Thus, before you bring a betta home, make sure that you have a cycled tank prepared and ready for the new inhabitant.

Where To Get A Hardy Betta Fish: Breeders or Pet Stores?

Bettas got their reputation for being hardy because they can survive in tiny cups. And if you have ever been in any pet store you have probably seen many bettas living this way.

However, surviving and thriving isn’t the same thing!

Bettas that are kept in these conditions can’t stay hardy for long and usually have a lowered immune system. Furthermore, there is a big chance that they are already sick but without any notable symptoms.

In most cases, these bettas can’t live long and will die sooner rather than later even if properly cared for in their forever home.

On the other hand, a reputable breeder is aware that bettas aren’t happy in small spaces and would never subject his fish to any harm. Furthermore, the breeder will know what type of food the betta needs, how to keep the tank clean, and will interact with his fish daily.

As a result, these bettas are hardier, healthier, happier, and will live longer. Of course, they might also get sick, but chances of that happening are significantly lower.

Are your betta fish going to live a long and happy life in a small tank? The answer is no they are not happy, and they will eventually get sick and die because of the poor habitat.

A little too harsh? Good!

Many fish stores sell betta fish in smaller tanks. This is for practical and economic reasons, not because it’s great for the fish. Male fish cannot live with other bettas on a regular basis, so in order to get the most fish on the shelves, stores have to place them in separate small containers.

If they placed them in a big tank, the male betta fish would all fight and there wouldn’t be any product left to sell.

When people think of betta fish, they often imagine them in a glass bowl with some kind of funky live plant. Often these beautifully colored fish are seen as decorations and centerpieces rather than pets. This is not beneficial to the fish in any way.

There are many things to keep in mind when purchasing a tank for your betta fish. Here are five things you have to think about.

What Size Of Tank Does My Betta Need?

Betta fish are just like other fish, they need the room to swim around and enjoy their home. It’s recommended that the minimum tank size for one betta fish is 5 gallons. Keep in mind that everything you put inside the tank will also affect the amount of water you can put in the tank.

So if you have a regular 5-gallon tank, there will be less than 5 gallons of water if you cram the tank full of decorations.

Also, remember that you’ll possibly need a filtration system or oxygenation system of some kind. If your tank is filled to the edge and you add an oxygen pump, you might have a bit of a mess on your hands. Any tank you get still needs to have a bit of room at the top.

If you have more than one betta, you’re going to want to get a bigger tank. You don’t necessarily need to double the size if you have two, but you certainly need to add a couple of gallons. The fish will all want their own space.

The typical ratio is 2:1 of gallons per inch of fish. Bettas can get up to three inches in length. If you have two of similar size in the same tank, you’ll want twelve gallons of water.

 The Sex Of Your Beta Fish

Male betta fish are very territorial and aggressive toward other male bettas. They cannot be placed into the same tank or they will fight. Even if you put them in tanks right next to each other they will start acting up.

Flaring (when they flash out their beards) will occur and that means the fish are about to get down to business. The video below shows how that looks.

Females can live together, but they shouldn’t live with males. Breeding bettas is a tricky task because male fish cannot easily cohabitate with others of its own kind.

If you plan to have females in the tank, remember they can get mean, too. Especially if there’s only two. They’ll definitely get on each other’s nerves. Experts recommend keeping at least five females, known as a sorority, so this will have an impact on how large of a tank you get as well.

How To Tell The Difference Between Males And Females

When trying to figure out the sex of your betta you need to be looking at grown, mature fish. Looking at fry that aren’t fully grown will mean you aren’t necessarily seeing all of the indicators of the sex.

Males

Will be more vibrant and colorful;

Have much longer fins;

Have bigger beards;

Look at you straight on when they are flaring;

Longer and thinner than females; and

Make bubble nests when ready to mate.

Females

Usually less colorful than males;

Have shorter fins than males;

Beards are not as large;

May point their head down when flaring;

Wider and shorter than males;

Show vertical stripes when ready to mate; and

Will have an egg spot between their ventral and anal fins once fully matured.

Is This Going To Be A Community Tank?

Betta fish are territorial and aggressive, but they are capable of getting along with other species of fish. It’s important that fish owners research which fish will work best with the bettas to avoid unintended fights and potential deaths.

The personality of the other fish you are thinking about adding to the tank has to be considered. Fish that like to nibble on the fins of others are a definite no-no. Also, larger, more colorful fish may seem intimidating to your bettas. This can cause aggression fighting in your tank.

You’ll also want to avoid goldfish and any fish that have fins similar to that of a betta. Any fish that requires drastically different water conditions than your betta should also not be considered.

Don’t worry, though. There are several types of fish that can live with bettas including:

Guppies;

African Dwarf Frogs;

Ghost Shrimp;

Some tetras; and

Some catfish.

Make sure to talk to your local pet store before purchasing any fish. You don’t want to have a tank full of fish fighting. It’s inhumane and expensive, to say the least.

If you’re struggling to decide which fish to put with your bettas, do the research first. And remember, every fish has different tank size requirements. When you introduce other species to the tank you’ll have to adjust the size of the tank for the space they’ll need.

Live Plants Or Oxygen Pump

Just like any other fish, your betta needs to have oxygen in the tank. Without oxygen, it will struggle to breathe and will likely just hang out at the bottom of the tank.

Keeping your bettas in a glass vase can make it difficult for them to get all of the oxygen they need. Unmoving, unfiltered water has less oxygen than clean, moving water.

Think of a pond and a river. Ponds tend to have less water movement and are often stagnant and smell terrible. When you’re next to a river though, you can sometimes see straight to the bottom and it smells fresh and clean.

It’s the same with the water in your pet’s tank.

Filtration

It’s important to have a proper filtration system (like this one) in your betta’s tank. The murkier the water is, the less room there is for oxygen. Some people will change the water in their tank more often if they don’t have a water filter, and this can work.

However, if you can’t commit to changing the water out every couple of days a filtration system is definitely the way to go in a smaller tank.

The larger the tank is, the larger your filter will need to be. The filter that can efficiently clean a 10-gallon tank is not going to work nearly as well on a 50-gallon tank. Sometimes you may even want to have more than one filter running at a time.

Keep in mind the more fish that you have in your tank, the quicker it will get dirty. Fish waste can be a serious problem for the quality of the water in your tank.

If you have a large community of fish or more than one in a small tank, the water will get dirtier much faster with disastrous results. This will mean you require a larger filter or you’ll have to clean the tank more often.

If you add bottom feeders to the mix it will help with the natural filtration of the tank. Just remember they have to be compatible with your bettas!

Live Plants

Live plants are a great way to add to the tank’s ecosystem. Not only do they look beautiful, but they also add oxygen to the tank while filtering out harmful things like carbon dioxide and ammonia.

Depending on your personality, you may want to get plants that are low maintenance. This means you’ll want to stick to green plants for your tank. If you want to have red plants in your tank you will have to adjust nutrients and lighting so they can remain healthy.

This may have a negative effect on your bettas or other fish.

Fortunately, there is a variety of plants to choose from including:

Amazon Sword

Java Fern

Water Wisteria

Java Moss; and

Green Tiger Lotus

If you want other options, make sure you talk to someone from the fish department at your local pet store.

Oxygen Pump and Air Stone

Another way to get oxygen into the tank is to purchase a pump (this pump is a bargain – click here). Pumps will circulate the water in the tank and bring oxygen to all corners of your tank. If you have a large tank you may need more than one pump to keep the water properly circulated.

If you want a more decorative look, you can always go for an air stone like this one. These can be a lot more fun and bring a lot of oxygen (and personality) to the tank.

Air stones are not really stones, they are decorations that have a small pump inside them that releases bubbles of air into the tank. A common decoration is the treasure chest that releases a bubble every thirty seconds or so.

Are You Dividing Your Tank Up?

One way that some fish owners keep several male bettas in their tank at a time is by dividing their tanks into sections.

There are many DIY ways to create dividers in your fish tank. You can also purchase tank dividers here if you’re not extremely crafty.

A 20-gallon tank can be divided into four 5 gallon tanks using only three dividers. With four areas to house fish, you can keep several males, or a few sororities of females, too.

Benefits Of Dividing A Tank

When you divide up a fish tank you’ll have a material that the water can flow through. This means that while the fish cannot get through the dividers, the filtration system can still work as can any oxygen pumps you put into place.

This will mean there is less maintenance for you. Having several separate tank setups means double or triple the work in upkeep so your fish remain healthy. With one big tank divided up, you’ll only need to maintain that one.

Another benefit is that you can own several species of fish that normally can’t cohabitate. If you want to have some goldfish and some bettas, you can do that with a divided tank.

It’s also handy if you’re breeding your bettas. Rather than have the male live in its own separate tank, you can have it living next door to the females. This will make the transfer in and out of the female’s tank much quicker and easier.

What To Consider When Picking Out Divider Material

Anytime you add anything to your tank you have to consider how the material may affect your fish.

For example, if you choose to use perforated cardboard to divide up your tank, it will eventually rot and disintegrate. Some metals will also rust or oxidize, releasing dangerous chemicals into your fish’s ecosystem.

Plastic, acrylic or silicone dividers work the best, just make sure there are no jagged edges that the bettas can catch their fins on.

Your dividers will also need to limit visibility. If your male bettas see each other, they will get stressed out. Agitated and stressed out fish are similar to humans. Undue stress will have negative effects on their health.

Also, the betta may try to attack the fish through the divider. This can lead to injuries and potentially damaged dividers.

If there is no airflow between the dividers you might as well have several different tanks. The oxygen and water need to be able to move around freely in the tank. This means that while your divider needs to block the sight of the other fish, it still has to allow circulation.

No circulation means more work for you.

You’ll want to make sure your dividers are going to stay in place when you put them in the tank. When purchasing dividers, some of them come with suction cups to hold the divider in place.

Make sure they are securely in place, because if they slip your fish will fight and you’ll have to buy new bettas.

There are other ways to hold your divider in place besides suction cups. Some people cut the material to the exact size and glue it into place. Others hold it in place with decorations or binder clips at either end that have been glued into place.

Just double-check the chemicals in the glue. You don’t want to introduce hazardous chemicals into the tank with your fish. Also, some glues may break down over time if they remain submerged in water.

Finally, you’ll want to make sure it’s a complete divider. This might seem like a no-brainer, but if there is even a centimeter of water over the top the fish may see each other.

Betta fish have been known to jump, so there is nothing stopping them from jumping the divider and attacking its neighbor.

It should also cover from side to side completely. Any wiggle room on either side of the tank can mean fish fights or injuries.

Drawbacks Of Dividers

The biggest consideration here are diseases. Unlike housing your betta fish in separate tanks, when one fish falls ill, it will spread throughout the tank.

This is really no different than having a regular community of fish in an undivided tank, but with the dividers in place, it might be easy to forget that they’re all living in the same water.

The other thing to consider is that sometimes even though a betta cannot see the other fish in the tank, they can still sense that it is there.

They don’t have a great sense of smell, but if both are hanging out at the divider, they are close enough to smell any waste the other fish might be releasing.

This can cause stress for your fish and may lead to illness or listlessness. If that happens, you may need to consider returning to separate tanks for your little ones.

In Summary

Betta fish are just like any other fish. They have their own health requirements and their own personalities. A small tank will not give your fish the freedom it deserves and you are putting its health at risk when you do so.

How smart is your goldfish? They are smarter than most people believe, but in comparison to other fish, they have a lower IQ level.

Most people think that goldfish only have a three-second memory, much like Dory on the beloved Disney movie, Finding Nemo. This isn’t the case. Studies have shown that your fish have longer memories than you think. In fact, it’s even possible to train your pets some simple tricks.

How smart are my goldfish?

Studies have shown that goldfish have an IQ of about 30 – 40. In a human, we wouldn’t really consider that to be a sign of intelligence, but they are far ahead of the low bar we humans have set for them.

In fact, they have, in some cases, shown more intelligence than some warm-blooded animals.

Goldfish are a member of the carp family, which also includes koi. Fish in the carp family have shown that they have memories at least three months long. In some cases, studies have suggested their long term memory is twice the length.

Your goldfish can recognize you, respond to music cues and can see the same spectrum of color that humans can. Even young goldfish have a harder time seeing the color blue, much like human babies.

Goldfish have also been trained by scientists and young enthusiasts alike to do different things such as:

Recall sounds

Move through mazes

Recognize different colors

Swim through hoops

Push balls around

So the next time someone says, “Oh, you just have fish,” you can tell them that you can train them to do tricks just like you can train your dog.

How do you measure the intelligence of a goldfish?

When we think of intelligent animals we think of sentient animals, like dogs or cats. It’s easy to imagine a stream of consciousness for your dog and even give him a voice. Goldfish don’t exactly give the impression that they have any thoughts. We tend to think they only have instincts.

Part of being sentient is having a sense of “self” and some level of emotions. Through many studies goldfish have been found to have a level of fear, this is an emotion that shows a level of memory and cognition.

This means that the fish is smart enough to remember when something may cause pain or a bad experience.

Fish can also feel pain, discomfort and their moods can change depending on the conditions of their aquarium, showing they have a recognition of well-being.

In 2019, a fish called the cleaner wrasse passed a test called the Mirror Test. This fish showed that it recognized itself in a mirror. Scientists placed a colored mark on the fish and the fish tried to scrape it off.

This showed that the fish understood that the mark is not supposed to be there. It didn’t react the same to a transparent mark, or if the mark was on the mirror. The fish could also tell if there was a different fish across from it, and didn’t attempt to remove the mark.

This means your goldfish could have an understanding of its basic self. How cool is that?

Goldfish are used in scientific studies

Because Goldfish can be trained, they are used widely in scientific studies around the world. In fact, they are second only to mice.

Scientists have used goldfish to try to understand memory and learning. Some of the studies have included running the fish through mazes and measuring their ability to remember their environment, which they can do well.

Others have included studies with music to see how the fish react to different sounds. Scientists found that goldfish will react to jazz and classical music. So if you want your pets to have a good day while you’re at work, leave some Bach running for them.

Goldfish have also shown their ability to differentiate between colors. When fed with their food around a red leggo, they learn that color means they are getting fed. Later on, they will respond quickly to that color looking for food.

With the newer studies emerging, showing that fish are sentient, it’s possible that there may be a change in laws regarding fish. They may even be offered some of the same protections that other pets, like cats, might get.

How can I train my fish?

Like most animals, goldfish are mostly motivated by food. So if you’re expecting to train your fish, you will have to be patient because you don’t want to overfeed them. Goldfish can and will eat to the point of death if the food is made readily available.

Also, don’t expect your goldfish to have a large number of tricks up their sleeves. While their memory is better than originally thought, they can only remember so much.

The fish with the record number of tricks is in the Guinness Book of World Records for remembering ten different tricks.

These fish are trained regularly and unless you have lots of extra time, you may find it difficult to get your fish to that point. If possible, do the training at the same time of day.

This will help your fish develop a routine that they will eventually remember. Once you get that down pat you can show your pet off to your friends.

There are some basic things you will need to do if you want to train your fish. The first is familiarizing them with yourself. Try to interact with them on a daily basis and, if you can, have them eat out of your fingers. This will take time.

Here are some more tips to help you along with the training:

Positive Reinforcement

Positive reinforcement is the best way to train your fish. Reward them for behaviors that you want by giving them treats.

Use tools

Use a special tool to feed your fish. They will eventually come to associate that tool with food. Aquarium Tweezers like these will do the trick.

Use the same method over and over again

Give your fish some sort of indication that the food is coming. You may have to tap on the glass or have a specific piece of lego that you put in the tank. This will let your fish know to look for food.

Consistency Is Key

Be consistent in your training. Fish may have longer memories than most believe, but they need to have the same actions reinforced repeatedly so it’s ingrained in their long term memory. You will need to start by familiarizing them with your tweezers and your finger tap.

Provide optimal living conditions

Make sure your fish are happy and healthy. If your goldfish are bored, overcrowded or ill they will be less likely to participate or cooperate with you.

For some ideas of tricks, you can teach your goldfish, watch the video below.

What tools do I need to train my fish?

The most important tool you will need will be food. Pick food that can easily be given in small amounts. This is how you’ll motivate your little one to do what you want.

You may also need some kind of feeding device unless you plan to just use your fingers. Aquarium tweezers will work, but you can also try other things like feeding tongs or feeding clips. They just need to be long enough to get down to the bottom of the tank so you can guide your fish.

Other things to consider are:

Hoops

Ping pong balls

Limbo setups

Tunnels

Why are your goldfish just hanging out at the bottom? There could be several reasons for it, both good and bad. The most likely issue is the water conditions need to be changed.

The water conditions in your tank are vitally important to your fish. If the conditions are off, you’ll notice a change of behavior in your pets. If they are hanging out at the bottom of the tank, there may be several reasons why.

Why is my goldfish at the bottom of the tank?

The habitat of your goldfish will affect the way they behave. If they don’t like their home, they will be sad. If there are too many loud noises, they’ll want to hideaway. They don’t have hands to cover their ears.

Here are some reasons your fish is hanging out at the bottom of your tank:

Stress

Water Quality

Lack of Air

Poor Nutrition

Loud Noises

Sleep

1. Stress

Stress is a general term and it can be caused by a few different things. If your pet isn’t moving around much, you may need to look into some different areas:

Overcrowding

Are you sticking with the proper ratio for goldfish? Remember you need a 1:2 ratio of inches of fish to gallons of water. A small fishbowl may not be enough room for your little guy. He may want some space to stretch.

A common goldfish would like to have at least 40 gallons of water. Make sure you have the right size of the tank.

Aggressive Tankmates

Is there a bully in the tank? Your fish might be attempting to avoid an aggressive fish in the tank. Double-check that you don’t have a fish that doesn’t mix well with your goldfish. That will lead to many problems, including a stressed-out fish.

Handling

While goldfish can be just as cute as your kitty, it’s important that you try not to handle them too much. If they’re constantly being moved about they won’t feel great. Imagine what it feels like to have someone shuttle you about without offering any explanations. It’s not very fun.

Try to limit the amount of time that you interact with your pet. They need their me-time. And make sure that any children in the home aren’t trying to play with your little one too much. Children have been known to love pets to death.

Unfavorable Environments

Do you have mood lighting in the room that you have your fish? Are they right beside a window that keeps getting opened and closed?

If so, your goldfish might not be too happy with his home life. Temperature and lighting fluctuations can confuse your fish.

Remember, out in the wild the temperature and light helped them determine their day-to-day life. When you change it all the time, they’re bound to be upset and confused.

Also, make sure your tank isn’t too cluttered with decorations. If there isn’t much room for them to move around, your fish might just give up trying.

2. Water Quality

There are many different things to take into consideration with the water quality of your fish tank. If the water is off, your fish will likely act differently.

When there are bushfires in the area, people tend to stay indoors and limit their regular activity. All of the smoke in the air is bad for the lungs.

The water in your tank is much like the air humans breathe. So make sure that you have everything right.

There are several things you’ll want to look at:

The temperature of your tank – you’ll need a good thermometer. We recommend this one!

The pH of the water – pH strips are helpful but a pH tester is more accurate. Get a pH tester here!

The cleanliness of your water – double check that you have the right filter for your tank.

Are their possible contaminants in the water? – is it possible that you have a decoration in the tank that wasn’t meant for a fish aquarium?

All of these things can make your fish less active. Their water must be cleaned and monitored regularly. If it isn’t your fish may not be in the best health. When we’re not feeling good, we tend to just chill out, too.

3. Lack of Air

Our goldfish live in water and can’t survive out of it, so it might seem counterintuitive to say they need more air in their tank. But it’s true.

Their gills filter the water and bring in oxygen for the fish. Water can grow stagnant if there isn’t aeration or living plants. If they’re having a tough time breathing, they’re not going to move around too much. You can’t really blame them.

Double-check your air pump, you might need to replace it. We recommend getting this air pump!

Do you have enough plants? Are they the right ones? You’ll want to talk to your pet store about whether you need a pump or not. If your tank has plenty of live plants, you may be able to get away without the expense of a pump, but it’s important to make sure.

4. Poor Nutrition

Are your pets getting the nutrients they need? A lack of food might mean they’re conserving energy. Too much food may mean they’re too uncomfortable to move around much. Malnutrition can be a big deal, so make sure it’s not happening with your pets.

If you’re having trouble regulating the amount of food your goldfish are getting, it might be time to invest in an automatic fish feeder (have a look at this one! It is cheap and it does the job perfectly). This can help to ensure your fish are only receiving the amount of food they need.

It’s also a good idea to make sure they are getting a wide variety of nutrients. Basic fish flakes should cover all of your bases, but you may want to consider brine shrimp, mealworms or other high protein foods every now and again.

And don’t forget the greens! Algae wafers for your fish can help to balance any deficiencies in their diet.

5. Loud Noises

Perhaps the teenager with the stereo system shouldn’t have the fish in their room. Loud noises can be stressful for everyone. Fish are no different. Remember, water amplifies sound and your fish can also feel the vibrations of the sound waves.

Try to keep them in a quiet, peaceful area with consistent lighting and environments. If they’re in the living room, turn the TV down and don’t place them above or below a room that will have lots of loud noises.

6. Sleep

This is the only good reason that your fish is just chilling at the bottom of the tank. Fish don’t have eyelids, so it’s hard to tell if they’re asleep. However, they do need an astounding six hours of sleep a day.

Keep an eye on the time of day and conditions when your fish are at the bottom of the tank. If they are hovering about an inch above the water with their nose slightly downward, they could be sleeping.

It’s also possible that their colors may fade a little bit while they are sleeping. When they wake up they will be as bright as ever, though, so don’t worry.

Before you introduce any pet to your home, it’s important that you know what kinds of food you should and shouldn’t feed it. This will include goldfish.

Whether you won your goldfish at a carnival or you simply want a pet that is rather low-maintenance, it’s important to be aware of the different foods that you can feed your goldfish.

While most people will simply feed their goldfish the flakes and pellets that they were recommended at the pet store, there are some people who wonder whether or not it is possible for goldfish to eat human food. The answer is yes.

There are many different human foods that goldfish can safely eat, provided that you have cut them into small pieces and have cooked them to make them as soft as possible (remember, goldfish are small and don’t have teeth in the front of their mouths).

Some of these foods will provide your goldfish with great nutritional value and it’s recommended that you add some of them to your goldfish’s diet.

In this article, we will provide you with a guide of what you can and cannot feed your goldfish, as well as general advice you should follow when you go to feed your goldfish.

A Typical Goldfish Diet

Mainly, goldfish will eat flakes or pellets. This is what most people will feed their goldfish and it can easily be found at any pet store. An ideal mixture of goldfish food would include shrimp, veggies, and daphnia.

They should eat between 2 to 3 times per day and need to avoid overfeeding. Some people give in and feed their goldfish every time they seem to be begging at the surface of the water, but overfeeding can cause a lot of problems, such as contamination and indigestion.

The tank will get dirty from the leftovers, which will harm the environment for your fish. It’s usually recommended that you feed your goldfish the same amount of food that would equal the size of their eye or that could be easily consumed within 2 minutes.

Make sure that the temperature of the water in the tank is where it should be, because if the water is too cold, your goldfish will not be able to digest food properly.

List of Foods that Goldfish Can Eat

When you go into your kitchen, you might wonder whether or not you can feed your goldfish some of the very foods you eat. Luckily, you most likely can! Here’s a list of the most popular foods that goldfish can eat without any difficulty that can be found in your own kitchen.

1. Oatmeal

Believe it or not, oatmeal can be a fantastic treat for goldfish. Many goldfish seem to like oatmeal and it does seem to provide them with some nutritional benefits.

Larger goldfish have the ability to eat raw oatmeal, but if your goldfish are on the smaller side, you should try to soak the oatmeal or cook it before feeding.

It is also important to make sure that you provide your goldfish with smaller pieces so that they have an easier time consuming the food and so that it doesn’t block their intestines.

2. Vegetables

Goldfish are also capable of eating vegetables. In fact, this seems to be the food group that will be the safest for them. Here are some of the most popular vegetables that people feed their goldfish.

3. Carrots

Carrots are a highly nutritional treat that can even enhance the color of your goldfish. This is due to the fact that their color is mostly based on their diet. It’s recommended that you cook the carrots first until they’re completely soft.

Then, cut the carrot into very small pieces that your goldfish will have an easy time eating.

4. Peas

Peas are another popular snack for goldfish. They even have the ability to heal goldfish when they’re sick or constipated. You will want to make sure that the skin has been peeled off of the peas before you feed it to your goldfish to prevent choking.

It’s also recommended that you cook the peas to soften them a little bit first and then chop them into smaller pieces that your fish will have an easier time eating the peas.

5. Cucumbers

Cucumbers aren’t necessarily the most nutritional food on our list, but goldfish do enjoy them. You should try to feed them cucumbers less often, though, and certainly don’t use cucumbers as your fish’s main meal.

Remove the skin first and microwave it for a few seconds to make the cucumber soft. Then, cup it into very small pieces that your goldfish can eat. Some goldfish like the seeds and others don’t, so whether you keep them or remove them will be based on your goldfish’s taste.

6. Leafy Greens

Leafy greens are the healthiest ‘human’ food that you can feed your goldfish. They love to eat lettuce, kale, spinach, and other greens.

It’s recommended that you introduce your goldfish to a variety of different greens to forage on because this is what they would naturally be doing in the wild. You can quickly microwave some of the different greens so that your goldfish can eat them easier.

Eating greens will make your goldfish a lot healthier and will prevent them from producing too much ammonia.

7. Garlic

Surprisingly, goldfish can eat garlic and it is often added as an ingredient in goldfish food. But you should only feed them garlic in moderation because it has the possibility of being toxic if your goldfish consume too much.

Many people chop up garlic into very fine pieces and add it to other food that they are giving their goldfish. Garlic has the ability to kill harmful bacteria and parasites, as well as stimulate a goldfish’s appetite.

8. Fruits

Fruits are also safe for goldfish to eat, but they shouldn’t be fed fruits too often and fruit should not be used as a substitute for other foods. Here are some fruits that are safe to feed goldfish.

9. Apples

If you choose to feed your goldfish apples, make sure that you have completely peeled the skin off to prevent choking and cut the apple into small pieces. Some people recommend that you microwave the apple to make it softer, but this isn’t mandatory.

You shouldn’t feed them apples too often, though, because apples have a lot of sugar and calories.

10. Watermelon

You can also feed your goldfish watermelon in moderation. You don’t necessarily have to cut the watermelon into tiny pieces, but you should make sure that you have removed all the seeds.

Another great thing about watermelon is that it floats, so you can place the watermelon at the top of the water. Your goldfish will chase the watermelon until it has been completely eaten, which will provide them with a lot of exercise.

But again, you shouldn’t feed them watermelon too often.

Foods You Should Never Feed Your Goldfish

With all that being said, there are some foods that you should avoid feeding your goldfish at all costs.

1. Bread

For a long time, people recommended feeding your goldfish bread. In fact, many people have done so for hundreds of years. But it’s just not something that you should do.

This doesn’t, however, mean that your goldfish has been poisoned or will inevitably die if it has eaten a few bread crumbs, but you should avoid feeding them bread at all costs. White bread, in particular, carries no nutritional value to your goldfish.

The main reason why you shouldn’t feed your goldfish bread is that it can expand and swell within your fish’s stomach, which will block important passageways, leading to constipation and a variety of other issues.

2. Crackers

You should also avoid feeding your goldfish crackers for the same reason. If you do feed your goldfish one or two, they aren’t likely to die, but crackers can expand in your goldfish’s stomach, leading to constipation and other types of blockages.

3. Cereal

Cereal is also not likely to kill your goldfish, but a common tendency among different grains is that they will likely expand and swell in your goldfish’s stomach, causing constipation and a variety of other health issues.

Plus, we can’t imagine that some of the fancier cereals containing large amounts of chocolate, marshmallows, and other processed foods will be terribly healthy for your goldfish.

4. Rhubarb greens

While you will be able to feed your goldfish many different greens- and it is recommended that you do so because of the vast health benefits- there are some greens that you should do your best to avoid. This includes rhubarb greens because they are toxic for goldfish.

5. Mammalian fats

This is generally in reference to meat. You really want to make sure that you avoid feeding your goldfish chicken, beef, pork, or any other kind of meat, even if it has been chopped up and thoroughly cooked.

Fat is a harmful ingredient for fish. Consuming any type of meat will cause fat to build up around your fish’s heart, liver, and reproductive organs. So, you generally will want to avoid fatty foods at all costs.

6. Cooking oil

When you go to cook food for your goldfish, you will want to avoid cooking food in any sort of oil, including vegetable oil, coconut oil, and others. This is because fatty oils can be extremely toxic for goldfish and can poison them.

Overfeeding

No matter what you go to feed your goldfish, you will want to make sure that you avoid overfeeding them. This is true even if you’re feeding them the most nutritious meal.

Goldfish have the tendency to eat too much, which can cause many different problems in their digestive system that are difficult to deal with.

So, the rule of thumb is to only feed your goldfish twice or three times per day and only feed as much as they can eat in a matter of a minute or two.

Critical Vitamins and Nutrients That Goldfish Need

Much like other animals, there are many vitamins and nutrients that you should make sure to include in your goldfish’s diet. These are essential in making sure that your goldfish will live long, healthy lives.

Protein

Plant-based proteins are an essential part of your goldfish’s diet and you should aim to make sure that 45 percent of their diet consists of protein. It’s essential for their development and growth as they age.

Minerals

Your goldfish do need minerals, but they generally will get all the minerals they need from the water. Some minerals such as iron, zinc, and magnesium have naturally been included in their diets. So, you don’t need to worry too much on this level.

Fat

Although we mentioned above that goldfish cannot digest mammalian fats, they do still need to have some fat in their diet because this is where they get their energy from.

Some people feed their goldfish ants, different types of mealworms, and fish oil so that fish can get the necessary amount of fat.

Vitamins

The most common vitamins that should be included as part of a fish’s diet include vitamins A, C, D, E, K, and folic acid. Luckily, most goldfish flakes contain all the vitamins a fish will need.

But sometimes, you might notice strange behaviors that may or may not be signs of a vitamin deficiency. You can always feed your goldfish live food to see if that’s the case.

Conclusion

Overall, it isn’t too difficult to take care of goldfish. They only need to be fed 2 or 3 times a day to be optimally healthy.

The good news is that many of the foods that can be found in your kitchen, vegetables, in particular, can be consumed by goldfish and will provide them with all the necessary health benefits.

We all know that goldfish love to play and exercise. Sometimes, they like to swim and hide in the plants or other toys that you have placed in the tank for them.

But some people might have noticed that their goldfish are starting to hide all of a sudden, which naturally is something to worry about. Why are your goldfish doing this?

There are many different reasons why your goldfish might have started hiding, including the behaviors of the other fish, changes in their environment, poor tank conditions, and even illness. It is important to monitor your fish’s behavior for some time to get a better picture.

Some fish might just be more skittish than others, which is fine. But in this article, we will provide you with some reasons as to why your goldfish are hiding, what to look out for, and what you can do to make your fish feel more comfortable.

Reasons Why Your Goldfish Are Hiding

Once again, there is a multitude of different reasons why your goldfish have started to hide suddenly. Here are some of the most common reasons.

1. You just purchased the fish

Any new animal is bound to feel a little bit stressed when they enter a new home, which is completely normal. If you got your fish from the pet store, it might just feel uncomfortable in its new and unusual environment.

You might even notice that some of your other fish have started to hide if you introduce a new fish to the tank because they aren’t sure yet of what to make of the situation. All you need to do in this case is wait a few days. Your fish will quickly get used to each other’s presence.

2. The fish is feeling lonely

Goldfish and many other species are used to being around many other fish at once. If you only have one or two fish, your fish could simply be hiding because they’re feeling lonely and thus, less protected.

Isolation can cause your fish to feel scared and threatened because they aren’t being protected by the presence of all the other fish. If this is the case, perhaps consider getting more goldfish or similar species so everyone feels comfortable and less vulnerable.

Do fish even have feelings?

Yes! While we mostly thought of fish as being incapable of having feelings, this isn’t actually the case. According to several scientific studies, fish have the ability to feel pain, stress, and different emotions. They also have intelligence and the need to socialize.

3. On the other hand, there are too many fish in the tank

With that being said, having too many fish in the same tank could cause issues, too. Goldfish aren’t particularly territorial or aggressive, but overcrowding can really cause changes in the overall behavior of your fish.

It may start to hide so that the other fish don’t pay attention to it or see it. If this is the case, you can either purchase a new and larger tank, or take some of the fish out of this tank and put them in another tank of the appropriate size.

4. The other fish are bullying your Goldfish

Once again, goldfish aren’t an aggressive species nor are they territorial, so it’s not likely that other goldfish are tormenting your fish. However, if you have your goldfish living with other fish species, it’s possible that those species are causing your goldfish some trouble.

This could especially be the case if you have another species that is known for being rather aggressive, such as cichlids and betta fish. Your goldfish is hiding so that it can avoid a confrontation with the more aggressive tank mate.

If this is the case, then there are several things you can do. For one, you can get separate tanks and keep the fish separate. Or, you can simply rearrange everything in the tank to give all of the fish some more space to cohabitate.

5. You don’t have enough plants and decor in the tank

One of the most important things you can do when getting a fish tank is making sure that it has all the proper decor. Most pet stores will encourage you to get some sort of toys, plants, and other decors so your fish will have something to play with.

Fish love to exercise and feel like they’re safe. If you have too much open space in your tank, your goldfish will naturally start to feel vulnerable. They want to have somewhere that they can retreat for safety, but if there’s a lack of decor, then your fish are naturally going to hide.

Including some safety retreats will give your fish the confidence to swim out in the open.

6. There have been changes in the tank’s conditions

The water conditions are extremely critical when it comes to the health and behavior of your fish, no matter what species it is.

If you have suddenly changed all the water in the tank, if the temperature has fluctuated, if the pH is off, chemical changes, filter problems, or anything of the sort, this will surely cause your fish to act strangely and want to hide.

Make sure that you test the water regularly and avoid making drastic changes all at once. Clean the tank on a regular basis, too, to make sure that your fish aren’t swimming in their own waste.

If something is off and you go to fix it, you will notice that your goldfish will start to gain confidence and swim out in the open again.

Another behavior that your fish might display if this is the case is frantic swimming. Your fish could simply be exercising, but frantic swimming could also be a sign of stress.

The most common culprit for this is a decrease in water quality. You will want to check the ammonia, nitrate, and temperature levels.

7. Your fish is/are sick

Another reason why your goldfish might be hiding is that your fish is feeling ill. That’s usually not a good sign, especially not for the other fish. You might want to check the tank conditions to see if any changes or imbalances have caused your fish to get sick.

Poor water conditions can definitely be the main cause. It is indeed possible to heal a sick fish, but you will want to make sure that this is the case first. Examine the hidden fish regularly, especially when you go to feed the others.

Its eating habits can give you a clue as to what’s going on. And, of course, you also want to prevent the other fish from getting sick, too.

8. Your fish is/are feeling threatened by something

And of course, goldfish generally hide because they are feeling threatened. It could be something as simple as you or your family members making sudden movements, or it could be because people are tapping on the tank.

Fish will generally retreat and hide in a corner where they are not feeling so vulnerable. Encourage those around you to stop tormenting the fish. If the problem comes from within the tank, you will want to examine the situation first.

What You Can Do

We have listed many solutions as far as what you can do to make sure that your fish is feeling confident.

The most common reason why fish of any species might start to act strangely is due to abnormal changes in the water, especially when it comes to the amount of ammonia or waste there is. You will want to check on this regularly. Some fish are simply timider than others.

One of the best things you can do is to make sure that there are enough hiding spaces. While this might sound counterproductive, your fish will know that there are places they can always hide in a hurry, which will give the confidence to come out of their comfort zone and explore.

You don’t want to tap on the glass and make sure that anyone else you’re living with doesn’t try to scare the fish too much.

If you find that your fish are stressed, it is indeed possible for them to recover.

Depending on what the culprit is, making sure that the water and food are of the highest quality, that you help your fish acclimate to their new environment properly, and that you have a good tank can help your fish recover.

Otherwise, be sure to monitor everything that’s going on in the tank to see what you can do about a fish that has started hiding suddenly.

Making sure that your goldfish feel as comfortable and safe is the best thing you can do for them as their owner. Be sure to monitor their behavior, as well as the activities that are taking place in the tank, the water conditions, and more to be sure that everything is going smoothly.

You know the stereotype that surrounds people who have pet goldfish: the fishbowl. In movies, cartoons, shows, and all of the above, we often see people keeping their fish in bowls.

But lots of people believe that this is actually bad for your fish’s health and you should always keep them in a tank. But is that true? Can you keep goldfish in a bowl safely?

The answer is yes! Although bowls might require a little more maintenance, it is entirely possible to keep your goldfish in a bowl. If you make sure that the conditions are right and you look after your fish, your goldfish will live a long, happy life, whether it’s in a bowl or a tank.

It’s possible that you will have to do a bit more maintenance work with your fishbowl, but that doesn’t at all mean that you can’t keep a goldfish in a fishbowl.

In this article, we will give you some advice on how to safely maintain a fishbowl, as well as some general advice for keeping your fish happy and healthy.

What to Know About Keeping Your Goldfish in a Bowl

You might have heard that fishbowls aren’t a good environment for your fish, which could be the case if you don’t maintain and take care of it properly.

Fishbowls need to be cleaned more often than regular tanks do, and you need to consistently check that the water levels are where they need to be for your fish. This is because most fishbowls cannot function with a filter, so you need to do a lot of that work on your own.

Here are some important tips that you should know if you want to keep your goldfish in a bowl.

1. Avoid keeping too many fish in the same bowl

This is especially important if you want your fish to live as long as possible in the tank. You should avoid keeping more than one or two fish in the same bowl to make sure that they will have enough room to swim and hide if necessary.

It will also reduce the amount of waste that’s in the bowl that your fish are breathing in. Overall, it’s never a good idea to overcrowd the space, whether you have a tank or a bowl, because it could cause your fish to stress out too much, which would decrease its quality of life.

2. Try to add an air pump to maintain the proper oxygen levels

You need to make sure that the level of oxygen in the bowl is where it needs to be. One of the best ways to do so is by getting an air pump. There are ways for you to do this on your own, so you might not even have to get a special one from the store.

As we will discuss in more detail in the next section, another way to make sure that your goldfish will get as much oxygen as possible is by making sure you get a wide, large bowl.

3. Can you use tap water?

Not unless you have purchased a solution that would add the proper nutrients and minerals. This is because tap water can be too alkaline or acidic, which would, therefore, cause your fish to die. You need to make sure that the conditions are perfect.

4. You have to clean the bowl on an almost daily basis

This is one of the downsides of having a bowl. It requires a lot more maintenance than a regular tank as you don’t have the filter and other necessary mechanisms. Your goldfish produce a lot of ammonia and waste, and leaving them to sit in that will only cause them to die quickly.

Avoid changing all the water at once, but try to change around 50 to 75 percent of it. The clean water needs to have absolutely no chlorine in it, which you can ensure with a dechlorinator.

5. Doing a full water change

It is possible for your goldfish to die if you do an entire water change at once. Doing so could completely change the composition of the water, which would be too difficult for your fish to get used to.

Try doing only partial changes every week or so so that your fish can get used to the change.

6. Leaving the fish in the bowl

You can generally leave your fish in the bowl, especially if you’re doing a simple task. Just be careful not to disturb your fish. If you feel the need to remove the fish, make sure you do so slowly and gently.

7. Don’t overfeed your fish

The best way to determine how often your fish need to be fed will be by watching and observing their behavior, but you really want to avoid feeding them too often.

This will help to keep the bowl as clean as possible and it will help to prevent too much waste from getting in the water. Keep in mind that fish do not need to be fed as often as warm-blooded animals do, so you don’t need to feed them every hour or two in order to keep them healthy.

8. Get live plants for your bowl

This is another great way for you to keep oxygen in the tank. If you cannot add a filter to the bowl or the bowl you purchased doesn’t have its own filter, getting live plants is the best way for you to be able to filter the bowl. Live plants, in fact, act as a natural filter.

And, they’re a nice way for your fish to have something to swim and hide around, which will help to keep them occupied. Remember, the more oxygen in the bowl, the better. It’s often due to a lack of oxygen that people are not able to keep their goldfish alive for too long.

Tips for Choosing the Best Bowl

If you have decided to keep your goldfish in a bowl, here is some of the best advice to consider to make sure that your fish will have the best quality life possible.

9. Make sure it has a wide opening at the top…

…such as this one from Koller Products. The bigger the opening, the better. This is because it will allow for more oxygen exchange. It’s especially important because plants are typically used as the only kind of filter in a bowl.

If you plan on getting a fishbowl that has its own filter, then this step might not be so necessary. Also, try to avoid filling your fishbowl all the way to the top so that there can be more surface area.

10. Get as big of a bowl as you possibly can

This will help to ensure that your fish have as much room as possible for swimming, which means that they will live much longer. And this also means that waste will be diluted.

You can also have a lot more space in the bowl to have aquatic plants, which will help to create a better-filtered environment for your fish. In all, the best thing that you can do for your fish is making sure that they have a large fishbowl.

11. Do not keep adult goldfish in a bowl

The recommended tank size for most goldfish is 10 gallons per fish or more. We have done our best but we were not able to find a 10-gallon fishbowl anywhere. The only bigger bowl we could find is this one – but it costs more than you’d expect.

That’s why we recommend not keeping fully grown goldfish in a bowl.

A 1-gallon bowl is way too small for an adult goldfish and keeping your fish in such a tiny bowl would be cruel.

12. Try to make sure that the glass is very thick

Of course, thick glass is a lot more durable in comparison to thin glass. If the glass is thin, there’s a possibility that it could burst, and no one wants that. So, the bowl has lower chances of breaking if the glass is on the thick side. And on that note…

13. Avoid getting plastic and use glass instead

Some people may want to use plastic because it is, indeed, a lot cheaper than glass. But you really want to avoid using it because it could cause chemicals to leak into the water, which would be very harmful to your fish’s health.

While you might feel a little worried about using glass, if you get a high-quality material, there’s nothing to be concerned about.

14. See if you can get a bowl with a filter

It’s hard to install a separate filter in a fishbowl, but there are options on the market, like this one from Tetra, that will allow you to have a built-in filter and lights.

They also aren’t too expensive at all, so you won’t have to worry about spending too much money. This is the best way to make sure that your fish will stay healthy because filters help to get rid of all the waste and other substances in the water.

15. Our Recommendation? Get this tank instead!

As we already said in the beginning, we are not fans of keeping goldfish in a bowl. If you really want to keep your goldfish in a small, amazing looking tank, we recommend going for a 20-gallon tank with rounded edges like this one.

It is still a small tank but it is way better for goldfish and the rounded edges give this tank a very clean look.

Conclusion

In all, it is indeed possible for you to be able to keep your goldfish in a fishbowl. While it will require a lot more maintenance because many bowls do not have all the abilities that tanks have, you can most certainly do it.

Making sure that your goldfish have as much access to oxygen as possible through live plants and a large bowl will help to keep them happy and healthy.

When a lot of people think of goldfish, they envision a rather stupid animal. But the reality is actually much different.

This is one of the least-studied animals out there, and one question that many scientists have wanted to answer is whether or not a goldfish has the mental capacity to recognize its owner.

The answer is most likely yes. Many people believe that goldfish can recognize and remember the faces of their owners. It is also possible that they have the capability of distinguishing their owner from a stranger.

So, despite the fact that you might have thought of goldfish as being dumb, they actually have quite a few impressive qualities.

In this article, we will talk about some of the mental capacities that goldfish have, as well as their capability of recognizing their owners.

Goldfish Can Recognize Their Owners

Despite the fact that goldfish have tiny brains, they actually have a lot more power than we might realize. In comparison to some of the other fish in the animal kingdom, goldfish are rather smart and have many cognitive capabilities associated with memory.

Their vision allows them to see you clearly

Goldfish can see the four primary colors and four different cone cells. Since this means that they have a rather clear vision, they can see you as you approach the tank or enter the room the tank is in.

They have a memory span of three months

Unlike the common 3-second myth, goldfish actually have a memory span that lasts 3 months. So, over time, your goldfish will be able to remember you and associate different colors, sounds, and more with you.

Goldfish have the ability to sense time

If you feed your goldfish at the same time every day, they will be able to remember that. Some people notice that their goldfish will start to swim toward the top of the tank when they realize that it’s almost time to be fed.

And over time, if you are the primary person who feeds your goldfish, they will start to associate you with food. Many people who own goldfish noticed that their goldfish would swim to the top of the tank when they enter the room- most likely because the fish are expecting to be fed.

What goldfish owners say

There are many people who believe that their goldfish recognize them due to the behaviors that the fish display. For example, a stranger might enter the room or approach the tank, which will cause the goldfish to hide behind a plant or toy.

But when the owner approaches, goldfish might feel more relaxed. It has been shown that goldfish will start to feel less threatened by humans if they have had constant visual contact.

So, if your goldfish starts to see you more and more often, it will start to feel less threatened by your presence. And since goldfish have the ability to distinguish faces, it will be able to set you apart from other people who might be with you.

Some people will notice their fish acting in a more favorable manner toward them, including swimming toward the front of the tank or swimming at a faster pace.

What Does Research Say?

A scientific study was conducted by Oxford University in 2016 about the memories and recognition of fish. While the species studied was archerfish, the people conducting the study also believe that it will apply to other species of fish, including goldfish.

The researchers would show fish two different faces and were encouraged to spit at one of the faces using food. Then, once the fish would seem to get used to one of the faces, many other people’s faces began to get shown.

The fish were able to choose the correct face most of the time, which is certainly an accomplishment since people have mostly the same features, especially members of the same family.

An Australian biologist Culum Brown in his interview for Vox told that a lot of species of fish are able to recognize individuals, as well as the difference between predators and non-predators.

He even wrote a scientific essay in which he argues that fish are much more intelligent than we believe. They are able to learn from one another.

This also comes into play when you’re feeding your goldfish, he argued, because fish are able to associate certain times and places with certain activities.

Not too much research has been conducted on goldfish for this specific question, however.

But since we know that goldfish have rather long memory spans, they are capable of seeing and hearing clearly, and they can get used to their environment, it is likely to assume that goldfish will also be able to remember their owners.

Many people who have goldfish can attest to this fact; they say that their goldfish act differently around them than other people.

How to Get Your Goldfish to Recognize You

When you first purchase a goldfish, you might notice that it is acting timid and shy. Of course, goldfish tend to be scared of humans and anything much larger than they are. This is why it’s important that you give it some time.

Remember: goldfish have a memory span of 3 months.

This means that it might take some time for your goldfish to get used to you and its environment.

The best way for you to get your goldfish to start recognizing you is to spend a lot of time near the tank. If your tank is in the living room, for example, spend a lot of free time there. The more your goldfish can see your face, especially at different angles, the better.

Try to be the only person who feeds them.

If there are other people in your family, try to make sure that you’re the only one feeding the goldfish. As we said earlier, goldfish have the capability of recognizing their owners through food.

If you’re the one who is consistently feeding your goldfish, then they will gradually start to recognize you.

Don’t tap at your tank and try to scare your goldfish.

The more you scare your goldfish, the less likely they are to be able to remember you- at least, in a positive way. If you act calmly around the tank and avoid scaring your fish, the chances are higher that your goldfish will swim out in the open when they notice you.

Important Things to Know About Goldfish

They most likely have feelings

It seems that, after some preliminary studies have been conducted, they are indeed capable of having feelings. They have intelligence, needs for socialization, and emotions.

They have a good memory

Despite the fact that many people think a goldfish has a memory span of 3 seconds, research shows otherwise. Compared to a lot of fish, goldfish have good memories. They are able to respond to light, music, and other sensory details.

Goldfish can live very long lives

Depending on the conditions a goldfish lives in, they can actually live rather long lives. Their lifespan is between 10 and 15 years. If you feed your fish proper food and the water conditions are where they need to be, your goldfish will live a long life.

Conclusion

So, the next time someone says that you’re “as smart as a fish,” there’s no reason to be insulted by it. Often believed to only have a 3-second memory, researchers found that goldfish actually are a lot smarter than we believed them to be.