Vacation Feeding a Success

Well, the goldfish made it through a week of our absence! I had put into each tank one of those puck vacation food feeders that slow-release flakes. Of course Blitzen started nom nom nom-ing on it the second I dropped it in, which caused me to worry it would last the week. There was a small bit of it left in the upstairs tank, which I removed upon our return.

I gave both tanks about a 50% water change as soon as we got back. The water quality in the baby tank seemed especially bad, but all tankmates appeared happy and healthy.

The upstairs filter wasn't half as dirty as I thought it would be. I suppose this quasi-fast in the upstairs tank helped reduce their "output", if you know what I mean.

So, looks like the goldies made the right call in giving the ski trip a pass this year :D

Sexing Goldfish

Well, from what I'm reading lately the way to sex your goldfish is....look for the nib!

No, not the yummy red licorice treats that my husband maintains are NOT licorice. I'm referring to the anal area. Apparently female goldies' anal area extrudes out (nib), and male goldies are concave in (no nib).

Sooo, it seems Blitzen is a garbage-guts female, Shebunkin is a gorgeous flowing male, and Brutus - well I'm still not settled on that!

Salting

Did a 50% water change in the tanks yesterday and today, and added salt. Slight indications of white stuff on the fins of the babies. Bubbles in the poop string of one - never seen that before? Hoping the bubbles from the waterfall have just attached.

Fantastic Site

I've recently found a really warm and informative site re: goldfish. Lots of nice people

www.kokosgoldfish.com

Lettuce

I've been meeting a lot of people online, reading lots of posts, since creating this blog. One common feeding theme has been lettuce - apparently goldfish love it! So, I tore up a few pieces of romaine tonight, partly to feed the snails, partly to see what the fish would think of it.

Brutus was the first brave soul to take a bite. Good little man didn't even regurgitate it out :) Garbage-guts Blitzen, much to my surprise, was hesitant for a good hour!

Perhaps they are just not used to it, or perhaps Romaine is the wrong kind of lettuce, but either way: they much preferred their standard flakes/bloodworm treat. SO FAR. If green is healthy for us, it must be so for them? :) I am going to pursue this fresh food/greenery. At the very least the gf will be amused.

Introducing "The Attic Fish"

No, we don't hold hostage our beloved goldfish in the attic. We have started calling them our "attic fish" as their large tank is above the smaller tank of the pond babies.

So, without further ado, here are Brutus (gold with white fins, born in the pond, raised by us indoors), Shubunkin aka Bunkie(the brains and beauty of the tank); and Blitzen (about 3.5yrs old, big mouth, eats anything and everything)

Toys for Bored Goldfish

It sometimes appears to me that the indoor goldfish get blase', bored. I change around their decorative rocks from time to time to change up their environment, create a new swimming obstacle. This week I added a well-washed plastic Dole cup (the kind fruit comes in). It floats around til it hits the waterfall flow, then swoons down in the current. Blitzen, our largest goldfish, seems to like sticking his head into it, bopping it. Shebunkin, the one who I was specifically hoping to amuse, doesn't pay one bean of attention to it at all. I'm still looking for toy ideas for him....