Have just had to remove another dead goldfish from Froggy minors tank. That’s the second one to get stuck trying to swim through the holes in the side of the ornamental bridge in their tank. At least I noticed this one fairly quickly, the first one still looked OK from the head side but had been almost completely eaten away by the tank shrimps from behind by the time I noticed.
Do they have no sense of scale or are our ones just stupid.

How many ornamental bridges do they see in their natural habitat? They just aren’t equipped for it

Possibly not as stupid as the person who put the killer bridge in the tank, and left it there after the first murder.

Captainsasquatch, the killer bridge is now gone soon to be replaced with a different ornament when Froggy minor chooses one this weekend, but this one won’t have holes in it.

Cue next week’s thread about goldfish with head injuries… 😛

…after he’s installed an ornamental windmill.

*phones RSPCA*

Sounds like the MO was the same in both murders, this suggests a serial killer to me, or at the very least I reckon there is something fishy going on..

IGMC

I had a goldfish when I was 7. It lived for ages, in a bowl without any ‘distractions’
My kids had some goldfish in a 3′ x 12″ x 12″ tank without ‘bridges’ or other artificial shenanigans. They lived for ages as well.

Goldfish need a large, well filtered and well maintained tank to live appropriately. Weekly water changes, ideally an external biofilter and around 25 litres of water per fish. They are hardy but that’s no reason to keep them in shitty conditions. Kids are almost always better off with a shrimp tank especially if it’s small. Perhaps a change of species? I know they’re only goldfish but…

Goldfish are highly intelligent and have enormous psychic powers.

What other reason can there be for people putting a fish you don’t eat in an environment safe from predators, feeding them regularly, cleaning their habitat regularly, and keeping their water at a nice comfortable temperature and filtered clean?

We are their slaves. The OP is to be congratulated on his subtle act of rebellion.

It’s not the Lizard masters we should fear, it’s the goldfish that control it all. Fact. 🙂

joolsburger is right. I have no idea of your tank setup, but they’re large fish with a lifespan of 20-40 years and to keep them happy you’re looking at a 60l+tank and 4+fish, plants, gravel, pump and other critters.

Danios are a better bet, in a 20l tank you could keep 4, a shrimp or two, a snail and live plants.

Setup isn’t quick, mind, with any tank.

Do they have no sense of scale

I see what you did there.

Squidlord

We all know your agenda.

Do they have no sense of scale

I see what you did there

Golden.

I was told that they give off a growth restriction hormone. So if they’re in a little bowl they end up ingesting a lot so stay small but in a big space it’s less concentrated so they grow bigger.
Is this just an old wives tale? I guess if you changed the water every week they would end up huge.

To save the tedious detail, I suggest people have a look at the website of Practical Fishkeeping for tips. No bowls, please!

EDIT:http://www.practicalfishkeeping.co.uk/content.php?sid=2599

Goldfish must be pretty stupid.
They only have a slightly better memory than me.

choppersquad – Member
Goldfish must be pretty stupid.
They only have a slightly better memory than me.

That’s what they want you to think… 🙂

Won a gold fish at a fair when I was a nipper, it did better than me at school and went on to be a marine biologist.

Occasionally by genetic chance a goldfish is born that has a memory longer than the few seconds it takes to do a circuit of the bowl and after a few weeks the fish begins to recognise things it’s seen before, gets bored and decides to go for it…. and dies. Hence only stupid goldfish or golfish in very big tanks ever survive.

after a few weeks the fish begins to recognise things it’s seen before, gets bored and decides to go for it.

is this like when Skynet becomes self aware in Terminator?