Goldfish is widely chosen as the first pet by numerous individuals. Goldfish is an exemplary fish that is bred from the beginning of the nineteenth century. There is a misconception that goldfish is easily replaceable pet and has a less lifespan.
These fishes are from the Carp family Cyprinid, which is known for its long-life expectancies. Goldfish is actually a long-lived fish compared to all aquarium fishes and can even beat the lifespan of dogs, cats, and some turtles too only when protected and raised with proper care.
The truth behind goldfish’s life expectancy depends on various factors, and every aspect has its own significant impact. It could be the water habitat, genes, food, quality of care, ambiance, space, etc.
There are many desirable breeds of goldfish, and each has its own life expectancy, and the average lifespan would be 5-10 years. Some types of goldfish live for a few weeks and months. At the same time, some types can live up to 5-20years. Some fishes have less lifespan even when protected with the utmost care, and some even live for a period of more than 20 years. There is a record on goldfish in the UK, which lived for 40 years incredibly.
What are the types of gold fish and their life span?
Below is the table constituting of different gold fish types and their life expectancy,
| Type of gold fish | Lifespan |
| Fancy gold fish | 5-10 years |
| Ranchu gold fish | 5 years |
| Bubble eye gold fish | 5 years |
| Wild carp gold fish | 10-14 years |
| Japanese ryukin gold fish | 10-15 years |
| Veil tail gold fish | 10-15 years |
| Broad tail moor gold fish | 10-15 years |
| Pearl scale gold fish | 10-15 years |
| Pompom gold fish | 10-15 years |
| Celestial gold fish | 10-15 years |
| Common gold fish | 12-20 years |
| Wakin gold fish | 12 years |
| Fringe tail gold fish | 12-14 years |
| Fan tail gold fish | 12-14 years |
| Telescopes | 12-14 years |
| Comet gold fish | 12-15 years |
| Shubunkin gold fish | 14-15 years |
| Hama nishiki gold fish | 15 years |
| Oranda gold fish | 15-20 years |
What are the reasons for goldfish not living too long?
- Improper cleaning of a fish tank – Fish tank, if not appropriately maintained, the messy created by fish promotes rapid toxins that kill fishes.
- Quality of food you provide – Food from pet shops sometime could be of poor quality and outdated; always be sure with the quality and feed proper diet to them, or else it will die of insufficient supplements.
- Overfeeding your fish – Overfeeding your fish will cause problems like constipation and other health risks to your fish. It even becomes difficult for your fish to swim and leads to death
- Genes of fish – sometimes, the lifespan depends upon the breeds with less lifespan even protected with care by default.
- The ambiance of the tank – The artificial additions into the tank-like plants, stones also impacts the fish living, and too many algae also harm your fish.
- Space in the tank– Fishes provided with less space stress their immune system and cannot be able to swim freely.
- Overcrowding of fishes in the tank – Adding a more significant number of fishes to the tank is not suggested at any time; this can spread the infections, and lots of waste is generated within the tank, which can be toxic sometimes.
- Poor oxygen levels in the tank – reduced oxygen levels will make your fish so inactive, sick and does not perform their activity properly
- Transporting goldfishes – These goldfishes, while bringing from other places, are exposed to significantly less space that weakens them and stresses out and even sometimes shares their space with other bunches by spreading if infections can happen.
How can we increase goldfish life expectancy?
- Water for goldfishes should be filtered or changed regularly as we know goldfishes make a lot of waste, promoting the rapid growth of harmful toxins, excess of nitrate, and salts causing harm to your fish.
- Fish owners must be pretty sure that they are cleaning or filtering the water inside the bowl or aquarium. Goldfishes grown in an open ambiance like ponds will have large life expectancies. This is because green growth like algae, which grow in nitrogen-rich environment and plants that grow underneath and above the water, diminishes nitrogen levels and gives food to your fish. Adding to that, plants even release oxygen and allows fishes to hide and cover.
- The quality of food you provide to your fish shows a massive impact on their lifespan; food from pet shops some time could be of low quality and cannot include all the sufficient nutrients and vitamins required to the fish. Always remember fish should not be overfed, which builds up many health risks for them, including constipation and even discharge more, making the aquarium so messy and dirty.
- The space, especially in bowl fishes, becomes stressed with less space; it should be kept in a medium whose volume can have 50 gallons of water. Even temperature plays a crucial role as some types of goldfishes require cold water, and some need moderate.
- Introduce some live plants inside the tank to absorb ammonia and nitrate and increase the tank’s oxygen levels.
Summary:
In a nutshell, we can say goldfish live short periods are totally a misconception. They live long when protected and looked after with care. Their lifespan in aquarium tanks is less when compared to goldfishes that grow in ponds. They require 50 gallons of freshwater minimum in the tank to expect a long life. Their average life expectancy is about 5-10 years. But there is evidence of goldfishes that lived more than 20 years too, and even for a few days, it all depends upon how and where fish owners grow them. Have more suggestions from pet doctors for creating a safe environment for your goldfish to live long and about feeding options.