Fish advice please....??

[mommy22boys]

Need help please:

Any advice for keeping goldfish alive? Or is there another type of fish that can live in just a fish bowl and has a better success rate than goldfish? Betta?

Also, what is the proper way to clean the bowl?

My son got a goldfish bowl and 3 goldfish. All died. We got 3 more. All died again. We got them from Wal-Mart and really don't know anything about fish. He just really wanted them so we decide to give it a try. The lady there said 3 would live fine in a bowl. After the first 3 died (the same night we brought them home) we got the "bowl buddies" tablets to put in the bowl when cleaned weekly. We also put the water and the tablet in the bowl hours before adding the fish in order to let it get room temp. We didn't know about either of these things till I asked around about goldfish. By this point I kinda assumed the Wal-Mart lady was no fish expert. So anyway, the second round of fish lived longer. One of them dies last night which was 5 days after we got them. The other two died today. We have been feeding them 3 times a day like the goldfish flakes food says. I did notice that it only took like a day for the water in the bowl to get all "foggy." Then last night I looked in and was like OMG gross! So I was going to clean it first thing this morning which would mean they were in there 6 days and it said to clean weekly so I figured that would be fine. But then when I went to clean it the others were dead.

So I googled for some info and there are soooo many different answers I don't know what to think. I read some things that said goldfish can actually not live in only a bowl and that 3 of them would need a 50 gallon tank! Other sites, people talked about having goldfish live in a bowl 5 years. So I'm confused!

So any advice? Should we only get 1 fish to put in the bowl to cut down on the "waste?" Or should we try a betta instead of a goldfish?

How to clean the bowl when it's time? I had planned to use dish soap to wash it then fill back up, drop in tablet and let it get back to room temp before putting fish back in. Is this a good plan? Or no? The dish soap.... is that safe or do I need to clean it with something else? Also, how do I clean the pebbles and little decoration we put in there? Do I need to get new pebbles now that 6 fish have died in there... or does that matter? or can I wash the pebbles?

And lastly... does it matter where I buy them? Are wal-mart fish just as good as, say, petco fish? Petco is an hour away from me so I wouldn't really go there just for fish unless it was extremely better to do so.

TIA for any help!

[Doglover8180]

I am thinking you got one of those little opened up at the top - looks like a big cookie jar type bowls - like walmart sells? If so, 3 goldfish cannot live in that tiny thing - no way. I'd say one fish in one of those bowls. Goldfish are hard to keep alive. They may be killing each other.... you may be overfeeding them. Goldfish will eat what they are fed - they don't have a filter in them that says "I am full" stop eating - they will eat themselves to death if they aren't rationed their food. Betas are very sturdy fish - you likely won't kill a beta. But, again, betas are aggresive with other fish - only put 1 beta in the fish tank. You might also want to get one of those lil suction fishes - can't think of what they are called - that clean the side of the bowl - have no idea if a beta would not kill it though - beta's are aggresive with other fish. For a bowl that small, I would be cleaning it once a week and don't overfeed it.

[mommy22boys]

yes it is the cookie jar looking open top one from wal-mart. I didn't know how many can live in there and the lady said 3 could... obviously, like I said, she probably isn't an expert! lol

[CW&M Mom]

are you using the drops to get rid of the chlorine?

If they are dying that quickly they are dying from the chlorine in your water.


You need to clean the bowl, clean the rock. fill the bowl, put the chlorine drops in. Let it sit at least 12 hours. Then put the fish in. You need to do this each time you clean the bowl.

We use this..we got it at Walmart: Jungle Start Right Liquid 16oz Complete Water Conditioner For Freshwater Saltwater Goldfish Remove

And beta's will probably live longer then gold fish...you have to do the exact same thing for Beta's though or they will be belly up as well. and you can only get one beta..not 3..or they will kill each other...

[mommy22boys]

Yes, we got water-conditioning tablets. It just says to let it dissolve then it's ready to use though. Maybe I should let it sit longer to give to longer to condition the water?

Also... how do I clean the rocks?

[CW&M Mom]

Yes, we got water-conditioning tablets. It just says to let it dissolve then it's ready to use though. Maybe I should let it sit longer to give to longer to condition the water?

Also... how do I clean the rocks?

How long are you letting the water sit? It should be at least 12 hours.

[mommy22boys]

How long are you letting the water sit? It should be at least 12 hours.

Well we let the water sit like 6 hours but we didn't have the tablets till we got home with the 2nd round of fish. And on the box it says just let it dissolve then put the fish in so we did that. It dissolved within like 5 minutes.

So every time I clean the bowl I need to let it sit 12 hours before putting the fish back? Do I need a 2nd bowl and just rotate them back and forth? lol. What can I put the fish in safely for the 12 hours while I wait for the water to sit? Just dip it out with a cup and leave it in the cup?

[CW&M Mom]

You could dip it into a cup or mason jar or similar..

what we do..is have the water waiting..so that when we clean the bowl...it's already sat for at least 12 hours. Ours is often 24 or so...

see it gets to "room temperature" when it sits for a long time.

If you get a betta..they will jump..so be sure to not fill up the bowl too high..btdt

For the rocks..I would just use a strainer and rinse them off real good.

[Spanelli8706]

No advice... we went thru 15 or so guppies last year and tried every suggestion given to us. We gave up, but totally I feel your pain. lol. Good luck!

[coupondad101]

you need chlorine remover drops that works instantly.then make sure the tempeture is right.usally is 1 gold fish per half gallon of water