Hey - I love "Goldies" too!! Even though I posted the "Clown Loach" as my favorite tropical fish, secondary to that would be the goldfish, & if I ever find room for a 2nd tank somewhere, it will probably be populated with a couple of them. My favorites are the "Black Moors" & the "Fantails". I used to have a Black Moor & 3 Fantails (Gold, Blue, & Red Cap) in a tank & found them both fascinating & restful to watch.

This info is found at the link below: Aquarium salt is widely used to help prevent illness as well as treating for different diseases. Salts are widely used because they have so many benefits compared to using medications. Examples: Salt will not harm your filters It is cheap to use It does not cause any harm to the person administering it It is not harmful to the majority of fish species It will not send a sick fish over the edge It quickly eliminates 7 out of 9 parasites Before using salt you will want to remove submerged plants and perform a water change of 50%. Salts that can be used are: food grade non mineralized cattle feed grade NON-iodized salt (no additives such as Yellow Prussiate of Soda) Aquarium salts available at the petstores Below is a helpful chart to use when help is needed! However, the recommended dosage from Doc Johnson is 1 teaspoon of salt per gallon of water every 12 hours not to exceed 3 treatments. If dealing with large tanks or ponds you will need to use 3 pounds of salt per 100 gallons of water. Also read the information below: Salt levels do not dissipate with water evaporation or small water changes. Freshwater/coldwater fish like Goldfish are not designed to live in a saline environment. Salt is a wonderful remedy to treat ailments, or to control the toxicity of nitrite/nitrate spikes, but as a normal maintenance procedure it is a no-no for goldfish. Salt also tends to make water harder. If you already have hard water, you are adding to his stress. Through what is called "osmosis" your goldfish already maintains a normal high salt concentration in his body fluids and needs to absorb freshwater into his cells to keep in balance. By adding more salt to his water, you are overloading his system and putting him under osmotic stress. This can be fatal. It saps their energy and strength and weakens their immune system, or can even kill them. This is probably why your fish is spending a lot of time "sleeping" at the bottom of the tank. Give him some fresh oxygenated water w/o the salt. Save the salt for only when he is sick or there is a problem with your water. Happy fishing!! Salt Dips- Providing salt dips help fish that have been shipped or moved recover their electrolytes. A fish that has been dipped in salt is more susceptible to medications being able to help them since the salt dipping will remove their protective covering (slime coat). Dipping removed unwanted parasites Low Salt Dosages- Low salt dosages in the tank will provide minerals for the fish. Works like a protective covering on the fish to protect against nitrite poisoning. Will stimulate the slime coat **************** There's a table at that site, too - that reflects dosage and use. And this link: http://www.koivet.com/html/articles/articles_results.php?article_id=149&category=17&search_term=peas will explain my reference to feeding peas. Here is a link that might be useful: Salt info

First you need to take a water sample to the pet store and have it tested. They will do this for free. Find out how good your water is. I have found that goldfish if fed an all processed diet just always get rots, fuzzy bacteria, etc... By processed I mean the pellets and flakes. I have never had a goldfish live long on this kind of diet. They are prone to thses aliments. I add frozen to the diet as well as the flake and pellets. I put a piece of the frozen cube in a little cup and pour a little tank water over it, and then when it defrosts I use a wooden skewer to hand feed it to my fish. I give peas every other day ( without skin). I feed oranges fresh, or I will soak pellets in organic pure orange juice no calcium added. They sell a packet of frozen greens at the pet store for ominovious fish and they get this too. You have to build them up so when they are exposed to these aliments their own immune systems can take the offending bacteria out. I have never had a fish survive using the over counter medicines. The only exception the Jungle antibiotic food pellets they sell at the pet store. One thing that is wonderful about goldfish is they are not picky eaters. They will eat a lot of good things. I have an indoor pond with tropical fish, two Koi, and two goldfish. The temp of the pond has been 60 degrees lowest, and highest 68 degrees this winter. I do not work heaters think nature even in the tropics has times of change. I know because the tropical orchids I have will not bloom till they get a room change that reads between 60 to 68 degrees. I keep my fish natural and a constant water temp is not natural. Also for me and my system there is always the risk of the heater burning through my preform pond , and some people have lost fish due to malfunctioning heaters. So far my tropicals have been very healthy. The Koi have been perfect. The goldfish this year got the fuzzy bateria on their skin. What I did was increased their orange intake , and fed them more greens, and the fuzzys went away in about three days by their own immune systems. They never acted sick or lost appetite. I just moved in with good food and let nature do its thing. I also keep my water very clean and fresh with regular water changes and real plants growing in the water.

Bingo, Lynn! It is a raccoon. I was up late reading last night (actually early this morning), heard a tiny metal clink outside so I went to look. Put on the porch light and my big flashlight but there was nothing by the pond - I even walked over to it for a closer look but nothing was around it. On the way back under my big mesquite tree right next to the patio, something told me to look up. There he was in a crotch of the tree no more than 6 feet from where I stood and just barely above the level of my head so I had a full view. He had knocked our finch feeder out of the tree while he was polishing off the hanging net bag full of old crackers we'd hung in the mesquite this weekend for the birds. The finch feeder is glass with a metal top and was I'm sure the metal clink I heard as it dropped and hit a stone or something hard on the ground. In the beam of my flashlight, he blinked at me like I was interrupting his nap or something and I took a good look at him then ran in the house to wake DH and get the camera. Of course he was gone when I got back out there. He was a big one, quite plump and fluffy shiny coat and I have to admit it was really thrilling to see him so up close and personal. On a closer look, he had tried fishing again but the big piece of shade cloth DH had draped fully over the pond had foiled him and all he did was push a corner into the pond. The fish are traumatized and are all hiding down at the bottom and at the far end from where the massacre took place. No matter what anyone says, they are smart enough to know there is something hunting them after witnessing what happened. I guess we will be continuing to cover the pond with the shade cloth each night from now on - not exactly pretty but at least the fish get a chance this way. I guess we will have to be careful about putting out food for the birds too. I have to wonder if he was attracted by the bird food or the sound of the pond. I'm still just amazed to think they live down here in the desert where there are no real streams or creeks such as found in more typical habitat like woods and grasslands. I guess they are like the coyotes, adapting and living off of man's developed cities.