What to Expect in the First Few Days

Your fish will be stressed! Fish typically recover after 3-5 days but can take up to 14 days.


Immediately upon receiving your new fish, they may exhibit one or more of the following symptoms:

  • Swim Imbalance
  • Bottom sitting, hiding, or facing a corner, 
  • Erratic movement to the surface and back down
  • Lethargy
  • Loss of color and appetite 
  • Hard breathing
  • Redness in tail or body

Allow your fish to rest and get adjusted to their new environment! 


Acclimation

As there are many acclimation processes you may come across in your research, we advise very simple solutions as to how to properly acclimate your goldfish upon arrival. All of our goldfish are quarantined for a minimum of 3 weeks and healthy before they are introduced in our store, on our website, or before they are shipped (if sold as a pre-order). You can find additional information on this here. However, an additional quarantine of all shipped goldfish is HIGHLY RECOMMENDED before introducing them to your community tank or pond. 

To promote healthy and long living goldfish, follow these steps:

  1. When your new goldfish arrive, open the box and remove the bags containing fish. Do not remove goldfish from bag.
  2. Place the bag directly into your quarantine tank for at least 20-30 minutes for the water temperature to equalize *If the fish are on their sides or if the bag has leaked during shipping, please get them into fresh water as quickly as possible and read the section below titled “Emergency Acclimation”
  3. Check and ensure the temperature of the water inside the bag and of the quarantine tank is similar.
  4. Once you’ve reached the same water temperature, using clean hands, place your goldfish into your quarantine tank. IMPORTANT: After removing the fish, dispose the bag AND water. DO NOT release bagged water into your aquarium.
  5. Your fish will likely be stressed from the shipping. This is normal, but the fish generally recover easily and quickly. As part of the stress response, some fish will generate extra “slime-coat” and the eyes might even look a bit foggy. We don’t recommend any particular treatments arrival as the fish have been fully treated during quarantine and healthy when shipped. We do however recommend salting the tank to 0.15% -0.2% and increasing the air to the tank during the first 72 hours as this will greatly assist in the acclimation process. The fish are generally lethargic and might sit on the bottom or hide for the first few hours or even days.


Emergency Acclimation

The journey fish undergo from our facilities can vary. In any case of delay, mishandled package, or stress-related issues, immediately follow the instructions below to get your fish acclimated in our safe and recommended emergency acclimation process.

  1. If the fish you received are on their sides or the bag has leaked during shipping, please get them into fresh water as quickly as possible.
  2. Increase the salinity of your water to 0.3% with the appropriate aquarium salt and increase the air flow in the tank for the first 72 hours.
  3. Monitor your fish for the next several days.
  4. Salt and lots of air will greatly help the fish get acclimated and alleviate a wide spectrum issues over time.