Acclimating your New Fish… 

Your fish will arrive double bagged (two layers of bags with seals). Leave them sealed, and float them in your tank.  At this point, you are acclimating them to your tank temperature, and it generally takes 20-30 minutes.  After that time, open the bags, and double check the temperature inside the bag. You can do this simply by feeling the water in the tank, and inside the bag.  DO NOT add tank water to the bag.  If the temperature feels the same, then reach in and gently grab the fish with your hand (DO NOT use a Net), lift it out of the bag and release it in the tank. If the bag water temp is different than the tank water, then wait another 5-10 minutes until the temps match before releasing the fish.  Discard the water that was in the bag. DO NOT add to the tank. Your fish will likely be a bit 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. This is nothing to be concerned about, and also clears up quickly. Usually, just a day or two in pristine water, and this will clear up 100%.  We don’t recommend any treatments or medicated foods upon arrival, as the fish have been fully quarantined, and are healthy when shipped. The fish will generally be a bit lethargic, and might sit on the bottom the first few hours or even the first day or two.

Moist foods are recommended initially (and beyond).

Goldfish have been mutated from their original, more streamlined, body shape.  This has affected the gastrointestinal tract, and they can have digestive issues.  The stress of shipping can exacerbate these problems. We highly recommend that you start feeding your fish moist food (in minimal amounts) the first few meals. Your fish was fasted for a couple days before shipment, so moist foods help get things flowing through the GI tract.  Feeding a bunch of dry pellets to a new fish could easily get things off to a bad start by constipating the fish.  So, small servings of moist food are best initially.  Your fish has been fed SUPER GOLD by Repashy since here, and I highly recommend it as the best food available.    You can now add it to your fish shipment before checking out, or via the link on the home page.   If you want to offer your fish a variety, then I also recommend frozen (not freeze-dried) brine-shrimp, or blood-worms.  Your new fish is used to moist foods, and I can’t stress enough the benefits of them over dry food.

Do NOT put new fish into cold tanks or ponds. 

Your fish has been kept indoors at about 72 degrees on average. While goldfish can tolerate lower temps, we DO NOT recommend putting your fish in really cool water upon arrival. If you plan on putting your fish in a pond that is colder than 65 degrees, we recommend you acclimate the fish indoors in a tank first, then slowly (over several days or weeks) reduce the temperature and introduce them to the pond.