# Goldfish Age



## Valanita (Apr 13, 2010)

We have pond goldfish & they must be very old now. I worked out the 7, those that are now left from around 20, must be well into their 20th years, possibly older. 3 are gold the others are black with gold patches on their undersides. None of them look well, though they are still swimming around the pond & were eating OK.
My question, how long do they live?


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## NaomiM (Sep 22, 2012)

Around 20 years is the normal lifespan I believe, so yours are doing well  I have heard stories of them occasionally living much longer though! They will be less active in the cold weather (and you should cut down the feeds in winter as their metabolisms slow right down).

How big are they?


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## Valanita (Apr 13, 2010)

NaomiM said:


> Around 20 years is the normal lifespan I believe, so yours are doing well  I have heard stories of them occasionally living much longer though! They will be less active in the cold weather (and you should cut down the feeds in winter as their metabolisms slow right down).
> 
> How big are they?


I don't feed them this time of year. Mine let me know when they want food, they all come to the surface & mouth at me.
They are aprox 6/8 inches long including tails.
Some don't look well, one gold one is very bloated now.


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## Fishyfins (Feb 28, 2009)

Yeah, 20-25 years is about your average lifespan for a goldie, but some will live longer. Glad to hear yours are going strong


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## Valanita (Apr 13, 2010)

Thank you both for your answers.


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## moggiemum (Mar 28, 2013)

hi val im not very experienced but i know they can live up to 30 more yrs, hope yours make it through the winter, you are doing a good job so far , not sure about the bloat though i would normally suggest meds or salt but difficult to calculate pond and might do more harm , bump for some more advice


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## Valanita (Apr 13, 2010)

moggiemum said:


> hi val im not very experienced but i know they can live up to 30 more yrs, hope yours make it through the winter, you are doing a good job so far , not sure about the bloat though i would normally suggest meds or salt but difficult to calculate pond and might do more harm , bump for some more advice


I think I'll just let it take it's chance, Moggiemum. They are so old I think any interference will probably kill them anyway. Thanks all the same.


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## MobysMam (Sep 13, 2018)

Valanita said:


> We have pond goldfish & they must be very old now. I worked out the 7, those that are now left from around 20, must be well into their 20th years, possibly older. 3 are gold the others are black with gold patches on their undersides. None of them look well, though they are still swimming around the pond & were eating OK.
> My question, how long do they live?


We have a single goldfish in a 40 litre tank and he's just turned 27! He did have a partner who unfortunately died around 5 years ago.


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## Valanita (Apr 13, 2010)

MobysMam said:


> We have a single goldfish in a 40 litre tank and he's just turned 27! He did have a partner who unfortunately died around 5 years ago.


That was a very old post I made ages ago. All the fish were eaten by a Heron & as they were so very old, he must have had a bad case of indigestion for days afterwards..

Your fish is amazing to have lived so long in a tank. MobysMam.
I estimated ours must have been 25 or so. Sad they went that way, but I guess the Heron enjoyed them, at first maybe.


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## Nadz1675 (Apr 19, 2018)

The average life span of a pet goldfish is 5 to 10 years. In the wild they can live as long as 25 years. The oldest goldfish ever recorded was 43 years old!


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## Guest (Sep 25, 2018)

Nadz1675 said:


> The average life span of a pet goldfish is 5 to 10 years. In the wild they can live as long as 25 years. The oldest goldfish ever recorded was 43 years old!


Not true. Even pets can live for 25 years sadly though some or should I say many people keep them in tamks way too small, for example 40 litre tank.


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## kittih (Jan 19, 2014)

danielled said:


> Not true. Even pets can live for 25 years sadly though some or should I say many people keep them in tamks way too small, for example 40 litre tank.


I agree, I had two that lived to their mid twenties and have to confess that their first years of life they weren't well looked after as I was a child with no fish keeping knowledge.

I think the 5 - 10 year average as Danielle says is more a reflection of poor fish keeping than the proper lifespan if goldfish.


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## Valanita (Apr 13, 2010)

Common Goldfish 10-25 years. Fancy Goldfish 5-10 years. I Googled it. Think ours were around 25, maybe a little older, but they were starting to show their age before they got eaten by the Heron. In a tank average age not as long as in a pond, though some do live longer.


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## Guest (Sep 25, 2018)

kittih said:


> I agree, I had two that lived to their mid twenties and have to confess that their first years of life they weren't well looked after as I was a child with no fish keeping knowledge.
> 
> I think the 5 - 10 year average as Danielle says is more a reflection of poor fish keeping than the proper lifespan if goldfish.


People don't do enough research, ask enough questions and they go to the weong pet shops though my pets at home are very good most talk codswollop if you know what I mean. My personal favourite is yes a week is more than long enough for a fishless cycle. Every time I hear that I'm thinking no no no no no a week isn't long enough.


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## kittih (Jan 19, 2014)

danielled said:


> People don't do enough research, ask enough questions and they go to the weong pet shops though my pets at home are very good most talk codswollop if you know what I mean. My personal favourite is yes a week is more than long enough for a fishless cycle. Every time I hear that I'm thinking no no no no no a week isn't long enough.


You are so right. Last week I was in my local pets at home have a look at the tanks when a mum and young daughter and son started looking at the tanks. They had a trolly load of starter fish tank equipment. The daughter was talking excitedly about the fish she was going to have.

The PAH assistant sensibly said she didn't really need half the paraphanalia they had loaded in the trolley so marks to him and also steered her away from goldfish as the tank was too small. He suggested some small fish and Max numbers which were reasonable too. Then he said "set the tank up, leave out a few days to a week then come back for fish". Aaargh !

I sidled up to her once he had gone and quickly explained this was a bad idea and she should look up fishless cycling on Google. Hopefully I managed to save some fishy lives.


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## kittih (Jan 19, 2014)

Valanita said:


> Common Goldfish 10-25 years. Fancy Goldfish 5-10 years. I Googled it. Think ours were around 25, maybe a little older, but they were starting to show their age before they got eaten by the Heron. In a tank average age not as long as in a pond, though some do live longer.


Commons can live up to their 30s in a pond sometimes even older.

There is no reason tank fish can't live as long if kept properly. The problem for tank kept commons is getting a tank large enough as goldfish can grow to about a foot in length. In smaller yanks they live shorter lives as the excess toxins and lack of space can stunt their lives. 10 Yeats for a common is middle age so I wouldn't agree with google on that one unless we are talking a poorly bred fish.

With fancies they can live shorter lives. Often (but not always) shop ones are poorly bred with poor confirmation and some can suffer issues.


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