Why are Goldfish so underrated in the fish keeping hobby?

[justarn]

i love my ranchu, hopefully i can grow him to larger than a baseball, all fish are cool in their own right, its illegal to use goldfish as feeders or mistreat goldfish/fish in the uk but many are destined to crappy lifes in bowls admittedly. IMO its a pretty shallow person to turn their nose up at a fish/animal for any reason other than if it does something that directly affects you, goldfish cant hurt anyone.

i respect anyones taste in fish, the guys on here with 1000's of gallons in a tank get no more respect from me than the betta keepers, a well kept fish that please's its owner is always a good sight.

so just put it down to peoples taste, most on here keep cichlids or oddball predators as their feeding habits are more interesting and they are obviously more exotic, nothing wrong with goldfish.

 

[jclyde13]

High maintenance? They don't even need a heater and they're super hardy than any fish in that size range. Not mentioned to they're not fussy eaters.

I wouldn't consider a heater maintenance, personally. Lol.

They are large fish that need large aquariums, for one thing. They also produce a lot more waste than most other fish of comparable size, thus it takes more effort to keep the tank clean. And many of the fancy goldfish inevitably develop various health issues.

 

[ShadowP]

Another case and point...

For someone to shell out $60,000 to 2.2 MILLION DOLLARS for A FISH!!!

YOU ARE SADLY MISTAKEN!!!

THEY ARE HIGHLY OVER RATED!!!!

 

[jwh]

In my part of the world, goldfish, probably because they live in ponds, and remain largely unseen, and uncared about, are also underated, koi on the other hand are multiple times more expensive with entire farming operations dedicated to them, they also live in ponds and are also carp, go figure...

 

[tiger15]

The OP viewpoint is American centric. Goldfish is very much appreciated in the Far East. I've seen specialty stores in Hong Kong fish street that sell GF only, and some fancy breeds sell for $$$ to $$$$. Because of the lack of appreciation or unwillingness to pay high price, I was told that only second grade fancy goldfish are sent to America. You may find some top grade GF in Chinatown fish stores, but that's about it.

 

[MN_Rebel]

I wouldn't consider a heater maintenance, personally. Lol.

They are large fish that need large aquariums, for one thing. They also produce a lot more waste than most other fish of comparable size, thus it takes more effort to keep the tank clean. And many of the fancy goldfish inevitably develop various health issues.

Electric Blue JDs, fancy guppies, fancy strains of discus, fancy strains of livebearers and flowerhorns have health issues, not just fancy goldfish. Plecos and larger catfish produced a lot of wastes, no different than a goldfish.

 

[MN_Rebel]

Mute point.
I already said that.
"Probably because they are very high on the list of poop factories!"
&
"I can named many fish species that is just messy as goldfish."
These comments mean the same thing!
For the sake of clarity, I'll keep it brief.
Most fish keeping aficionados use aquariums indoors to view their charges. As such, though gold fish and their ilke (sorry... I mispelled like) provide a lot of side profile color, but there are MANY MORE species of fish which provide as much, if not greater side view display without as much mess!

BTW... most fish in the home never get the chance to show their mature size because most fish keepers keep them crowded, poorly fed, and in poorly maintained aquariums.

Another mute point.
You keep comparing guppies to guppies, or apples to apples if you prefer the norm.

Plecos are pooping machines, yet lot of posters on here kept them for just enjoyment. Everyone have different tastes in fish. Some folks like small tropical fishes, others like big badass oddballs, others like fancy strains & hybrids, others like North America natives and some like glofish. Obviously every fish species have different requirements and some fish species can be challenging, especially sensitive species.

 

[ShadowP]

What amazes me is how people interpret "very high on the list of poop factories" as to have been exclusive of all other fish!
STOP TRYING TO PUT WORDS IN MY MOUTH!!!

 

[Drstrangelove]

why are they so under rated though? They imho have the most personality out of any other fish.

There are certainly many people on the planet that love goldfish. It shouldn't matter if they are under rated or over rated. For me what other people think about goldfish, their reputation, their size, their poop levels, their temperature or water needs has zero concern.

For me, I don't find them to be interesting or very attractive. I feel the same way about many, many other kinds of fish that are loved and adored by lots of people.

If everyone wanted to start 1,000 gallon tanks with gold fish, I'd wish them luck and happily never keep one myself.

 

[ShadowP]

Some fancy breeds sell for $$$ to $$$$. Because of the lack of appreciation or unwillingness to pay high price...

I'll help you fill in the blanks...
DOCUMENTED... LOOK IT UP!!!
$60,000 USD to $2,200,000 USD.
What you call unwillingness, I call common sense.