Goldfish death statistics

I think in all my years I've seen one goldfish with swimming bladder disease. For quite a few years I had indoor aquariums (where I saw the disease) and for quite a few years now I've had outdoor ponds and have never seen it in a live or dead fish. Not sure on the life expectancy, but they do last a while (several years). You might have better luck looking for data if you check Koi (basically fancy goldfish). Since they're more desirable there might be more statistics available. Puma

You more than likely won't find an accurate statistic, since swim bladder disease is so common, especially in those goldfish that have the shorter, rounder bodies, and die frequently in home aquariums and pet shops that don't keep record. It's probably in the thousands that these fish die from this disease in a year, and thousands upon thousands more that die from ich, fungus and any other types of disease due to poor husbandry of the fish's "environment", overcrowding, poor diet and so forth.

How would data be gathered on this? Don't most people just send goldfish to that great U-bend in the sky when they die?

90% of all statistics are made up, especially the 74.39% of those that are specific to two decimal places

You're not likely to get accurate death statistics anyway, even if it were possible considering the fact that goldfish are used as a food source for many other captive species. That would be like trying to caculate the average life expectancy of chickens, and including all the broiler chickens in the meat industry in your figures.

On a personal anecdotal note, we had a tank of feeder goldfish my brother won at the fair live for 8 years, before someone dropped some pennies in and they were poisoned. Currently we have a pair of shubunkin and a pair of koi. They have all been extremely healthy for the two years we've had them.

I have had over 200 goldfish in a man-made pond in my yard for nearly 10 years now. Most have been bred in the pond (ahh Mother Nature) since we began with 6. None have died from swimming bladder disease. An occassional cat and one peskie Blue Heron, maybe but not SBD. Does that Help?.

I think Robin has the right answer. Most goldfish die from dirty water. The amonia build up and kills them.

Last month, I had to take my big goldfish to the vet. He was having swim bladder problems linked to a GI infection. One round of antibiotics later, he was a new fish. That said, in all the years I've had goldies, I've never lost one to swim bladder. And, most people aren't like me and won't spend the money to take a goldfish to the vet.

There's a community on livejournal called goldfish_bowl. Maybe you could set up a poll and get some stats to play with.

Swim bladder is more of a Betta fish thing.

Goldfish should live about 10-30 years, kept properly. Fancy ones have a shorter lifespan. Swim bladder problems aren't a major risk with a good owner. Proper care reduces the risk of problems (avoid overfeeding, give the mushy bits from cooked peas sometimes and fast them one day a week). Treatments can be brought at the pet store.

Most goldfish aren't that lucky. They're kept in poor conditions and die within a few years. I'm sure most die from either ammonia poisoning or fungal infections brought on by the poor water conditions. Many have additional health complications because they're kept in tanks that are too small.

So the stats are pretty irrelevant for goldfish, even if you found them. A properly cared for goldfish has every chance of a long and healthy life. The rest will die young. If the stats said anything, I'd guess about 80-90% of shop brought goldfish die due to their owner's ignorance.

Not quite what you need, but it might help you invent a statistic for your needs.

Premature goldfish death due to poor care would be about 99% of goldfish--the AVMA has a pet population survey that should tell you roughly how many fish that would be.