Goldfish are the most popular aquarium fish in the United States. Their many varieties, long life span, engaging personalities, and easy obtainability give them an easy lead over all other types of fish kept by aquarists in the country. Sadly, they are also the most misunderstood and abused animals in the country.

This is where Goldfish Connection comes in. This site steps into the gap with a site especially designed to help increase the enjoyment and proper care of your goldfish. They have information pages, equipment for sale, a book (that is, a category for books that currently has one listing), and (most importantly, in my opinion) a line of extremely high-quality fish food.

Site Design

The site design is extremely basic with a header, then solid brick red border with white background. Everything is very easy to find on the sidebar, including a gallery of pictures of top-quality show goldfish.

One thing I really didn't like was the format for the information pages. Clicking one of the information links will take you to a list of article titles that may or may not be descriptive and many require clicking through before discovering whether the article is what you're after or not.

Additionally, the list view of products in a category does not reveal the product's price, one must click to the product page to see the sizes and prices available which can make it difficult to compare prices.

Their Products

Goldfish Connection carries a small line of equipment including air pumps, filters, pond supplies, medications, test kits, ultraviolet sterilizers, water treatments, and high-quality food for goldfish, koi, and even three for your tropical fish.

I have not personally ordered any of their equipment, though the prices are pretty good (if not comparable to larger fish shops such as bigalsonline.com or petsolutions.com), but selection is very limited.

For water conditioners, I order Prime from them on a regular basis which can get expensive ($29.99 for 67 ounces) but it treats many more gallons per ounce than regular pet store conditioners (8.5 ounces treats 2,500 gallons; for comparison, a comparable bottle of Start Right water treatment treats about 1,100 gallons) which is very important for me as I have eighteen tanks that get weekly partial water changes. I have not tried any of the other conditioners available, but considering the high quality of everything else sold at Goldfish Connection I'm sure it's well worth the price.

Now, to the food. I feed Pro Gold and Salad Supreme to my goldies daily and give them Spirulina Flakes when necessary; my tropicals get Tropi-Blend, Tropi-Color and Tropi-Sea (a food for both saltwater and freshwater fish).

The food sold on this site is quite a bit more expensive than any foods you'll generally see in pet stores (I buy the two-pound package of Pro Gold for $19.99) but it is well worth it as Goldfish Connection's entire line of fish food is free of preservatives, coloring, and filler. Pro Gold contains shrimp and krill amongst other quality ingredients and smells like a fresh shrimp dinner. I have never seen my fish attack anything like they do the food from this site and there is a definite improvement in their condition from pre-Pro Gold times.

I have also purchased Medi-Gold from this site. Medi-Gold is a medicated fish food for the treatment of internal parasites; an affliction that can not be cured by simply putting drops of medication in the water. I use this medication for all my new fish in quarantine and for any fish that become sick in my tanks, this is one of those products that is just a good idea to keep on hand.

Shipping and Orders

Shipping charges are based on the dollar value of your order, ranging from $5.99 for orders up to $12.00 all the way up to $14.99 for orders over $150.00. Shipping rates may be a little high for lighter items like filter sponges, but I have never had a complaint about them as I order fairly heavy items.

Orders are shipped via priority mail or UPS ground and I generally receive my order four or five days after submitting it. I have never had a mistake on my order, the food is always fresh and everything else is correct, so I have never had to bother with customer service on the site.

To Conclude

This site is the place to buy what has been widely termed in the goldfish community as the best fish foods on the market. It is also a great place to increase your knowledge and appreciation of these gorgeous animals (hint: they can't live in bowls!) and find other high-quality food for them. Their equipment can be found cheaper and in greater variety elsewhere, but for food, medication, and water treatments this is the place to go.