GoldFish Dying

Rebel=UK= · 2 May 2006 at 12:19

My friend recently won a few gold fish at the fair for his kids, but they are dying rapetly and his kids r getting up set by it (only young) he recently bought a few more but they died a couple of days later aswell, he said it looked like the skin had come off it :confused:

now i thought gold fish were fairly hardy fish, anyone have any ideas as to why they r dying so fast, he says he changes the water all the time, he even bought a little filter aswell. And now they have laid a little pile of egss aswell.

Nismo · 2 May 2006 at 12:21

Constantly changing the water probably wouldnt help. Get some sort of kit that tests the levels of the water, should tell you if anything is up with it.

ezabella45 · 2 May 2006 at 12:22

We got loads of fish and they used to die all the time - we then got some fantails and they have lasted for years. Could just be the type.

riddlermarc · 2 May 2006 at 12:25

You can buy an additive to put in the water to remove the chlorine, this can definitely help. Constant water changing (more than once a week, say) can be detrimental 'cause it doesn't give the tank time to balance out.. there has to be a certain level of "friendly bacteria" and time for the nitrate levels to settle.

What size is his tank/bowl?

tenchi-fan · 2 May 2006 at 12:27

ezabella45 said:
We got loads of fish and they used to die all the time - we then got some fantails and they have lasted for years. Could just be the type.

My goldfish lasted for months before one sunny day of being left in the window and it fried them.

I think overfeeding is dangerous to them - I only fed mine once a week iirc. As for changing the water, I kept it fairly clean. I live in the country so we have a well instead of mains water. We were always able to keep goldfish longer than most people I know in town so maybe it's because there's no flouride/chlorine in the water.

LeoWyatt · 2 May 2006 at 12:49

Well for starters what kind of tank are they in?

The thing with goldfish, well all fish it he levels of ammonia (wee-wee) nitrogen (i think) from the food breaking down. You need to check what the levels of these are as they will poison your (their) fish.

If the tank has a filter how often are they cleaning it, are they cleaning it in the water they removed from the tank? Are they treating it before they add it to the tank?

Best thing for them to do it to not buy any more fish and do a 50% water change (drastic i know) make sure they treat the water before they add it and then leave the tank for about a week and take it to their local pets at home store and they'll test for the 4 levels that need checking. PH is another I forgot to add. Basically there is a cycle in the tank which if one of the parts gets high it buggers up the rest.

If they fish are dying, don't buy any more at the moment. As tenchi said over feeding is bad because as the food rots it's starts poising the water

kitten_caboodle · 2 May 2006 at 12:54

he needs to add some of that 'fresh start' stuff which makes tap water safe for goldies.

SiriusB · 2 May 2006 at 12:58

I thought it was against the law to give fish and other live animals as prizes at fairs and the like :/

SiriusB

Rebel=UK= · 2 May 2006 at 13:01

I dont think he has been using any stuff to get rid of the stuff in the tap water ive told him to get some, i think the tank is a 15litre one r sumit, i not sure if the chemicals off they poo,food etc is killing them cos they are not even lasting a week, he also says the water gets very murky aswell after a day

kitten_caboodle · 2 May 2006 at 13:09

Rebel=UK= said:
I dont think he has been using any stuff to get rid of the stuff in the tap water ive told him to get some, i think the tank is a 15litre one r sumit, i not sure if the chemicals off they poo,food etc is killing them cos they are not even lasting a week, he also says the water gets very murky aswell after a day

they can die within 24 hours if the water is wrong when they go in. Basically, the second the chemical levels are upset - whether it be rotting food or poo breaking down, they can all go belly up - literally.

We've just moved over to a 6 foot tank from a 3ft one, and we bought several new fish on Saturday - one of them died within a day although we did everything we could to acclimatise him, they aren't the hardiest of creatures (it was a plec). However, the others are all fine, so we know our tank is ok. To be honest though, we lost around 10 in the first year, getting the levels right. it's much harder than it seems! If the water is going murky, it's definitely a problem with the water - ours used to do that all the time until we got a stronger filter, and some plants - they help with the oxygen in the water.

LeoWyatt · 2 May 2006 at 13:11

Right first thing to tell him "don't buy any more"

not fair on him certainly not on them.

Get some of the clean start stuff and start changing water. If he's not treating the water then that'd be why they are dying.

If he's got a filter that is good. When he does this water change get him to try his local pet place for a set of tablets (forget the name at the mo) i'll check the name tonight which you put in when starting a new tank or doing a water change. These will kick start the bacteria and colonies to start breaking down the poo and wee so it's at a safe level.

Do warn him though all the fish may die, if they do best thing is to start again. If he wants help or advice just ask. We recently went from a 60L tank to a 280L tank without any casulties

EDIT: well we lost 1 new fish, but all others have survived

SexyBetty · 2 May 2006 at 13:13

LeoWyatt said:
We recently went from a 60L tank to a 280L tank without any casulties

Pics tbh

I lost all my fish last year after introducing a new one, and Ive not had anymore since. Not sure if I want to take it up again right now

Rebel=UK= · 2 May 2006 at 13:20

Hmm well ill tell him all of this cheers, i think ive still got a PH level test kit that i got when i got my tropical tank, will it work ok with his goldfish tank? and also ive got some treatment that gets rid of nitrogen build up from waste etc aswell think its called "safe water" would all these be ok to use for his goldfish?

Bennah · 2 May 2006 at 13:22

Thats a big tank

Any pics?

We have some goldfish. 4 large goldfish. Forgot what kind, but they cost £8 each

When we clean out the tank we leave about a 1/4 of the old water in. The fish are usually in a bowl of thier old water for a couple of hours. We add fresh out of the tap cold water, mixed with a little cap full of Prodac Fish Safe liquid into the cleaned tank. Set the pump / filter off and let it mix together with the 1/4 of the old water for about 2 hours or so.

The fish go back in the tank, happy as larry. Had them for about a year now

We clean our tank about every 2-3 months, depending on how dirty the tank gets. It does'nt usually as it does'nt have any direct sunlight to it, as its under the stairs.

I also thought it was illegal to give away goldfish at fairs and stuff now... ?

LeoWyatt · 2 May 2006 at 13:32

Here you are, some where taken with a proper camera the others with a phone

LeoWyatt · 2 May 2006 at 13:32

Bennah · 2 May 2006 at 13:33

Nice

Whats the overall length of the Tank and height?

SexyBetty · 2 May 2006 at 13:34

Thats looks brill Leo

kitten_caboodle · 2 May 2006 at 13:34

isn't that the old tank Leo?

LeoWyatt · 2 May 2006 at 13:36

yes it is, new photos needed for the new tank then

you can do those