Am I poisoning my fish?

Phony Scott

Hi folks. Sadly I've discovered one of my goldfish has died after three years. I have to freely admit though that I'm a total amature with pets.

Each week I clean the tank out about halfways with lukewarm water, but I put in a number of chemicals such as Interpet 'Green Away', 'Filter Aid' and 'Nutrafin Aqua Plus'. Recently one of the goldfish had a swimbladder infection and was swimming in a very unbalanced way to normal.

Where things really seemed to go wrong was when I went and bought cheap food compared to normal and a chemical called 'Gold Disease Safe' and it was an all in one fix. So that new cheap chemical on top of all the ususal chemicals.

Also the plant I had pretty much got destroyed by the two fish. Suffice to say I've fallen on hard times and can't afford alot of the things they had throughout the last three years, but I try to get as much stuff as possible each week.

The pH of the water is at 6.0

Where am I going wrong? I don't want my other goldfish to die too...

Cookie_Monster

how big is tank
how many fish
does it have filter

TBH there is generally no need for all those chemicals or warm water for that matter. If you have a filter and change 10-20% of the water a week that should be fine. Water straight from the tap will have chlorine and maybe some metals in it and can be treated if you want but if you leave it stand for a while to warm to room temp the chlorine should dissipate out of it anyway.

taram

Do you put in the exact amount of chemical as prescribed on the bottles? My sister killed an number of our fish by splashing in "around" about the dose, turns out it was nearly double.

Silverfish

Way too much chemicals going in there for goldfish.

You just need to treat the water when you're adding new water.. Prime would be the best, as it treats for a wider range of water issues.

Get elodea. Mine can't eat that because it grows to fast. And believe me, if they could, they would!

Phony Scott

I’ve been told elsewhere, including instructions; that the water has to be lukewarm as opposed to cold, because that shocks the fish if cold water is poured in. There seems to be a lot of conflicting information out there on this. I just don’t know.

The tank was a handmedown with no instructions, but I can tell you at a rough estimate that the tank holds a volume of about 20 pints (I’ll get you a better estimate tomorrow when I clean the tank again).

There was two fish, both measuring about 10-12 cm. I have a quite powerful jet filter which maybe a bit too powerful for the tank.

I also had a plant in the tank up until two weeks ago, but they seem to nibble through plants in no time whatsoever. I’ll be getting a new one this weekend.

I place the tank near a window, but it is backed up against a wall so no light is coming in one side, but light (slightly covered by the curtain during the summer) is coming in the other side. Half in half basically. There are also stones at the bottom of the tank.

First I clean the tank, then I measure 10ml of Aqua Plus and I use a pipette (one drop) for all the other chemicals and mix that into lukewarm water which measures (roughly) half the tank.

The new chemical for the swim bladder infection is where it all seemed to go horribly wrong. According to the instructions (unless I’ve completely misinterpreted them) state one capful treats 4.66 pints. I put in three capfuls which even sounded like a lot. I left it five days and the fish seemed only to get worse, so I didn’t put in any more, but changed the tank water the way I would normally and then the fish gradually died. I hope this information helps? The other fish seems ok, but is not as active as normal since the first fish died.

Thanks for the help so far guys, I need it.

Cookie_Monster

20 pints is about 10L, very small tank if that is the case.

In regards to warming the water so not to shock the fish, that's fair enough, i thought you were referring to cleaning the tank with it or something. I simply leave the water sitting for a few hours to get to room temp (I've tropical so it gets heated anyway, but I'd rather not put in too cold tap water)

Re the window, I shouldn't think it's that big an issue, may cause some algae growth from the sun light and may overheat in the summer so I'd watch that. You can pick up thermometer for 2-4 euro, may be worth it too see if the temps are varying a lot, which would stress the fish

keesa

I had my first fish for 8 years. I had numerous others that were less successful (few days to 6 years).

Main tip for Gold fish is not to feed them too often. On food boxes they say like 3 times a day. You *will* kill them like that. I fed mine roughly once every 2 days.

The only chemicals I put in the tank were tapsafe. If they were sick depending on what it was (alot of fish chemicals come with a diagnostics chart, I know Interpet have one) I'd put in meds. But Methelane blue helps most things, and once one had a massive growth on her side, that was cured with topical salts.

When you change the water it is very important to move the gravel around, and to clean the filter regularly, this is where the feces, and algae go. So there may be a high level of nitrates, which can kill them.

You also need to be careful about high sound levels. It vibrates through the water and stresses the fish

Silverfish

I'd definitely look at upgrading the size of the tank first of all, that's way too small for healthy goldfish.

The thing with feeding goldfish is, they need to be fed once/twice daily.

The reason given NOT to feed them that often is the food they don't eat breaks down in the water, and makes the tank dirty and dangerous. If it's a small volume of water, to feed daily or twice daily, you'd need to be changing out the water a lot.

So you actually feed to the volume of water, not the fish.

The water temp depends on the breed of goldfish, believe it or not, fancy goldfish (orandas, ranchus, lionheads, etc) prefer water from 18-20 degrees (but it's not absolutely neccessary), comets and other single tailed goldfish prefer 'colder' water. However, the most important thing really is the temperature change - too much of a temp change either upwards or downwards will affect the fish badly.

Do you know the Ammonia, Nitrite and Nitrate levels of the water?
Your pH level is a little low as well for goldfish, ideal is about 7.5.

Jackob

Hi, Ok here's my routine.

My goldfish is now 26 years old, his buddy that we got a year later lived until he was 18 years old. Both shared a tank all their lives. From day one I have cleaned out the tank every second monday! By cleaning I mean I take out the goldfish and put him in a bucket/basin. I then empty all the stones into a collander and give them a really hot wash then a cold one. I empty the tank completely and scrub the inside with a toothbrush. I then clean out the filter which is a stingray 10, nothing fancy but does the trick brillliantly. I then reload the tank with TAP water thats not too cold. Pop back in the stones and filter and finally add Finn back to the tank. I do not use any chemicals or fancy treats, plants, etc!! I feed him on normal aqua thingy flakes. Acquarium guys are amazed when I tell him that I take out all the water:eek:. I only started to do it becuse I couldnt bear looking at the greenish water after a couple of weeks. Once when one of their fins started to rot, I took him out of the tank and put him in a nice big bucket with some salt in the water and no food for a couple of days and he was fine afterwards and please god is still going strong!!! So something must be working!!! Hope this helps, sometimes we can do wrong for trying to do right!.

Silverfish

26 years!

Well, whatever you're doing, don't stop doing it!

My dad has Bob the Miracle Fish for 12 or 13 years now, it's in a tiny plastic tank, maybe 10L or so. He's afraid to change anything since it's survived this long! Bob gets put in a saucepan, and his tank cleaned out and his water replaced with tapwater straight from the tap, nothing added, maybe once every 2 weeks or so.


I have heard that 10+ years ago, the quality of goldfish stock was better overall, which is why many older goldfish have survived so long.

Currently, most goldfish come from Eastern Europe, so by the time they've made it to Ireland, they're not doing so well, and it's a matter of doing all you can to keep them alive.

Still, 26 years! If mine make it that long I'll have to put them in my will.

Cookie_Monster

26 years is pretty impressive,how big has he gotten?

IIRC someone over on Irishfishforum.com has some that are 40+ :eek:

keesa

Yeah, when you're getting fish in a shop you really need to check all of the fish in the tank for disease so you know what state they're in and if you get a healthy looking one, you know if they could have caught something from the other fish

Phony Scott

I cleaned the tank out completely yesterday, measured the tank and the volume is 13L, which I’m guessing is still too small. What size of tank would you recommend for two fish and what price range would I expect to pay?

Also I poured in 5ml of Aqua plus and that’s it, no other chemicals. I feed him a sizable pinch once a day. The one that remains constantly eats the pebbles for remaining food at the bottom of the tank.

My fish is very stressed out at the moment. Ever since the other fish died, the remaining one has been either swimming around erratically or backing into a corner the second anyone or anything approaches. I’ve never seen this behaviour before.

I haven’t tested the tank for Ammonia, Nitrite and Nitrate levels.

I’m beginning to feel I’m out of my element at the moment financially, so affording new stuff is quite expensive for me at the present time.

Silverfish

Yeah, it's a bit small.

Most places I've seen who raise goldfish (like, serious goldfish keepers / breeders) recommend 140L for the first fish, and 40L for each additional fish :eek:.....I've two goldfish in a 110L tank. But once your water is healthy, then that's a major portion of the battle.

If your fish is nervy or jumpy, and swimming erratically, he could have parasites. Best treatment for this is either aquarium salt, or eSHa 2000.
Either of these cover a wide range of problems.

But get a bottle of Seachem Prime. You need a LOT less of this than Stress coat or any other conditioners, so it lasts a LONG time, and protects the fish from a lot of water issues. It also detoxifies Ammonia and nitrites, which is also a big plus.

In the meantime, just keep the water as clean as you can.

Also, try feeding him some frozen peas (cooked, skin removed and squished up) or broccoli once a week.

Phony Scott

Nice one Silverfish, I'll look into getting some Seachem Prime then and get a much bigger tank as soon as I can. Thanks everyone for helping out.

Silverfish

Phony Scott wrote: »

Nice one Silverfish, I'll look into getting some Seachem Prime then and get a much bigger tank as soon as I can. Thanks everyone for helping out.

Keep an eye on adverts.ie and donedeal, they seem to come up for sale a good bit.

Phony Scott

Oh, thanks, I'll do that so.

Jackob

Hes quite big, Ive never measured him!! Hes got a fat tum though, I will try and put up a pic if I can.

Jackob

Jackob wrote: »

Hes quite big, Ive never measured him!! Hes got a fat tum though, I will try and put up a pic if I can.

This is Finn today