gold fish

sajid.ahmed

hi guys we bought five gold fish around six month ago it was new tank we did run this for week it have filter and all we got three different chemicals that little drop put in water then we need to change 20%of water every wk we every thing what we have been told from pet shop but fish start dying all dead then bought new all dead now we bought third time i take out filter and no chemical in water and i change complete water every week but they start dying again what should i do we fed them once very little any advice

Mr Whirly

Do what the pet shop told you to do and put less fish in the tank.

sajid.ahmed

Mr Whirly wrote: »

Do what the pet shop told you to do and put less fish in the tank.

i did 100% what pet shop told me we put 5 instead 8 our tank can hold up to 8 i dont know what i m doing wrong thanks anyway

Mo60

sajid.ahmed wrote: »

i did 100% what pet shop told me we put 5 instead 8 our tank can hold up to 8 i dont know what i m doing wrong thanks anyway

Maybe you haven't enough free time to look after them properly.

Mr Whirly

What size is your tank?

Sleepy

First: Goldfish require massive tanks. A regular goldfish needs about a 200l tank and you can add 50l to that for each extra fish so unless you've a 600l tank or thereabouts, your tank can't handle 8 goldfish.
Second: Pay attention to what the chemicals you're putting into the water are. One is for dechlorinating your water, if you don't use this, you'll burn the fish from the chlorine in your water supply. Anything that says it gets the filter going is snake oil that should go straight into the bin.
Third: 1 week is not sufficient time to cycle a filter: read the sticky at the top of the forum on cycling a tank. 100% water changes are never advisable, 20% per week (replacing with dechlorinated water) is roughly right depending on the fish you have and your stocking levels.
Fourth: Never trust advice you get in that fish shop again, they clearly have no clue as to what they're talking about

Finally, presuming I'm right in my guess that your tank isn't big enough for goldfish, and after you've read the cycling thread and follow it, look into stocking the tank with something else, guppys, molly's or platy's are all good first fish to keep and kids love them because they're bright and colourful. These are tropical fish though so you'd need a heater if you don't already have one.

Have a read through the forum, there are loads of beginner threads here (including my own early mistakes if you go back a couple of years!).

sajid.ahmed

Mr Whirly wrote: »

What size is your tank?

200 lt

sajid.ahmed

Sleepy wrote: »

First: Goldfish require massive tanks. A regular goldfish needs about a 200l tank and you can add 50l to that for each extra fish so unless you've a 600l tank or thereabouts, your tank can't handle 8 goldfish.
Second: Pay attention to what the chemicals you're putting into the water are. One is for dechlorinating your water, if you don't use this, you'll burn the fish from the chlorine in your water supply. Anything that says it gets the filter going is snake oil that should go straight into the bin.
Third: 1 week is not sufficient time to cycle a filter: read the sticky at the top of the forum on cycling a tank. 100% water changes are never advisable, 20% per week (replacing with dechlorinated water) is roughly right depending on the fish you have and your stocking levels.
Fourth: Never trust advice you get in that fish shop again, they clearly have no clue as to what they're talking about

Finally, presuming I'm right in my guess that your tank isn't big enough for goldfish, and after you've read the cycling thread and follow it, look into stocking the tank with something else, guppys, molly's or platy's are all good first fish to keep and kids love them because they're bright and colourful. These are tropical fish though so you'd need a heater if you don't already have one.

Have a read through the forum, there are loads of beginner threads here (including my own early mistakes if you go back a couple of years!).

thanks very much i appreciate that you given real advice nobody told me that yes our tank is 200lt pet center man told that my tank can hold up to 8 which was obviously wrong just for sale i bought 5 any way what should i do now 3 left in that tank so u recon that i put filter back in and change water 20% not whole tank on weekly bases and put only one chemical for chlorine that it and hope for the best feed only little bit once a day is that right please advice thanks

Sleepy

3 goldies in a 200l tank isn't ideal but they'll be okay for a few years if you get their water parameters right. Get a water test kit and read up on how to maintain water correctly. Put the filter back in and if you have anyone who could squeeze their filter into your tank it'd speed up the cycle.

Change 30% or so of your water every week, putting in the de-chlorinator (I'd recommend Seachem Prime) before adding the new water to the tank.

Tropheus

The only place to keep goldfish is a pond. One in a 200l is ok, just about ok. They grow to 12"+ so you need to take that into account. Don't even get me started on goldfish bowls.:mad:

buzz

Tropheus wrote: »

The only place to keep goldfish is a pond. One in a 200l is ok, just about ok. They grow to 12"+ so you need to take that into account. Don't even get me started on goldfish bowls.:mad:

agreed and at 12" they need at least 1000L per fish!!

I started off fish keeping 20+ years ago with 2 gold fish and 2 Koi in 1 60L tank. They have gone from that to 120L juwel tank, to 240 rio, to 450 rio to 1000L pond to 15450L pond. I have still the 2 Koi from when I bought them in 1992. They are both 18"!! Water quality is too much trouble for those fish in a small tank unless you have a good filter and are prepared to do a lot of water changes because water temp will determine their feeding habits. They don't have a stomach so need to eat twice per day, so they are messy fish.

Why don't you stick a heater in, and bring the gold fish back. Get some small tropical fish as suggested? Will be easier to keep and less mess. But you really need to cycle the tank properly. 1 week isn't enough to fully cycle it.

What filter are you running?

Where are you living? (so we can suggest the best lfs to visit)

buzz

read this mate,

there is tonnes of expert info which will help you understand the reason behind the cycle

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2056019630

CruelCoin

Your fish poop ammonia.
Ammonia gets converted using bacteria in the filter to Nitrite.
Filter bacteria converts nitrite to nitrate.

Both ammonia and nitrite are toxic to fish in anything above 0 parts per million. And you do water changes mainly to jeep the nitrates below the harmful level of 40-60ppm.

If you change 100% water per week you kill your filter and you start from scratch again.

So, leave the filter in, never turn it off, ever. Turn it off only for rinsing in tankwater (not tap!) once every week. rinse, do not scrub.

Smaller water changes of 20-50% per week.

Milly33

I found the less messing around you do with them the better.. Obvious the water needs to be correct but all else i dont know.. Could it be a bad batch of fish

CruelCoin

Milly33 wrote: »

I found the less messing around you do with them the better.. Obvious the water needs to be correct but all else i dont know.. Could it be a bad batch of fish

I doubt the fish are the problem.

He's talking about taking the filter out, completely changing the water, etc.

To me it sound like he's either a: not cycled that tank, or b: caused the initial cycle to fail each time he changed the water.

kylith

Agreed. It sounds like he's removed the filter, is completely changing the water, and is not dechlorinating the water. All these things will certainly impact of the health and survival prospects of the fish.

CruelCoin

Milly33 wrote: »

I found the less messing around you do with them the better.. Obvious the water needs to be correct but all else i dont know.. Could it be a bad batch of fish

Out of curiosity, what kind of lifespan do you get out of goldfish you "don't mess with"?

Goldfish kept properly will and should live 6 years.

chopper6

CruelCoin wrote: »

Out of curiosity, what kind of lifespan do you get out of goldfish you "don't mess with"?

Goldfish kept properly will and should live 6 years.

I know of goldfish living in excess of ten years...

Milly33

CruelCoin wrote: »

Out of curiosity, what kind of lifespan do you get out of goldfish you "don't mess with"?

Goldfish kept properly will and should live 6 years.

well mine are going on 5 years now and all good

kylith

I had one for more than 10 years. Last I heard he's still kicking around in a pond.

CruelCoin

kylith wrote: »

I had one for more than 10 years. Last I heard he's still kicking around in a pond.

Great.

Nice to hear people are getting long life.

I hate when i hear people saying they got new goldfish "again".

Milly33

I really didn't think they lasted that long, I remember being a kid and maybe a couple of months that would be it. Then again we did have a large outdoor pond that was always full so maybe the parents got sick of looking at them in tiny bowls.

Silverfish

Common goldfish (single tails) should be in excess of 20 years.

Fancy goldfish (twin tailed, rounder bodied) in or around 10 to 12 years.

Tropheus

We had one at home when we were kids. It was in a 100l tank that was filtered and lived for 25 years.

When I think back on it, the tank size was far from ideal, but he was well looked after.

chopper6

I reckon goldfish bowls should be banned outright...certainly no pet supplier with a conscience should sell them.

baron von something

i just came back from a local bargain store that i only recently heard stocked fish and they had a few different 'kids first fish' deals of goldfish bowls and goldfish.i didnt even see any goldfish,they had shubunkins in a tiny tank way too small for the amount they had in it,their other display tanks were filthy and they were full of dead fish

Tropheus

baron von something wrote: »

i just came back from a local bargain store that i only recently heard stocked fish and they had a few different 'kids first fish' deals of goldfish bowls and goldfish.i didnt even see any goldfish,they had shubunkins in a tiny tank way too small for the amount they had in it,their other display tanks were filthy and they were full of dead fish

Report them to the ISPCA.

chopper6

Tropheus wrote: »

Report them to the ISPCA.

No need...speak to the owners of the shop...it usually works if you explain things diplomatically to them.

Tropheus

chopper6 wrote: »

No need...speak to the owners of the shop...it usually works if you explain things diplomatically to them.

Tried that on many occasions and was looked at as though I was mad - "it's only a fish".

ZiabR

Simple answer, your tank is not cycled. It takes from 6-8 weeks to cycle a tank fully unless you can seed it.