Can't seem to keep fish alive.

[jrmjrm]

I set up my 29 gal. tank in the middle of June. About a week later, I got three small goldfish. About a week later, they all developed Ick and even after treatment they died. I allowed the tank to cycle with the same water for three weeks before attempting to add any new fish. Last Sunday I got two goldfish, hoping that two would be easier on the tank than three. Well, yesterday one of them died and today the other has white fuzz on its head. I've tested the water with the 6 in 1 strips and everything is in the acceptable levels. I'm at a loss for what to do. If this fish dies, what do I do with the tank? Should I dump it and start new? I'm thinking it is the goldfish because I've had other fish before with no problems. My last tank was stocked with Gouramis and dragon fish, and they were fine... I'm beginning to get really frustrated.

 

[CA_BroncoFan]

First off welcome to AA!

Second, it seems to me that your tank isn't cycled. Unless you used seeded materials it will take around 4 to 6 weeks to fully cycle. Sometimes more sometimes less, but the problem it seems like you might have had was that ur tank didn't have enough beneficial bacterias. Check out the sticky links in the getting started section as well as the articles on cycling. This will help you signifigantly. I would suggest following the directions on there and be patient.

If this is indeed your first tank I would do your research while waiting for your tank to cycle. Run a lot of questions by us all on here and get people opinions as well as develop your own.

As far as testing water...the strips are horrible, it it best to spring for the api feshwater master kit (liquid kit). Its far more accurate. If you have any ?'s don't hesitate to ask

 

[logansmomma1228]

First off welcome to AA!

Second, it seems to me that your tank isn't cycled. Unless you used seeded materials it will take around 4 to 6 weeks to fully cycle. Sometimes more sometimes less, but the problem it seems like you might have had was that ur tank didn't have enough beneficial bacterias. Check out the sticky links in the getting started section as well as the articles on cycling. This will help you signifigantly. I would suggest following the directions on there and be patient.

If this is indeed your first tank I would do your research while waiting for your tank to cycle. Run a lot of questions by us all on here and get people opinions as well as develop your own.

As far as testing water...the strips are horrible, it it best to spring for the api feshwater master kit (liquid kit). Its far more accurate. If you have any ?'s don't hesitate to ask

+1. Also, with ich, you need to kill it all completely off. I suggest tearing down your tank, cleaning it with a bleach solution (NO Soap or detergents of any kind) and starting over.

 

[BlackMagic]

+1. Also, with ich, you need to kill it all completely off. I suggest tearing down your tank, cleaning it with a bleach solution (NO Soap or detergents of any kind) and starting over.

aint bleach more deadly than soap?
just a question.

i dont get it, u can use bleach to clean of ick but not soap?
u can always wash the soap off like u wash off the bleach?

 

[dkpate]

Bleach is just chlorine pretty much. After you clean with bleach, soak the cleaned tank and items in 5x dechlorinated water.

Soap always leaves a film, therefore there is usually always soap left over.

 

[Mark Hewitt]

First of all get rid of your strips and get an API liquid testing kit. This is extremely important when cycling a tank. Tear everything down and let it completely dry out for a full week.

Then read up on fishless cycling. Your problem has been your filter was not cycled and unable to remove the fishes waste from the water.

Also if you have not already get a heater even for goldfish and consider other types of fish too goldfish are very dirty fish and you need a more powerful filter and you can keep less fish per gallon than you can with others.

Don't let it get you down, I had exactly the same experience

 

[happygirl65]

Let's also not forget that the LFS often considers goldfish as "feeders" and don't always treat them well. It would not be uncommon to get bad stock of goldfish.
You say you cycled and that the levels were within acceptable levels....can you tell us what they are? We might be able to be more helpful if we have more information.

 

[IT-FishGuy]

Be careful with bleach. A weak solution may help you out, but you'll have to weigh benefit vs. risk. I've used weak solutions to clean stuff then soak it in another container for a time, rinse it well just for good measure then put back in the tank.
Sounds like the fish may have a fungus of some sort. Certainly check your filter goldfish are messy. 2 in a 29 could be crowded depending on the type of goldfish you have.
LFS, true that your fish could be poorly treated as sad as it is.
Get a test kit, it'll come in handy, change 20% of the water and if you still suspect ich you can use malachite green (it does stain light colored items) which works well or something else. I find malachite green does the job and is inexpensive.
Not sure how experienced you are, but they are cold water fish so the heat em up and drop salt is probably not a good idea.

 

[Dan_Forbz]

you seem to have pretty bad luck. another way of getting rid of ich is to get special water treaters. in which you could just treat the whole tank for its cycle.

also what type of filtration do you have through your tank, because certain filters and filtration media take certain times to cycle. i found with my jebo full tank setups, i only had to wait a few days and treat the water with a water ager ( dechlorinator) and amrite down (basically just introduces good bacteria) . no fish deaths whatsoever. but if you were going to treat the water i recommend draining all your previous water and starting again. in that process i agree with cleaning your tank out instead of using a ich treatment.

what exactly are your ammonia , nitrite, nitrate, and ph levels??

 

[Mark Hewitt]

Personally I'd recommend turning the heater up and dosing with a good amount of salt, and remember to keep redosing the salt in your water changes.
No treatments will clear ich out of fish that have already got it, but it will stop them getting reinfected if they survive the initial rounds.

I was recommended when I had this problem, to replace the substrate and wash the decorations and tank down with a very strong salt and water solution, and then let it all dry out completely. What nasties that you don't get with the salt water won't be able to survive being dried out.

 

[dkpate]

Nothing will clear ich until it's in it's free swimming stage. You can use all the salt and meds you want, and it's not gonna help. The heat speeds up the life cycle, so you can kill the free swimmers faster.