Please help my goldfish is going black

[MarcGreyyyyyyyyy]

Hi, I recently won two fish at a fayre and I bought them a 24 litre tank with ornaments, plants a filter etc. I was advised to buy a water conditioner, and I change my tank once a week and feed my fish twice a day. The other day I noticed simon was getting black marks, I changed the water yesterday but there are just more black areas appearing. He shares a tank with my other fish, keith, who is perfectly fine so I don't know what is wrong, please help me! I don't want my fish to die oh and he is a comet goldfish if that helps, my other goldfish which is fine is a common and I have no way of testing my ammonia levels but I heard black marks can be a result of this?

 

[MarcGreyyyyyyyyy]

By changing my tank, I mean changing the water

 

[Berylla]

Your gold fish require a much larger tank than a 6 gallon. However, much to my surprise, my niece has kept her goldfish in a gallon bowl for 3 years and it's now 4 inches long. She changes the water out every 2 days. I think you may be able to get away with a small tank if you change out your water every 2 days.

Regarding the black spots, it's difficult to say what it is. Could you post a photo? Perhaps with the higher frequency of water changes your fish will recover. Also, feed your fish every other day, and lightly a small pinch of flake, or eight 2mm pellets. This will keep down the organics in your tank.

 

[Alyxx]

Your gold fish require a much larger tank than a 6 gallon. However, much to my surprise, my niece has kept her goldfish in a gallon bowl for 3 years and it's now 4 inches long. She changes the water out every 2 days. I think you may be able to get away with a small tank if you change out your water every 2 days.

Regarding the black spots, it's difficult to say what it is. Could you post a photo? Perhaps with the higher frequency of water changes your fish will recover. Also, feed your fish every other day, and lightly a small pinch of flake, or eight 2mm pellets. This will keep down the organics in your tank.

Goldfish have no stomach and need to be fed more often than other fish do. The black marks are most likely ammonia burns. Your comet goldfish are in need of a much bigger tank. They are pond fish. The general recommendation for comets and common goldfish is 50 gallons for the first fish and I think 20 or 30 more for each fish after the first. These fish are messy and get huge. Over a foot long! Do you have a testing kit for your water? I would imagine that your ammonia levels are sky high, especially if you didn't cycle the tank before you put the fish in. Have you read about cycling a tank yet? You are in the middle of a fish in cycle right now, and massive daily water changes are probably necessary right now.

It's a shame that goldfish are so often given away with no real instructions on their care.

 

[MarcGreyyyyyyyyy]

Thank you, both of you, and thats what I thought about the tank too, but the people in the pet shop said that 10 liters per fish would be fine? So I'm not really sure about what to do and I'm new to here, so any ideas as to how to upload photos to here? I'm new

 

[jlk]

I agree he has ammonia burns. 10l (or 2g) is honestly too small for for just about anything, especially a fish that has the potential to grow over a foot. You need to invest in a good liquid test kit for ammonia, nitrite, nitrate and ph and a bottle of good water conditioner such as Prime or Amquel Plus. Ill post two links below- please read them and ask any questions!

I just learned about cycling but I already have fish. What now?! - Aquarium Advice

http://www.myaquariumclub.com/goldfish-101-11174823.html

 

[MarcGreyyyyyyyyy]

He's acting really sluggish and he's hiding away in his pot ornament thing

 

[Berylla]

For now, change the 50% of the water in your tank every day. You can buy a 29G breeder and they will be able to live there until they are both 6-8 inches long, which can take a year. At that point, you can consider selling them, and start again with smaller fish.

 

[MarcGreyyyyyyyyy]

He is hiding in an ornament I have and the two fish just sit there, doing nothing,until I feed them?

 

[Berylla]

He is hiding in an ornament I have and the two fish just sit there, doing nothing,until I feed them?

You could feed - lightly once a day.