Advice !

[Roxanne]

Hi there everybody,

Hoped to get some advice here.

I had 2 goldfishes, living normally in my aquarium. Has a filter, air-bubbles and treated water, with dechloro. But the water in the aquarium became cloudy.

Bought the following yesterday :-
1) a water plant.
2) water cloudiness remover.
3) frozen worms.
3) a remora to 'clean-up' the poo.

Went home, did a 50% water change, added dechloro to suggested level. Then added the water cloudiness remover too. Re-installed the filter too, and the bubbling water continued happening.

Put-in the water-plant and remora. Initially, upon seeng the remora, the goldfishes looked a little nervous. But everything settled down, and the remora did not bother the goldfishes.

Provided frozen worms to the goldies. Not sure if the 2 goldies ate the worms.

The goldies then behaved like they are 'short of air' ie swimmimg at the surface. This is completely incomprehensible, I have just changed the water, and the water pump is behaving normally.

Then true enough, one goldie died among the water plant 2 hours later.

5 hours later, the other goldie died, also stuck among the water plant.

The remora is still alive, but I can see that occasionally, it would bump up to the surface of the water to 'breathe', I think,......... and then go back down to the bottom of the aquarium again.

Can anyone please comment what happened ? This is really weird !!!

Thank you.

 

[Acer]

did you take readings on your water quality?

 

[mr funktastic]

maybe mixing the water dechlor and the water cloudiness remover reacted? i have no idea but i am sorry for your loss.

 

[TCTFish]

What are you calling a 'Remora'?

How many cubes of worms did you offer?

How big is your tank?

What type of filter do you have?

How long has the tank been up and running with fish in it?

Test the water for ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, and pH. Please let us know the results so we can further help you.

Some tips about goldfish...

Goldfish should not be given such a meaty diet. It can cause digestive problems. Stick with goldfish food and veggie foods.

The behavior of goldfish swimming at the surface can indicate a lack of oxygen in the water. Increase aeration by either adding airstones or create water flow with a pump.

 

[Roxanne]

did you take readings on your water quality?

Dear Acer,

No, I'm afraid not. I don't have this tool, and neither have a I used one previously. I have been making intelligent speculations on my water quality, and I have been right thus far. My 2 goldies have been with me for sometime.

But upon making these additions today, I lost everything.

Could it have been because of the remora ? Can the remora live with my 2 goldies ?

But then, why did my goldies exhibit actions of suffocation, rather than nervousness ?

Is a remora a saltwater fish or a freshwater fish ?

 

[Roxanne]

What are you calling a 'Remora'?

How many cubes of worms did you offer?

How big is your tank?

What type of filter do you have?

How long has the tank been up and running with fish in it?

Test the water for ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, and pH. Please let us know the results so we can further help you.

Some tips about goldfish...

Goldfish should not be given such a meaty diet. It can cause digestive problems. Stick with goldfish food and veggie foods.

The behavior of goldfish swimming at the surface can indicate a lack of oxygen in the water. Increase aeration by either adding airstones or create water flow with a pump.

Dear TCT,

Thank you.

A 'remora' is that black type of fish that eats dirt in an aquarium. It does not swim around, but just glides on the surface of the aquarium.

The tank is not big, that's why I have only 2 goldies inside. It's round, with a diameter of about 1 foot, and has a water level of up to 10 inches.

I have been taking care of my 2 goldies in that tank for the last 2 weeks.

I used a pump, I knew about this since the first day onwards. The pump creates a strong bubbly effect at the surface, and this creates aeration plus increasing water flow. I'm sure I have done the aeration thing correctly. But what caused the oxygen to disappear so quickly from the water ?

Could be the plant competing with my goldies for oxygen ? But as we all know, during the day, and with even very light sunlight, the plant is supposed to give out oxygen, which should further increase the presence of oxygen in the water. This was the reason whay I bought the plant.

Apprecited your feedback again, Sir,..........

 

[TCTFish]

Roxanne...you cannot base water quality on the condition of the fish you have. Hardy fish like gold fish can adapt to rising levels of toxins that would kill a new fish being suddenly exposed. The stress level of the tank can wipe out the population. Such sudden exposure would increase respiration and therefore increase ammonia. Ammonia is also produced by the gills as a by product of respiration. All these little elements can deplete oxygen levels in a tank and with goldfish that can happen quickly. They produce much more ammonia and take up much more oxygen than the average fish. All this combined creates a deadly toxic soup.

I really would like to see what this 'remora' is. Can you get a picture? An actual remora is a marine fish that notoriously latch themselves to sharks by a suction disk on thier head and eat food debris floating by when the sharks feed.

 

[Roxanne]

maybe mixing the water dechlor and the water cloudiness remover reacted? i have no idea but i am sorry for your loss.

Mr Funktastic,

Thank you for your kind words. Yes, I do feel a loss here.

I planned to leave the aquarium with the remora inside for a few days, then re-stock the aquarium again with another 2 goldies. Isw this a good plan ?

Would you recommend another type of fish this time round ?

 

[TCTFish]

Sounds like this 'remora' is a type of algae eater. I do not know of any FW fish that actually eat poop, so don't fall for this misconception. They eat uneaten foods that fall to the bottom and ignored by most other fish. They help clean food that would turn to waste, but they also poop this out themselves.

I'm trying to visualize this tank. Definitely no where near big enough for even one goldfish, let alone another plus another fish. Lack of water volume alone would explain the rapid depletion of oxygen.

 

[Roxanne]

Roxanne...you cannot base water quality on the condition of the fish you have. Hardy fish like gold fish can adapt to rising levels of toxins that would kill a new fish being suddenly exposed. The stress level of the tank can wipe out the population. Such sudden exposure would increase respiration and therefore increase ammonia. Ammonia is also produced by the gills as a by product of respiration. All these little elements can deplete oxygen levels in a tank and with goldfish that can happen quickly. They produce much more ammonia and take up much more oxygen than the average fish. All this combined creates a deadly toxic soup.

I really would like to see what this 'remora' is. Can you get a picture? An actual remora is a marine fish that notoriously latch themselves to sharks by a suction disk on thier head and eat food debris floating by when the sharks feed.

TCT,

I appreciated and could agree with your explanation here. But I wondered what caused the sudden build-up of stress level ? Is it because of the presence of the remora ?

The remora : yes, it does look like that fish which sticks itself on a shark's body. Except that this one is very much smaller, black in color with gray spots on its body, and yes, it attaches itself on the sides of an aquarium. It glides along when it moves, it may swim, but at rapid strokes. Sorry I can't find a picture of this fish on the Net. But it does look like that fish which sticks on a shark's body.

I may re-stock the aquarium with 2 fishes. What do you think ?

 

[TCTFish]

You'd be much better off trading in the bottomfeeder for a betta...maybe a couple of little danios to go with him, but not until everything in the tank has been cleaned.

This is the most disappointing part to owning an aquarium...it's easy to kill fish. Just gotta learn from it.

 

[TCTFish]

Sounds like a chinese algae eater. Not a very friendly fish to slow moving tank mates. They Have a habit of eating the protective slime off of other fish.

The introduction of the other fish plus the fact there may be a build up of toxins in the water are major stress factors.

Other than cleaning the bowl and limiting the population to betta and/or danios, make sure you get a test kit and do some reading on not just fish care, but learn how to care for the water. It's the most important thing to keeping fish alive.

 

[Roxanne]

Sounds like this 'remora' is a type of algae eater. I do not know of any FW fish that actually eat poop, so don't fall for this misconception. They eat uneaten foods that fall to the bottom and ignored by most other fish. They help clean food that would turn to waste, but they also poop this out themselves.

I'm trying to visualize this tank. Definitely no where near big enough for even one goldfish, let alone another plus another fish. Lack of water volume alone would explain the rapid depletion of oxygen.

TCT,

You could be right about the 'remora'. I'm afraid I do not have very indepth knowledge about this fish. I would like to say that I am currently staying in a tropical country, Singapore, and this fish is quite popular as a 'cleanup fish' in this part of the world.

Secondly, if we are saying that this tank is too small, why is it that my 2 goldies have been able to survive in this tank for the last 2 weeks ? And I have not seen them with problems for the last 2 weeks.

By the way, the 'remora' is still alive. I just checked, and it did 'bump' to the surface again for a breather of air, and then came back down into the bottom of the tank. The pump is working normally, creating bubbles at the surface. The water plant is standing up normally. Why has the 'remora' been able to survive, when the hardy two goldies have given up ?

 

[TCTFish]

Two weeks is not a significant amount of time for a goldfish to survive. Goldfish can live about 15 to 18 years and some get fairly large. You may have gotten away with them in there for a little while longer if kept on 50% water changes weekly being there's not sufficient room for good filtration and no more fish, but even that is only for a short period of time. Goldfish need lots of water and they would outgrow the tank. Adding the bottomfeeder adds additional stress and adds ammonia. Need to test the water to confirm whether these toxins are present and most likely are. I've explained in a previous post how introducing one fish can kill the entire population. The newbie in question is a tough fish...and he's not out of the woods yet. Bottomfeeders are naturally adapted to sudden changes, but they too can succumb to intoxication eventually. Keep an eye on him.

Good luck.

 

[Roxanne]

Any other possible sources of this fatality ?

Hi again,

Apart from using the Water Quality Test Kit, are there any other ways to find out the problem please ?

I have made 5 changes of water (at 40% change each), and everytime after changing the water, my two ex-goldies looked great. I am using the same routine of preparing the water, scooping the current water out and than replacing the water. Thus, I do not think there would be mistakes here.

The fatality here should be because of one or more of the additions that I made yesterday, but we don't know which one. WE need to find out this source.

I appreciated more feedback please ! Thank you,.........

 

[TCTFish]

Re: Any other possible sources of this fatality ?

Apart from using the Water Quality Test Kit, are there any other ways to find out the problem please ?

It's the only way to find out if something is wrong with the water and is a major factor in determining the cause of sudden death.

I'll leave this here for other to respond...

 

[kaz]

number one thing to buy
test kit without it say goodbye and goodnight.

 

[jrp1588]

why was the water cloudy in the first place that caused you to have to get a cloudiness remover? Sounds to me like the water was getting to a poor quality level, then you added the chemicals, changing things even more. May have just put the fish over the edge.

 

[DeFeKt]

arent goldfish herbivores?

 

[Japola44]

my guess is you have a common pleco wich will quickly out grow you aquarium. I would suggest getting a larger aquarium, and probably returning the pleco. Before you get more fish you should get a water testing kit, a water testing kit, and read up about cycling your tank. I also wouldn't suggest chemicals to decloud the water its probably not too good for the fish. HTH