Sad day for a newbie (or a cautionary tail)

[afishoutofh2o]

Romulus died this morning. We are now down to 1 lonely fantail (Blaze named for her orange blaze on her forehead).

It has been a steep learning curve these past 24 days. I have lost 6 lovely fantails in total. This is their story...

Twenty-four days ago I foolishly purchased "a bag of goldfish" and a 2 gallon tank. I had some remote childhood memory of having goldfish in a bowl and, without having done my homework, thought this would be fine. (An aside, wouldn't it be something if one had to take a class or two on basic fish care & aquarium maintenance before one could purchase any fish!)

Once I got them home and read the aquarium guide included in the 2 gallon kit I realized my new goldies were in trouble. The next day I purchased a 10 gallon tank with AquaClear 20 filter, water conditioner, two 2 gallon buckets, a siphon, an air curtain, and a Tetratest Laborett (pH, KH, GH, NO2, CO2, NH3/NH4). I kept one fish who looked overwhelmed in the 2G tank and safely transferred the remaining 6 fish to the 10G tank (still too small, I know. I am saving for a larger tank). The first week went by without much distress, but then I had to go to a conference for the weekend and the 20% tank changes were put on hold for 3 days. The day after I got home I returned to my usual 20% tank changes and then I noticed that a couple of my fish had white spots on their caudal fins. ICH! After doing some reading I purchased some Malachite Green treatment and gave one dose. After some more reading I realized that the ICH was more a symptom of my uncycled tank than a "new" problem. My first fish died day 13 (Bubbles, sniff). I then did 75% changes on both my tanks and have treated the ICH with aquarium salt. Now I am doing daily or twice daily tests and water changes once or twice a day (depending on the test results).

Today we have had our 6th death (Romulus) and only Blaze remains. The ICH is gone (apparently).

And now that I know better, I'll do better - I am saving up to purchase a 40-60G tank in the coming months and will cycle first before adding any goldfish!

RIP
Bubbles Little black telescope fantail - died day 13
Tiger Stripy calico fantail - died day 13
Fin Round body black telescope fantail - died day 15
Splash Round body patchy calico fantail - died day 16
Remus Mostly orange fantail - died day 17
Romulus Mostly orange fantail (slightly larger than Remus) - died day 24

 

[oscarbreeder]

Sound like the same way we all started out. Now that you now to do your research first, cycle your tank and then buy your fish, you'll be fine.
Good luck with your goldfish(one goldfish per ten gallon).

 

[Meredith]

That is quite a story. Im so sorry you have had a hard time of it, but I am sure your next go'round will be better.
Kudos to you for learning from your mistakes

 

[scarf]

At least you've learnt from your mistakes. Better luck the next time around.

 

[krap101]

and at least it was early before you spent alot of money

 

[mentallylost]

Yeah, some us lost over $150.00 in fish in about 4 days because we thought that we knew it all and no one else had a clue. But we were humbled and learned from our mistakes. We listen to others now.

 

[PBirdsong]

Yeah . . . when you first start out in this hobby it is hard to tell when you have done enough of the right research. Because of that it can be trial and error in the beginning.

Been there, done that, bought the t-shirt.

 

[afishoutofh2o]

Thank you for all of your kind words! This has been quite a learning experience.

Yesterday I euthanized my last little fantail (clove oil works well with seeming to cause very little stress to the fish) s/he was just suffering so much through the nitrite spike, not really recovering between my daily water changes, not eating. I miss the little one, but I don't miss the stress of seeing her/him suffer.

So now I am continuing the cycle fishlessly and planning ahead for future inhabitants.

 

[Zagz]

I am so sorry for your losses, I too have been there. I have just finished doing a fishless cycle and met with great success, with the help of AA. My fish and I are very glad we found AA. It has saved many lives to be sure. Good luck in the future!

 

[wabyrd]

It always sucks to lose a fish. My solution was to get a bigger tank with lots of plants. That way I don't see the remains while the shrimp and snails devour it. I just feel a little bad when I look over the tank and realize "Hey, I had 20 cardinal tetras. Why do I only see seven?" 8O

 

[greenmaji]

A 75 gallon would fit your needs well I think.. keep an eye out you might catch a deal... the losses happen to the best of us when we first started out though.. I always think that its too bad there isnt enough good infromation out there for the newbies..
waybird.... 8O is right!..LOL..

 

[krap101]

well i lost around 4 gouramis, a pleco, a 2 golfish, when i ercently started. before that when i was little i lost a pleco, and thats all i can remember.. and i only had a 5 gallon tank at the time

 

[Tiger_Oscar]

Sorry to hear about your fish. I rushed on my most recent set up and now I could be putting my fish in danger. From what I've learned the bigger your tank the better. Everything in a small tank could change very quickly. You temperture, amonia, nitrite ect. In larger bodies of water change occurs slower so you have more time to catch it.

 

[wabyrd]

From what I've learned the bigger your tank the better.

Not always. Have you ever gotten an infection and had to buy antibiotics to treat a 125 gallon tank? Puts a serious dent in the bank account!

 

[Tiger_Oscar]

From what I've learned the bigger your tank the better.

Not always. Have you ever gotten an infection and had to buy antibiotics to treat a 125 gallon tank? Puts a serious dent in the bank account!

I never thought about it like that..lol Supose you drained half the water out treated the fish then filled it back up later..

 

[greenmaji]

Not always. Have you ever gotten an infection and had to buy antibiotics to treat a 125 gallon tank? Puts a serious dent in the bank account!

Your alot more likely to get the infection with the smaller tank.. In fact I have never had a illness in a tank 75 gallons and above..

That is also why you QT all new fish and heat treat them for ich before they go into your big tank.. 8)

 

[Tiger_Oscar]

Not always. Have you ever gotten an infection and had to buy antibiotics to treat a 125 gallon tank? Puts a serious dent in the bank account!

Your alot more likely to get the infection with the smaller tank.. In fact I have never had a illness in a tank 75 gallons and above..

That is also why you QT all new fish and heat treat them for ich before they go into your big tank.. 8)

I know of Ich medication but what do you mean by heat treat them. Do you raise the temperature above normal?

 

[wabyrd]

That is also why you QT all new fish and heat treat them for ich before they go into your big tank..

I do quarantine, but I still got a case of popeye.

 

[greenmaji]

popeye is usually from too many fish in the tank..and if you heat treat and the infection is present the heat will make it come out quickly and you can treat it before it gets to your big tank... from my experiance...JMO though..
and Tiger_Oscar.. you REALLY need to read the articles.... heat treatment is explained in the ich article...
http://www.aquariumadvice.com/showfaq.php?fldAuto=2

 

[Tiger_Oscar]

popeye is usually from too many fish in the tank..and if you heat treat and the infection is present the heat will make it come out quickly and you can treat it before it gets to your big tank... from my experiance...JMO though..
and Tiger_Oscar.. you REALLY need to read the articles.... heat treatment is explained in the ich article...
http://www.aquariumadvice.com/showfaq.php?fldAuto=2

I checked it out. Good info I read almost every article. Thanks