Serial killer

[dmanero]

I'm at my end with what to do. About 2 years ago I received from a friend a vertical hexagon 20gl tank. and I've treat the tank with chemicals and did everything that I have read online. I've boughten gold fish, feeding fish and they all seem to die with in a matter of days.
So then I thought must be the tank so I got rid of that tank and bought a new standard 20gl tank and again I treated the tank which chemicals, treated the water and left for it 4 days with the filter running. Bought new gold fish and with in days started getting ich, I treated them with aquarium salt and medicine to treat fish for ich. They cleaned up then a few days later they died. so I bought some feeder fish. the first two night they were fine, they swam and it seemed all was good, then one by one they became inactive and huddled up together as if they having a team meeting. that when I noticed thier skin started to developed a while film on them. and shortly after they all died one by one.

what am I doing wrong and can someone please give me some tips as im getting tired of buying new fish every week and it's becoming embarrassing having to keep going back.

thanks in advance.

 

[Brookster123]

2 things right off the bat, research properly cycling a fw aquarium and... Stop Buying Cheap Goldfish hahah.. those tanks at the store are like a petri dish. Get the tank cycled, research appropriate stock and take it from there.

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[Reykur]

First thing first, do you have..
A heater, or rather appropriate water temp?
Is the water cycled?
What chemicals are you using for cleaning?
Have you tested whatever kind of water you're using to fill the tank? If it's tap water or well water, it needs to be tested. Water conditioners are a great addition to any aquarium kit.
Have you been just tossing the fish in once you get them home? Acclimating fish is essential as well.
It's hard to say what is killing them, maybe research getting started threads and see if they give you any ideas.

 

[Reykur]

Also, welcome to the forum, don't let this deter you. This is a rewarding hobby that requires some research to get started, once you've put in the leg work you'll amazed at what you can accomplish we all start somewhere, it's disappointing to see fish pass, but don't get down on yourself about it.

 

[dmanero]

Reykur - Water temp is not cold but now warm, as I have no heater since gold fish don't require one,
I cycled the water for 4 days while the filter is running prior to adding the fish.
As for checmicals, well I used the Tap water treatment and another, cant remember off hand right now but supposed to be for keeping fish health, (much good that's doing)
As for tossing the fish in, most of the time I'm leaving them in the back and letting the bag float in the tank for a 1hour so they can get used to the water temp.


On a side note I'm not having this issue with my tropical fish, use the same chemicals, water and filter. Seems only my goldfish are effected. and yes lol they are in separate tanks.

 

[Toad]

Letting the tank run for 4 days isn't cycling, you need to read about fish-less cycling, there are links in this forum, you can google it too. Also, that tank isn't big enough for goldfish, you'll need something bigger if you plan on keeping goldfish, and regular feeder goldfish really should be kept in ponds.

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[dmanero]

seriously?!?!? 20 gallons is not big enough.....


I've know people to have gold fish in a bowl that's barely 5 gallons.


thx ill check on the fishless cycle.

 

[daquaticb]

Spend lots of hours learning about nitrogen cycle which tells you about ammonia nitrite and nitrate. Then research gold fish which will explain why they need such big tanks. Which when you understand these things it will all of the sudden "click" why the goldfish keep dying.

 

[Reykur]

Daqua is right, the goldfish misconcecptions are really surprising when you first find out the truth behind them, but none the less I find them less than desirable fish to keep due to their needs. Its easy to set up a large tank for goldfish, but you have to know their optimal params before you do that. The nitrogen cycle is the most important part though, and should be your biggest concern at this point.

It sounds like you have another tank though, if that tank has been established for a while, you can actually take some of the filter media from the established filter, and put it into the new one. I've never tried this, so I don't know how effective it is.

 

[Toad]

http://www.aquariumadvice.com/forums/showthread.php?p=3417427


This alone shows why they won't work in a small tank...

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