friend in need

[ebster]

Hi this is not my tank, but a friends tank. 7 gallon tanks with four small gold fish low water level and bio bag is pure black I think her filter is broken. The fish are surfacing and plants are floating around gavel moved, the fish have not bin feed for about a day and aren't moving so much is u could help that would be great I was thinking to kill the fish dump out the water, get new filter wash gravel and plants and cycle it for like 5-7 days with out fish and get one or two gold fish this time and try to get them a automatic feeder, wash the tank and so on. Plz help anything will do.

[Fluff]

Why would you kill the fish that are there? Give them to a fish store, unless they are nasty sick. 7 gal isn't big enough for 1 goldfish let alone two or four. Fish don't need fed everyday so I don't think that is a problem. That many goldies in so little water is no doubt the reason they aren't not active. No room, and no doubt, water quality issues. Also, not to sound harsh, if this is how your friend let this tank get, I would wonder if it is worth setting it back up. What's to say they would take care of it this time? Unless you are taking the tank for yourself to set up. Then maybe you could fix it up, cycle it and maybe get a school of small tetras or something.

[lyquidphyre]

Your friend either needs to
*get a 30-55gal tank to house all four of those goldfish
*return the goldfish to a petstore and NOT KILL THEM and get fish compatible for a 7gal
*get out of the fish hobby until he knows a little more about keeping fish properly

You should never ever ever kill anything (even if it is a fish) because of a mistake the person made.

[Fishyfanatic]

I completly agree. That many fish in such a small tank = BIG problems. And you should NEVER kill any type of fish, even if it is an aggressor or dieing. If you do decide to set the tank up again, do NOT wash the tank or anything that will come in contact with it, with soap or any other type of cleaner. Bleach is ok ONLY if it is diluted and rinsed MANY many times.

[Jaxom_Ruatha]

Tell your friend goldfish aren't the way to go with small aquariums. Goldfish are one of the biggest waste producing aquarium fish, they also get huge in proper conditions. In a 7gallon suggest he get fish that stay small, (and perhaps tell him to do a little research to make sure any fish he may be interested in stay small) such as maybe one male betta, some species of shrimp, small tetras, a few guppies, or some white cloud minnows. These are just possible suggestions, although obviously he/she couldn't include all of these in that small of an aquarium. Just tell your friend to make sure the (minimum of 1 max of about 3) species are compatible with one another before putting them in together.

[carpediem]

How long has this tank been up and running? If it is brand new, you won't be able to cycle it in 5 to 7 days.

Try returning the fish to the lfs and start fresh after researching about the nitrogen cycle, the needs for the type of fish he/she is getting (like pH, temp, food and size of tank and who they get along with).

Maybe he/she would like to join AA and ask the many friendly and knowledgable members here about advice. Everybody makes mistakes, important is that he/she learns from it and tries his/her best to help those poor fish. Good for you for trying to help him/her out.

[jsoong]

OK, I agree with what everyone said regarding too many golds in a tiny tank, and that fish are not "disposable" items, etc. ... But no one had said anything about what to do with those poor fish in the meantime.

Until your friend got sorted out on what to do with the fish - bigger tank, return to lfs, give away to someone with a pond - I would suggest doing daily 50% water changes. This would keep the water conditions tolerable & give the fishies a fighting chance in the short term.