Hi. When I was in high school, I won 14 goldfish at a carnival. I have a 30 gallon fish tank. Over the years I have lost one here and there while learning more about them. Around year 5 I introduced an algea eater. By the 9 year mark, I was down to 5 goodies. At year 11 I had 3. Averaging 1 death every year. I then fell prey to the fishie game again and brought home more. 6 made it into the main tank after quarantine. That was 3 years ago. In the last 3 years nothing has changed. Same house, same tank, same set up, same food. In the last few months we have lost 5 fish. They died 4-6 weeks apart. The first was the 8/9 year algea eater. Then an original 14 year old giant, so I thought it was age- but now I've also lost another original and 2 of the 3 year olds. I have never lost so many do fast. Can losing one algea eater cause that? Or what is going on?! I am afraid to introduce a new algea eater since I don't have access to a healthy Chinese Algea Eater breeder.
After 14 years why can't I keep my goldies alive?
- Thread starter Hack 222
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Do you know your water parameters?
What is your maintenance schedule?
Perhaps what is known as old tank syndrome where water parameters get worse over the years through irregular maintenance. Older fish will adapt to the poor water as the change is gradual for them. New fish added in from better water conditions experience a sudden change in water quality which can cause health issues that might not show up for some time.
30g is only really big enough for 1 goldfish. When fish dont get enough space to grow their bodies stop growing but internal organs dont and they start to suffer ill health and early death. Perhaps that is catching up with you.
Perhaps fish you obtained earlier in your history where in better health than the ones you got more recently.
What is your maintenance schedule?
Perhaps what is known as old tank syndrome where water parameters get worse over the years through irregular maintenance. Older fish will adapt to the poor water as the change is gradual for them. New fish added in from better water conditions experience a sudden change in water quality which can cause health issues that might not show up for some time.
30g is only really big enough for 1 goldfish. When fish dont get enough space to grow their bodies stop growing but internal organs dont and they start to suffer ill health and early death. Perhaps that is catching up with you.
Perhaps fish you obtained earlier in your history where in better health than the ones you got more recently.
We moved into a new area and new house 3 years ago- so everything was pretty reset at that point and my oldies *thankfully* didn't show any drama with the change (I was pretty nervous). We have 2 air tubes, a 20gal filter and a 60gal double filter. I never go over 3 weeks cleaning the filters and never over 6 weeks doing a gravel clean and water change. I do know that goldies need air and space, but I guess just because I had good luck before, doesn't mean it will continue. I always expect sick carnie fish to last less than 6 months- so after a couple years, I thought we were good to go. They don't show any outward sign of illness and are just gone. I am used to the warning signs for treatment, my originals wandered into a few common fish diseases back in the day. I even had 1 turn red from stress- I felt horrible, but was able to get her back in good health.
I think its very difficult for anyone to tell you definitively whats wrong with limited information. Maintaining good water quality with such large bioload and small water volume will be very difficult and will eventually catch up with you. It sounds like you have done an outstanding job so far, but things like poor water quality can take a long time to show up as issues. It often results in a shortening of life span rather than more immediate symptoms. And by the time you start to see issues the water condition is resolved, but it did the damage a while ago.
Im really not in a position to be telling someone who has successfully been keeping goldfish all these years how to go about his business. Just offering my observations on where issues might be coming from.
6 weeks for a water change is a really long time though.
Im really not in a position to be telling someone who has successfully been keeping goldfish all these years how to go about his business. Just offering my observations on where issues might be coming from.
6 weeks for a water change is a really long time though.
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I am picking up information on the fly- honestly as a highschooler I didn't think theyd make it through graduation. They started in a pretty sad 10gal my friend wasnt using. I know a bigger tank would be best, but im sorta stuck with what I have. I do preach against smaller tanks, even for children's fish.
We've done parasites, ick and stress- but I learn as we go. They get a gallon of fresh water every week to make up for evaporation. Goldfish are pretty hardy (well maybe just mine) our schedule is a once a month 50% water change with gravel vacuum- but I know that I have been known to push it off. Again- I have had an 'if it aint broke don't fix it' mentality. I appreciate any insight or thoughts. Thank you for giving me another direction to look into.
We've done parasites, ick and stress- but I learn as we go. They get a gallon of fresh water every week to make up for evaporation. Goldfish are pretty hardy (well maybe just mine) our schedule is a once a month 50% water change with gravel vacuum- but I know that I have been known to push it off. Again- I have had an 'if it aint broke don't fix it' mentality. I appreciate any insight or thoughts. Thank you for giving me another direction to look into.
The thing with topping up for evaporation is that it isnt a water change. Evaporation doesnt remove waste products. Waste like nitrate will stay in the tank and is only removed when you actually remove water. With a full grown goldfish in a 30g i would expect to be doing at least 30% water change weekly to maintain good water conditions. It sounds like you have more than 1 GF in there. I would really recommend getting a test kit so you have some idea where your water parameters are. If nothing else it rules it out as an issue. If you dont want to get a test kit, most fish stores do testing, some will do it for free. If you go down the route of having someone else do it, get the actual numbers, dont let them just tell you they are good. pH, ammonia, nitrite and nitrate.
