Beginner needing help

[Ozfishgirl]

Hi everyone,

My fish are dieing and I'm not sure what I'm doing wrong. I'm new at this so really need some advice.
We have only had the tank about 45 days and it holds about 50 gallons. We set it up with everything for about 2 weeks before adding fish. We added nine fantail goldfish after the two week period and added 3 more fish a couple of days later. The fish seemed to be doing OK until we syphoned and replaced about 30% of the water. About 4 days later 3 of the fish became inactive and evetually died. We thought it might be fin rot (thier tails looked ragged and smaller) so we treated the tank and then did another water change.
Now 5 days later 2 more fish have died.
When we did the water change we added "Cycle", water treatment and conditioning salts. The PH is about 7.4.
Just wondering if someone can tell me what I might be doing wrong and what I should be testing for. Please be kind as I'm very new at this.
Thanks for any help.

 

[Toirtis]

Hi everyone,

My fish are dieing and I'm not sure what I'm doing wrong. I'm new at this so really need some advice.
We have only had the tank about 45 days and it holds about 50 gallons. We set it up with everything for about 2 weeks before adding fish.

Which really does nothing except test the tanks for leaks.

We added nine fantail goldfish after the two week period and added 3 more fish a couple of days later.

Here is where your problems began. It is pretty much the concensus these days to 'fishless cycle' before adding any fish. What is happening with your tank is cycling with fish, which is quite hard on the fish. Now in the old days, we did things this way, but woyuld have started with one or two fish, adding additional fish only after 2-3 weeks....by putting in so many fish (and goldfish produce a very large amount of waste) so soon, you are causing the toxic chemicals that are normally present during cycling to reach extremely high levels....levels that are quite lethal to your fish.

When we did the water change we added "Cycle", water treatment and conditioning salts.

"Cycle" is, as most experts agree, nominally useful at best, I am afraid.

About the only thing you can do for your current fish and tank is to do twice daily water changes of around 50%, which will help keep ammonia and nitrite levels down, but will significantly prolong the cycling process. For future, what you need to do is to read up on the cycling process and fishless cycling (there are several articles on this site pertaining to both).

By the by...welcome to AH...I just wish it had been under somewhat better circumstances for you.

 

[Fluff]

Well, that's an aweful lot of goldies in a 50 gal tank. Your probably having an ammonia spike. Goldfish are big waste producers and should be kept about one fish per 10 gal. The fact that you put 12 fish in the tank within a weeks time could be alot of your problem. Your system wasn't cycled and it was to much for the tank to handle. Even a cycled tank wouldn't be able to keep up with that much at one time. Adding your fish slowly gives the bio filter time to adjust to the new load. You should test for ammonia, nitrite and nitrate. These are important when starting a new tank to tell when the cycle is finished as well as just to keep an eye on your tank later on. I'd return some of the fish and let your tank cycle. Also, get yourself a test kit for the ammonia, nitrite and nitrate and do water changes.
Also, your fish loosing fins and dying I'm sure are directly related to poor water conditions. I hope this helps. Good luck

 

[BASSNMAN]

Are you using a dechlorinating agent when you change water? Are you matching the tank temp with the fresh water?

 

[loganj]

If you can take the remaining fish back to the store, I would do that. Read the article on fishless cycling on this site. It works equally well for FW or SW. Once your tank has cycled, and you have verified that with your test kits, I'd add one goldfish at a time. I would expect it will take the tank 4-6 weeks to completely cycle. I wouldn't add more than one fish every two weeks...that'll give your biofilter time to catch up to the increased waste production. As mentioned above, goldies produce lots of waste. You'll need to get a gravel vacuum if you don't already have one and clean the gravel each time you change water. You'll want to do, after the cycle is complete and fish are in, about 20% per month minimum IMO. What type filtration are you using? Not an undergravel I hope. If so, I'd recommend removing it and going with either a large HOB or a canister. You want to oversize the filtration a bit for goldfish. You'll want to try to maintain your pH at about 7.5 for goldfish, but stability is more important than the level within certain parameters. Find out what your tap water pH is...more than likely, it's fine for them the way it is. I wouldn't put more than 4-5 goldfish in this tank either. Goldfish have a bad reputation as a "generic" fish, but they actually aren't any easier to care for than any other fish. A well set up goldfish tank can be just as nice as any tropical tank. I wouldn't recommend mixing tropical fish with them as they have different temperature requirements...goldies are coldwater fish and prefer their water in the low 70's (F). If you're patient, you can have a very nice tank. We're here to help in any way we can. Welcome to AA.com!

 

[Menagerie]

[center:1d51ae4972] Welcome to AA, Ozfishgirl!! [/center:1d51ae4972]
I agree with what's been stated above. Start with PWC and post often, we will hold your virtual hand

 

[shannon m]

I agree that is alot of gold fish. We started out with them before we knew. Gold fish don't have a stomach so what goes in comes right back out. They are very dirty fish and its hard to take care of that many in a tank. How much are you feeding them a day? I was told to feed them once a day or every other day which I thought sounded a little harsh but it worked.