My goldfish... HELP!!?

Question

I got my daughter (shes only 2!!) two goldfish on Saturday, they were perfectly fine all day but I just went into the kitchen and one is dead! The other is half dead too. The lady in the shop told me what to do with them, use cold tap water. My daughter is devestated, but i dont know what ive done wrong, poor wee things

sorry, i ment2say the other one is dead!

Hi, thw woman told me to get the fish out the bag within an hour, so i went home asn put the bag in the water for some time then added te fish.

Ok.. Everone says a fish has to be used to water, but what about when you change a fish water, when it is dirty, how do u get them used to it again, buy bags?

OH MY!!! I was panicking about my fish so i put them in a small bowl and emptied there tank, put warm water in, as well as a chlorine thing, and just went to check, they are swimming away like nothing ever happened, Oh im so happy!!!!!!! :D

Answer 1

if you decide to get some more goldfish try using tap safe and a tonic in the water. they can sometimes come from the shops with a health problem or half dead anyway so you probably didn't do anything wrong.

why not try getting a starter kit from Argos with a tank, pump , stones ornaments and tap safe. try and get your fish from a garden centre as they tend to have staff that know what they're talking about in the pets section.

with goldfish you need to be careful as what things you use to put them into, if you use something that use use to wash dishes in or a bucket you've used to clean the floor it contains the cleaning fluids in the plastic. to keep a goldfish for more than a few days or weeks buy the things needed to change the water for them and DO-NOT use the items for anything else in an emergency use something made of glass but not plastic,

i always buy a bucket, jug,colander and toothbrush, my mum sometimes uses the bucket for something ( i keep it out in the shed) i get rid of it if its been used for something else and get a new one. the fish can take the chemicals used in to their blood stream which can kill them within a few hours of exposure, to something toxic. the only way to keep your fish alive and healthy is to look after them with a little tlc and you'll have years of pleasure from them.

i never prepare a tank specifically before adding a fish or cleaning the tank it wastes to much time, I've kept goldfish for 26 years since i was 11 never left the water stand never left the bag floating in the tank if its for new fish unless there is already one in the tank (donot put the water from the bag into the tank) them , i use tap safe make sure the tank is clean, stones have been washed thouroughly to remove the chalk and add a little tonic to the water, if adding a fish to an existing tank i change and wash the tank while the current fish is in his spare bowl i place the new fish in the bag in that tank so they can see each other while i'm busy cleaning the tank, when i'm finished i put the old fish back in to thier home first then open the bag in to the spare tank and use the net to put the new fish in to the tank add a little food they tend to ignore each other and get on fine, always add tap safe and a tonic as it help keep your old guy heathly and make sure the new one doesn't pass on anything to the current residents of the tank.

Answer 2

1. Goldfish cannot live in bowls. Baby-juvenile long bodied goldfish need 20 gallons PER fish. (comets, commons, shubunkins, commonly sold as "feeder fish") Baby-juvenile fancy goldfish need 10 gallons PER fish. (moors, fantails, ryukins, orandas ect)
Goldfish NEED alot of filtration, not just for oxygenation but for cleaning since goldfish EXCRETE alot of ammonia. They also grow to be 12-14 inches. (ive seen 14 inch black moors) They DO NOT grow to the size of their container. The outside stops growing but the insides continue to grow, ultimately killing the fish . Goldfish have lifespans of 20-30 yrs. Having them only live to a year or 2 or 5 in a bowl is animal cruelty and is equivelant to forcing a large breed dog live in the cubbard under the sink or having a child live in a closet.

2. Whenever you buy a fish you need to have the tank set up and running BEFORE you bring the fish home. You make sure the water is treated with a water conditioner before putting the fish in. Even if the water is well water and doesnt have chlorine and chloramines in it, most waterconditioners neutralize heavy metals and stimulate the slime coat on the fish so it should be used anyways.

3. When you bring the fish home you MUST acclimate them. You put the whole bag in the tank and you float it for atleast 15 minutes. This makes the temperature of the water the fish is in gradually become the same as the water that is in the tank. After 10 minutes open up the bag and add about a cup of the tank water to the bag, and float for another 5 minutes. This helps acclimate the fish to the ph of your water. After 15 minutes total take the fish out with a net and dump the petstores water down the drain. It is never good to just dump the fish and water in the tank.

I highly suggest you do your own research before getting more fish. As youve experienced, you cannot always trust what the petstore people tell you and i would print out whats in the links ive provided and go back to that store and present them with the correct info and even contact head offices and raise some hell because while it is 50 percent the customers responsibility to research before they buy, it is also 50 percent the stores responsibility to know what they are selling and to give out correct info.

Answer 3

Sounds like the cold tap water killed, or is going to, kill them off.
There is too much chlorine and other chemicals in normal tap water, and the temperature probably didnt help. With any coldwater fish, like goldfish, you should treat the water first. You can buy a liquid treatment from most petshops (cost a couple quid), you just add it to cold tap water, but you need to let the water get to room temperature, so leave the water to settle for 24 hours before adding fish.
When you've done this, you need to let the fish adjust to the new water slowly. Open the plasic bag they're in when you get them from the shop, and add a bit of the treated water in with them, leave for a few minutes (about 20 min if you can) and repeat a few times, then slowly add the fish into their new tank. This should give them a chance to get used to the change in water, and they should be ok. The woman in the shop really shouldn't have told you to use cold tap water, it's almost guaranteed to kill them!

Answer 4

Do whateever the lady at the shop told you to. Maybe something is wrong with the water or something.. there are certian things you have to do in the cases of having fishes. Make sure you watch the fish too. Maybe get fishes that look like the old ones and say they lived. Its tricks and tips thats should help yah.
did you use anything to de-chlorinate the tap water? if not then this could be why as fish can't tolerate chlorine in their water.
you should go back to the shop and complain if they didn't tell you this as it's very important.
Raw tap water is no good, it needs to be treated with a dechlorinator to take the chorine out of the tap water, as it is harmful to fish, the lady who told you to use just tap water was wrong and also it depends what they are in, a bowl is no good a 12x12ins glass tank will be ideal for 2 fish with a small filter for them, go to a better shop


get some better advice and buy

Answer 5

Raw tap water is no good, it needs to be treated with a dechlorinator to take the chorine out of the tap water, as it is harmful to fish, the lady who told you to use just tap water was wrong and also it depends what they are in, a bowl is no good a 12x12ins glass tank will be ideal for 2 fish with a small filter for them, go to a better shop

Answer 6

I think that the change in temperature may have killed the fish. You should leave them in the bag when you first get them so that they can get used to the water temperature. Also, you can explain to you daughter that the fish died and ask her if she wants new ones. As stated in Ephesians 3:1-8 there's a time for everything.

Answer 7

Ok..... next time.... Prepair the tank (or bowl) with filters or with an oxygenating tablet for a bowl, put the gravel in etc.... then fill with tap water, and leave it for 72 hours to let the chlorine in the tap water evaporate etc... and to bring the water up to room temperature.
Bring the fish home in plastic bags, and lower them into the tank (STILL IN THE BAGS !!) and leave them, in thier bags in the tank for an hour or so, then release them. If you really want to know about fish keeping give me an email (contact me through 'answers' and I'll puit you in touch with my sister who has an aquarium with over 200 fish... she knows everything fishy ! (especially preperation of tanks).

Answer 8

did you use anything to de-chlorinate the tap water? if not then this could be why as fish can't tolerate chlorine in their water.
you should go back to the shop and complain if they didn't tell you this as it's very important.

get some better advice and buy some more fish for your daughter

Answer 9

ok to answer ur question about where to put the fish when ur cleaning the tank/bowl you can use a small fishing net to catch the fish and then put them in a small cup

Answer 10

maybe the cold water was too much of a shock for them, when you move gold fish in a bag, you should leave the bag in the new tank for a few hours so temperature is equal.

or they could have been ill and died anyway ?