Why are all my goldfish dying?

Question

I got a 10 gallon fish tank for my birthday. I put fresh cold well water in the tank, and in the water I put corect amount of stress coat ( which removes any minerals or chlorine that existed in the tank) ammo lock, stress zyme, "proper PH", and aquarium salt for freshwater fish to " improve gill function, add electrolytes, and reduce stress." I also have a filter that works and everything. I've had 10 goldfish, and almost all of them died. WHAT IS GOING ON? -please answer

Answer 1

10 fish in a 10 gallon tank is too much. You should have four at most. I have a 6 gallon with 2 large goldfish. You are using the right chemicals. Those are the exact ones I use. You MUST be consistent about cleaning the tank once a week (removing 25-50% of the water and replacing it) - and using the chemicals every time you change the water. Also you must wipe down the insides of the tank. Your fish should be fed no more than twice a day. They don't have a true stomach so everything goes right through them. Your filter should be changed every 4-6 weeks unless you were told to do it more often. I don't recall anything about aquarium salt and don't remember using it. But the stress coat, stress zyme and ammo lock are definites.

Answer 2

The temperature of the water is probably wrong. The cold water causes shock to the fish, insince they aren't use to it yet. I would suggest putting clean, warm water in the tank, and letting the watter in the tank sit for about a day or two. This way, it let's the water become room temperature, and will most likely be very useful.

THEN, go ahead and buy the fish. Make sure that you've added everything into the water at least an hour before you put the fish in.


Temperature requirements:Optimum range from 13-18ºC. Goldfish will tolerate any temperature from 4-26ºC however.


Good Luck!



By the way, check these websites out for Goldfish care and more.

http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Transwiki:Keeping_goldfish

http://www.goldfishconnection.com/

http://members.aol.com/sirchin/goldfish.htm

Answer 3

My BFF had the same prob:

1.) Overpopulation --- If there's too many goldfish in your tank, you need to remove some immediately. For a 10-gallon tank, probably 10 - 12 goldfish would be fine!

2.) Meals --- Don't underfeed or overfeed your goldfish. Give them just the right amount (what they can eat in 3 - 5 minutes). Also, feed them Goldfish Crumbles or Goldfish Flakes!

3.) Stresscoat --- Don't put TOO much stresscoat. Too much is even worse than none!

4.) When you buy new goldfish, do you put the fish immediately in the tank? That's a definite no-no. Your new goldfish have to get used to YOUR tank's water temperature so when you buy a new goldfish in those plastic bags, make sure to stick the plastic bag with the goldfish inside it in your tank for about 30 minutes - 1 hour. This will help your goldfish feel more comfortable.

5.) Filters --- Goldfish aren't made to live in tanks with filters. Mine do, but it's better to have them live in a big glass bowl or something like that. This may be the prob, but it's very unlikely.

6.) Stress (again) --- Do you have any younger or older siblings or family members that make too much noise? Screaming, jumping up and down, bouncing balls, and shouting are examples. These sounds or movements make the fish stressed out causing them to die in a few minutes ...

Hope this helps a lot!
Good Luck!

Answer 4

How many goldfish are you putting in the aquarium, at once? Only one should really be in a 10g. Get a thermometer and check the water temperature, it could be too cold. Take a sample of your water to the local petstore, most will test it for you.
If all that falls into place, then you might be buying goldfish from an unhealthy source.

Answer 5

I think you may be stressing a little too much. Just fill the tank with room temperature water and put the fish in there. Fish are like any other animal, the more you try to protect them the greater the chance of them finding someway to get hurt.

Answer 6

Baby-juvenile fancy goldfish need 10 gallons PER fish. (ryukins, fantails, moors, orandas ect)
Baby-juvenile long bodied goldfish need 20 gallons PER fish. (comets, commons, shubunkins, feeder goldfish)
Adults need 50 gallons PER fish. They need ALOT of filtration because they are extremely dirty fish and they need regular partial waterchanges where you vacume the gravel thoroughly with a siphon making sure not to go past 50 percent and making sure the new water is dechlorinated and same temp as the water thats in the tank. An air pump connected to an air stone will help agitate the water wich increases the dissolved oxygen. A filter helps clean the water and also provides aeration.

They need a varied diet. With fancy goldfish because of the selective breeding their body is deformed and they are prone to swim bladder problems. Ways to prevent swim bladder problems is to soak the flake food or pellets in a bit of the tank water for a couple minutes so the fish doesnt gulp air. Feeding shelled green peas regularly will help prevent it and will cure swim bladder problems. Make sure the peas are fresh or frozen. Canned peas has preservatives and salt in them wich isnt good for the fish. Goldfish also benefit from and love romaine lettuce, broccoli, cucumbers, zuccini, frozen bloodworms, and aquatic plants such as duckweed. They are well known to eating any live aquatic plant placed in their tank. Only feed goldfish once a day as much as they can eat in 3 minutes. Overfeeding will foul the water more quickly and kill the fish.

Goldfish go throw the gravel looking for food and its not uncommon for a fish to swallow a piece of gravel and get it stuck in their throat wich will need manual removel. Ive seen some nice looking goldfish tanks with no gravel at all. I have no gravel in my native tank and its a breeze to thoroughly clean. If you do go with gravel go with river rock too big for the goldfish to swallow.

Cloudy water is the beneficial nitrifying bacteria establishing themselves. Read this link about it- http://fins.actwin.com/mirror/begin-cycling.html#cycle

Answer 7

It could be the water. THe water could be clouder so it will prevent the fish from getting enough oxygen to breathe. This pnumonia. Or it could be the cold water. Fish need warm water to survive. Clean the fish tank every once in a while and dont over feed the fish.

Answer 8

Ask an expert on fish care. Fish seem to die for a number of reasons.Maybe they caught a disease or you gave them too much food.

Answer 9

Chances are, one had a disease and spread it to the others. Cold water isnt good for fish, to begin with--usually, lukewarm is best, as they freeze quickly.

Answer 10

Do you feed them?