Another question about fantails?

Question

Thanks firstly for the advice I received on a similar question.

I have some more things i'm a bit concerned about though. I went to the pet shop where I bought my two fantails from (on the 13th) and took in a sample of water from the tank. The ph level was 6.6 which was ok apparently, but the nitrate (toxic) test and the ammonia test were at dangerous levels.

I've had regular goldfish before, without having a filter and i never had problems like i'm having with these guys.

They are both still sitting for hours at a time on the bottom of the tank, the boy has now developed fin rot, (i bought a bottle of treatment for this this morning) but i'm concerned about them dying on me.

The girl at the shop said to use the treatment for daily for 7 days and do a 20% water change after this then if he hasn't improved continue with the treatment for a further 7 days.

They have had one full tank change since I bought them and after reading a lot of info online, i now know that i shouldn't change the tank completely, more than once a month max.

But now im worried because i want the dangerous levels of ammonia and nitrate to drop considerably so how can i make it safe for them as quickly as possible?

The girl at the shop told me not to feed them for at least a day and then only give 2 or 3 flakes each.

Has anyone had bad experiences like this before, and if so can you give me some advice?

Thanks :)

Umm the tank is 15 x 18 x 10 (ignore size given on previous question, i got it wrong) I have a filter which was suggested to me I buy by a guy from the pet store so that should be fine. I did clean it out thoroughly though so i'm thinking i'm just crap at keeping fish lol.

I have 3 live plants which are apparently the best oxygenating ones (again according to the guy at the pet store on the day i bought the fish) and gravel which was rinsed out completely before it was put in the tank.

Hopefully the boy will perk up once i start the fin rot treatment and if i keep my hands away from the tank the nitrate and ammonia levels should go down. If anyone has any other tips they'd be very much appreciated. thanks

Pebbles died this morning :'(

I'm really upset cos I know he would of been in pain, and I noticed his gills looked as though they were bleeding. I'm going to buy a big tank at the weekend and make sure fanta doesn't get ill because at the moment he seems to be fine except for sitting at the bottom of the tank every now and then. Thanks for the help i just hope I can save fanta before she gets sick too.

Answer 1

Your tank is only about 10 us gallons. Your overstocked. Its 10 gallons atleast PER baby fancy goldfish. Adults need atleast 50 gallons per fish because they get 10-14 inches. Ive seen 14 inch black moors so even if people say fancy goldfish only top out at around 6-10 inches, they can be wrong.

When starting out a new tank, nitrifying bacteria convert the fish's waste(ammonia) into a less harmful substance (nitrite), then another type of bacteria converts that into an even less harmful substance (nitrate). When an aquarium is fully cycled the ammonia tests out to be 0ppm, nitrites test out to be 0ppm, and nitrates are establish and should be within 0-20ppm. The only thing that keeps nitrates down is constant partial waterchanges.
Honestly the ph 6.6 is too low and acidic. Goldfish like ph of 7.0-7.5. Buy a master test kit that tests for ammonia, ph, nitrites, and nitrates. A master test kit is cheaper then buying each test kit seperatly and test your water source along with your tank water. Goldfish and other fish will adapt to a specific ph aslong as it is stable. When maintaining an aquarium NEVER EVER change the whole thing. Infact never go past 50 percent ever. Use a gravel vacume siphon to suck up the fish poop and excess food from the gravel atleast twice a week since you are overstocked making sure the new water is dechlorinated and the same temp as the water thats in the tank so you dont shock the fish. RIGHT NOW do an immediate partial water change of atleast 30-40 percent becuase the high nitrites (the more toxic one) and high ammonia are stressing the fish out. As for the fin rot, melafix and pimafix work reallly good aswell as clean water where your ammonia level is at 0ppm and your nitrite level is at 0ppm, and your nitrates are kept at below 20ppm.

Answer 2

What size tank do you have? If you want a nice clean tank and for those goldfish to happy you should least have them both in no smaller than a 25 gallon tank. Goldfish are extreme dirty and full of amonia. Also, When you feed your goldfish , make sure that you are making the food go toward the bottom. Because goldfish can get air in their bellys from rushing to the top of the water for flake. Which would also make their bellys hurt and just be sitting at the bottom. Also you NEED a filter with goldfish unless you want to be changing your water everyday. Also to get rid of some of the bad bacteria, get a live plant and gravel vac.

Answer 3

your not supposed to change the water completly if you have a filtered tank. If you don't have a filter, you should be doing 50% water changes every other day at least. Get them a ten gallon filltered tank, purchase some biospira on line or at your pet store (it is expesnsive but it will cycle your tank) Read up about the nitrogen cycle! And you will have better fish luck! There are many great groups on line! Check out the one I have cited!
Good Luck!

Answer 4

All fish give off waste (nitrite.) The only thing that you can do with fish that give of more waste then others is change the water a little more often (about 1 1/2 weeks) and a chemical called prime made by seachem. The only harm that the nitrite will do is make fragile fish (like loaches or catfish) stress and may fall ill. It does not affect hardier fish. But you should keep your nitrite under control. Fish may also give off nitrite if their stressed. Make sure your fish is confortable and there's enough room for it.

Answer 5

get some aquarium salt and add to your tank as per the directions, this is a good treatment for fin rot

Answer 6

it sounds like there is no air in your tank,put some air in and they will become lively, if you have air you may need to turn it up. it sounds like they are drowning threw lack of air. once a week you should be taking 25% of the water out, anymore than this will stess your fish out and they will die. it sounds like you dont have a filter, you need one, fantails like to swim in a current, so air and a filter will provide this. with in twenty minutes of doing this you should see a huge change.

Answer 7

Get a filter and a five gallon aquarium. Next time choose healthier looking fish.