Why did my goldfish die?

Question

Ok heres what happened. I kept a 1 inch goldfish in a 1.5 gallon plastic aquarium with a small filter. I fed it a little every day and it wasn`t fat but it definitly wasn`t starving. There were no other fish and it was a bare bottomed tank. I ran the filter with just a pleco for a month before hand(I moved him and thats why I got this goldfish). I cleaned his tank with a scraper after 2 months and put in 2/3 new water that I used water conditioner on. 1/2 an hour after I put him back in he died.
Anyone have any idea why?

Answer 1

First of all gold fish need high concentrations of Dissolved oxygen. Which means this only enters the tank due to water changes, wind, waver waterfalls, filters and power heads. Yes it is true people keep goldfish in bowls and they do fine until they out grow them, however the water is changed every other day not every two months. Your gold fish would have been fine in your tank for a few months with a filter. NO heater required with proper water changes. Why did you not move the goldfish with the Pleco?

A bowl fish, even a betta needs routine maintenance and water changes to survive. Changing the water after two months more than likely shocked him.

Answer 2

First, the tank was too small for him to begin with. Second, You waited way too long to clean the tank. It should have been done every couple of days with a tank that small containing goldfish. When you cleaned the tank, did you take him out? If so it wasn't neccessary. Leave the fish in there. You can take a piece of airline tubing & vacuume the tank with it. It's just like syphoning gas from a car. Use the hose to vacuume the bottom. Remove only 20% of the water with it. Then, when you replace the water, make sure it's the same tempurature of the tank & make sure you are using the right amount of water conditioner. The reason I say the tank was too small, is because goldfish produce alot of ammonia & can dirty a tank quickly & a 1.5 gallon tank will get fowl very quickly. Besides that he will eventually outgrow the tank. Fish do not grow to the size of the tank as many people like to think they do & goldfish can grow to be very large! Also, believe it or not, because of the ammonia produced by goldfish, they can be one of the most difficult fish to keep. I would recommend a few guppies for your 1.5 gallon tank. They would do fine in there with a weekly 20% water change. Besides that, they are very active & look nice in a small tank. Or you may consider a male betta, although they are not as active as the guppies would be. Good Luck!

Answer 3

goldfish need anywhere form 10-40gallon EACH depending on the age and type.

fancie goldfish can get as big as 10-12" and need 10 gallons each when young and 20gallons when older with 10 more gallons for each additional goldfish.

slim bodied goldfish can get up to 18-24" they need 40gallons each and were meant for ponds.

goldfish sometimes only grow to the size of the bowl, it is called stunting. however only the outside stops growing, the insides continue to grow until the fish dies, the whole process is very painful.

not only do goldfish get huge, but they also produce tons of ammonia, this is why goldfish need large tanks and good filters.

if you don't want to get a bigger tank, get a thermometer and a light for it, then get a betta. clean the bowl out once a week or every other week if you keep the filter in.

hope that helps, good luck.

Answer 4

There are many reasons why your fish died.

What kind of scraper did you use?
-most household sponges contain chemicals such as a antifungal that are dangerous to fish.


What type of conditioner used?
-There are some conditioners which you can really overdoese and kill the fish or it takes awhile for it to react.

changing 2/3 is considered more than usual. At most 50% is considered enough.

and also when changing the water, did you use the same water temp as whats in the tank? goldfish in the tank are really sensitive to warm to hot water.

Answer 5

its really too small for a goldfish, but i mean i have seen them in bowls and small tanks,, but they dont live well. in that tank i would change at least half of the water out every day and put in water of the same temperature. was the water you put in the same temp? if not it may have shocked him. did you put dechlorinater in the water? if not the chlorine could have killed him. sometimes you dont even need the water conditioner, you can age tap water and let it sit ina bucket for a few days, and the thing about goldfish with doing this, the water will already be the same temp as in your tank and will not shock him. hope this helps, but i would either get a bigger tank for another, new goldie, or get a betta for your 1.5 gallon, and change all the water once a week.

Answer 6

Tank was entirely too small. 2 months to do a water change?!? In that set up to keep the poor fish alive you should have changed ALL of the water every day! Research your pet before hand next time so you don't kill it.

Answer 7

Chlorine in the new water? Was the temperature of the new water the same as what was in the tank before hand ? was the water aerated well? did you use anything other then the scraper to clean the glass? These are just some of the problems you can run into when cleaning fishtanks.

Answer 8

GOLDFISH AS WELL AS OTHER FISH DIE FROM NO APPRENT REASON!!! Many fish will just die for no reason, thats why they aren't as intelligent as us, but beside that, it probally died from shock and cramped spaces, No enogh room in a tank can really shorten a fishes life, just smoking for people. Stress from cramped spaces will pile up, and if your fish was a comet the answer is solved bacause comets need alot of swimming space in a tnk were they barley move will defintly kill them., also culd be tempature changes, if the water you put hiom it was alot wamrer or alot colder with the added stress could of killed him. Last but no least, you could be like me when i started i cared to much for my fish, they all died from over care :). but i think you should go with bettas or get a bifgger tank al least 10 gal

Answer 9

how much conditionar did you use? you had to leave the water and wait til the condionar dissolved and well. You prolly poisoned the fish with the stuff you use to clean the fishtank. I dont wanna sound mean or anything, but sometimes that happens and ple makes mistakes. im sorry to hear about your fish....good luck to you if you decide on a next one.

Answer 10

if you cleaned the tank before and had no problems,then it probably just died from shock,or just died things happen for a reason,but don't give up on that one