Novice Goldfish Owner Needs Serious Advice Please!!!?

Question

I bought a goldfish at at the weekend for my youngest daughter. Initially it seemed fine, today however it seems to be having a bit of a problem.
It is kind of laying at the bottom of the tank on its side, when it does move about it doesn't seem to be able to swim 'normally' but is leaning on one side and kind of spinning, it is really hard to describe, but it does not look happy at all, does anyone know what the problem is, how to fix it, and if it is going to fishy heaven and I am going to need to find a replacement as soon as possible!!
Thanks in advance

Thanks to all that answered, we changed about half the water and replaced it with filtered water and he looks much happier now. Thanks :-)

Answer 1

Well, it depends on a lot of factors. Such as, is it in a community tank or a tank by itself. Is it a new tank or one that you have previously established. Typically new tanks are harder to establish and I know until the cycle got going in ours we ended up losing a *lot* of fish. What you described is usually how my fish get right before they go to "fishy heaven". However, I have had fish act like what you describe only to have them completely turn around and act healthy like nothing happened. Either way, I am a firm beleiver of not removing a fish until you are sure that it's in pain or going to die. Also, it sounds odd, but in a community tank sometimes letting a fish die in the water is healthy for the cycle (this does not mean leave them in the water to decompose forever, lol . . . it just means let the death take place naturally). I hope it gets better, just keep an eye on it, and depending on how bad it gets (I've had some fish struggle to swim so bad I couldn't take it) make sure your daughter doesn't see anything she isn't ready for or mommy can't explain.

*Also* If it is an established tank then I would highly recommend bringing your water into a pet store and letting them test it, just to be sure.

Answer 2

Good move on the big tank, the fish will love it. Also don't panic about cycling and setting up the new tank. Just fill up the new tank, dechlorinate the water, plug in the filter and run it for 24hours. Then drop the goldfish in, they will be fine. They are small, and the tank is big, so it can cycle naturally and they will be OK. They survived the same process in the 11l tank, the new tank will seem like a lake to them. More fish, seriously I wouldn't. Those fish you have should grow quickly. See if you can get them to a foot long which is quite possible. Good Luck - get those little fish into a decent tank and they can grow HUGE and live for 10-20 years. Ian

Answer 3

It could have bladder problems and they can dies from that sorry to say. If you do replace the fish then you need to clean the tank out so that the next fish does not get what this fish has. Hope your daughter is ok.

Answer 4

Based on your information I would say the fish has ammonia poisoning. The ammonia builds up in a new tank until the beneficial bacteria can grow and take care of the problem. Until that can happen you need to do water changes. Change about 1/2 the water in the tank for fresh, dechlorinated tap water everyday. Here's a link to a site that will give you some great info on what's going on in your tank and what to expect next as well as most importantly, how to deal with it.

http://www.firsttankguide.net/cycle.php

Hope that helps.

MM

Answer 5

Sounds like your fish is suffering from ammonia poisoning.
If your tank is new, it needs to complete what they call a start up cycle.

Here is a web page to help you understand what is going on in the tank.

http://freshaquarium.about.com/cs/biologicalcycle/a/nitrogencycle.htm

Also, you will need to test the water to ensure it is in fact ammonia poisoning.

The best thing to do right now is to change around 25% of the water. You may have to do this every day to keep the ammonia in check. A test kit will save you time and aggrivation.

Also, goldfish need lots of dissolved oxygen. A filter helps with this. Drop the tank level by 1/2 inch to allow extra dissolved oxygen to enter into the water.

You will have to test to be sure with regards to your water quality.

If you have any additional concerns, feel free to email me.

Answer 6

Hi,your fish could be suffering from anything even stress.I keep tropical fish & use esha 2000.Do you know that Gold fish need the same looking after as tropical & that includes the Tank set up.

Answer 7

I would say that your fish is dying of amonea posining, sorry this one is more than likly going to fishy heaven, but make sure you get are water quality sufficant before introduce another fish, change the h2o then test it or bring it to a petco where they do Free h2o sample tests and tell you what you need to do to fix the h2o problem...

Answer 8

I had a fantail goldfish that I kept in a fish bowl and she started doing that, I thought she was gonna die but my brother has a really big tank so I put her in that and she was fine. She lived like two years after that. Maybe you should get a bigger tank.

Answer 9

Could be swim bladder disease, can buy treatments at petshop.