Immediate help please!?

Question

ok...yesterday, all my 7 fish(4 goldfish, 2 blackmoors and 1 angelfish) were doing really well since the time i bought them.which is around 3 months now.
then yesterday, i called someone from the fish store for aquarium maintainance.he came in the morning and cleaned the tank well, changed the water and added medicine.then, after a few hours, i noticed one of my goldfish was extemely weak.the rest of them were also very lathargic and none of them except the angelfish were behaving normally.slowly, 2 goldfish and 2 blackmoors died.the remaining 2 goldfish which are alive seem extremely weak.the goldfish didnt eat anything today..(usually, this one jumps up to eat when food is given).its obvious that they are going to die and i cant do anything about it.but its clearly the fault of this guy from the fish store.what should i do about it?? i want justice for this.
it pains me to see the fish suffer like this...
i used very clean aquagaurd water.

infact, the water was cold...it should be the angelfish who dies first isnt it??
(i dont have a temprature regulator, and the room where the fish were kept is quite cool.)

Any way, i think too much medicine was added...can that kill fish??

Answer 1

It would be interesting to know what chemicals were added.
Also when you say very clean water does this mean you used R.O. water, or distilled?
Either of which could be suspect used the wrong way, R.O. water is passed through a membrain which removes almost all of the minerals, the correct way to use it is to either add the minerals or mix with mature tap water.
Distilled water has everything removed.
Both of these used incorrectly can cause the PH move all over the place as the minerals that buffer the water and stop that movement are not present. R.O. water used correctly is the cleanest method of replacing water.
Tap water, depending on your water table dictates the actual PH of the water, your supply may be taking water from the table with a PH of 8, way to hard for your palate so he will buffer it to 7. Great for drinking however, the buffer can break down suddenly, so you put aquasafe/guard into the tap water then put it in the tank and out with the chloramide goes the buffer and your water goes from 7 suddenly upto 8, this would really upset the fish and may even cause death due to the suddeness of the movement. If you have ammonia present when the PH moves up then this will seriously damage the gills causing burns far more serious than if the PH was say 6.
Of course the PH could be the other way the table is 5 and they buffer it upto 7. this is a more likely scenerio as the Angel fish is from the amazon basin where the PH varies from 4 to 6.5, so the Angel would be able to withstand a large movement even if it was uncomfortable for it.

Of course you could be right, I'm very averse to adding chemicals into what is a closed eco system, however, sometimes its a necessity, I'd certainly be beating down the door and screaming blue murder, but in the same breath, I'm shocked that you have two diverse species in the same aquarium.

If it was a matter of temprature I would assume the largest fish would suffer first as the higher the temp the less oxygen the water can contain, Goldfish require large amounts, however I'm sure you would have noticed all the fish gasping.

AJ

Answer 2

Hi, I notice most of the replies are blaming you outright for this disaster & while I tend to agree you should have done your research before keeping tropical & cold water fishes in the same tank I think the majority of the blame must go on the person from the store, firstly because he is in (supposedly) in position of authority about fish & should have told you they are not suitable tank mates & secondly he went ahead & did whatever it was to upset what must have been an already very precarious system & tipped the balance against the weakest fish which are the Black Moors.

Did you pay for this service? if so you really need to take the matter further, firstly with the person from the store, ask to see the manager & explain the situation that they should have known what they were doing & the fact that the fish are not compatible is no defence-they should have told you that. If you get no joy from them you need to pursue the matter in the small claims court.

You need to do your homework on the types of fish you have & their particular needs, also tank maintenance schedules & routines. You will need 2 separate tanks, one heated for the Angel fish & one large coldwater tank for the Goldfish. The attached links tell you about water changes & general basic tank care. You will pay a fortune & learn nothing if you let other people do your tank maintenance so you really need to swat up! I hope this is some help & hope your remaining fish survive-good luck.

Answer 3

Sounds like they were first shocked then couldn't recover from the shock. The 'medicine' probably killed them.

You can not be sure what medicine he put in, add that you can't be sure that it was even the CORRECT medicine! Be glad this is your fish, and not your grandmother. Medicine blunders are the number one cause of death in hospitals today (ie:wrong dosage, wrong medicine) If licenced medical professionals aren't above 'medicine' mistakes, some cheddar head cleaning your tank for $6.50 an hour is bound to make a mistake or two.

Definately call the service and ask for reimbursement of your fish, and reimbursement for the cleaning. If they refuse, let them know you WILL call the better business beaurau, and also call the local news channel for a local spotlight on this.

**by the way, black moors and other gold fish can definately tolerate the 70F mark on the temp scale. They are a remarkably resilent fish.

Answer 4

How much of a water change did he do? I hope only 50% or less... (doing a drastic change can really stress out your fish) I would assume the temperature changed rapidly during the water change and it put your fish into shock. It's best to maintain your tank temperature and try to prevent rapid temp changes. I keep my goldies around 72. Although goldies are considered "coldwater" fish - the best temp to keep them at is 70 -75 F. They can handle colder temps if they have to though, but they will be more sluggish.

I would check the temperature and the pH. The pH should be 7. Raise the pH slowly if its acidic. Hopefully this will help. Best of luck!

Answer 5

Well, your main point of concern is that you have no idea what you are doing with your fish. Angelfish are tropical fish that need warm water. Goldfish (Black Moores are Goldfish) need cold water, about 60-70 degrees. He probably turned up the temperature so the Angelfish might live happilly. It is not the maintainance guy's fault, it was your mistake to keep incompatible fish together and lead to disaster. (He didn't do anything wrong, you did!)

Answer 6

sounds like u doesnt know what ur doing
angel = tropical
goldies+cold

goldies die in warm water



IF U HAVE ANOTHER TANK put the water out of that into a 5-10 gallon container and add the goldfish

good luck

Answer 7

ok, is the aerator on? take out some of the water from the aquarium then gradually add water with no medicines, example is tap water, with aerator still on,, always remember that fish lives in water. and avoid too much handling the fish...

Answer 8

i would call the pet store and DEMAND free fish cuz those died ( :( ) and if they dont sue them!!!

lol i was just kidding bout the last part