My friend bought a 10 gal 8 mts ago. She bought 5 tiny comets, and now they are like 3 times their size, she's had them for 8 mts. now, and last week 1 died, and now exactly 1 week from last week another one died. I just want to know why they are all suddenly dying?
2007-07-19 13:23:41 · 8 answers · asked by Anonymous in Pets ➔ Fish
Comets are obviously a kind of Goldfish, what people refuse to realize is that Comet Goldfish are supposed to get 2 feet long. When such a large fish is kept in such a small space, it becomes stunted (The fish's size stays the same but the internal organs continue to grow. By stunting those fish, the fish only lived about 10% of its normal lifespan.). By now, it is too late to save the other fish because of the extreme stunting.
Nosoop4u
2007-07-19 13:30:30 · answer #1 · answered by nosoop4u246 7 · 5⤊ 0⤋
They're outgrowing their tak. A comet can get 18-23 inches long (although 10-12 inches is more likely in an aquarium) and they should only be kept in a 10 gallon tank as a temporary measure.
As they're growing, they're producing more wastes, including ammonia and nitrite which is toxic to them. When they were small, your friend may have been able to compensate for this with water changes, plus there are bacteria in the tank that will convert the ammonia and nitrite into nitrate which is less toxic. Now, there may not be enough room for all the bacteria that would be needed to process the ammonia and nitrite, and the water changes aren't done often enough to remove the excess.
A temporary soulution would be to double the number of water changes, but the fish will eventually need a much larger tank (or pond). By larger, I'm saying that as adults, they'll need to have about 15-20 gallons per fish.
Your friend may want to consider getting a larger tank, or maybe she could trade them for a few smaller ones at the pet store. Or maybe she knows someone with a pond who would be willing to take them, so she could at least visit. I'm sure she's grown attached to them in the 8 months she's had them, but it would be in the fishes' best interests to give them a properly sized home, or to allow them to go to someone who can.
2007-07-19 20:36:21 · answer #2 · answered by copperhead 7 · 2⤊ 0⤋
my abuelo had the same problem the fish was 1 ft. long and out of no where it died maybe it had a sickness for asome time becaus that fish somtimes go to the same place over and over again for 3 days.
2007-07-19 20:51:02 · answer #3 · answered by naylene_rondon 2 · 0⤊ 2⤋
stunting and poor water quality wil lead to dead fish.
The small tank plus the large fish will make the water really bad and thats the reason your fish are dieing.
2007-07-19 20:33:19 · answer #4 · answered by Coral Reef Forum 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Has she tested her water? Maybe her parameters are way off and they are being poisoned. Have her take a water sample to a fish store if she doesn't have a test kit.
She should also be doing water changes weekly or biweekly and adding a dechlorinater to the water.
2007-07-19 20:28:37 · answer #5 · answered by kana121569 6 · 0⤊ 2⤋
First of all the tank is waaay too small, and has she checked water quality?
2007-07-19 20:41:07 · answer #6 · answered by Malvin 2 · 1⤊ 0⤋
because maybe where they are they dont have the food they need and plus some are born with diseases and some are born but then the mother cant feed them so they die
2007-07-19 20:28:15 · answer #7 · answered by rainbow 1 · 0⤊ 5⤋
tell her to call the place sge bought them from..it could be an outbreak
2007-07-19 20:31:50 · answer #8 · answered by Lovey 3 · 0⤊ 4⤋