Why do my gofish keep dying?!?

Question

They have air, they have a clean tank. They have food everyday and everything. But they keep dying. I've lost 5 so far. Any advice?

Answer 1

There can be several reasons

You put them in an uncycled tank
when you do water changes the water needs to be at the same temperature and it must be conditioned as well
To high temperature (should be around 68-75degrees)
you feed them to much (only what they will eat in under 2 min)
you overclean your tank (only 25% weekly)
you have to many fish in a small tank (1 fish per 10 gallon)


Here is a caresheet for them
http://fishlesscycling.com/articles/caring_for_your_goldfish.html


Hope that helps
Good luck


EB


Feel free to email me for further help

Answer 2

Um, not to be prideful but I think all of the answers are wrong so far. I have 4 gold fish in a 20 gallon tank. A clean tank is NOT what they need. Yes clean the tank, but only once a month to every six weeks. Cycle how you do it. First time (month) do 10 to 20% then next time do more like 50 to 75 percent. Never ever change ALL of the water. It is a big mistake.

You may or may not want to test the water for certain things. Put some Aqua Safe solution in with new water and aquarium salt also. Follow directions. If water is cloudy, dont worry it will go away within a day.

Make sure the fish have plenty of places to hide. The water temperature is perfect as is from the cold water tap(room temp). You donot need a heater. a temperature gage is ok if you are curious but not needed. Even in the winter they do not need a heater. They will not swim as much and not eat as much, but this is normal for the life of a gold fish.

I suggest that you go to the library to get a book on gold fish. It would be helpful.

Answer 3

You probably have too many in too small a tank. The ammonia builds up fast, especially when teh tank is new. But it will alwyas be bad if you have too many goldies. They get big also, so keep one per 10 gallons. When they're smaller you can get away with one per five gallons, but keep the tank cleaned. Try cycling it before you add more fish. good luck!
Simply_Sambo: -- one year is nothing for goldfish. Your tank will be too small in the future for four fish. And cleaning only once every six weeks is ridiculous, your fish are unlikely to live their full 20 plus years. Are you lazy? PS, goldfish like open tanks with some plants, not places to hide. You should get a book on goldfish.

Answer 4

In my opinion, no one can diagnose your problem for you with the little information you have provided. Perhaps if you provide more insight into your tank (i.e. filter type, how you are preparing the tank, if you are using a dechlorinator for the water, how often water changes are done, etc.), the problem might be easier to recognize. I don't think there is enough information provided at this point to come up with a "guess" as to what's wrong, and everyone who has given answers are just giving a general "potpouri" of "it could be" answers. More information is needed to give a more then general answer. And I'm not trying to be mean or snooty, it's just the plain simple truth.

I would suggest at this point that you hop online and search the many many many websites dedicated to goldfish, to see how an aquarium should be set up for them, and see if you are doing everything that it suggests you do, then try again. When you re-set up your tank, a great rule of thumb to follow is to let your tank "cycle" for a couple or few days PRIOR to adding the new fish. If you still have the 1 goldfish left, he should be ok living in a fishbowl/large vase for a few days while you set up his new home! Best of luck to you. Once you get it all figured out, have fun! I had goldfish that eventually got SO BIG that I had to find them a new home as I couldn't house them anymore! They are now happily living in a protected "pond" type of thing, and I still go visit them and feed them very often! Also bear in mind that a nickname for goldfish is "PIGFISH", as they are VERY VERY dirty and do lots of poops, but really are fun, so it's worth the extra effort in keeping their tank clean. Again, best of luck and keep us posted on how you make out with the situation!!

Answer 5

First of all, how big is your tank? Goldfish are considered "dirty fish" because they produce a lot of waste for their size. That waste breaks down and produces invisible byproducts in the water that can poison them. That's why goldfish need big tanks and good filtration. Each fancy goldfish should have at least 10 gallons of water or more to live in. Regular (non-fancy) goldfish should have twice that.

An aquarium is an entire little ecosystem and you need to treat it as such. Fish have to play, sleep, eat, pee and poo in the same water. When you keep them in a fish tank, they are locked into a very small space. You are basically in charge of their whole world. Keeping it clean and them healthy involves more than you think. The water can look clean without being clean. Just because you can't see what's poisoning your fish, doesn't mean there's nothing bad for them in there. Poisonous substances like ammonia, nitrite and nitrate can build up that are invisible in the water and these are much more dangerous to the fish than the visible things (algae, dirt, floating sand particles) in what we might think of as a "dirty tank".

See the link below for how the nitrogen cycle in an aquarium works. The information will probably surprise you. It did me when I first got fish.

http://freshaquarium.about.com/cs/biolog...

Answer 6

They do not have clean water or they wouldn't die. My advice is change more water more often. Stop doing a 10% once every 6 weeks won't cut it. You really need to change 25-50% per week in a goldfish tank. Don't believe me. Ask an expert goldfish breeder or dealer.
www.goldfishconnection.com

Answer 7

The Chinese say that fish will absorb the bad energy in the room and then die. That's their job. Maybe you have 5 fish worth of bad energy. Another thing is the chlorine or fluoride in the water. Make sure you let the water sit for quite a few hours after filling up the bowl before you put them back in.

Answer 8

When you buy a goldfish, you have to ask the seller what kind of water does the gold fish live in(temperature). You also have to ask what kind of food and how much. Maybe the fish there isn't as healthy, so you might want to buy some elsewhere.

Answer 9

most cheap goldfish are meant to be used as feeders and are not kept with the best water conditions. if you have bought more expensive ones obviously this wont aply but these cheap guys die very easy because of their poor health. goldfish can live through damn near anything..would be my first suspect. try throwin a pleco in there(could use one anyway) and see what happens.

Answer 10

Do you know about cycling your tank if not that is why your fish are dying,they are being poisoned from ammonia.Here is a simple explanation about cycling your tank:
http://www.firsttankguide.net/cycle.php