My goldfishs keep dying!?

Question

I recently brought may be a 5 gallon fish bowl with 2 goldfish. My gold fish kept dying one after. Then I cleaned the tank and brought two more but they died too. Since I use tap water, my Aquarium guy suggested I use rock salt, which I did. I also use a small water pump. My 1st fish died of less oxygen, other 2 had some white fungus on them and they died. Another one just died. I have one more now, but it seems to be dying too. This one has some white stuff on its body. I even used anti fungal treatment. I also do a 25% water change every week or less. Every time I put new fish I made sure I cleaned the tank well with water only. I am scared to buy new fish since they are dying. Please do help me. What could I be doing wrong? I don't put more than 2 fish in my tank and now i have only one.

Thank you guys for all your response. My goldfish die within 2 days of bring them home. Would it make sense buying bottled water for the fish bowl? I live in a big city so its quite possible that the water may be heavily chlorinated.

What other types of fish can i put in a 5 gallon bowl? I will move to a bigger tank but i want to get this right first.

Answer 1

What type of gold fish are you buying. Are they fancy goldfish or are they feeder goldfish.Feeders don't live long. Since you mention that some of these fish have white spots, which I am assuming is ick,, I am wondering if they are coming home like this? If this is the case, or if they get these spots within a day or two after purchase, you may want to try buying your fish some place else. Look closely in the tank at the store at all the fish.Make sure they all look healthy with no spots. If you see any sick fish in the tank, don't buy any fish from that tank even if they look ok. If your last fish dies make sure you clean your tank with salt and water. Let the salt stay in the tank for about 10 min. Then rinse rinse rinse. When you add your new fish, put some ick medicine in the water. Gold fish don't usually have a problem with tap water, but you may want to get a bottle of tank starter to clear out any impurities. Make sure you let the bag with the fish float in the tank so the water temp is approx the same before you release them into the tank. This prevents stress on the fish. Make sure your water temp is correct. Even gold fish can get too hot or too cold. I don't think that is the problem tho. It sounds more like you have ick. Don't be afraid to buy more fish, just be more careful about where you buy them.

Answer 2

Hi, ideally you need a bigger tank 2 goldfish are too much for this tank - they are VERY messy fish where they poo all the time. Also a bigger tank believe it or not is easier to look after, it takes care of itself more small tanks need a lot of maintenance. But a Betta will be ok for that bowl, but you need to either get a filter and heater in there somehow - OR keep it in a warm place (out of sunlight) and be prepared to change most - but not all of the water each day. And use a dechlorinater!

The problems you seem to be having is that

A) the fish dont seem to be healthy in the first place. Make sure All the fish in the store are healthy - some places use one filter per tank others use a big filter for a number of tanks. unless you know what filtration system they use stay away from any fish there if they show any white spots, white fungus on their bodies, bloating etc

B) You are essentially poisoning your fish. If your filter hasnt had a chance to develop the correct bacteria then your fishes waste isnt been broken down properly thus the water becomes toxic (imagine living in a small room with no toilet -it will soon get nasty - it's the same thing!). Never clean a filter with tap water - chlorine kills these bacteria - always use old tank water as this has bacteria in it also. Read up on "cycling" your tank to get an understanding of this.

C) I wouldnt really suggest using Rock Salt, Too much becomes toxic also, which is very hard to measure correctly in a 5 gall tank with water changes and things.

So in Summary...get a bigger tank filter and heater, treat all water going into the tank with declorinator, never clean filter sponges in tap water and 25-50%water changes weekly.

Hope that helps?!

Answer 3

There is a very simple reason why your goldfish are dying - your bowl is too small.

The goldfish you find at the pet stores are very young. When fully mature, they can grow up to a foot long. At their oldest, they are 40 years old. When you try to put a fish that grow a foot long into a five gallon bowl, much less make it share that tiny space with another fish, the fish gets stunted. This means that it releases a hormone that causes its internal organs to stunt and deform, so you think it has stopped growing (hence the "fish grow to the size of their container" myth) but in reality, it is slowly dying a cruel and premature death. In order to grow healthily, goldfish need at least 20 gallons of water each.

Secondly, goldfish are extremely dirty. They produce more waste than almost any other fish. This is another reason why they need such large tanks - they need a lot of water to dilute the waste they put out. Because your goldfish are in so little water, the waste in the water builds up to high concentrations very quickly and kills them. Because of this, goldfish should not only have 20 gallon tanks but also very heavy filtration systems.

This is the reason why your goldfish keep dying.

----

Edit: You could keep a betta in a 5 gallon bowl, along with an African Dwarf Frog OR a couple of ghost shrimp. Ideally a tank would be best, but as long as you manage to get a heater and a filter in that bowl somehow, they will thrive. Other fish you could keep in there are a small school of white cloud mountain minnows - those wouldn't need a heater.

Answer 4

It may be that the white stuff you see is something called "ich" or "ick" and it means that there is something in the bowl or the pump or the gravel or the little pirate's box that is a harbor for bacteria. Try that word at the aquarium store and you will get something like malachite green or some other copper based antibacterial. It is odd to have this problem with goldfish because they are very robust fish. Also, watch the water temperature. Constant temperature is what you want. When you bring the fish home in their plastic bag, float the bag, fish and all, in the aquarium to allow the water to come to come to equal temperatures. Fish do not respond well to temperature shock. Don't give up, though. Fish are fun to have, don't bark, and don't make a mess on the carpet.

Answer 5

first of all, goldfish are related to carp which are dirty dirty fish...they poop all over. 2nd, a larger fish TANK would be good if you want more than one fish. Do you have city water? did you use a dechlorinator? I'm thinking that your water is too toxic from poo, chlorine, ammonia, etc. The white stuff may be ick or fungus. Worry about curing the water issue. research cycling and the nitrogen cycle. read up about keeping fish and possibly buy a bigger tank.

Answer 6

Don't wash the tank with soap or any kind of cleaner. Just use rock salt and water to make a paste and wipe out with that, then rinse well. Don't use chlorinated water, so let tap water sit out long enough to lose the chlorine.

Answer 7

try to concentrate on the water temperature by using special water heaters designed for aquarium.and frequent change of water may also cause problems.then to feed nothing rather than fish food.and excess of food cunsumption may also cause trouble.tank filters must be used in order to keep the water in the tank clean and also it can avoid regular change of water.try keeping water plants

Answer 8

You should try adding a dechlorinator to get rid of the impurites in your tap water. Or let the water sit out overnight. Also make sure the temperature of the water is adequate.

Answer 9

Me and my girl were into goldfish and everyone died too. My advice!! By different fish!! Try Barbs, Platies,Placos, angel fish, or cichlids instead!!