Another dead baby goldfish

[Jim Sinclair]

There were a couple of days when I only did one water change instead of two, including the day Floppy died. But if it were a week or two back, and the skin was healing, why would the fish suddenly die yesterday, when the water parameters were fine?

I haven't been able to see any similar black skin on any of the other fish. They're small and they're alive and very active.

I did skip last night's planned water change, because that water test was perfect. And then this morning I did another test and I think there was a tinge of green (like 0.25 or less) in the ammonia test. So I'm back to twice-a-day changes.

 

[FishGuest5123]

What are you going to do when those fish grow up and leave? You’ll have empty nest syndrome .

 

[Jim Sinclair]

What are you going to do when those fish grow up and leave? You’ll have empty nest syndrome .

IF all these go to good homes before they grow too large and everything crashes, I will be overjoyed! I might throw a party. I might dance a jig. Or more likely, I'll fall into bed and sleep for 12 or 18 hours without having to get up to do water changes!

 

[Jim Sinclair]

I emailed the vet and sent the picture of last night's dead fish. Got a reply back saying he doesn't think this is the same thing that was going on with Floppy (that's my impression as well), and he doesn't think water conditions are at fault, but the only way to find out for sure is to send out a dead fish for a $200 histopathology examination. At this point I'm not sure that would do any good, given that the two dead fish appear to have died from different causes, and none of the other fish are showing any symptoms that would indicate *which* of the two dead fish should be sent for histopathology. I think I'll just bury the one that died last night.

 

[FishGuest5123]

I hope things go well from here on out.

 

[Colin_T]

If you have 2 established filters on the tank, there shouldn't be any ammonia readings.
How long have the filters been running for?
How often do you clean them and how do you clean them?

In the video it shows a fairly large piece of food and the fish are picking at it. You are better off using small food that the fish can easily swallow. Big bits of food might not be getting eaten completely and if left to rot in the tank will produce ammonia. Perhaps try crumbling the food up so it is easier for them to eat and make sure you remove uneaten food after 5 minutes.

-----------------------
Is there much air flow in the room?
If there is too much carbon dioxide or carbon monoxide in the air, it will cause deformities in fish and make them more susceptible to dying.

-----------------------
I wouldn't bother getting more fish tested at a vet unless something major happens like you start losing fish every week.

 

[Cichlid4life]

your goldfish died from stress of being driven to the vet, but i think there definitely was something that was stressing him be from that and that the drive to the vet was just the last thing the goldfish could handle. Sorry to hear it died, but nothing last forever, especially a living thing.

 

[Jim Sinclair]

It doesn't matter how many established filters are on the tank; if the tank is overstocked, there will be ammonia readings. Thus the two water changes every day.

These filters have been running since I moved the teeny tiny fry into this tank on September 5. But the filter media in them came out of those same filters two years ago when I moved my adult fish from the tank into the basement pond. I kept the established filter media in a filter bag within the pond so I would have it available if I ever needed to set up the HOB filters again.

I clean them--one at a time, not both on the same day--about once a week by unplugging the filter to be cleaned that day, removing the intake tube, swirling it in a bucket of used tank water, brushing off any gunk as necessary (using a toothbrush that has never been used for any other purpose), taking out the filter media and swirling and squeezing that in the used tank water as well, then putting everything back in place and plugging it in again.

The food in the video is gel food. It is soft and crumbles easily when the fish mouth at it. I mash it slightly in my fingers before dropping it into the tank, to make juice seep out and attract the fish to it. If I were to crumble it completely, it would be harder for the fish to locate. A lot of particles would end up in the filter instead of in the fish. And it would be impossible for me to find and remove any uneaten particles of it.

This tank is in my living room. I'll say there is much air flow in that room! This is an old drafty house with leaky windows, leaky doorframes, and no insulation. I wish there were *less* air flow from outside whooshing right through my living room! The furnace is much newer than the house, though, and there is a carbon monoxide detector in the basement and another one on the ground floor. It's never gone off. I think if there were too much carbon dioxide or carbon monoxide in my house, my dogs and cats and I would all have been susceptible to dying way before the fish arrived.

If you have 2 established filters on the tank, there shouldn't be any ammonia readings.
How long have the filters been running for?
How often do you clean them and how do you clean them?

In the video it shows a fairly large piece of food and the fish are picking at it. You are better off using small food that the fish can easily swallow. Big bits of food might not be getting eaten completely and if left to rot in the tank will produce ammonia. Perhaps try crumbling the food up so it is easier for them to eat and make sure you remove uneaten food after 5 minutes.

-----------------------
Is there much air flow in the room?
If there is too much carbon dioxide or carbon monoxide in the air, it will cause deformities in fish and make them more susceptible to dying.

-----------------------
I wouldn't bother getting more fish tested at a vet unless something major happens like you start losing fish every week.

 

[Jim Sinclair]

*Another* one dead today. This one was about Floppy's size, was lying on the tank floor like Floppy was, and like Floppy, it appears to have a ridge where the lower abdomen is distended compared to the upper side. (This is easier to see on the right side of the fish.) But I don't know how long this one had been dead before I found it, so I don't know how much decomposition had gone on.

Water parameters:

Ammonia 0
Nitrite 0
Nitrate about 20
pH the highest with the regular range drops and lowest with the high range drops.

Test tubes in the attached picture, from left to right, are ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, pH, high range pH.

These fish hatched July 21. I was told a lot of them would die during the first weeks, but now they're 3 1/2 months old. Anyone know what a "typical" death rate is at this age when no culling has been done?

 

[Colin_T]

If they made it to 3 months they should keep living.

Are you still having an ammonia problem in the tank?
If yes, it could be ammonia and high pH. In alkaline water (pH above 7.0), ammonia becomes very toxic and the higher the pH, the more toxic it becomes.

It could be the food sitting in the water for a long time while it is being eaten, and this is creating ammonia that is becoming toxic in the high pH.

 

[FishGuest5123]

I don’t have any idea. The only one I lost was one that jumped out of the net when I was as taking them to LFS. Perhaps it’s time to change their diet. I fed mine baby brine shrimp and had begun to feed them the he small pellet New Life Spectrum goldfish by the time they were 3 months old. I always fed NLS fry or starter food too. Perhaps the diet they are in is lacking in vitamins or something that they need. I don’t know what else it could be.

 

[Jim Sinclair]

If they made it to 3 months they should keep living.

Are you still having an ammonia problem in the tank?
If yes, it could be ammonia and high pH. In alkaline water (pH above 7.0), ammonia becomes very toxic and the higher the pH, the more toxic it becomes.

It could be the food sitting in the water for a long time while it is being eaten, and this is creating ammonia that is becoming toxic in the high pH.

Ammonia is zero. See the photo of the water test I attached to my last post.

 

[FishGuest5123]

I also fed mine 3 -4 times a day with the fry food. I have to agree Colin_T that they should be out of the danger zone by now. Are you adding any vitamins to the food? Have you seen them pooping?

 

[Jim Sinclair]

I don’t have any idea. The only one I lost was one that jumped out of the net when I was as taking them to LFS. Perhaps it’s time to change their diet. I fed mine baby brine shrimp and had begun to feed them the he small pellet New Life Spectrum goldfish by the time they were 3 months old. I always fed NLS fry or starter food too. Perhaps the diet they are in is lacking in vitamins or something that they need. I don’t know what else it could be.

They're eating the same pellets and gel food as their parents now. I don't feed broccoli and peas to the babies every day because when I tried it, they didn't eat much. Maybe I will try reintroducing them in small amounts, possibly marinated in garlic first.

 

[FishGuest5123]

They're eating the same pellets and gel food as their parents now. I don't feed broccoli and peas to the babies every day because when I tried it, they didn't eat much. Maybe I will try reintroducing them in small amounts, possibly marinated in garlic first.

I wouldn’t feed them everyday. Maybe once or twice a week. Vitamins?