Goldfish Problems

[luque]

looks unhappy to me as his fins are down, maybe the tank hasn't fully cycled yet?

 

[fantailman]

looks like he is a little stressed I would keep and eye on him and let us know of any changes

 

[emmag21]

The water looks a bit cloudy to me. How long did you leave it to cycle before adding fish and how often are you doing the water changes?

Emma
xox

 

[Snooks1!]

The question you need to ask is if he even knows what cycling is...

If I were you... I would take the goldfish back IMMEDIATELY and get some fish more suited for your tank size. Stores like that are there to sell things... So of course... if they can sell you 4 goldfish instead of one then they will. They don't care if all 4 are going into a very small tank or not. You may think that goldfish are good beginner fish but...unless they're properly housed and cared for all you're doing is giving them a slow and agonizing death.

 

[emma12321]

Hi,

an ideal alternative for your tank would be 6 white cloud mountain minnow, these also come in a gold and long finned form, alternatively you could add a heater and get a siamese fighting fish or a small group of tetras or even a dwarf puffer fish

Emma

 

[Matt_northants]

The question you need to ask is if he even knows what cycling is...

If I were you... I would take the goldfish back IMMEDIATELY and get some fish more suited for your tank size. Stores like that are there to sell things... So of course... if they can sell you 4 goldfish instead of one then they will. They don't care if all 4 are going into a very small tank or not. You may think that goldfish are good beginner fish but...unless they're properly housed and cared for all you're doing is giving them a slow and agonizing death.

Good beginner fish? IMO goldfish are harder to keep than the majority of trops, they grow HUGE, produce HUGE amounts of waste and eat all your plants. Also being coldwater their oxygen requirement is a lot higher than trops. In a 35l I would probably only house a pair of Honey Gouramis, a Betta and some Amano Shrimps, or a shoal of rasboras or minnows.

 

[Snooks1!]

You may think that goldfish are good beginner fish but...unless they're properly housed and cared for all you're doing is giving them a slow and agonizing death.

 

[Matt_northants]

Sorry if my reply sounded like I was having a dig, but it still amazes me the number of people that think goldfish are an easy beginner fish, these fish are hard to keep. In fact in all the time I have kept fish the only time when I can say hand on heart that they were easy was in a lightly stocked pond. IMO they shouldnt be sold for aquariums as they are completely unsuitable.

 

[jeej]

No, the person above you was highlighting (literally) the fact that it seemed you misread what they put. They weren't saying the Goldfish were a good beginner fish, but actually the absolute opposite.

 

[aquila]

I cant believe you say it isnt big enough for one fish! the booklet that came with the tank says, stocking levels - 2 x common goldfish 2 x oranda 1 x fantail. The tank is quite large and the fish have loads of room.

I really, really wish manufacturers wouldn't do this. The fact is that a 35 litre tank is not big enough to house even one fancy goldfish for life. Although the fish are small now they grow fast and they grow big. The link posted earlier is a good example of a fully grown oranda, and a fully grown common or comet goldfish will easily hit 12 inches long. There is simply not enough water volume to cope with the amount of waste these fish produce, and those elite stingray filters I think max out at 25 gallons, which is not adequate for goldfish. Please be aware that shop staff (especially at places like pets at home etc., where the staff are often not fish enthusiasts) are just out to sell you things and make more money, are not knowledgeable about what they are selling and will just make more money from you when your fish die and you go back to buy replacements.

Please seriously consider returning the goldfish, or rehoming them to a large pond. A 35 litre tank would make a perfect small tropical community tank, and there literally hundreds of species that would thrive in a tank that size. They are also usually more colourful, more varied and produce far less waste than goldfish.

The pictures you posted are clasic examples of a fish living in poor water quality - his fins are clamped and reddened and hanging out by the filter suggests he doesn't have enough oxygen. Please check out the pinned topics on cycling - that's another thing pets at home won't tell you about. At the moment you will be experiencing high ammonia levels, which will quickly kill fish.

Please don't think I'm a goldfish hater - they are my passion and I have far too many of them in a succession of large, expensive, high maintenance tanks. If I'd stuck with tropicals, I'd be far more well off