Lifeless Goldfish

[michele007]

Hi everyone! my daughter won a goldfish from the fair back in sept. we brought it home and didnt really expect it to live since it was 1 of hundreds laying on the ground in bags ready to give away as prizes. we put the fish in a fish bowl. almost 3 months later its almost 2in big and part of family. 2 weeks ago we bought a 5 1/2 gal tank and put a filter on it since his bowl was always needing water changes (messy fish) he did real good for the first week then we decided to get another goldfish. It was smaller under an inch and added it to tank. they both swam side by side and played for the whole week. Came home from work yesterday and they were both snuggled at the bottom of the tank side by side in the corner just lifeless but I could see they are still breathing. They dont have any discolor or white on them. They come up and eat and go right back down. we have tested the tank and everything is just fine. (annomia, ph, nitrite) they water temp is 72. any idea what could be going wrong?

 

[betta989]

Possibly constipation, Ingrowth mostlikely, Gold fish need a minimum of 10 gallons each MINIMUM! Ingrowth is where the fishes insides grow while it doesnt, these goldfish need alot of room to grow and be happy. For now i would do a 50 percent waterchange and see how that does if they dont get better overnight they might not have a change, good luck. WAIT WAIT 72 degreese! Lower that by about 20 degreese they are cold water!

 

[Jenste]

actually, considering this is a fair goldfish I will assume its a common/comet. This is a fish that can reach over a food in length so the 10 gallon is still too small. You should be looking at a 5 foot long tank as a MINIMUM for your two and that is still small.

The commons/comets are best off as pond fish. Definitely do not buy ANY other fish.


As for the coldwater comment - this is an argument you see all the time. They are not solely coldwater, they are temperate. 72 is ok.

You are also seeing problems from an uncycled tank. See this link on TFF to read up about cycling. Beginners Resources

 

[crmpicco]

Hi everyone! my daughter won a goldfish from the fair back in sept. we brought it home and didnt really expect it to live since it was 1 of hundreds laying on the ground in bags ready to give away as prizes. we put the fish in a fish bowl. almost 3 months later its almost 2in big and part of family. 2 weeks ago we bought a 5 1/2 gal tank and put a filter on it since his bowl was always needing water changes (messy fish) he did real good for the first week then we decided to get another goldfish. It was smaller under an inch and added it to tank. they both swam side by side and played for the whole week. Came home from work yesterday and they were both snuggled at the bottom of the tank side by side in the corner just lifeless but I could see they are still breathing. They dont have any discolor or white on them. They come up and eat and go right back down. we have tested the tank and everything is just fine. (annomia, ph, nitrite) they water temp is 72. any idea what could be going wrong?

This was going to be banned here in the UK a few years back. In all honesty I think it should be banned! If you don't give away a tank with the goldfish then where do you put it?

UK fairground goldfish ban

 

[michele007]

Hi and tank you for all your replys!

Jenste, I didnt cycle the tank since he did so good in a fish bowl I just transfered him to the 5 1/2 oops! should I take them out or just try to correct what ever is going on?

Betta989 I will definitly do a 50% water change as soon as possable. As for them temp I dont even have a heater in the tank. It read 68 right now.

After I posted this last night they were both out swimming around for about 30 min then this morning they were back in the corner. Now they are out playing again. I am going to do the water change now thanks all!!

p.s do you think the goldfish I just bought brought something from the pet store?