My Fish Died..

[Noctu]

Hello,
I'm a newbie to the forums and would really appreciate any advice. I'll give a brief history..

I have had my 18 litre tank for about a month now. It has an air pump and filter (the cartridge type ones which sit on top, the water is pumped up over the top and trickles over it).

When I got it, I followed the instructions which said to fill it with water and let the pump run for at least 24 hours. Which I did (2/3 days). I also bought some 'furniture' for the tank so that they could hide behind them (I hear that tanks with no places to hide can stress them out).

Then I bought a black moor and another type of cold water fish (not sure what it is but it's a common one), the aquatics store told me that they would live well together - and they did, no chasing or biting each other or anything. He advised me to add half a teaspoon of cooking salt to the water just before adding the fish to aid against disease.

I noticed after a week that the fish seemed to be swimming at the top constantly. I did a search online and saw that this could be 'new tank syndrome', caused by the spike in ammonia levels before the nitrites and nitrates start up with the cycle. The fish were being starved of oxygen?

I did 10-15% water changes every 3 days as advised, and got a water test kit (which unfortunately did not test for ammonia). I fed them once a day, about 5 flakes each. I tested the water and all levels were fine (nitrates, nitrites, hardness of water, etc - but no ammonia test). I also increased the surface agitation to get more oxygen into the water. I bought a thermometer which showed that the water was at the correct level for the fish. I couldn't think of anything else to do.

With all the new water being added with the 10-15% water changes, I treated it with Aquasafe as it was tapwater. Also I added a very small amount of cooking salt to the new water to protect against disease.

My black moor died a week ago and just this morning, my other fish died. When I saw the fish this morning dead, as a last resort I put some cooking salt in the water (apparently this can help revive them?) but to no avail. It had seemed happy enough recently, not staying at the top of the water all the time and swimming around.

I just don't understand it. I have relatives who have goldfish in a bowl with no lid, no pump, no nothing - the water is so cloudy because they don't bother changing it, etc etc, and they have lived for 15 years!!! I tried to do everything right, understand the cycle, treat the water - and my fish have died.

This probably sounds stupid but I am holding back the tears of frustration and sadness.

Please can anyone help, or offer any advice?


Thank you
Rachel, England.

 

[hollanda88]

I would deffinately get ammonia tests as it was proberbly that which did it. The nitrates and nitrites would have been testing fine as the ammonia hadn't started to be broken down yet so it was piling up.

 

[black angel]

we get a few peole saying that goldieslived in bolws for years and years but i bet that goldie had a miserable existence, not being able to grow and not being able to move and swim...even 17 litres is much better...

the best thing you can do is to cycle your tank before adding any goldfish...and dont add salt. these are freshwater fish and dont need any additonal salt unless the fish has a disease..with fish less than 2 inches long body length salt can actually affect the kidneys and kill it.

oce you have cycled the tank you really can only add 1 small fantail type fish and dont add a blackmoor try something more robust like an oranda or normal fantail

generally filtration should be more than what you have as goldies are really messy..ive no idea about american filters but i can guarantee yours wont be good enough. you want one with lots of media for the beneficial bacteria.

get yourself an ammonia test as well.

sadly..most pet shops sell poor quality fish and most dont make it despite the care you give...you can only try your best and hope the next fish you get is more hardy.

as a general rule fancy goldfish for a beginner i wouldnt say less than a 20 gallon tank for 2. and 15 for 1..then as the fish grows the bigger the tank will be needed as fantails can grow to over 8 inches and common goldies over a foot.