New Goldie Not Looking Very Well...

[lizi006]

Hiya,
we bought 2 goldfish today... not sure what kind (the 99p each kind)
My hubbies' one (which has lovely long fins) seems perfectly happy to float around at ease, whereas mine (which has much stubbier fins) is considerably more jittery.
He's constantly flapping his fins and swimming quite erratically (backwards at times?!); almost like it's a real effort for him to keep off the floor.
also, although their tank is plenty big enough (but not filtered), they're swimming very close, even rubbing against eachother...
i know the basics, maybe better than that, but goldie behaviour is not my forte and i just want to know he's gunna be ok! we've only had him a few hours!
Thanks for any advise you can offer
Liz,

 

[JenCliBee]

couple of things first

how big is the tank?

why no filtering?

and was the tank cycled?


hi the qusetions are wot most would ask before they give an answer the tank size is quite inportant as goldfish can grow very big, the filtering is a must goldfish produce alot of waste causing amonia and no end of problems even death 2 ur fish,
and cycling is a very inportant part in making a tank safe before putting fish in as amonia and nitrite are extreamly bad for fish again causing death as sson as the questions are answered im sure u will get some replies


jen

 

[lizi006]

Hiya- unfortunatley, they only have a 13ltr tank at the moment, but they are quite little, and it's only for a few days till a bigger one arrives and cycled. (i.e.- no stunted growth worries, just the hassle of many many water changes!)
it was cycled, and no filter yet because wages haven't cleared. will be doing a 50+% change every day with treated water, again, til there's a better tank ready for them.
Thanks,

 

[JenCliBee]

ok that sounds fine just curious tho 2 how big there new tank is?


jen

 

[lizi006]

hiya- hopefully 65ltr or more- i have a couple of friends that have moved on to bigger tanks- just a matter of getting one of them home and cycling them.
i'm going home from work at lunch to check in on him- i hope he's ok- he doesn't even have a name yet !!
Thanks x

 

[JenCliBee]

for the time been that size tank will be fine with plenty of filtration but u will need 2 get a much bigger tank in the end and it will be probably be sooner than l8r . goldfish produce a hell of a lot of waste and the recommended size tank for say 2 GF reseanably sized would be around 60-80 us gallon at the moment the 65 ltre only works out at around 17g i think.


hope that helps


jen

 

[lizi006]

hiya- well- they've now got a 30ltr biorb tank, so plenty of filtration, and, more importantly, plenty of water surface area!
And, when they get too big for that, they're going in my father-in-law's pond (which is massive!)
Do you think they'll be ok in there (one is a common, and one is a comet)
Any advice on how to prepare them for such a big step? or will they just take to it... um... like a fish to water?! should they be introduced to the pond in a keep-net- type arrangement, so they get used to it?
Thanks so much, guys

 

[JenCliBee]

not very experienced with ponds but the ideal time i would imagine adding them 2 a pond would be summer period i not 2 sure but i think if it was me i would bag float them just 2 make sure they aclimate 2 the water fisrt but like i said im no expert im sure some 1 else with pipe up and give some better advice


jen

 

[aquila]

hiya- well- they've now got a 30ltr biorb tank, so plenty of filtration, and, more importantly, plenty of water surface area!
And, when they get too big for that, they're going in my father-in-law's pond (which is massive!)
Do you think they'll be ok in there (one is a common, and one is a comet)
Any advice on how to prepare them for such a big step? or will they just take to it... um... like a fish to water?! should they be introduced to the pond in a keep-net- type arrangement, so they get used to it?
Thanks so much, guys

Not to burst your bubble or anything, but 30 litres is far too small even temporarily, and biorbs have a tiny surface area compared to a regular rectangular tank. They will benefit greatly from going straight out into the pond - as it's summer I wouldn't worry too much about acclimatising them, they can just go straight in.

 

[JenCliBee]

haha!!! i new some 1 else could help further


agreed with the biorb tank really is 2 small but depends how temperary it is i would personally just put them in the pond asap like aquila suggested and get yaself some small tropical fish



jen

 

[lizi006]

unfortunately, aquila is clearly not a man (or woman) of science- the biorb's surface area totals roughly 3.5 square feet- PLENTY for two 0.5 inch long goldies. like i said- i'm not an expert on fish BEHAVIOUR. chemical science is another matter.
they're thriving in it, by the way

 

[aquila]

unfortunately, aquila is clearly not a man (or woman) of science- the biorb's surface area totals roughly 3.5 square feet- PLENTY for two 0.5 inch long goldies. like i said- i'm not an expert on fish BEHAVIOUR. chemical science is another matter.
they're thriving in it, by the way

I think you're possibly confusing the exterior surface area of the whole biorb with the actual surface area of the water. The fact remains that 30 litres is not an adequate water volume for goldfish. The fact that they are 0.5 inches in size has nothing to do with it as a healthy goldfish should easily make 10 inches in its first two years (6-8" for a fancy).

Your post comes across a little rude by the way, as you were the one posting on here for help and you were offered it by more experienced fishkeepers. You can choose to disregard the information if you want, but to say that it is wrong is misleading. You are perhaps also not a man or woman 'of science', as I don't see what chemicals have to do with surface area. What a bizarre thing to post - we were only trying to help!

 

[lizi006]

Apologies that i came off as rude there- i'm sure you dislike being patronised as much as i do, so i'm sure you can imagine why i might get snappy.
for the record- chemical science has to do with surface area because surface area is all about oxygenation, and the effect of such on the waste produsts (chemicals!!!) and distribution of them within the volume of water. (no, i'm not ignoring the volume issue... they are related!)
honestly- i'm not an idiot- i can tell the difference between the overall surface area of a tank and the surface area of the water.