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icutup

newbie goldfish owner 'won' goldfish at fair & life is not good

ICutUp
15 years ago

Hi. I searched your forums 1st, but did not see exactly what I needed (hand holding), so I am bugging you now. We have 4 goldfish (from a fair on March 13)in a 5 gallon Eclipse corner tank from Petsmart with a filter, light, distilled water and 3 plants. One fish was lying on the bottom after 1 day in the tank so we took him out and put him in a bowl with his own water from the tank and gave him a mushed up pea and some salt (table salt, no iodine). I brought a water sample from the tank to PetSmart. They said it was fine and to try adding 1/2 tablespoon of sea salt to the tank. We did and we put the other fish back in several hours later b/c he seemed better and he could not stay in the small dish he was in. Well, he immediately sat on the bottom and the others sat with him. Before we added the sick fish back, we noticed that one fish was racing around (he has one small black spot on his head, but could that be his coloration?) and one was up near the top. Right now, as of 6:28 pm on 3/15, 3 are swimming, but one is up at the top. This is a brand new tank. The fish came in bags and were set in their bags in the tank before adding them but there was not time to cycle the tank. We did not want to leave the fish in their bags for more than 24 hrs. We won them Fri night and put them in their tank Sat. A.M. Today (Sunday) we have problems. The tank has a carbon filter (Eclipse). Any suggestions? Sorry so long. Thank you.

Comments (8)

  • ICutUp
    Original Author
    15 years ago

    Follow up: Everyone is alive this morning and swimming, but one fish is still swimming much faster than the others and now has white stuff on its anal and caudal fins, but not its body. Please help. I think I will isolate him if possible, but I do not have a net yet, so I may have to wait until after work.

  • generator_00
    15 years ago

    Hang in there icutup, Goldfish don't do well with new water but some of them, if not all, should live. They are pretty tough. The white might be ick. I think you can get medicine for it at the pet store and while your'e there ask them about it. The goldfish will need a bigger tank if they live and start growing but that's still a while away. I really enjoy my goldfish and I'm sure you will too.

  • ICutUp
    Original Author
    15 years ago

    Bad news. The fish that was sitting on the bottom died and now the other 3 have black faces (on their gill plates). Pet Smart sold me some tee tree oil stuff to try but said they are probably going to die. :(

  • skygee
    15 years ago

    sorry. but goldfish produce a tremendous amount of waste and need very large tanks. 4 in a five gallon is overcrowding.

    The five gallon tank is a perfect set up for a beta though.

  • ICutUp
    Original Author
    15 years ago

    Thanks. Only one is left. I have been getting help from another board (GAB) and so far he has lived a week. Our water meter and Pet Smart (who set us up with the tank and told us to use distilled water which is wrong and sold us meds which were wrong) told us the water was fine. But when I got a real test kit I found out that the PH was too low and there was a lot of ammonia there. So, with many water changes and salt, he is still alive but I guess no other fish can go in with him. How come people say goldfish bowls are bad but so many people have been able to keep one fish in a bowl for years with no disease?

  • skygee
    14 years ago

    when I was a kid I had a goldfish in a no-filter barebones bowl (probably about 2 gallons only). It lived for about 3 years - but of course never grew more than3 inches in length (including tail!) I remember that I was changing the water like twice a week - fed it only once a day. Being kept in a small environment stunts the goldfish - which if given the right environment can grow to be quite large (not as large as koi, but they're in the same family of fish).

    I don't know why they think goldfish can be kept in a bowl - maybe too much influence by Dr. Seuss?

  • RANJAN1985
    9 years ago

    idk, ....I have a huge tank, H-U-G-E ......A 190 GALLON tank ......and I have each pair of black Moore, red head white oranda, red head orange oranda, orange bubble-eye, black-orange stripped bubble-eye, paradise & a pair I don't know the name ....... among other fishes, there are 2 stripped angelfish, 2 black angelfish, 2 silver angelfish ........2 loach, a few sucking catfish ......& 2 pairs of betta

    this has been 4 years, and all the fishes are here since then ......no death at all ......but I take Kate of the tank very little, except weekly cleaning & adding some salt immediately after changing of water

    I think its more of luck that they'll either live or die

  • RocksAndRoses
    9 years ago

    I feel sorry for the fish at the fair....

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