alola9 Posted July 31, 2014 Share Posted July 31, 2014 We bought a goldfish about 2 weeks ago, and now it looks like it's gonna die... it's beginning to lay on its side and staying near the surface like all our other fish that died (bad history haha).. I'm sad. :sad02: :sad01_anim: :crying_blow: I mean we've been taking care of it really well, too!! Good tank, food etc... Anyways, I'll see how it goes for the next few days... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pudston Posted July 31, 2014 Share Posted July 31, 2014 It sounds like your fish has a lot of ammonia in the water, gasping at the top of the tank and having quite pink or red gills is a symptom of this. Have you done any water changes at all? Goldfish produce a lot of waste, which is toxic in the water when unfiltered (or when your filter is new and maturing itself). Basically when fish poop or breathe, they produce ammonia which goes into the water and is really harmful to them - especially if they are in a small tank or a bowl. To combat this, ideally you want a really good filter, or if you can't get a filter, change out 20-30% of the water every day or two if your fish is in a little tank or bowl. There are things you can buy from your pet store to help - things like Nutrafin Cycle or Seachem Stability which will absorb ammonia from the water and make it less toxic for your fish. They are colonies of beneficial bacteria in a bottle which will break down your fishes waste and help clean the water. If you can get a filter for your fish that would be really good. At most pet or fish stores you should be able to take in a sample of water and they can test it for you, we do this for customers at my store :) Should be free and take about ten minutes. This is just the basics, if you want to get more technical google "the nitrogen cycle", this is how water chemistry works and is pretty essential for long term health of your fish. It sounds confusing, but you'll get the hang of it! Getting a filter is the one thing that will make your life easiest. If you have been doing water changes on your fish regularly, are you using water conditioner? It's very important to use some conditioner every time as it will remove chlorine and heavy metals from the water which are otherwise quite harmful to your little fishy :) I hope that helps and isn't too technical, I work at a fish store and have lots of tanks and want people to have success in fish keeping! It's a great hobby and very rewarding. edit: Forgot to add, when you feed it, only feed a very small amount. If the fish can eat everything you put in and not miss anything in a minute or under, that's a good amount, if you see uneaten flakes or pellets take them out as they will rot and foul up your water :( minniemeggie, alola9, Shelley and 2 others 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AJ11 Posted July 31, 2014 Share Posted July 31, 2014 OH NOO poor fish... really sorry to hear that it isnt doing well, I am probably going to buy some fish today which I hope will be ok I built a pond in my garden about 6 weeks ago and have been patiently waiting for the water to be settled so that I can add some fish It would be horrible if they died so I do feel sorry for you :sad02: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rntracy1 Posted July 31, 2014 Share Posted July 31, 2014 It sounds like your fish has a lot of ammonia in the water, gasping at the top of the tank and having quite pink or red gills is a symptom of this. Have you done any water changes at all? Goldfish produce a lot of waste, which is toxic in the water when unfiltered (or when your filter is new and maturing itself). Basically when fish poop or breathe, they produce ammonia which goes into the water and is really harmful to them - especially if they are in a small tank or a bowl. To combat this, ideally you want a really good filter, or if you can't get a filter, change out 20-30% of the water every day or two if your fish is in a little tank or bowl. There are things you can buy from your pet store to help - things like Nutrafin Cycle or Seachem Stability which will absorb ammonia from the water and make it less toxic for your fish. They are colonies of beneficial bacteria in a bottle which will break down your fishes waste and help clean the water. If you can get a filter for your fish that would be really good. At most pet or fish stores you should be able to take in a sample of water and they can test it for you, we do this for customers at my store :) Should be free and take about ten minutes. This is just the basics, if you want to get more technical google "the nitrogen cycle", this is how water chemistry works and is pretty essential for long term health of your fish. It sounds confusing, but you'll get the hang of it! Getting a filter is the one thing that will make your life easiest. If you have been doing water changes on your fish regularly, are you using water conditioner? It's very important to use some conditioner every time as it will remove chlorine and heavy metals from the water which are otherwise quite harmful to your little fishy :) I hope that helps and isn't too technical, I work at a fish store and have lots of tanks and want people to have success in fish keeping! It's a great hobby and very rewarding. edit: Forgot to add, when you feed it, only feed a very small amount. If the fish can eat everything you put in and not miss anything in a minute or under, that's a good amount, if you see uneaten flakes or pellets take them out as they will rot and foul up your water :( Great information. This reminds me of a goldfish I had when I was a young child. I was very attached to "him" (I thought- lol) as I had him for 8 months. Thinking he was lonely (hey, I was young) I got him a companion. As soon as I put "her" in there, she died within a few days and he soon followed. I wasn't so attached to her, but I felt that I killed him with some disease that she must have had. But since I now had TWO fish in this pretty small bowl, do you think this was the case as well?? BTW, thanks for the great info. And to the OP, I hope you have time to help your little fish. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ranaki Posted July 31, 2014 Share Posted July 31, 2014 I love looking at fish in the pet store, but I was never to keen on raising fishies, Pudston's post made me not want to do it at all anymore o_o I hope your Goldy makes it though =3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AJ11 Posted July 31, 2014 Share Posted July 31, 2014 Just added my new goldfish to their new home - my pond. They are busy zipping around eating lots of bugs at the moment which is cute .. really hope they are going to be alright, they certainly look happy just now. alola9 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
indiechiquegeek Posted July 31, 2014 Share Posted July 31, 2014 Goldfish produce a LOT of ammonia and waste, and grow very large. Goldfish need a minimum of twenty gallons to themselves when they are full grown, and if you have them in anything less even while they're growing, it can stunt their growth, which leads to significant organ damage, which leads to a significantly shorter life. Goldfish can live at least 20 years, often up to 50- in the right conditions. Make sure you have them in such! And yes, most pet stores (my own included) will test water for free, so we can see if it's the ammonia or any other chemical imbalance in the water that's effecting the fish. minniemeggie 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shelley Posted July 31, 2014 Share Posted July 31, 2014 aw poor fish :( I had a beta fish, Kevin that lasted about 4 years before my dad killed him while I was on vacation -_- I was constantly worried about his water, if I was overfeeding him, if I should buy him certain things for his tank. But he pulled through until the end of that fateful week. I'm no fish expert by any means, but I would recommend a beta fish if your goldy doesn't work out. and thanks to everyone who posted for giving me some awesome information on fish care! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
minniemeggie Posted July 31, 2014 Share Posted July 31, 2014 I have had a goldfish for 15 years, his name is Gilbert. We have him in a 30 gallon tank and he is HUGE. A lot of people think goldfish just have short life spans but that's definitely not the case. If you have it in a large enough tank with a good filter and feed it the correct amount they can live for a long time. You just have to see the warning signs. I would change out his water immediately but not before taking a sample to the pet store to see if that's the cause. As with most pets it is important to have a vet, another misconception I have run into is that vets don't see fish. While that may be true for a lot of vet's chances are there is at least one in your area. If you can't afford a vet visit a local pet shop that specializes in aquatic pets and they can give you a plethora of information. I've also noticed since moving to Texas where we have hard water with fluoride I had to change out the filters and clean the tank a lot more often until I got a water filter and softener for my house. Good luck to you and your little fishy! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alola9 Posted August 1, 2014 Author Share Posted August 1, 2014 It sounds like your fish has a lot of ammonia in the water, gasping at the top of the tank and having quite pink or red gills is a symptom of this. Have you done any water changes at all? Goldfish produce a lot of waste, which is toxic in the water when unfiltered (or when your filter is new and maturing itself). Basically when fish poop or breathe, they produce ammonia which goes into the water and is really harmful to them - especially if they are in a small tank or a bowl. To combat this, ideally you want a really good filter, or if you can't get a filter, change out 20-30% of the water every day or two if your fish is in a little tank or bowl. There are things you can buy from your pet store to help - things like Nutrafin Cycle or Seachem Stability which will absorb ammonia from the water and make it less toxic for your fish. They are colonies of beneficial bacteria in a bottle which will break down your fishes waste and help clean the water. If you can get a filter for your fish that would be really good. At most pet or fish stores you should be able to take in a sample of water and they can test it for you, we do this for customers at my store :) Should be free and take about ten minutes. This is just the basics, if you want to get more technical google "the nitrogen cycle", this is how water chemistry works and is pretty essential for long term health of your fish. It sounds confusing, but you'll get the hang of it! Getting a filter is the one thing that will make your life easiest. If you have been doing water changes on your fish regularly, are you using water conditioner? It's very important to use some conditioner every time as it will remove chlorine and heavy metals from the water which are otherwise quite harmful to your little fishy :) I hope that helps and isn't too technical, I work at a fish store and have lots of tanks and want people to have success in fish keeping! It's a great hobby and very rewarding. edit: Forgot to add, when you feed it, only feed a very small amount. If the fish can eat everything you put in and not miss anything in a minute or under, that's a good amount, if you see uneaten flakes or pellets take them out as they will rot and foul up your water :( Thank you so much for the helpful advice! I do have a filter, and does make things much easier. I sorta know about the ammonia and nitrogen, I'll look it up to learn more about it. :) I'll see about getting the things you mentioned when I have time to go out of the house. And yes, we use the same water conditioner whenever we change the water, and we put in the instructed amount, too. We also feed it like you said :yes: I used to have goldfish/ other fish when I was little and they had no problem and lived more than two years! I'm not sure what changed...(But I didn't know all about the things you mentioned earlier at that time, of course). Ah, I see! That's pretty cool!! Again, thank you so much for suggestions and advice!! It really helped me understand about what might be happening. I'll keep everyone posted on any new things that happen. :) Just added my new goldfish to their new home - my pond. They are busy zipping around eating lots of bugs at the moment which is cute .. really hope they are going to be alright, they certainly look happy just now.Yay! That's awesome :D how many did you buy? I hope they'll be alright too!! And also thank you everyone for your input!!!! :thumbsup: I hope our fishy will get better soon!! :wub_anim: It's been moving around today, unlike yesterday! but I would recommend a beta fish if your goldy doesn't work out. Actually, my sister has a betta fish, and it's doing pretty well. I hope it gets better soon.. This post has been edited by a member of staff (Rune Valentine) because of a violation of the forum rules. Please don't double/triple post. If you would like to add something, use the 'Edit' button. Please check your user inbox to see if you have been contacted regarding this incident, then review our rules. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AJ11 Posted August 1, 2014 Share Posted August 1, 2014 Yay! That's awesome :D how many did you buy? I bought four they are just babies about 2 inches long, they went in the pond and are hiding a lot now, not surprising it must seem scary, but I hope that they will come out and let me see them a bit more when they get used to it..Im hoping to go and get 4 shubunkins in a couple of weeks to join them if there are no problems really hope your fish recovers, it sounds like you are doing everything that you should be already alola9 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alola9 Posted August 2, 2014 Author Share Posted August 2, 2014 I bought four they are just babies about 2 inches long, they went in the pond and are hiding a lot now, not surprising it must seem scary, but I hope that they will come out and let me see them a bit more when they get used to it..Im hoping to go and get 4 shubunkins in a couple of weeks to join them if there are no problems really hope your fish recovers, it sounds like you are doing everything that you should be already Aww that nice :) they'll come your soon, it takes time like you said. Thanks! Its swimming around more today, so that's good! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pudston Posted August 3, 2014 Share Posted August 3, 2014 I'm glad the fish is doing better, sounds like you are doing all the right things! Good luck with him :) Fish are great pets, I really like my betta especially. Loads of personality and easy to look after! alola9 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alola9 Posted August 5, 2014 Author Share Posted August 5, 2014 Hey everyone! So my fish is doing much better now~~ I'm so happy :D Thanks everyone for your input and advice, I really appreciate it! @Pudston: Thanks! I totally agree. Haha, same here with my sister's betta! He's really energetic and friendly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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