mightyyid

Chaps

4 weeks ago bought a new fish tank (21 litre) and after 24 hours of settling the water, put 4 2-3 cm fish in it. Tank came with a filter which is always on.

All was fine after about 2 weeks and then water started getting a bit cloudy, although we changed about 1/3 of it each weekend. Then one fish died, having had what looked like a ring of cotton wool around it.

Went back tot he shop to buy another and the chap said it was probably an infection or the like and look out for the others.

A week later, I notice one is hardly swimming and his fins appear to have been eaten away, as if attacked. Reading up I see it is fin-rot and buy some finrot stuff and add it to the water. After a day or two the little fella perks up and starts to swim, as best he is able, but certainly seems better. At the same time I do a full water change, rinse the gravel etc to ensure everything is fresh and clean. Water stays clean this week for a bit longer.

I then, at the weekend, did a water change and added a bit more fin-rot.

Then the little fella seems to regress and doesn't move at all, and then, for the past 3 days, the fish seem to be collecting together on the surface in one corner of the tank. Still feed them as requested (but less food than we did as it seems this contributed towards the cloudy water).

Come in tonight, and all of them are dead. The black fantail is all blotchy, the other gold one has a ring of cotton wool around him and I have no idea what we are doing wrong. So, my questions:

1 - What the hell did I do to kill fish - when I was a kid, one fish in a bowl would last for ever?

2 - Did I screw the filter by keeping it in there with the finrot liquid and thus issue a death sentence to the fish - and if so, should I buy a new filter and clean everything out

3 - Should I clean and wash the gravel and all the little ornaments again in hot water to ensure there is no residue before getting new fish?

4 - Are these little fish a pain - should I go for normal size goldfish or is there no difference? We'll need to get some more as 3 year old does not know they have died yet... though she may get a clue when they suddenly get Chernobyl(ed) and grow to 6 tomes their normal size!

5 - Does an aerator help keep the water clean as well as the filter (which just filters and does not aerate)?

6 - Am I just crap with fish and what am I doing wrong?

I hate the fact that something that should be so easy seems to flipping hard and would welcome any responses, other than the fact I am a murdering *******!

Thanks

Andy

ScoTTyB

6. give up and grow some stinging nettles

SWRTWannabe

The best bet is to give everything a good clean, boiling the gravel, stones etc. This may be overkill, but better safe than sorry.

Get the tank set up, with the filter on (this should always be on), and give it at least 24 hours to settle.

Then add one fish only - feed very sparingly - one pinch of fish food every other day will be fine - fish don't expect three square meals a day. Don't be tempted to add more fish for at least 3-4 weeks, and continue to add them one at a time. Always add fish that are a similar size and of compatible varieties, so there are no bullying issues.

When you add fish to a tank, the fish waste (and goldfish produce a lot) gets eaten by bacteria - however, the bacteria take a time to establish. So, water changes like you've been doing are important to make sure that you clear out the waste that the bacteria can't cope with.

It might be worth getting yourself a water testing kit - these will check for waste chemicals such as ammonia, nitrites and nitrates which will be unhealthy for your fish - leaving them susceptible to diseases like the ones you describe.

Merv

iTrader: (12)

New Tank Syndrome

53

iTrader: (41)

What filter ? if its under gravel filtration you need the sifting effect of the gravel and resulting biological gunk. Cleaning the gravel will destroy the balance. If its an internal filter it simply hasn't had time to bed in. You don't mention any de-chlorinator or de-stress products at the time of setting up the tank or with the introduction of new fish. How often do you feed, does the filter pump out bubbles or just flow ? Carp type fish like the goldies are more messy than your smaller tropical fish. I always run external bio filters for my cold tanks but then they are 1500ltrs each

Also what is the surface area of the tank, some of the poncey ones are poorly designed to be heavily stocked.

Ringpeas

Fancy goldfish/fantails are much weaker than the traditional type.

They are basically mutants with deformed fins and bloated eyes and heads. It is hardly suprising that they end up getting fin rot, I am amazed they even survive at all.

Sonic'

Especially when you see how some of them become deformed in the first place

Dont ever use water from the Hot tap either

And Aerator wont keep the water clean, but it will oxygenate the water, and an overstocked or poor filtration system can lead to low levels of oxygen in the water

Dont over feed either, it is so easy to do, I know the instructions say feed your fish 100 times a day one flake each etc (slight exaggeration) but they can survive quite a while without food, or with very little food

MikeCardiff

iTrader: (2)

I imagine if you added the fin rot liquid and left the pump on, then the filter will have filtered out all the liquid from the water, which could be why it didnt work very long.

It could be the fish were already infected when you bought them and the stress of moving bought it on - a lot of the stock in pet shops isnt very healthy when you get it.

Fancy goldfish can be very hardy though, we moved our two into our outdoors pond when we moved and they seem fine and have grown huge.

David Lock

Andy - you've obviously tried so hard luck but it is frustrating when you get a new tank and all you - and 3 year old - want to see are some diddly fish swimming around!!

But you have to be patient and Merv's link above explains it all. So persevere but please don't overfeed as this is so easy to do and does mess up the water.

Since this is a cold water tank you are a bit limited on fish choice but that's fine for a 3 year old!! Tricky about the deaths though...... I still remember rushing around pet shops trying to find a clone of a Guinea Pig that had pegged it without giving us any warning Good luck. dl

mightyyid

Chaps

Many thanks for all the responses. Long gone are the days of a clear bowl, a fish from the fair and a life expectancy of 2 months - these were less than that.

The over feeding is contributing to the water so I know we're cutting back on that massively. Telling that to a 3 year old ain't easy, but we're getting there.

SWRT wannabe - thanks for that. I think a water testing kit will be valuable and worth the cost (which is over £100 with the gravel, tank, filter, fish, additional decorations etc).

53WRX - the filter came with the tank as a package so it is all in - and just sits on the side near the top. Have cleaned it a few times but suspect I need to start from scratch. It's stingray or something like that - but the tank is 21 litres, and 4 small fish are apparently fine, but the max it should have. TBH, one would be nice at the moment - alive that is.

Mike - your thought about the filter being left on is probably the cause and why the little critters are cursing their adopted father.

Merv - cheers for the link - will go through when I have more time...

DL - will have to see how we go but I think a good cleaning of the tank, a suitable burial (she has yet to realise they are dead rather than asleep), a subtle trip to the fish shop if they will serve me that is, as I've probably used my luck, and a fresh start is what is needed.

Much appreciated chaps - I'm not going to let the (pint sized) buggers get me down!

Andy

Torquemada

Hey fella, might be that you are introducing the fish before the bacteria in the filters and water has sufficiently taken hold to be able to break down all the nasty crap in the water. My brother has had fish for years in an absolutely huge tank and in a few smaller ones. With every tank he's had he's always made sure that the plants and filter have been growing/running for at least a week or two before starting with the fish and he's not had any issues similar to yours. Had plenty of psycho fish that have tried to kill off the others, lol, and one or two fungal infections but nowt else.
Hope this helps mate and hope ze fishes are happy again soon

Tom

53

iTrader: (41)

If the tank is in the house you will get away with some neons or danios as they can cope with room temp. Much less messy than gold fish, although turning into neons from a goldfish whilst asleep/dead is a story only a 3 year old would believe

Only ever clean the filter media with tank water (use water change water )as fresh will kill the good bacteria. Only really needs cleaning when really gunky. If you cut down on feeding, to 2-3 times a week ( more than I do !) this should help reduce the imbalance.

Norman D. Landing

Or, you could stop getting leathered, coming home and having a crafty pee in the tank, just a thought.

David Lock

Andy, as a parent you will smile at the pathos in this story which I read a couple of years back.

Mum and dad bought their little girl a goldfish which she kept in her bedroom. But it died and so did the replacement and then another and so on.

One night mum crept up to the little girl's bedroom and again there was a dead fish in the bowl.

She bent over to give her sleeping daughter a kiss and then she noticed... a little damp patch next to her pillow where she had given the fish a cuddle. Aaah

mightyyid

Qquality again chaps - thanks.

DL - loved the story - and a valuable lesson while the tank must remain in the kitchen out of reach and not anywhere else...

Norman - nice thought, but as a parent of two and one on the way, the last time I got leathered - 'all this was fields'!

Norman D. Landing

Pfft, I'm a 'parent of two' too! Dont give me that!