Goldfish Help

[ayresygirl]

hi all im new to this so thanks to all who are going to help out.
About 6 months ago i was given 2 goldfish in a goldfish boal with no filter, after 2 weeks i felt really sorry for them and wanted to give them a bigger home so I bought a 30 leter tank. I was told to let the tank run for 2weeks which i done and then added my fish along with 2 new fish. needless less to say after 3 days 3 of my fish had died as they developed ick. I treated the tank and the one remaining fish (who was very ill) but finally she servived and was lovely and healthy. I left her in the tank by her self and all was good. she had been fine for 2 months so i thought it was time she had new friends. So i bought 2 goldfish and 1 fantain about 3 months ago and they have been fine. no probs at all and i thought after 3 months nothing would go wrong!
All 3 gold fish are fine no spots, lovely colour and looking healthy but i notist my fantain was floting on the top on her side, I though she was dieing but when i woke in the morning she was swimming about happly. She was fine all day but then done the same the following night and again fine the next day. but to day she is laying at the bottom of the tank, not looking well, fins flat and just very lathargic. Other 3 are fine tho. I dont think it is ick as shorly this would have developed when i first added them to the water 3 months ago, but she is defo ill. I have always done weekly water changes with tap water conditioner and also add a health drops every week, so what is going wrong now. I vacume the stones and clean filter when needed so dont know whats gone wrong.
I have developed diatoms (bout 3 week ago) lately in my tank but was advised that this was not harlmfull to my fish? dont know what to do? Hope it is not ick again as it was a big killer last time. Do you think i should treat them for ick just incase? will this cause harm is i treat them but they do not have it?

 

[arobinson1984]

To be totally honest, the best option for the fish would be to rehome them because the tank that they are in is very inadequate.

What sort of goldfish are they? Fancy goldfish or common goldfish?

Fancy goldfish require 20 gallons for the first fish then 10 gallons for every additional fish

Common goldfish require 30 gallons for the first fish then 10 gallons for every additional fish although common goldfish really should be kept in ponds as they grow in excess of 12"

Both types of goldfish also require very good filtration as they are messy fish

Andy

 

[waterdrop]

Just to add support to what Andy is saying, its true, goldfish really do need the kind of tank water volumes he has spelled out there.

Its such a sad and long-continued misunderstanding in most of our societies, goldfish are quite the opposite of "bowl" fish or even normal "aquarium" fish. They are truly "pond" fish (or very large aquariums with a few fancy type goldfish all by themselves and big filters.)

One of the interesting things about the "messy" aspect of goldfish is that it comes about because they like to include lots of plants in their diet. Ideally, they are in a pond with lots of rapidly growing plants which they can munch on all day. They need to eat a lot of them to get the right nutrients and then of course they make a lot of mess and need over-filtration compared to many other types of fish.

~~waterdrop~~

 

[ayresygirl]

Hi all thanks for you comments but i think I may have my mesurments on my tank size wrong, when i bought the 3 new ones the man in the shop said i was not to put in any more fish after these as the tank would be to small for any more then 4. My tank is large and no where near overcroaded although i do understand that fish need a curtain amout of room. I did not get them from a normal pet store but a fish specilist store so i think the tank is the correct size and like i said it is a big big tank and if your saying to upgaid too 120 odd letares then that would be amazingly massive so i think i am working in out wrong. is there any way i can mesure the tank to find out how many gallons it is?

 

[aly_starh]

As replied to on your other post...
Use This



~betta_246

 

[pippoodle]

120 litre tank would only be suitable for 1 fancy goldfish , a couple of snails , couple of hillstream loaches and maybe a small group of 8 WCminnows

Or 2 fancy goldfish ONLY with no other tank mates

it would need filtration at least 10 times - 1200 lph external canister

can you measure your tank and if you cant work out the calculator add the measurement here and someone will work it out for you