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You are here: Experts > Animals/Pets > Pet Fish > Fish > Goldfish
Expert: Amber Worman
Date: 7/9/2007
Subject: Goldfish
Question
My daughter won a fantail goldfish at a fair. I bought a tank a two regular goldfish to keep it company. The fish did well for the first 3 days and then the littlest one (which I had bought at Wal-mart) sat at the bottom and finally stopped breathing Thursday 4 days after getting them.
Now the other 2 are hanging out at the bottom of the tank. The fantail fish will swim around especially when fed but then goes right to the bottom and stays there. The other one will also swim around only at feeding time. They look to have spots on their fins and the one from WalMart looks like its fin is starting to rot. Also the fantail when first put into the tank had all of its fins outand was very active, but now he keeps the fins tucked in to his sides and it looks alittle like his may be starting to rot also.
We did a 50% water change 2days ago and a full water change today. We added the aquasafe gel to make the tap water safe. Is there anything we can do to help these fish?
If not can the tank still be reused so we can try to get more fish? The only thing in the tank at the moment besides the fish , filter, air pump is the gravel. We had a half a clam shell in there but took it out today incase that had something on it though we washed and rinsed it well before adding it to the tank.
Anyway we appreciate any help we can get.
Thanks
Answer
Hello Karen-
Sorry for the wait.
Your little guys are probably suffering from one of two things: really cold water, or very high ammonia levels. (And possibly fin rot, from the sound of it.)
Here's what you can do to try and save them:
1.) Make sure the tank is not near an air vent. Goldfish like their water in the mid 60's, so keep them away from both hot and cold extremes.
2.) Do a 50% water change every day. Add the Aquasafe to the water before pouring it into the tank.
3.) Add a small dose of aquarium salt. (available at WalMart.)
4.) Only feed once a day, and only just enough that the fish get some food in their bellies. This will cut down on nitrogenous waste and help your fish recover.
5.) Be sure the bubbler and filter are running 24/7 to keep the tank fully aerated and cycled.
If everything ends badly, the tank can be cleaned with hot water (no soap) and reused. Do not clean the filter, however, as the good bacteria that have started to grow inside it are beneficial rather than harmful.
Hopefully this will help. Sorry again for the delay.
-Amber Worman
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