Gold fish water question

patrickc

We've a cold water tank and up to 2 months ago our fish were thriving in the tank.. Suddenly some started to die.. We got 2 more last week and they were all good until I changed about 60% of the water. One died last night and the others are listless at the bottom of the tank. We had a funny taste in our tap water recently but that's gone now. I googled and it says there may be too ammonia in the water so I've just changed 50% of the water again, so far it's made no difference. Has anyone any suggestions what I can do please?

Redneck Reject

patrickc wrote: »

We've a cold water tank and up to 2 months ago our fish were thriving in the tank.. Suddenly some started to die.. We got 2 more last week and they were all good until I changed about 60% of the water. One died last night and the others are listless at the bottom of the tank. We had a funny taste in our tap water recently but that's gone now. I googled and it says there may be too ammonia in the water so I've just changed 50% of the water again, so far it's made no difference. Has anyone any suggestions what I can do please?

I'm by no means an expert but I too keep goldfish and black mollies. My tap water is heavily chloride and fluoride. I boil it off in the kettle then add it to the tank during cycling once it's room temperature and haven't had any issues. Also are you sure it's not due to temperature shock?

patrickc

It never happened before, and I don't notice any difference temperature wise. Our tank is 80litres that's a lot of boiling if we went that way

Redneck Reject

Aside from those instances and if they aren't affected by like Ick, fin rot, etc. I don't know. I'm still learning myself since it is a new hobby for me. Sorry to hear that your having this problem though and that I wasn't much help. Hopefully someone more knowledgeable will log on and help you. Wish you and your fish all the best.

patrickc

Redneck Reject wrote: »

Aside from those instances and if they aren't affected by like Ick, fin rot, etc. I don't know. I'm still learning myself since it is a new hobby for me. Sorry to hear that your having this problem though and that I wasn't much help. Hopefully someone more knowledgeable will log on and help you. Wish you and your fish all the best.

Thanks I appreciate your help and replies

Carpentry

patrickc

Carpentry wrote: »

I'll have to wait until the morning at this rate.

Drumorig

Grab a test kit to know for sure. Any pet shop that sells fish have them.

patrickc

Drumorig wrote: »

Grab a test kit to know for sure. Any pet shop that sells fish have them.

I'll do so in the morning

Carpentry

patrickc wrote: »

I'll do so in the morning

you can bring sample of water to the shop and they will tell you whats wrong.

Knine

I use Prime to treat my water. I find it much better then anything else.

Alkers

You need to treat tap water before adding it to the aquarium, or you can leave it in a bucket for circa 24 hours. Don't change more than 50% of the water at a time and don't do anything with your filter. How long was the tank up and running previously? How many fish are in it now?

Nicks delight

you can fill op a tub with water and let it stand for two days before you add it to the water. It will take a way the chemicals you talked about. Alternatively, go to the shop and buy cleartap or some similar product that takes away such chemical instantly. It should work.

someone said that the temperature difference might be one of your problems. that is correct. just a couple of degrees difference can send your fish in to chock. Float them first for 30 minutes in the bag they come in before tipping it in slowly.

here is another last resort to think of. If you bought the fish at one end of town or country and then travel back home, the PH levels in the water might be severely different. it can effect the fish. unlikely but very possible.

Ideally change some of the water every day if you have a small tank with no filter or air pump. In your tank i would change half the water every week and treat the added water.

Read up on the ideal temperature of the water that is suitable for your fish.

Have a great day and good luck.

Berserker

patrickc wrote: »

It never happened before, and I don't notice any difference temperature wise. Our tank is 80litres that's a lot of boiling if we went that way

80L is not big enough for one goldfish, let alone multiple goldfish. Aside from the issues that you may be having with your water quality, it's also highly likely that the fish are dying as a result of ammonia poisoning.

Nick Park

Irish tap water contains chlorine, so you need to treat it. No need to boil it, just add something like Prime or Aquaplus.

And, as already mentioned, 80L is too small for one goldfish.

Sleepy

Lots of problems here:

* way too small a tank for multiple goldfish (too small for even one!)
* tap water needs to be treated to be safe for fish (you need a dechlorinator, PRIME would be best)
* you don't seem to have any knowledge of water chemistry so I'm guessing the tank was never cycled properly

Return the goldfish to whatever charlatan keeps selling them to you and take some time to learn about fishkeeping. Get your tank cycled, add a heater and look at getting some guppies, mollies etc.