Can anyone keep goldfish alive?!

[Powertothepetal]

I’m getting really quite depressed now.

As a child I had fairground goldfish, they were kept in an unfiltered, grotty tank with no plants or a light and cleaned out once a week until they grew too big and were given to someone with a pond.
Super healthy, hardy, bombproof fish.

Year later I have an aquarium again, it’s planted with lots of lovely live plants, it has a light, the water quality is pristine - no ammonia, nitrite, low nitrate and crystal clear and every fucking goldfish dies.

4 have died so far and now my gorgeous fancy fantail (my favourite) is on the way out.

What the fuck is going on here?

All the dead goldfish have been comets and one common, not fancies which are known to not be as hardy.

They all follow the same, predictable trend.
They are bright, active, healthy then they suddenly start sitting at the bottom or staying still in one place staring into space, then they die.

There is nothing wrong with the water and the only sign on the fish is their gills inside are pale.

It’s really getting me down.

I can't keep them alive either. Huge aquarium, two fish, dead within weeks. I put a heater in the aquarium and got some guppies and platys. They have proved to be bomb proof.

I managed to keep some alive when I had my tank and they really thrived - they were those black moor ones with the boggly eyes. But the tank was HUGE (approx 500l). In my smaller tank before that (60l) they died and I wouldn't keep them in that small a tank again.

Fairground goldfish - or at least the ones that survived long enough to be taken home - where the moost disease resistant, put-up-with-anything, live longer than you will examples of wildlife ever. I remember Marigold going on and on...

It’s just so depressing.
I was so happy when I first bought them, watched them all the time and my kids love them.
I can’t understand why they keep dying.
I don’t think I am going to replace when my one remaining fish dies.
I just feel like I am bringing them to their death

I don’t want guppies or platies because of the baby fish.

What size is your tank? In my huge tank I had a real community, including guppies and platys - but I had weather loaches which took care of fry. Another nice option is corys - I love the albino ones. Very hardy and very pretty.

Are you cycling your tank before adding the fish?

Are you treating the tap water to remove the chloramine?

Are you over feeding them?

Try black moors, beautiful and don't need as much space as comets and common goldfish which should live in ponds.

Make sure the live plants you have are goldfish friendly too. How big is your tank? I had a 3ft tank for my three fancy goldfish.

Have you considered not getting female guppies?

Also get an air pump.

My friends father kept his goldfish alive for about 10 years, I think it's still alive now, I'll ring her for his tips and come back to this thread with what I learn

We have goldfish in our garden pond and they are thriving.
We've only lost 2 in 3 years.1 was eaten by a bird and dh stood on one when he went I to the pond to clean the filter.

Let me help! I'm very good at getting goldfish to 15 plus years

Tell me what's going on with your tank

What size is it?
What filter are you using?
Did you do a fishless cycle before adding any fish?
Do you treat the water with a conditioner that gets rid of both chlorine and Chloramine at every water change?
Do you match water temperature when you change the water?
What's your tank PH?
Whats your tap water PH?
Is the tank close to any chemicals or aerosols? Do you spray anything in your home that could be causing issues?

Answer those and I'm sure people will inundate you with answers and advice

We had one, name of Fishy, lived to be 13 and was the size of two fish fingers stuck together when he died.
No pump, no fancy equipment. The pet shop bloke said never to have any kind of lid on top of the tank, never to use an actual fishbowl and to leave the water we intended to put into the bowl when we changed it outside with the lid off for at least 24 hours first. We got into the habit of filling 4-5 water bottles and sticking them outside when we changed him.
No idea why for any of those things, but Fishy was famous in the 'hood for being so enormous and old. He also recognised dp and if he walked into the living room would come over all "come and get me master" and come to the top of the tank splishy sploshing and making a scene till he got fed.

I inherited one fro my step dad that was we think at least 15 when it died. Lived in a bowl, no lid, gravel at the bottom and the water was never treated. No idea how it lasted so long.

Our fish lasted forever, and got too big for their tanks eventually, so at about 10 years old we popped them into neighbours pond.

Wasn't a very big tank, never had more than two, multi coloured fantail jobs. Basic filter. Cleaned out when needed, completely changing water with solution sitting overnight before change out and scrubbing and cleaning filters, ornaments, gravel each time. Maybe once a month? Disgusting job.

Other than that, nothing. We even used to put in long lasting fish food when we went on holiday, and they survived quite happily on that for a couple of weeks.

I've got one that's 3 years old now

Me daughter went with her uncle to the fair and I got stuck with it

I'm not doing anything fancy. A medium size tank and regular water changes. I only feed it every other day.

I've two, one of them must be around 16 and the other about 8 years old. They're conditioned to jump when they want food and that's possibly been key to their survival. They're in a tank with a filter and get changed about once a month maximum. We always use the chlorine blocking liquid but nothing special is really done for them at all. I tried an expensive fancy food from dobbies last year to try and get some better colour into the large one but apart from that they've lived on aquarian.
Having reflected on it a bit more they're in a very cool hallway with no direct light except for one of those glass tunnel type things which brings light but not direct sunlight to them.
Any living creatures dying like that is distressing, I do hope you have better luck with them in the future.

Are you over feeding them?
I don’t think so..?
I have a pot of goldfish sticks but they are t really sticks, they are like tiny pellets.
I soak them in tank water until they swell up and put in 2 pellets per fish once a day.

Also get an air pump
Have one already attached to an air stone.

What size is it?
40 litres, it’s their temporary house until the pond is finished, the pet shop said they needed to be bigger anyway before going into the pond (they’ve all been tiny baby fish)

What filter are you using?
Cant remember what brand it is, just a simple black one.

Did you do a fishless cycle before adding any fish?
Yes.

Do you treat the water with a conditioner that gets rid of both chlorine and Chloramine at every water change?
Yes, API in a blue and white bottle.

Do you match water temperature when you change the water?
No, I don’t have a thermometer, I didn’t buy one as they are cold water fish.

What's your tank PH?
Don’t know but it will be hard.

Whats your tap water PH?
Again not sure but it’ll be hard as I’m in SE

Is the tank close to any chemicals or aerosols?
No.
Do you spray anything in your home that could be causing issues?
And no.

The pet shop bloke said never to have any kind of lid on top of the tank
I don’t, it’s open topped with emersed plants (peace lily, red tiger lotus and Dracaena sanderiana) and plants under the water.

From what you’ve said, my guess would be your tank size. 40 litres is way too small for goldfish even on a temporary basis. Goldfish produce a massive amount of waste and I would put money that if you tested your water (with a proper kit, not the strips or at the pet shop) your ammonia would be through the roof. Until you get a bigger tank I’d be doing water changes most days with prime.

@Powertothepetal

Are you over feeding them? I don’t think so..? I have a pot of goldfish sticks but they are t really sticks, they are like tiny pellets. I soak them in tank water until they swell up and put in 2 pellets per fish once a day.

Also get an air pump
Have one already attached to an air stone.

What size is it?
40 litres, it’s their temporary house until the pond is finished, the pet shop said they needed to be bigger anyway before going into the pond (they’ve all been tiny baby fish)

What filter are you using?
Cant remember what brand it is, just a simple black one.

Did you do a fishless cycle before adding any fish?
Yes.

Do you treat the water with a conditioner that gets rid of both chlorine and Chloramine at every water change?
Yes, API in a blue and white bottle.

Do you match water temperature when you change the water?
No, I don’t have a thermometer, I didn’t buy one as they are cold water fish.

What's your tank PH?
Don’t know but it will be hard.

Whats your tap water PH?
Again not sure but it’ll be hard as I’m in SE

Is the tank close to any chemicals or aerosols?
No.
Do you spray anything in your home that could be causing issues?
And no.

The pet shop bloke said never to have any kind of lid on top of the tank
I don’t, it’s open topped with emersed plants (peace lily, red tiger lotus and Dracaena sanderiana) and plants under the water.

Did you dose the tank with ammonia for several weeks allowing the water to build a good level of ammonia and nitrite eating bacteria or did you just leave it for 2 weeks with nothing going on?

So 40 litres is a very small tank for even baby goldfish, their growth can become stunted, even if they are small

To be honest, fancy goldfish don't do well in ponds, you want the common goldfish with the normal tail - even babies are fine in a pond, just pop a net over to deter cats and birds from fishing

Filter : most that come with tanks or that suction into the tank can't keep up with goldfish waste, you would be better with either a sump type or a hang on back filter

Water temperature matching: when you put cold tap Water into a tank that is at room temperature it changes the water temperature drastically and can cause temperature shock

Hopefully you can get some pointers from those answers

From what you’ve said, my guess would be your tank size. 40 litres is way too small for goldfish even on a temporary basis
Goldfish produce a massive amount of waste and I would put money that if you tested your water (with a proper kit, not the strips or at the pet shop) your ammonia would be through the roof
Im not so sure tbh.
The dead fish show no signs of ammonia or nitrite poisoning; no black marks, no fin streaks, no red bellies, nothing.
Literally just pale inside the gills.
The tank is packed with plants, both emersed and immersed which are meant to remove a lot of ammonia and nitrate.
It’s filtered.
I change the water very regularly.
Until you get a bigger tank I’d be doing water changes most days with prime
I change the water every day, just under a third!
I don’t have prime but I have a bacteria thing that apparently gets rid of waste/decaying plants/mulm

@Geamhradh

We had one, name of Fishy, lived to be 13 and was the size of two fish fingers stuck together when he died. No pump, no fancy equipment. The pet shop bloke said never to have any kind of lid on top of the tank, never to use an actual fishbowl and to leave the water we intended to put into the bowl when we changed it outside with the lid off for at least 24 hours first. We got into the habit of filling 4-5 water bottles and sticking them outside when we changed him. No idea why for any of those things, but Fishy was famous in the 'hood for being so enormous and old. He also recognised dp and if he walked into the living room would come over all "come and get me master" and come to the top of the tank splishy sploshing and making a scene till he got fed.

Times have very much changed...

Lid - no idea why he's said that, possibly to increase gaseous exchange but a lid shouldn't stop that. Possibly condensation. Does increase your risk of fish jumping out and becoming a crispy critter, and of contaminants getting in the tank..

No pump, ie filter or air pump? Odd, no good reason for this just lack of knowledge.

Leaving new water to gas off the chlorine - very old fashioned and useless now there are far more chemicals in the water than there once were. Use a water treatment.

It's great that Fishy lived to 13 but when you consider their natural lifespan to be 40+, in fact Fishy didn't even make middle age.

We know a LOT more now, but unfortunately advice such as you were given back then, is STILL being given now and there is a general attitude that it doesn't matter if fish suffer, because they are just fish.

OP if you didn't cycle the filter, then all you have there is mechanical filtration.

If you added some of the 'instant bacteria' products, whilst they will consume ammonia in the short term they are NOT the right bacteria and they will out compete the right bacteria and they won't do a very good job of removing ammonia long term, and so they prolong the toxic state of the water in the long run.

It really doesn't matter how many plants you ram into a 40l tank, the fact is that size tank is suitable for perhaps dwarf shrimp or a single betta, NOT goldfish of any size, age, or type.

Ammonia and nitrite poisoning can easly kill a fish long before you see any signs of it if the levels are high enough.