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.

@Deereamer

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.

Well my goldfish have always lived in their 40 litre tank and get cleaned once a month....... no issues.

I had a fairground fish that lived 12 years!

You had 5 fish in a 40 litre tank? Is that correct or am I reading it wrong?

Goldfish are really sensitive to water quality.

That's more like the size for one fish (and small at that, tbh).

If there are issues after this, I'd get one common goldfish and focus on the water quality. I loved having a goldfish.

How do you clean the tank? You don't use fairy liquid or anything like that do you?

Once you have this sorted it'll be amazing and you'll be set, so don't give up.

They don't really like lights at all (they don't have eyelids so can't shut their eyes) so I'd consider switching that off.

I hope your one remaining fish does OK, it's so horrible to see them die.

I wonder if they were ill when you got them.

I will say one thing though as a general comment - just because goldfish in the past were able to survive horrible living conditions doesn't mean we should put them into them now. I'm not saying you've done that but what I'm saying is there seems to be a mindset of it being alright to bung them into a tiny tank as in the past it was OK.

I'd put money on five fish in a 40 litre tank being the root cause of it all though.

When my fish was ill I managed to save her by buying reverse osmosis water and creating a hospital tank for her and treating her with medicine. She got well and she had red streaks at that point. It can be done. I hope your fish pulls through.

Did your fish live till 20 years and grow a foot long?
Because if it didn't they died early or had their growth stunted - a condition where the insides keep growing but the outside doesn't which as you can imagine is incredibly painful

We have two gold fish in a 60l tank. They are over 2 years old now. It's a planted tank with an extra beefy filter than sits outside of the tank. We have a heater that heats the water slightly when the room get really cold. They have a mixture of frozen and flaked food. We only feed them when they start hovering at the top of the tank (approx every 3 days). We also have shrimp and snails. We change 1 third of the water every week using tap safe and clean the filter. Pipes are done every month.

I would say either your tank is too small, your filter isn't powerful enough and you are over feeding.

I have a success story, I have a goldfish that lives at my parents house (long story) I had originally bought a pair, one died hadn't lived that long, and then I bought another pair, the original one died and one of the second of the pair, and one has lived on, since 2010 if not before, absolutely amazed! He has had lumps etc and we've had to put treatments in etc, but other than that he is still with us bless him 🐠

We couldn't keep goldfish alive it was very depressing and upsetting for my DS. We now have black moors they are mega easy to look after and are less prone to problems with the heat unlike goldfish. The only problems with moors is, they are messy and greedy, we have to wet the food and make sure it sinks otherwise they gulp at the top, take on loads of air and end up floating at the top of the tank. To help with the mess we have shrimp which are fascinating and eat everything. Goldfish are not very hardy.

It's really odd that goldfish I had as a child, seemed to live forever in a tiny tank with gravel, ornaments, tap water, and a lid if some sort. Fed on flakes. Since then, I've only had them in a pond, and gave up as I was feeding the local Heron. Not exactly an expert.

Mine are 15 years old.

They need:

Plenty of digging space in bottom of the tank, lots of plants aren't needed.
Fortnightly water changes, about one third. Why on earth are you doing daily water changes.
Fed once daily.
Use tap water safe after water change.
Keep number of fish to a minimum in such a small tank. Put a lid on also.

My childhood fairground fish didn’t live very long, a couple of years maybe. The only time I have had any success with fish was when I had a garden pond. The fish in there grew huge and looked really healthy. I sadly had to leave them when I moved, I hope they carried on living happy lives.
I like fish but I wouldn't have them again unless in a pond.

I don't know much about them myself. My partner had a pair of goldfish in a tank (fairly large tank for two goldfish tbf). One lived for 10 years and the other 13 years! We've been together 9 years and he had them before that and one just died this week!

Why on earth are you doing daily water changes
Because I am aware the tank is too small and want to make sure ammonia is always zero..?
Which it is.

You had 5 fish in a 40 litre tank? Is that correct or am I reading it wrong?
No.
Three tiny ones that I have had to keep replacing as they keep dying.

I wonder if they were ill when you got them
This is what I suspect.
I know everyone is saying about ammonia and the small size but honestly, there is no ammonia in the tank.
It’s tested regularly and changed regularly and no fish has ever showed any symptoms of ammonia poisoning.
My suspicion is the fish are carrying illness when they arrive at the pet shop but not yet showing it.

Sounds like it might be swim bladder. I'd look at what you're feeding them and the water temperature, if it's not too cold it can cause issues, even for coldwater fish.

*if it's too cold. Also, are you getting them all from the same pet shop? That might be the issue or at least part of it.

People keep discussing these 'fairly large' tanks for goldfish...

A single common goldfish should be around 9" long by 2 years old.

Their adult size is around a foot long.

Their average lifespan is over ten years and that is a dramatic under-estimation given just how many don't make it past a year old. It is likely their actual life span is 40+ years.

Unless your tank is around 400l, it is not big enough for common goldfish.

Sounds like it might be swim bladder
Does that kill the fish?
They literally go from being happy swimming around to sitting on the bottom or staying motionless in one spot.
Then they die.

I’m 99.9% sure my favourite fantail is about to go the same way.
It’s been sitting at the bottom yesterday and now I notice it floating around on its side for a bit then back to the bottom.

I’m going to give it a salt dip shortly but I suspect it’s pointless.

Fuck this.

I’ve told DH if the one remaining healthy fish dies I’m not replacing it and will drain the tank but DH was aghast saying he’s spent so much money on the bloody thing I’d better find a different, longer lasting fish.

Also, are you getting them all from the same pet shop?
I am.
We’ve known the owners since childhood, I know the quarantine the fish on arrival.
My suspicion is they are arriving to the shop infected and it’s taking a few months before it really becomes apparent and they die.

You def need a thermometer- and we always had a lid- only ever added a couple of fish to a tank and next it a long time before adding more x having said that our pond with goldfish outside they seem to thrive in without any extras.And my fish we were always told that to feed once or twice a week only not everyday.Advice has changed a lot but we always had success by not interfering too much apart from testing-we didn’t need to change the water often-twice a month I recall once you have the balance right. Good luck

If they are on their sides then yes swim bladder.

Have you any peas in the house? Cook some, cool them completely, take the skin off and feed them to the fish in small pieces. Do this for the next 4 days or so, stop their normal food.

Yes, swim bladder can kill fish. It means they can't swim properly or control their buoyancy so can't breathe properly, hence why they lie on the bottom then die. If it was a pet shop issue it wouldn't take months to show up and would more likely be something like white spot. You can get swim bladder treatment in most pet shops I believe.

Also if this one does unfortunately die, please get a different kind of fish. There's no point in getting another goldfish when you know the tank you have is too small for them.

I find tropicals easier to keep than goldfish.

My goldfish tips are get a fucking good filter (bin the one that came with the tank it won’t be good enough) and match the water temperature with your finger.

Also if they are tiny crush the food so they aren’t too big to eat.

My money is on the water changes or diseased fish being the issue

please get a different kind of fish. There's no point in getting another goldfish when you know the tank you have is too small for them
Like I said, the plan was to grow them a bit in the tank then out to the pond.
I have no intention of replacing them.

The original plan was grow them a bit in the tank (as the shop said they were too small for a pond) then put some small tiny tropicals in with a heater, Pygmy cories or ember tetras or similar.

Frankly I feel like throwing the towel in but DH is insisting we’ve spent so much money it has to be made to work somehow.

If they are on their sides then yes swim bladder
Only the fantail has floated.
The others went from bottom sitting to death.

We have large aquarium, plastic plants, air filters, water filter, bit lazy with water charges (as in every 2 or 3 Weeks instead of weekly) but do test water weekly.
Had set up 2 years only lost 1 fish. We have danios, hill stream loaches and another sort (name escapes me).
Hillstream loaches have bred and has babies twice since lockdown started (2 babies each time)

If you aren’t getting rid of the chlorine in the water using some sort of tap safe liquid then you could be giving your fish chlorine poisoning especially with the large daily water changes.