My goldfish are dead and I feel awful

[GrumpyOldBastard]

Poor old Finn and Bob.
I’d had them for 5 years. They were in a 105 litre tank with a decent filter. I’d recently cleaned the tank, changed the water and bought them new weed.
We went away for 4 days, but they should have been fine because they had plenty of weed to eat.
When we got back they hadn’t touched the weed, which was turning yellow, and they were sulking at the bottom of the tank. I removed the weed and offered them some food but they weren’t interested. The next day they were dead.
I wish I’d realised how ill they were. I could have moved them to the spare tank with fresh water and no poisonous weed: I think it might have been the weed that killed them, as it wasn’t the usual type, although I bought it from my usual aquatic shop,
They were lovely friendly fish, always pleased to see me. I feel so guilty.

@GrumpyOldBastard I understand your guilt! I inherited my sons Japanese fighting fish' Gary' in August - he wasn't very well and I got some great advice on here. I followed it and he perked up hugely but I unknowingly over fed him on too many flakes and not enough fibre (although he wouldn't eat peas or dried shrimp when I tried). The past few days he's been really unwell, bloated, heavy breathing and on the bottom of the tank so, given his age (2) last night I euthanised him (with clove oil). Can't believe how upset I am! ! Just as bad as losing the dogs and Gary was only part of my life for 3 months. I feel so guilty for causing his illness then ending his life.

@blobby10 Thanks for your response. Sorry to hear about Gary. It sounds like you did everything you could for him.
I never expected to get attached to a couple of fish. I think I mainly feel guilty that I didn’t even notice they were ill, although it was obvious with hindsight. But it would have been worse (for me) to watch them gradually decline, like Gary. At least Finn and Bob were alive one day, dead the next, without any extended period of anxiety for me.

Oh no I remember Gary!

If it makes you feel better @GrumpyOldBastard, I'll tell you about how I accidentally killed my goldfish, when I was about 8.

It was the 70s, and "Tic" and "Toc" lived in basically a clear plastic box with gravel on the bottom, some weed and a couple of snails (Elizabeth and Philip!). DM changed their water every week, and put them in a clear glass water jug for the duration (they also featured as a table centrepiece when DDad had clients for dinner once, like I said, it was the 70s).

Anywaaaaayyy. DM was changing the fish water one day. She had put the tank full of clean water where it lived, but the fish were still in the jug, when the phone rang. The phone was in another room. Left alone with the fish, I took it upon myself to transfer them to the tank myself, but I had a cunning plan..... I'd let them have warm water!

So I scooped a few mugfuls of water out of the fish tank, and topped it up with a few mugfuls of hot water. Then I poured the fish straight back in. Proudly, I went to find DD to show her both that 1- I'd done a job for her, 2- considerably improved the fish's living conditions. Except we got downstairs to find a tank of poached fish and snails.

We got a cat next. Considerably easier, particularly since it pushed off over the road to live with an old lady who gave it cream and pilchards rather than KitEKat after a few months. It decided that crossing the road wasn't worth it to see us, and just stayed there getting fat.

My friend's dd's goldfish died before school one day. Friend quickly shaped a bit of carrot and dropped it in the bowl. The dc never noticed and Goldie was replaced before end of the school day..

In all honesty, it probably wasn’t the weed that killed them. Fish can survive with no food for a few days with no problem. It’s probably that the water quality wasn’t right. Goldfish need a tank size of at least 200 litres to be healthy, preferably more. They are extremely messy and produce lots of waste so water quality becomes poor extremely quickly. I bet the ammonia levels rose to dangerous levels and they died that way. I would give the tank a good clean, cycle it again (I assume you’ve got a filter) and add a heater. You can get lovely tropical fish and a 100 litre tank is a nice size for a little collection. Maybe a male Betta, some tetras and some corys.

And feed them fish food!