I can't even look after goldfish......

[scrappydappydoo]

We brought 2 goldfish on Monday and one has died this morning. Now I'm beginning to worry about the other one....
DD's have been given a proper tank with a filter and everything but the water seems to be going all murky today after discovering the dead one this morning and having to explain death to my 3 yr old.. now fish 2 is swimming a lot slower and giving me accusing looks along the lines of you killed my friend and now I'm dying too...
So where am I going wrong - water shouldn't be murky should it?? Filter seems to be working fine - should I change water??
or perhaps we've traumatised them in some way by putting the 6inch dora the explorer in the tank??
Help!!

How long was the tank set up before you added the fish?

Listen to HoochieMooma, she obviously knows what she is talking about. I have tropicals not goldfish

It can just be luck.

My first fish from a fancy shop croaked in two weeks.

Then I got two from a fleapit in Bow - they were survivors. One's still going 18 months later. The other only died because his brother turned on him when their toys were left behind durign our house move

Well we left the tank running for a day before putting fish in and the water seemed fine (used filtered water). We have flakes which said to feed 2-3 times a day so fed them every time we had a meal - is this too much??
I'll try a partial water change and check filter...
Arrghh - I thought goldfish were meant to be easy...
At least we hadn't named them...

too much.

waaaayyy too much.

once a day is loads.

overfeeding top cause of goldfish death.

is that like laundry detergent boxes that encourage you to put in two tablets with every wash... and shampoo bottles that seem to think you need to wash your hair twice every time you bathe...

we have just bought 2 goldfish last 2 dies after 2 weeks i had it near radiator found the heat was draining oxygen from water unfortunately they died

they need small pinch of food once a day no more than that
you can buy liquid that you put in water to make it safe for goldfish

clean the tank and give no more food till tomorrow and only very small pinch once a day

check filter and make sure not near heat

if it's looking ill i'd not feed it at all for 48 hours.

btw - my first fishies had a filter that came with the 'kit', This broke, and i had to get another filter. It was much better. less cleaning for me and lovely water for the fishies. They like it clean, but full of their own 'friendly' bacteria iyswim.

another statistic of the growing obesity epidemic then...
Heating isn't on at the mo and in a 'cold' room'
number 2 is still alive n swimming though - will go talk to the lady in pet shop tomorrow and see what she can sell me to clear tank out.
Thanks for the advice!

we bought 2 for dd1's 4th birthday in january. One lasted 2 weeks, the other five. We planned to get some more but dd2 came along in the meantime so now we just have a fishtank siting on the side. thankfully its quite attractive !

aquarium salts are a good tonic in a small dose (read instructions) but yep cloudy water often occurs from over-feeding. Tank should have been set up for couple of days to stabilise, with hindsight.
I also recommend looking at all the fish in a tank before purchase. If one's ill, they'll all be subject to the infection/disease etc. Much harder than you think to find the ultimate healthy fish!
Unfortunately, none of this will be recompense for your little one

Fish tanks take about 4-6 weeks to properly cycle and you need to add a source of ammonia to cycle it, leaving it empty doesn't do anything.

Cloudy water sounds like a bacterial bloom, this is common in uncycled tanks. If you get a water testing kit it will tell you whether you have any ammonia or nitrIte in the water. Both are harmful to fish and should be zero in a cycled tank. Water changes should be carried out a few times a week until the levels go down. NitrAte (not nitrIte) should always be below 40ppm.

Goldfish aren't great as beginner fish really because they grow massive and live quite a long time (20 years for a common goldfish is a good run). If you don't have space for a big tank- like around 30 gallons- then you could always get a heater and go tropical, it's no more difficult than coldwater if you pick the right fish. Plenty of research is needed, don't just listen to what the people in the shop tell you.