So my daughter got a goldfish from the school carnival last Friday. Put it in a new 20 gallon by itself, made sure to net out leftover food (which was ALL the food, it wasn't eating), put in hiding places, covered half the tank with a towel to make it more secluded, monitored the water conditions, did 10% daily water changes... it died Sunday night.
I decided to replace it with an identical fish since she has her heart so set on this fish (although normally if we have a fish die, I tell her). So Monday I replaced the fish before she got home from school. I picked one that looked just like it, but had some qualms since it was hiding towards the back of the tank mostly.
It also refused to eat. On Wednesday (yesterday) I bought another small goldfish (they are both tiny) to put with it, thinking maybe it was too scared to eat and a friend might make it feel reassured. Today it died, but its friend DOES eat and is very active and vigorous. This afternoon I replaced the replacement fish again so my daughter wouldn't find out.
Both the fish that died seemed to rest a lot for a goldfish and didn't even act like they noticed food when it dropped in front of their faces. They were semi-active, but very skittish and panicked whenever someone walked in the room. When they were dying they just stopped trying to swim and within an hour were dead. Any ideas? Were they just stressed out feeder goldfish and there was nothing I could do?
Again, although it's a cycling tank the ammonia and nitrites aren't noticeable in the water, I've been doing daily 10% water changes (I know this slows down the cycling process but keeping my daughter's fish alive is more important to me at the moment), and I haven't left food sitting in the tank.
I really don't want to repeat this fish death episode a 3rd time so any advice is appreciated. In case there is any confusion, I currently have 2 tiny goldfish in a 20 gallon (and HAD 2 other fish that are now dead).
I decided to replace it with an identical fish since she has her heart so set on this fish (although normally if we have a fish die, I tell her). So Monday I replaced the fish before she got home from school. I picked one that looked just like it, but had some qualms since it was hiding towards the back of the tank mostly.
It also refused to eat. On Wednesday (yesterday) I bought another small goldfish (they are both tiny) to put with it, thinking maybe it was too scared to eat and a friend might make it feel reassured. Today it died, but its friend DOES eat and is very active and vigorous. This afternoon I replaced the replacement fish again so my daughter wouldn't find out.
Both the fish that died seemed to rest a lot for a goldfish and didn't even act like they noticed food when it dropped in front of their faces. They were semi-active, but very skittish and panicked whenever someone walked in the room. When they were dying they just stopped trying to swim and within an hour were dead. Any ideas? Were they just stressed out feeder goldfish and there was nothing I could do?
Again, although it's a cycling tank the ammonia and nitrites aren't noticeable in the water, I've been doing daily 10% water changes (I know this slows down the cycling process but keeping my daughter's fish alive is more important to me at the moment), and I haven't left food sitting in the tank.
I really don't want to repeat this fish death episode a 3rd time so any advice is appreciated. In case there is any confusion, I currently have 2 tiny goldfish in a 20 gallon (and HAD 2 other fish that are now dead).