"Help: My Goldfish are in trouble!"

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Gold girl

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Apr 11, 2009
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Ok so we have had these two goldfish for a year and we have put them in our pond in the summer and then in a tank for the winter. Well they had started to get too big for their one tank (10 gallon) and so we moved them to a 50 gallon. (the smaller tank was in one of our back rooms that doesn't get a lot of people traffic and the bigger tank is out in the living room where people are walking by a lot I didn't know if that had anything to do with it). One is about 6 inches long and the other is about 5. Well the first week we put in a small catfish which ended up chasing the goldfish so we immediately switched him to a different tank and put in another one that didn't chase them.
The second week they were doing great swimming around and not having any problems and then all of a sudden on the third week one of them just started convulsing and then she would float vertically for a little bit and then return to normal and they both started being really lethargic and staying at the bottom corner of the aquarium. So we decided to switch them back to their other aquarium but we haven't seen any improvement. They are still just as lethargic and the one's back fin is slightly shredded. Also both the catfish died.
The water temperature in both is the exact same at about 70 and then the water pH and alkalinity we really haven't tested for so we don't know. Any ideas????
 
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Somervell

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If I'm reading this correctly you have a 5" goldfish, a 6" goldfish and a small catfish in a 10 gallon tank. How often do you do water changes? Usually 10 gallons minimum per fish is suggested (and this is really a minimum.) When you say you switched them back to the other tank, do you mean the 50 gal? Were they acclimated to the water in the new tank when you switched them?

My my first guess would be that you have high ammonia concentrations in the water. That's a lot of fish in a small space. Could you test the parameters and post? Maybe the goldfish gurus, Kashta and Flaringshutter, on the site will be better able to help you if they know PH, nitrite, nitrate and ammonia levels. There are also a lot of others who I'm sure can help,too. I keep goldfish and have for a long time. I would guess that a water change is in order (partial, not complete. Don't want to totally shock the fishies, but overall I think it should be large volume.)
 

Gold girl

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Apr 11, 2009
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We had the catfish and the two goldfish in the 50 gallon tank. We had just moved them. When we switched them back it was to the 10 gallon which were they are now and they are actually starting to act and look better. So I tested the water in the 50 gallon which is the tank they were having problems in. and the nitrate came out at about 15ppm and then the nitrite came out at 1.0ppm the hardness was 50ppm the total alkalinity was 10ppm and then the pH was about 7.2. We really don't know that much about fish so I really don't know what these readings mean so any insight would be appreciated.
 

LeahK

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Jul 5, 2007
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Did you cycle your 50 gallon? If you have any measurable nitrite, then your tank is not fully cycled. A cycled tank should have 0 ammonia, 0 nitrite, and some measurable nitrate (your 15 is ok). It sounds like your goldies were suffering from ammonia and nitrite poisoning. What kind of a pond were they in before you moved them inside? How long had they been in the pond?

Edit: Sorry! I just saw that you said you'd had them for a year. So they were in the 10 gallon last winter, too? If the 10 gallon is cycled, then you can move some of the filter material to the 50 gallon and help get that one cycled, too.
 

Gold girl

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By cycling do you mean doing regular water changes or actually cycling the water in the tank?? They were in just a normal outside plastic pond that had lily pads in it. And they were in the pond for about 6 months.
 

Somervell

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You might want to check out the stickies in the freshwater newbie forum on cycling a tank. There's so much interesting stuff there!
Had you just filled the 50 gallon? What kind of filtration are you using? Did you test the water in the 10 gallon? Ideally you should have 0 nitrates and 0 nitrites (or as close as possible-- I find it is tough if not impossible to get a 0 reading consistantly) Optimal Ph is between 7.4- 7.7, I believe, for goldfish. I know nothing about cats. I think that the water quality in the 50 was the problem. If you have similar readings in your 10, do a partial water change immediately. (Maybe as much as 30% or more) Water quality, along with harassment from the catfish could be the cause of the goldfish's fin problem. The good news is if it isn't too late, you can help cure the damage with some good, clean water.

Please note that I am no expert, nor am I claiming to be but like so many others here, I have accidentally killed off fish because of not cycling tanks properly. I have three 35s, all of which contain three small goldfish (less than 3.5"), and I change 20% twice per week. I also use twice the level of filtration that is recommended for a tank that size, because goldfish are so incredibly messy and their waste can contaminate a tank very quickly. I know that the goldfish gurus here would probably shake their heads at that stocking level and say the tanks are overcrowded. A 100% water change is not advisable, however, as it will shock the fish. Are you using water conditioner when you change the water? (Or leaving it out long enough for the chlorine to leave the water.) Hopefully this will tide you over at least until the experts can jump in and give you more detailed advice.

I see that you were cycled. Made the same mistake as your previous poster, but I agree entirely with her.
 
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Gold girl

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Apr 11, 2009
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ya we had just filled the 50 gallon and for the first two weeks they were ok but the third week they started convulsing and stuff. We have to big filters and two cleaning fish for the 50 gallon tank and then just one big filter for the 10The reading in the ten is almost identical except the nitrite level is lower and they seem to be doing fine in it.
We have started treating the bigger tank and are planning on putting them back in because the ten is just too small for them. We'll have to just see what happens. Thank you soooo much for all of your input. I put something if they get worse.
 

LeahK

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Jul 5, 2007
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By cycling do you mean doing regular water changes or actually cycling the water in the tank?? They were in just a normal outside plastic pond that had lily pads in it. And they were in the pond for about 6 months.
Right--cycling the water in the tank--getting the beneficial bacteria that consume ammonia and nitrite to come and live in your filter. This can take more than a month if you start from scratch. But it sounds like the 50 was already up and running when you put the goldies in it, right? How long had it been running? What fish were already in there when you added the goldies?
It could be that the goldies were enough of a bioload that they sent your 50 into a mini-cycle. That might explain the measurable nitrite. You need to do enough water changes to keep the ammonia and nitrite under 0.25, or as close to 0 as possible. This might take daily water changes, until the cycle works itself back out.

Also, did the pond have any filtration?
 

LeahK

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Jul 5, 2007
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ya we had just filled the 50 gallon and for the first two weeks they were ok but the third week they started convulsing and stuff. . . . We have started treating the bigger tank and are planning on putting them back in because the ten is just too small for them. We'll have to just see what happens.
Oh, I see now, you had just filled the 50, so it wasn't cycled.
If you put the goldies back, into this uncycled tank, then it is very important that you keep nitrite and ammonia below 0.25. This may take daily or twice daily water changes, of 30% or more. It will be a lot of work.
Is there any way you can use the filter from the 10 on the 50? Or at least put some of the 10's filter media in the 50's filter? If the 10 filter media has any bacter living on it, then you need this bacteria in your 50--it will make your life a lot easier.
Make sure you have test kits for ammonia, too. You need to measure ammonia and nitrite every day, so you can do water changes when the levels reach 0.25.
 
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