"Help: My Goldfish are in trouble!"

[Gold girl]

Ya the pond had a large filter built into it. And the 50 gallon tank was up for about 2 days before we added them in there. We put the goldfish in first and they were a little stressed about it but then they came out then about a week later we added the cleaner fish and the catfish. That's really when they started having problems.
We've treated the water in the 50 gallon and are going to let it sit for awhile then are planning on putting them back in so...we'll see what happens. Thanks for all your help!

 

[LeahK]

We've treated the water in the 50 gallon and are going to let it sit for awhile then are planning on putting them back in so...we'll see what happens. Thanks for all your help!

What did you treat it with? Keep in mind, just letting the water sit will not do anything for the cycle. If there's nitrite in there, you need to remove it through water changes.

 

[Flaringshutter]

Gold girl, welcome to AC!

The reason your fish are suffering is from nitrite and ammonia poisoning, as Somervell suggested. Your 50 gallon tank is not cycled. By "cycled" we are talking about the process of growing a bacteria colony in the filter that will process ammonia and nitrite, both highly toxic chemicals from fish waste, into nitrate. A cycled tank will not show any ammonia or nitrite levels because the bacteria colony will feed on them and turn them into nitrate, a less toxic chemical.

While a tank is cycling, the levels of ammonia and nitrite will spike viciously, which can make your fish sick and cause the convulsions you mentioned. Since you have far too many fish in the 50 gallon tank, the fish are producing very high levels of ammonia and nitrite, without an established bacteria colony to process those chemicals.

You will need to read our thread on cycling a new tank, which can be found here:
http://www.aquariacentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=84598
Rather than "treating" the tank - I'm not sure what you mean by that - you will need to do a large water change immediately with dechlorinated water. A good dechlorinator like Prime or AmQuel will remove the chlorine and chloramine from your tap water to make it safe for fish.

You should also remove the "cleaner fish" and the catfish from the tank. Goldfish should never be kept with catfish. As soon as the catfish is large enough to fit a goldfish in its mouth, it will! Any fish advertised as a "cleaner fish" certainly is not. Plecos and cories are both sold as such, but require specialized tank conditions and food of their own. Neither are compatible with goldfish.

You mentioned you are new to goldfish. A quick primer: The first thing you need to know is that pond goldfish (the single-tailed variety) can grow up to 18 inches long and the smallest tank they should be kept in is a 60 gallon. They are omnivorous fish and should be fed a quality sinking pelleted food, supplemented with fresh vegetables like romaine lettuce and parsley. Goldfish have no stomach and due to their large size, can produce a large amount of waste, so they need a filter rated for about twice the tank size. For example, a 60 gallon tank would need a filter rated for a 120 gallon. They are also highly intelligent and will learn to recognize their owner and can be trained to eat from your hand. Goldfish can live 15-30 years, the record being 43 years.

Feel free to ask any questions you may have. We're here to help! Best of luck with your goldies.

 

[Gold girl]

Well we did a 25% water change and then put neutralizers in the water of the fifty gallon and since the smaller tank had such bad levels of nitrite we put them back into the 50 and so we are going to see what happens. So we also have a crab in the tank is that going to upset the goldfish any??

 

[Kashta]

Crabs and goldfish don't mix, sorry.

Gold girl.. you really need to read this over. Let us know if you have more questions after that, okay?

http://www.aquariacentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=84598

 

[Somervell]

I would still do a partial water change on the 50 before putting the goldies back in there. Leah K? Flaringshutter?

The little dudes (or dudettes ) have been through enough shock, so you probably don't want to use a "Drop and plop" method of introducing them back into the 50. You might want to take a clean bucket with an airstone, put the fish in it and do gradual water change out until you get a high percentage of the water from the 50 in the bucket. (I'm sure there's a post on acclimation somewhere on here, but I'm not sure where it is.) That will make transferring them to the new tank less of a shock on their system. At least, that's the way I have done it with good success. It takes some time, but it is worth it to have less stressed goldies. If other posters have different or better ways of doing this, I'd be open to hearing them, too.

Sorry- I was unclear which tank got the 25% water change. If it was the 50, nevermind. If it was the 10, then I would change on the 50.

 

[Gold girl]

We all you guys said such as the water change and did the gradual introducing them and they are now in their new tank and they they act like they are better. They aren't tipping any more, anyway. The only thing is that they are staying in one corner of the aquarium and they don't go away from there. Is this normal??

 

[LeahK]

They are probably stressed from being moved. The most important thing you can do over the next couple of weeks, to keep the goldies alive and healthy, is to test the water for ammonia and nitrite every day, and do water changes to keep the levels under 0.25. Sometimes it can be hard to do enough water changes to keep the levels safe, so in emergencies, you can use products that neutralize ammonia (like Amquel or Ammo-Lock) or a product like Prime, which neutralizes both ammonia and nitrite.

 

[Somervell]

Good news that they seem to be doing better. Upright is always a good sign!

Love that Prime! Great product! Good Luck, Gold Girl. We'll be thinking good thoughts for you and your fishies!