Most of my goldies are dying....helppppppp

Banned Posts : 910 Age : 30

For some stange reasons most of my goldfish are dying......... I don't know why. I recently lost a koi, and 2 comets. So now I am down to 1 rybunkin goldfish, 1 shubunkin goldfish, and 4 fancy goldfish who all look very healthy. The ones that died were healthy but I don't know why and how they died. Tankmates are a rybunkin goldfish, shubunkin goldfish, 4 fancy goldfish, and a pleco and 2 cats. I just hope that the rest of the goldies survive so they can go in the pond. I am so sad right now..... I am going to have to pick up another koi and more comets this week. I will be trading some fancies this week though.
Alex

Subject: Re: Most of my goldies are dying....helppppppp Wed Jan 21, 2009 8:29 pm

Big Severum Fan wrote:: For some stange reasons most of my goldfish are dying......... I don't know why. I recently lost a koi, and 2 comets. So now I am down to 1 rybunkin goldfish, 1 shubunkin goldfish, and 4 fancy goldfish who all look very healthy. The ones that died were healthy but I don't know why and how they died. Tankmates are a rybunkin goldfish, shubunkin goldfish, 4 fancy goldfish, and a pleco and 2 cats. I just hope that the rest of the goldies survive so they can go in the pond. I am so sad right now..... I am going to have to pick up another koi and more comets this week. I will be trading some fancies this week though.
Alex

What size tank is that? Keep in mind that comets/commons hit 8-10", and koi can reach over 3 feet! Shocked

(koi are more for 1000g ponds... which is why I don't keep them even though I have a 65g tank and a 300g pond.)

As for why they died... I am not sure, can you list symptoms?
What are your nitrates and ph?
I suspect maybe high nitrates or a sudden ph/salinity swing, they are generally silent killers.

Sorry for your loss... Crying or Very sad

edit:
what is your temp? I notice it is the ones who prefer cooler waters that are dieing... I keep mine at 20C (68F)

Banned Posts : 910 Age : 30

c_scherer123 wrote:

Big Severum Fan wrote:: For some stange reasons most of my goldfish are dying......... I don't know why. I recently lost a koi, and 2 comets. So now I am down to 1 rybunkin goldfish, 1 shubunkin goldfish, and 4 fancy goldfish who all look very healthy. The ones that died were healthy but I don't know why and how they died. Tankmates are a rybunkin goldfish, shubunkin goldfish, 4 fancy goldfish, and a pleco and 2 cats. I just hope that the rest of the goldies survive so they can go in the pond. I am so sad right now..... I am going to have to pick up another koi and more comets this week. I will be trading some fancies this week though.
Alex

What size tank is that? Keep in mind that comets/commons hit 8-10", and koi can reach over 3 feet! Shocked

(koi are more for 1000g ponds... which is why I don't keep them even though I have a 65g tank and a 300g pond.)

As for why they died... I am not sure, can you list symptoms?
What are your nitrates and ph?
I suspect maybe high nitrates or a sudden ph/salinity swing, they are generally silent killers.

Sorry for your loss... Crying or Very sad

edit:
what is your temp? I notice it is the ones who prefer cooler waters that are dieing... I keep mine at 20C (68F)

Tank is currently a 20 long for about 2 months as I am getting the pond ready. There were no symptoms. PH is6.7 I think?? I checked this morining and it was something like that. I don't know nitrates. Temp is around 67. Thanks.

Subject: Re: Most of my goldies are dying....helppppppp Wed Jan 21, 2009 9:03 pm

Quote :: Tank is currently a 20 long for about 2 months as I am getting the pond ready. There were no symptoms. PH is6.7 I think?? I checked this morning and it was something like that. I don't know nitrates. Temp is around 67. Thanks.

20 should be good for short term. temp is fine. I prefer my ph above 7 with goldies - ideally 7.5 -8 (I use aragonite to buffer mine).

When you can, check your nitrates... But I can advise a 40% water change every other day or so, it won't hurt them, and will likely help.
You can also try adding some aquarium salt to the tank, it never hurts. Very Happy

Best of Luck!

(I will be watching for pond picts...) Smile

Subject: Re: Most of my goldies are dying....helppppppp Wed Jan 21, 2009 9:22 pm

Sounds like too many fish for a 20gal. What are your ammonia, nitrite and nitrate readings? My guess is your parameters are out of whack because of all that bio-load. What kind of pleco and cats?

The Turtle Whisperer Posts : 1930

Checking all the parameters and a water change would be a good start.

I'm not sure if it's a bio-load issue. I've pulled golides from pure filthy mud stagnant crap water and they've been fine. They're usually tough little buggers.

I have had something odd happened to me with one of the comet tubs. I got in a big batch of feeder comets, (3-4"ers) and had them in the usual quarantine tub. They all look healthy and fine and then after a week, out of no where a good half of them droped, with no apparent symptoms. I finally did a necropsy on one that had just died, and after doing a scrape I had found they had Costia. I threw in a heater, cranked it to 82 and left them. After a week, the dying stopped, and things seemed to go back to normal.

I'm not sure if it's a bio-load issue either because I haven't seen any testing done yet. But 9 goldfish, a pleco (of some sort) and 2 cats (of some sort) in a 20gal tells me he is well on his way to a bio-load issue. An ammonia or nitrite spike from adding fish too quickly could also be an issue.

With that bioload on a 20 long, ya need to be doing water changes every other day at a minimum, BSF, even if it is a short term arrangement. I agree with saint_felony that goldfish are sturdy fish, but only to a point.

How much aereation and filtration ya got in the tank? Are your fish showing any symptoms? Gasping at the surface? Excessively flared gills? Are the gills normal coloration? How are their appetites? When was your last water change?

Check the nitrites and nitrates ASAP. Don't feed for 48 hours and throw an airstone in there. Make sure ya got good aereation. c_scherer123's suggestion of 40% w/c every other day is a must with that bioload. Nitrosomonas are most efficient at a pH of 7.9-8.2 and Nitrobacter at 7.5-7.8, IIRC, so raise the pH slowly over the next couple of days.

WYite

Banned Posts : 910 Age : 30

Ok guys heres an update... goldfish seem to be doing ok. I am still montioring though. Will be doing a big water change tommrow, and checking ph. There is only 2 plecos and a pim blochii in there now. I might move them to a 40 breeder intil spring.

Member Posts : 42 Age : 34 Location : Olympia, WA

Sorry about your comet and koi
It seems like an ammonia spike to me. Way to many fish for that tank IMHO. Goldfish need about 10g per fish at halfway grown-full grown. Goldfish are ridiculously dirty because they have no stomachs so waste builds up much faster, and plecos are notoriously dirty as well. I would move them to the 40g like you were thinking and water changes frequently. I hope they’ll stay ok!

Banned Posts : 910 Age : 30

marinkafuschia wrote:: Sorry about your comet and koi
It seems like an ammonia spike to me. Way to many fish for that tank IMHO. Goldfish need about 10g per fish at halfway grown-full grown. Goldfish are ridiculously dirty because they have no stomachs so waste builds up much faster, and plecos are notoriously dirty as well. I would move them to the 40g like you were thinking and water changes frequently. I hope they’ll stay ok!

Ok thanks for letting me know. Heres an update: I did a 85% water change today and added some kosher salt. The ph was 7.2 so I added a liottle baking soda to raise it to 7.6.They seem to be doing fine!

Member Posts : 42 Age : 34 Location : Olympia, WA

that's good to hear! I bet the pond that your planning to put them in will be awesome.
must post pics in spring!

Banned Posts : 910 Age : 30

marinkafuschia wrote:: that's good to hear! I bet the pond that your planning to put them in will be awesome.
must post pics in spring!

Thanks!!! I'd love to post pics.

Glad to hear your fish are doing better BSF.

Banned Posts : 910 Age : 30

dirtydawg10 wrote:: Glad to hear your fish are doing better BSF.

Thanks

Member Posts : 79 Age : 47

I'm so sorry to hear of your looses, and glad to hear they're doing better now.

I wouldn't know what has caused it... but my tip is to add a few drops of Esha2000 if you got it, as it help cure/prevent most things.

(((((hugs)))))

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Most of my goldies are dying....helppppppp

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