need help with Goldfish

[GoldfishNewbie]

It's amazing what you learn after you've already made the mistake. My mother gave my daughter a tiny aquarium that wasn't big enough to hold a snail, much less any type of filtration. So I bought her a 1 gallon instead. I set it up with gravel, underwater filter, dechlorinated the water and let it run for a couple of days. Then we went and bought two goldfish. (I hadn't found you guys (and gals) yet.) My daughter named them Skipper and Tiger. A couple of days later, I was looking up info about goldfish and I found a site that said that they need much more room. So I bought a 10 gal. aquarium and set it up with a much better filter to move the fish into since they were obviously quite cramped. I let the 10gal. run for a couple of days and moved the first two fish into it and then added Splish and Splash--two feeder goldfish. I left the 1 gallon aquarium running although it was empty. Skipper was already doing poorly in the smaller aquarium. His condition has consistently gotten worse. His fins are clamped. He just floats around, mostly on his side-moving with the current in the tank. (He's now by himself back in the 1 gallon.) Sometimes the only way we can tell he's alive is his eyes and his gills moving. When he's not floating, he just sits at the bottom. Occassionally he will swim, but he looks more like a lopsided cork than a fish. I think we are more or less wondering if/when we should euthanize him or if he will recover. I am doing a partial water change every day and feeding him strained peas (baby food). Although I'm not quite sure it is helping any. My other problem is Splash. Today I noticed he has acquired a dark rim on the extreme edge of two of his fins. The ammonia in that tank is at 0 and the ph is about 7.6 (I think). Since I found this site, I added cycle to the tank to help get the good bacteria going and aquarium salt to help cut down the stress. Is there anything else I can do for them. I know I need to get a new/bigger tank for them, but that isn't an option until around Feb. of next year. What can I do? I was going to post pictures of them, but I haven't figured out how yet. Any help would be appreciated.

[Caryl]

To post pictures you need an online host like Photobucket.

Your tanks are way too small for goldfish. In my opinion, comet goldfish should not be kept in tanks at all and should be in ponds. If you must have goldfish, I would keep 2 of them in a 3ft tank (30US gal) minimum.

I don't think your goldfish will survive until Feb, despite all you are doing to help them.

Are you able to return them to the store your mother purchased them from, and get more suitable (smaller and less messy) fish?

[stargazer]

greetings from another yank i'm from ohio, as for your goldies I would try to take them back. maybe get a few tetras, but, first read the articles about cycling. If I would have read that it would have saved me time money and fishes. If you have a fish pool they could survive there I've seen goldfish live for a at least few years up in michigan

[michael.qian]

your tanks, as said above, are no where near big enough for goldfish.

Fantails can live in tanks comfortably, still need to be a good size though, they are not really fast swimmers so don't need as much room as comets, which are very fast swimmers and need lots of room.

I would recommend a big tank for any fish, easier to cycle and maintain, also more pleasing than a small tank.

[Caper]

Agree with the above!

But in the mean time...I would stop using cycle & salt!

Caper

[GoldfishNewbie]

Thanks for all of the replies. I just got home a few minutes ago to see that Skipper had died.

The others are doing okay for now. I'm going to do my best to keep them alive as long as I can. Maybe I'll get lucky and they will last until I get that bigger tank in Feb. I'm going to let Skippers tank sit empty for five or six weeks to let it finish it's first cycle. Is there anything that can actually go happily in a 1 gallon tank or is it going to be just a hospital tank? I have another 10 gal tank that I will set up for a hospital tank when I get the larger tank.

[Caper]

Sorry...I'm lost...how many tanks...how many fish?

Caper

[GoldfishNewbie]

Before Skipper died, I had a one gallon (his hospital) and a 10 gallon with the three goldfish in it. I also have another 10 gallon with nothing in it that I will set up as soon as I am able to. It may be a bit--I'm preparing for a difficult surgery next month. Recovery time appr. 6 weeks. So three total, but only 2 are currently functioning.

[jn]

How big are the fish?

[GoldfishNewbie]

Splish and Splash (the feeder goldfish) are about 2 1/2 inches long, each. Tiger (a double fantail) is about 4 inches long. All estimates are including to the tip of the tail.

I'm hoping that sometime in November, I can get the second 10gal. aquarium up and running and put Tiger in it. That will give them all a little more room. Money is tight so doing it before then is not a viable scenario.