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Anyone know anything at all about goldfish?

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LadyoftheRabbits Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon Oct-01-07 09:13 PM
Original message
Anyone know anything at all about goldfish?
I have four small ones, two I got just today. Also today, I got a bigger tank (two came in a bowl, which I knew wasn't good for them at all), more gravel, water treater, more food, and a fake plant and hidey-hole jar thing for the tank. Now, it looks as though they have all died, and I feel awful... I can't figure out what I did wrong.

Any thoughts? :(
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Lex Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon Oct-01-07 09:18 PM
Response to Original message
1. You have to season the tank, even a larger tank for
Edited on Mon Oct-01-07 09:19 PM by Lex
a couple of weeks with one small goldfish first. It allows the tank to build up the proper 'bio-cycle' of good bacteria, etc.

If you drop 4 even small fish into a new tank, the proper balance hasn't been established and the fish will die.

Even if you used 'water treatment' which really only takes out the chlorine.

The proper bio-cycle can only be established with a live fish in there. One. small. for a couple of weeks.


Edited to add: After a couple of weeks, add another fish and then after a week add another.
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LadyoftheRabbits Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon Oct-01-07 09:19 PM
Response to Reply #1
3. I see...
Well, then I definitely bombed on that one. Thank you for your advice. :)
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Lex Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon Oct-01-07 09:24 PM
Response to Reply #3
7. Also, those good bio-cycle bacteria live in the gravel and all over
the tank and any plants and decorations you may have in there.

Therefore, when you clean the tank in the future, don't scrub and wash it out so throughly that those good bacteria die. Set some gravel and decorations aside not to be cleaned so that you don't ruin your bio-cycle every time you clean the tank.
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LadyoftheRabbits Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon Oct-01-07 09:30 PM
Response to Reply #7
15. Will do...
thank you. :hug: :)
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Xipe Totec Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon Oct-01-07 09:39 PM
Response to Reply #15
21. Age the water too
let it breathe for 24 hours before putting fresh water in the tank.

(let the chlorine evaporate)
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LadyoftheRabbits Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon Oct-01-07 09:41 PM
Response to Reply #21
22. Thanks
I'm writing all of this down now. :)
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pitohui Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon Oct-01-07 09:24 PM
Response to Reply #1
8. lex got there first, this is the right answer
i wish pet stores were more pro-active about telling people this, it shouldn't be top secret information

i guess they assume that most small goldfish are just bought as feeders but when they see you buying all this equipment, they should catch a clue and probe courteously to find out if you understood that goldfish need to be added to a tank, like at the rate of one fish every week or so, as lex says
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LadyoftheRabbits Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon Oct-01-07 09:26 PM
Response to Reply #8
10. Yeah, I think I was even suitably clueless-looking enough to have warranted further questioning...
I was rushed for time, but I should have asked more questions myself. :(
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pitohui Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon Oct-01-07 09:30 PM
Response to Reply #10
14. it's a pet peeve of mine that more pet stores do not inform correctly about goldfish
i understand they are "just" fish and they don't cost much but they are somebody's pet and should be given the best care

i did have a good pet store for awhile that would ask noobs if they understood you couldn't buy all your goldfish at one time to set up your tank and expect them to live, but alas katrina put them out of business
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LadyoftheRabbits Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon Oct-01-07 09:31 PM
Response to Reply #14
16. That's a shame...
I do wish more could be like that, and not just selling as many animals as they can for profit. I care about what happens to them, and having them die like this is sad.
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BlueJazz Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon Oct-01-07 09:19 PM
Response to Original message
2. When you moved them from one tank/bowl to the other, did you....
...make sure the water temp. was the same?
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LadyoftheRabbits Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon Oct-01-07 09:20 PM
Response to Reply #2
4. As much as I could, yes...
I poured some of the old water into the new tank and played with the taps until the temp seemed alright. It very well could not have been, though...
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DS1 Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon Oct-01-07 09:23 PM
Response to Reply #4
6. first
I believe plain water tanks are supposed to have the air sit for awhile before fish are allowed in, something about them having time to evaporate off the crap the water company adds. a few hours at least.

second, to transfer from one tank to another, put the fish in big plastic bags full of the first tank's water, then put that in the second tank for an hour or so. this will at least eliminate the temperature difference, even if everything else is wrong
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LadyoftheRabbits Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon Oct-01-07 09:25 PM
Response to Reply #6
9. Yeah...
I did none of that, and I feel very badly for killing these poor fish. :( But I'll take that to heart and see how things work out later on.
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DS1 Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon Oct-01-07 09:27 PM
Response to Reply #9
11. i've been thinking about getting a tank of my own
my tiny studio is empty, even at about 700 sq. ft.

once you get them set up right, they're basically self-maintaining
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LadyoftheRabbits Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon Oct-01-07 09:28 PM
Response to Reply #11
13. Yeah, I did like seeing them on the desk beside me
They're interesting creatures. :)
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CGowen Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Oct-02-07 07:15 AM
Response to Reply #4
27. What temp did you use? n/t
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lizziegrace Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Oct-02-07 07:16 AM
Response to Reply #27
28. She won't be online until later today
she sleeps up until the moment she has her first class. :eyes:

:)
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QueenOfCalifornia Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon Oct-01-07 09:22 PM
Response to Original message
5. They poop like
there is no tomorrow.

They can mess up a tank so fast it's scary.

I had a 50 gallon tank with 4 of the little shitters and when they died (I did not kill them!!!!!) I was not unhappy.

If yours died that fast I'd say it was shock of some sort --- (Like the shock of seeing all that fish crap...)

Kidding aside, they do not like abrupt temp changes and the water has to be de-chlorinated.
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LadyoftheRabbits Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon Oct-01-07 09:27 PM
Response to Reply #5
12. Oh, yes
And I do think it was some kind of shock... just not yet from that. ;) Temp was very likely wrong...
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BlueJazz Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon Oct-01-07 09:32 PM
Response to Original message
17. Don't beat yourself up to bad...You'll know what to do next time.
:)
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LadyoftheRabbits Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon Oct-01-07 09:34 PM
Response to Reply #17
19. Aw, thank you...
I'll definitely take this info to heart. :)
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Omphaloskepsis Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon Oct-01-07 09:34 PM
Response to Original message
18. Did you wash the gravel and plant and accessories in the new tank first?
Gravel really needs a really good rinse before you put it in a tank (the stuff you buy in a bag). It is really hard to kill goldfish en mass. If you still have the water I would take it in for testing. Most pet stores will do this for free.
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LadyoftheRabbits Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon Oct-01-07 09:35 PM
Response to Reply #18
20. No, I didn't...
And I even considered it. I'll be doing that next time. And... that's a good idea. :)
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deucemagnet Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon Oct-01-07 09:41 PM
Response to Original message
23. It's been a few years since I messed with aquaria, but iirc,
pH shock is more of a problem than temperature shock. After you float them in the bag they came in for 10 minutes to equilibrate the temperature, you should add about an equal volume of tank water and give them another ten minutes to adjust to the change in pH.
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LadyoftheRabbits Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon Oct-01-07 09:45 PM
Response to Reply #23
24. Thank you...
Edited on Mon Oct-01-07 09:45 PM by lelapin
I just noted that in a list. :)
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amitten Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Oct-02-07 01:36 AM
Response to Original message
25. Don't let yourself get sucked in by fish-raising.
I became a literal slave to a 10-gallon aquarium for years. Getting rid of it was like the weight of the world off my shoulders. Those fucking fish are a pain in the ASS.

Just remember that having fish =

Constant cleaning
Constant monitoring
Lotsa money
Lotsa death

If you're cool with all that, proceed. :hi:




PS--RUN AWAY!!!!!! :o
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lizziegrace Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Oct-02-07 07:05 AM
Response to Original message
26. Awww sweetie!
Did you want me to call you last night? I misunderstood your text...

I'm in town this evening and have some things to drop off for you. I can take you to the petstore near campus if you need to go.

:( Poor fishies.
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