Nelson, my black moor died :(

[Smells fishy]

Had him for 3 months, he had suffered from bad mouth rot which had eaten away all of his lower mouth BUT he still seemed a happy little fella and ate perfectly well and after having treated him the mouth was looking alot better and even seemed to be growing back.

Then the other day we got 2 new fishy friends for him as we had to get rid of our massive goldfish, he was a bit scared at first of them but soon they were all swimming around together, feeding off the bottom and very chilled with each other.

Couple of days ago Nelson was quite lathargic and kept laying still on the gravel (right way up just not moving) he seemed ok but it was very unlike him. he still fed when I put the food in aswell.

Then this morning I came down he was vertical facing towards the gravel and seemed to be trapped behind the plants, so I gently pulled him out with the net but he was just swirling around in the water, still breathing but not moving any fins.

What on earth happened to him?? My other fish are so alert and lively, happily feeding and swimming around. I'm so sad cos Nelson was v cute and always seemed to come and say hello when I came up close to the tank! He overcame mouth rot but went downhill so suddenly, anyone have any clues?

confused:

 

[1077]

Sorry to hear about your fish. Goldfish need water that tests zero for ammonia and nitrites ,and nitrAtes no higher than twenty to remain healthy in the long term. They do poorly long term in smaller tanks. Most recommend twenty gal per goldfish. Filtration should be a bit oversized in my opinion due to the waste created by these fish. Gravel or substrate should be vaccumed during weekly water changes of twenty to twenty five percent. You do not indicate how large of tank you have. It is possible that overcrowding caused unstable water parameters (ie) ammonia spike. Is also possible that new fish were sick and introduced disease to your fish.

 

[Smells fishy]

They are in a 60 litre tank, not sure what that equates to in gallons? They have loads of room they are teeny weeny fellas, I do weekly water changes and the water is looking really good now (I stopped keep putting in safe water which added good bacteria as recommended). Why would he die and the other 2 be fine?

 

[misterking]

That's about 13 gallons (easy way to convert, go on google and type in "60 litres to gallons" and it's right at the top, that's what I do I'm a litre person too!) so although it's ok for them right now, in the long term you'll need quite a big tank, I'm thinking maybe 150 litres for the long term health of the fish.

I think most likely seems to be an ammonia spike caused by the new fish.. and because of his already compromised immune system this tipped him over the edge.

Goldfish are messy fish, in both fancy and normal form, and so I agree that for goldfish you should have around 20 gallons per fish, maybe add on 10 for each additional fish. This is because goldfish produce a lot of waste and quickly foul water. Your regime so far sounds fine, weekly water changes are generally recommended for goldfish.

 

[homebunnyj]

That's about 13 gallons (easy way to convert, go on google and type in "60 litres to gallons" and it's right at the top, that's what I do I'm a litre person too!)

Be sure to select US gallons, imperial gallons are bigger. 60l is nearly 16 US gallons. *SUNSMILE*

I agree with misterking about the possibility of an ammonia spike.

 

[MissFishy]

I third that theory, it was likely an ammonia/cycling issue. Make sure you are absolutely clear on what exactly cycling a tank is. The stuff the store told you to add likely didn't do a thing for it (most of it is worthless). Check out the stickies in the forums or the link in my signature for information on cycling a tank.

Goldfish are extremely messy fish with very high bioloads. Even though they seem to have a lot of room in your tank, their bioloads are too high to be supported by that size. You'll need to upgrade unfortunately.

 

[misterking]

Ah you guys all use US gallons? My empty tank's bigger than I thought lol

The most healthy goldfish set-ups are the big ones with very few fish in it where water quality doesn't deteriorate quickly, say 55 gallons for 3 fancies goldfish. I'd never put common goldfish in a tank that wasn't huge, they have voracious appetites and make such a mess, people don't realise they're just a colour morph of a type of carp. You shoulda seen what happened to my 9x12x3ft pond after adding 6 goldfish last year, they went straight to the bottom and mixed all the sludge into the water. Didn't help that I had a big blanket weed die-off around the same time though!

I've posted this picture before, but it's a good representation of just how big fancy goldfish can get: