Waddya reckon??

[meggles72]

I have lost 4 out of 6 fish in the past two months (new 60 Litre tank in Oct). One blackmoore, two shubunkins and a fantail goldy (but I think the goldy was due to an accident with my stone vacuum). Oh and one of the shubunkins committed suicide under a rock.
The others died without symptoms. Fine one day, dead the next. Oh and they didn't curl up and die either. Just stopped. I do the cleaning and water change thing once a fortnight if not a week.
So I have put my remaining two in a temp tank (bucket - they are not impressed at all), scrubbed the tank out, changed the stones and stood everything out in daylight for a few hours, filled it back up again.
How long will I leave the tank to age?
And would anyone have the foggiest as to clueless, symptomless deaths?????
I would appreciate the help!
Thanks *BOUNCINGS

 

[prettypleco]

Yikes!! How did the fish commit suicide under a rock? Do you test your water for nitrates, ammonia etc? Do you dechlor when you change your water? What did you scrub your tank out with?
I hope just water. However, you probably just eliminated any beneficial bacteria you had. Is the filter still intact? If so keep it wet and run it without changing or rinsing the media unless you use dechlorinated water.Goldfish produce a large amount of waste and ammonia. I change 50% of the water in my 70 gal 2x a week. My fish appreciate this as they don't get ammonia poisoning which may be what happened to your fish. You had a lot of messy ammonia producing fish in about 15 gallons of water. You should strive for that size tank for ONE goldfish. I would get some bio-spira or stabilizer by Seachem to add to the new water in your tank then add your remaining goldfish. And i would NOT add anymore goldfish to your tank. Good luck and i hope things stabilize for you.

 

[meggles72]

Thanks for the advice and no I do not plan on any more fish at this stage! I did only just clean the tank with water and I have de-chlor in the tank with the filter running and do not plan on returning the fish til tomorrow. I have also reduced the amount of stones on the bottom of the tank, I am pretty sure I had it way to deep. I will change the water more often as you advise.
If goldfish are known to be high producers of waste, what types of fish are at the lower end of the scale (just curious!)

 

[ninamarie]

goldies are messy messy fish. guppies are good. might want to get some catsint here too to clean up.
Sorry for thew loss of fish there.