Emergency: Gifted fish, uncycled tank, one casualty

I am here as a last ditch attempt to essentially save a bunch of goldfish my younger sibling received as a birthday present. To prefice, our family has zero knowledge of fish keeping. I have done some basic research but it's done nothing but dishearten me rather than clue me in on what to do. At least I've learned a ton more about fish care, but not quickly enough to prevent the damage being done.

Quick facts:
- gifted fish - three (now two) goldfish and a baby catfish
- gifted yesterday
- no cycled water besides the plastic bags the fish came in, the rest is tap
- pet shops are not open in my town on a sunday and close at noon on a saturday
- i do not know any fish owners we can borrow from besides the family we took the tank and filter from (they no longer have fish)

What we have:
- 5 gallon tank (yes for all of them, it is all we had at hand)
- basic sponge filter & pump
- cmf. (the label reads 'tropical')

The water is uncycled. One fish died this morning already and was immediatelly removed. The rest of the fish are physically unchanged, seem active, but favour the upper half of the tank. Slightly erratic swimming. I cannot access a pet shop or vet practice to buy any test kits, ammonia remover, dechlorinating substances and the like, unfortunately, so I can't offer any parameters. Don't have a thermometer or heater either.

What can I possibly do to keep more fish from dying? I need to kee them alive until tomorrow.

 

Dont put any more tap water in until you have dechlorinator. This maybe is what killed the first fish. Chlorine is deadly to fish. Just leave everything as is till tomorrow. Do not buy ammonia remover. Just get a dechlor and a test kit.

cmf. (the label reads 'tropical')

What is this?

 

What is this?

Drops against dangerous bacteria and pathogens. This is all the information in english I could find. Came with tank and filter so it may be quite old.

 

I cant read the description but the Ingredients made me LOL.

Ingredients:​

Fish Stuff.

I would just chuck it If you dont know what it is. Especially if it is old.

 

No ingredients on the bottle itself either.

Label reads:
CMF: IMRPOVES FISH HEALTH. Tropical CMF has a wide range of applications, helping fish fight dangerous pathogens, such as fungi and bacteria. Particularly recommended for tanks where white spot disease caused by Ichtyophthirius multifiliis occured.

TREATMENT: in common tanks - long term bath (7 to 14 days) 10 ml/100 l of water. After three days change 20% of water and fill it up with CMF - 5 ml / 100 l of water. Repeat the whole procedure twics. After that Ichtyophthirius multifiliis should be eliminated. Temperature of the bath: from 27 to 30. When using CMF strongly aerate the water in the tank. Having finished the treatment remove the remains of the agent through regular water changes and filtration with activated carbon. Next use Multimineral and Tropical Bacto-Active.

CAUTION: do not use simultaneously with other water treatment products.

I presume I should just throw it out. It seems to have a use but, again, no ingredients.

I would just chuck it If you dont know what it is.

 

You could use bottled spring water to do a water change today if you can get any. If you have some big bowls or rubbermaid totes, you can leave some water out and the chlorine will evaporate out in 24-48 hours. I would get that drawn and set out in the event you can't get to the store. Do not feed them today- that will help with minimizing waste as much as possible. I like Seachem Prime for a dechlorinator as it also can be used to treat ammonia/nitrite in an emergency.

 

No ingredients on the bottle itself either.

Label reads:
CMF: IMRPOVES FISH HEALTH. Tropical CMF has a wide range of applications, helping fish fight dangerous pathogens, such as fungi and bacteria. Particularly recommended for tanks where white spot disease caused by Ichtyophthirius multifiliis occured.

TREATMENT: in common tanks - long term bath (7 to 14 days) 10 ml/100 l of water. After three days change 20% of water and fill it up with CMF - 5 ml / 100 l of water. Repeat the whole procedure twics. After that Ichtyophthirius multifiliis should be eliminated. Temperature of the bath: from 27 to 30. When using CMF strongly aerate the water in the tank. Having finished the treatment remove the remains of the agent through regular water changes and filtration with activated carbon. Next use Multimineral and Tropical Bacto-Active.

CAUTION: do not use simultaneously with other water treatment products.

I presume I should just throw it out. It seems to have a use but, again, no ingredients.

Sounds like Ich meds. But yeah no ingredients is kind of sketchy.

 

You could use bottled spring water to do a water change today if you can get any. If you have some big bowls or rubbermaid totes, you can leave some water out and the chlorine will evaporate out in 24-48 hours. I would get that drawn and set out in the event you can't get to the store. Do not feed them today- that will help with minimizing waste as much as possible. I like Seachem Prime for a dechlorinator as it also can be used to treat ammonia/nitrite in an emergency.

There aren't any springs nearby unfortunately. But yes, I had the forebearance to fill out a giant dish with water this morning. Even considering boiling some right now to remove the chlorine, but I am not sure if I should trust the internet on that? None of the other fish are showing any telltale signs of illness or distress, so I don't want to rush into anything.

I'll hopefully be able to find everything tomorrow. I haven't fed them yet, thank you for the heads up!

Scratch the telltale signs part. One has fins with black edges & the other goldie has a tiny fin spot too. Not to make a fool of myself, but I had assumed the first one just had those spots naturally, it came to us with black fin edges. Is this normal?

I'm nervous now, what else could I be missing because i dont know to look for it? I know nothing about fish except the things i think to google. And what is their current condition because i cant tell

 

There aren't any springs nearby unfortunately. But yes, I had the forebearance to fill out a giant dish with water this morning. Even considering boiling some right now to remove the chlorine, but I am not sure if I should trust the internet on that? None of the other fish are showing any telltale signs of illness or distress, so I don't want to rush into anything.

I'll hopefully be able to find everything tomorrow. I haven't fed them yet, thank you for the heads up!

Scratch the telltale signs part. One has fins with black edges & the other goldie has a tiny fin spot too. Not to make a fool of myself, but I had assumed the first one just had those spots naturally, it came to us with black fin edges. Is this normal?

I'm nervous now, what else could I be missing because i dont know to look for it? I know nothing about fish except the things i think to google. And what is their current condition because i cant tell

You could post some pics so we can take a look and see if there is anything concerning you might not be aware of ? Black fin edges do tend to indicate maybe some ammonia burns/fin rot. I would say continue monitor- if it is not getting worse, just keep doing what you are doing until you can get some supplies. Maintaining clean water should hopefully be enough to help it heal.

 

You could post some pics so we can take a look and see if there is anything concerning you might not be aware of ? Black fin edges do tend to indicate maybe some ammonia burns/fin rot. I would say continue monitor- if it is not getting worse, just keep doing what you are doing until you can get some supplies. Maintaining clean water should hopefully be enough to help it heal.

The fish are alive and well this morning and fairly energetic. Haven't fed them. Off to buy everything i need!

Here's a photo I managed to take of the one with more prominent black. Pictured also (catfish). The other just has a tiny spot on their tail, nothing as big as this, and it swims far too fast for me to take a picture.

 

I'd get a larger tank as soon as possible (if you can) might as well cycle a more appropriate sized tank.

 

The black on the fins looks like natural coloration to me. but its hard to say for sure. I hope someone can id the catfish!