Saving our dying goldfish...

OK... So first some backstory...
About 3 years ago my son won a goldfish at a school carnival (sound familiar?). My wife put the goldfish into a 10 gallon aquarium which I believe was already showing signs of age (white crusties around the pump, hard water stains around the top of the tank, etc). Along the way other freshwater fish were added and unfortunately most of them died within a few months (we knew very little about fish communities and I'm sad that the fish paid the price for that). Well after reading that other fish really are not compatible with goldfish, we were down to 2 fish: the original Goldfish (now getting pretty big) and a smaller Goldfish that was the lone survivor of that 2nd batch of fish from years earlier.

So fast forward to the night before last when I noticed the large Goldfish was lying on its side (still breathing) on a patch of plastic grass near the bottom of the tank. At this point I also noticed that the filter was not running and probably hadn't been for some time. I started to feel pretty aweful for not being more involved with the general care of the fish. I would drop some food in the tank once in awhile when I knew no one else had but other than that, my pet responsiblities centered around our 2 large Akitas (and trust me they keep me pretty busy). When I told my wife that we were about to lose the large Goldfish, she was visibly upset (perhaps realizing that she too had been too pre-occupied with getting our son back to school and catching up on housework to notice that the tank had degenerated to such a sorry state).

Well I have decided I need to take a more active role since I have no desire to be cruel or negligent (though unwittingly, I have clearly been both). I went online and read up on how to possibly save a dying goldfish and the only suggestion I had the immediate means to implement was to place him in a separate bowl with fresh water. I had no chemicals or de-chlorinator but I did have a water filter on our refrigerator. I ran enough water from the fridge dispenser to get, more or less, room temperature water and filled the only other fish bowl we had (a small 10" bowl we had used for a betta years earlier) with clean water. I put the ailing goldie in the new bowl and he immediately perked up a little. He was no longer on his side. He was upright, nose down and gills going like crazy and noticably more fin movement. At that point I had done as much as I could since it was late at night and I figured he'd either improve or give up the ghost during the night.

Well he (she?) is a fighter. When I came in to check on him the next morning before going to work, he was back to swimming normal and much more active. I fed him just a little to see if he would eat and he ate like normal. It's now been a day and a half and he still seems to be doing quite well (other than being in what must feel like a jail cell). I was planning on getting a new tank and filter yesterday but my wife got sick and I could not get to the pet store. I did do a 15% water change in the bowl since I have no idea how long a fish of his size would take to get the water in the bowl to an unhealthy state. We also put the other fish into the bowl since it was clearly a water issue in the old tank.

So today (Thursday) I bought a 20 gallon (30" long) aquarium with a new filter, new rocks, new water conditioner, new food, the works. I will be setting it up this weekend with the goal of getting both fish into their new digs ASAP. I really do feel aweful for putting those poor fish through , but hopefully their quality of life will be much improved now.

I hope to make frequent use of this forum to ask questions and get advice as things come up. Thanks for taking the time to read my story...

Don B.
Surprise, AZ

 

Are you aware of cycling an aquarium and the nitrogen cycle? Also, are these goldfish common or fancy variataes?

 

They are common. Cycling could take several days (weeks?) and I wasn't sure if it's ok to leave them both in that tiny bowl that long. Is cycling necessary for common Goldfish? Of course I was planning on de-chlorinating and conditioning the water.

 

I'm guessing they are comets. I'm not an expert on goldies, but I'm pretty sure comets eventually need really big tanks(55+ gallons). Its great that you are trying to save them. my family used to have a ten gallon with two neglected goldies too. sadly, I didn't really start caring about fish till they died. Luckily, you are caring for them now. if you want the goldies to be able to move into the new tank sooner, you may want to read into the nitrogen cycle and look into getting some tetra safestart.

 

Are you aware that common goldfish can reach up to a foot long or more, this means you must get a 100 plus gallon tank for just one of the goldfish or rehome the two. Yes goldfish do need a cycled tank, since the goldfish are already in the tank you should start a fish-in cycle process. It is highly reccomended to speed up the cycling process you buy some TSS plus or seachem stability though those are optional. You also should get some liquid water parameter testers (mainly ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, and ph) to help see the state of the cycling process and check out your water parameters.

 

I had heard they can get rather big but I did not know that they could get to be 12 inches long. Since we already have them, I just want to do the best I can for them for as long as I can. If they outgrow this tank I might get a larger one but not 100 gal. If they get that big, I will look for someone with a pond. For my current budget, 20 gallons is the biggest I could do and still get a quality pump and water treatments. I had read that the shallower 30" long configuration is better for the fish rather than the taller 20 gal. tanks. I have no idea if that's true but it kind of made sense. Plus I like the fact that the water weight is distributed across more surface area for any supporting cabinet I employ.

The fish are not in the tank yet. They are still in the rescue bowl which is way too small. So a "fish-in cycle process" is something I will look into. Thanks for the input.

Don

 

Oh, I thought the fish are already in the 20 gallon tank. Usually its better to do a fishless cycle though in this situation you could try a fish-in cycle if the fish's situation is as dire as it seems.

 

I would go ahead and give them to someone with a pond. They're likely already stunted now, and the best you can do for them would be to move them to an adequately sized pond (definitely not the 20 gal).

 

I would go ahead and give them to someone with a pond. They're likely already stunted now, and the best you can do for them would be to move them to an adequately sized pond (definitely not the 20 gal).

Well I don't really know anyone with a pond and since they are currently sitting in a 10" bowl and I've already invested in the 20 gallon setup, that's where they're going for now. I'll look more at the "pond option" after I get the immediate situation under control. It will definitely be an improvement over what they had.

 

Probably once you finish the 20 gallon, craigslist is a good place to put an ad out for someone to take the fish.

 

The other concern I have with giving them away to someone with a pond is that I live in the Phoenix, AZ area and any outdoor pond is going to get into the 90's or higher in the summer. I know that Goldfish need colder water, so unless they've invested in a chiller or some other way to keep the water cool, or the pond is indoors (like a hotel lobby or restaurant) I can't imaging the fish being better off. Unheated swimming pools can get into the mid-high 80s here just from the summer sun.

 

Well I'm sure, eventually you will find someone that has the proper equipment to take them in.

 

I would think it'd still be better than a 20 gal tank. You can shade ponds, and they don't reach the air temp.

 

Sorry, I'm not trying to sound contrarian. I do appreciate everyone's input and I will try and do the best I can for these guys. Maybe I can post some pictures when I get everything set up (before and after).

BTW, another thing I've learned from all this is that I've been improperly feeding these fish. I forget who told me this, but I heard somewhere that you only feed fish every couple of days, so these poor fish have been improperly fed on top of everything else we were doing wrong.

From this and other forums, the consensus seems to be twice a day in an amount that they will consume in 3-5 minutes. Maybe that's why the older fish isn't a lot bigger.

 

3-5 minutes is too much food. 30 seconds to a minute is better, but even this is a very rough guide.

 

Welcome to FishLore!

I got back into fishkeeping once again after a long hiatus due to my daughter winning a couple goldfish at a school carnival. So I went to PetSmart and explained I had these two goldfish and what did I need to house them. The salesgirl sent me home with a nice shiny 1-1/2 gallon tank.

Anyway, one of the goldies died right away, so I replaced it with a fantail. Several months and tank upgrades later I finally ended up with a 25 gallon tank. It really was/is too small, but I had no other options. The common goldfish actually lived for 5 years (it died 3 years ago). I'm positive it died prematurely due to the tank being too small. The fantail is still alive 8 years later and doing great. I'm pretty sure it will outlive me! But in reality he should be in a larger tank. He's pretty darn big. In fact, when people see him for the first time they are shocked at how big he is.

So now you really just need the do the best you can in the circumstances you found yourself in. I can fully understand not wanting to rehome the fish. But with those two fish in a 20 gallon, you're really gonna have to keep on top of your water changes, since goldfish are large waste producers. So it's quite possible it will take a little work to keep those nitrates down.

Best of luck!