Please help!!

We have brought a new goldfish today and he's not happy!
We took a water sample in to be tested which all came back ok.. We chose our goldfish (a happy one at the time!) And got him home and put him in the tank.... but now his fins seem to not want to work (just the back ones) and he just stays in the corner. Once we put him in the tank he just dropped to the bottom instead of swimming about?

Is this just shock or is there something wrong? our two previous fish were both very happy and swam around straight away?

Please help!!! Thank you!

Did you leave him in the bag in the tank for a while first? If you didn't then the difference in temp from the bag you brought him home in to the tank could have caused some shock.

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Bonnie 29.01.97 - 21.09.11
Millie 01.02.01
Seamus 09.07.00
Tyler 08.11.00
Kiki 15.10.10
Chico 01.07.11
Riley & Louie 16.02.11
Holly & Ivy - 11.11.11

ah... no i didnt.... i did transfer the fish AND the water from the bag in but maybe your right and thats whats happened? thank you

You're welcome! How's he doing??

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Bonnie 29.01.97 - 21.09.11
Millie 01.02.01
Seamus 09.07.00
Tyler 08.11.00
Kiki 15.10.10
Chico 01.07.11
Riley & Louie 16.02.11
Holly & Ivy - 11.11.11

If i may, might i ask for more information? its stuff we really need to know before we can help you further. we need to know:

tank size:
any other fish in the tank:
Filtered?
if so, what type of filter:
how long has the tank been set up:
when was the last time you cleaned the filter, and how did you clean it:

you do mention that you added the fish right a way without acclimatisation. fish are very susceptible to temperature shock, as well as chemical shock when added to a new tank. its generally advised to allow the bags to float for half an hour or so on the surface to equilise temperature. sometimes, even a 1 degree change can kill them. this might have been the issue here, but if not, then the above info will be useful.

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a exelent post you realy no your stuff ...

Hello.... hes not doing brilliantly.... still the same? Do you think he is lonely as he is the only one in there at the moment? We are planning on putting another in there in a couple of days but should maybe do it sooner?

In reference to fishyfins comment....

its about and 80 litre tank? We previously had 2 small fantails in there before... it has been thouroughly cleaned out and set up with a filter for the past 7 days... and when taking a water sample to the pet shop they said it was perfect water? i dont know what to do!

If the tank had only been set up for 7 days before adding the fish, then it's not cycled. Has the water been tested since the fish was added? If so, what were the exact results? I wouldn't trust a pet shop to give out good advice, I've known them to claim that someones water is ok when it's actually bordering on dangerously toxic.

80 litres is ok for one fantail goldfish, but it's really too small for two. You'll need something closer to 120-150 litres if you want to get your fishy a friend. But definitely don't get anymore fish at the moment. I suspect that your water quality is not good due to the fact that the tank hasn't been cycled, and adding another fish will only make the problem worse.

It would be best if you could get yourself a good liquid drop test kit (like the API master kit) so you can test the water yourself at home. But for the time being, I'd be doing some big water changes (assuming you have some dechlorinator to treat the tap water with?) to improve the water quality.

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