[Lolly17]

HI there, just wondering if anyone has any suggestions with a problem I have with my goldfish.
Had my previous 5 goldfish for 6 years, earlier in the year set up a new bigger tank for them, left it the usual time before transfering them in. Water tests etc all ok. One by one they started 'acting strange', one died, my partner is a vet so we treated the other 4 with antibiotics, they all seemed ok then all died.
Completeley cleaned tank, used new gravel/rocks etc, left for about a month then set up again, left it for about another month then added some sucker loaches, all ok with them, after two weeks added 4 goldfish, within a week Ive lost two, done water tests - all ok. Filter etc working fine.
If anyone has any ideas/suggestions I would really appreciate them, was bad enough losing all my old fish, dont want a repeat performance. Many Thanks.

 

[magpie]

Dear me, you're not having much luck are you?!

Ok, a couple of questions first:

When you say you left the tank for a month before adding the loaches, did you cycle it (using a source of ammonia) or literally just let it stand?

Do you have actual test results for your water? People sometimes have different ideas about what is 'fine'
Also, what type of test kit are you using?

Were the fish you lost most recently behaving unusually before they died?

How big is your tank & what kind of filter are you using?

And finally(!), are they normal, single-tailed goldfish or fancies?

Sorry for all the questions, but knowing as much as possible about the tank & its inhabitants is the only way to figure out whats going wrong!

 

[Lolly17]

Hi thanks for your replies,
The tank is a Fluval 200 litres, filtered with the filter it came with- again a fluval.

My old goldfish were 'standard'. The new ones are the same- but look like oranda type ones ( fish shop couldnt tell me more than that) Before I put the loaches in, it was running with filter/air bubbles. Started off with 4 loaches, and 4 goldfish, all the loaches are fine, have two goldfish left. Before they died they were off their food and seemed 'depressed'.

At work at the mo so will post the water test results this eve, but I used a Tetra 5 in1 stick test.

Many thanks Lolly

 

[Lolly17]

Hi thanks for your reply, the loaches are weather loaches, have been looking at pics of orandas and they havent got the 'hoods', ill try get some pics- computer at home not reliable at putting pics on but ill try!
Yes it was left standing with filter on, didnt add anything to water.

 

[magpie]

Ok, it sounds like you've added quite alot of fish in a very short space of time to an uncycled tank, which I'm guessing is probably causing problems with your water quality

Unfortunately, just leaving the tank running for a month won't have done any good. Put simply, to make a tank ready for fish you need to build up bacteria (which mostly lives in the filter) that can break down the waste fish produce and make it less toxic. This is done by adding a source of ammonia to the tank and the whole process takes roughly 4-6 weeks.
As this wasn't done with your tank, there is no good bacteria to deal with the waste that your fish are producing, so in all liklihood the waste is just building up in the water and that'll be what is harming your fish.
Please don't feel too bad about it though - most of us have already been there and made the same mistakes!

As Fishyfins said, the stick tests can be terribly inaccurate so you really need to buy yourself a liquid drip test kit (like the API freshwater master kit). Or, if you have a decent lfs, get them to test your tank water for you and make sure they give you the actual results, rather than just telling you if its good or bad!

Lastly, you need to be aware that your tank is actually quite overstocked. It doesn't matter too much at the moment, as presumably your fish are still pretty small, but in the near future you'll probably need to upgrade to a bigger tank. If your goldfish are single-tailed then they can grow to 12" and need at least 80 litres of water each. I don't know how much room is recommended for weather loaches, but I do know that they can grow to 10-12", so I'm guessing they need a fair bit of space too!

 

[Lolly17]

OK thanks v much, ill take a sample of water to get tested, fingers crossed the other fish seem happy / eating etc at the mo.
Ill get the water tested and see what that comes back with.
Thanks again, much appreciated