Any Suggestions

[Glenn Pelchen]

Hi all.

My girlfriend has had two goldfish ( a comet and a Shubunkin) in a small (5
litre) bowl for 18 Months. Three weeks ago I bought her a larger (25 liter)
aquarium for christmas which the fish were placed into. They seemed happy a
lot healthier in the new tank. One week ago four more fish (a shubunkin, a
fantail and two smaller fast swimming ones that I cant remember the name of)
were introduced into the tank. The local pet store informed us that there
would be no problem doing this. All six were swimming around quite happily
for the week. However yesterday we found that both the original fish had
died, side by side. Neither had shown any sign of disease prior to this. Is
this sort of thing common?

Thanks,

[Azul]

On 11 Jan 2004 15:11:32 -0800, (Glenn Pelchen)
wrote:

>Hi all.
>
>My girlfriend has had two goldfish ( a comet and a Shubunkin) in a small (5
>litre) bowl for 18 Months. Three weeks ago I bought her a larger (25 liter)
>aquarium for christmas which the fish were placed into. They seemed happy a
>lot healthier in the new tank. One week ago four more fish (a shubunkin, a
>fantail and two smaller fast swimming ones that I cant remember the name of)
>were introduced into the tank. The local pet store informed us that there
>would be no problem doing this. All six were swimming around quite happily
>for the week. However yesterday we found that both the original fish had
>died, side by side. Neither had shown any sign of disease prior to this. Is
>this sort of thing common?
>
>Thanks,

Unfortunately, you were taken in by a salesman of fish and not a fish
keeper. It happens much too frequently. The first mistake was
introducing new fish into an established aquarium without quarantine.
It is definitely recommended to do so for two weeks to a month to be
sure they do not bring in disease. Secondly, an aquarium takes time
to "cycle". This is what we call the period required to establish the
bacteria that are beneficial to fish in a new tank. This bacteria
transform fish waste into less harmful compounds that are then reduced
by regular water changes. Three weeks is not long enough for this
to happen under normal conditions. Plus you do not say if you have a
filter or an air stone in the tank. The bacteria grow and establish
themselves in the filter material, on the plants, the rocks, ornaments
and the glass of the aquarium. Thirdly, goldfish produce an enormous
amount of waste, it is recommend that each fish have 10 US gallons of
water to occupy. Which means in a 20 G tank you could easily keep
two fish. However your 6.6 G tank would not really be adequate for one
fish let alone 6 fish.

Why the original fish died, I don't know. It could have been many
things and they probably showed signs of it, but you just did not know
what to look for. I'm really sorry for your loss, but it would
probably be a good thing to return 3 of the remaining fish to the
store and do some research into goldfish care, Here are a few sites
with great information for a beginner.

Beginning Fish keeping FAQ

http://fins.actwin.com/mirror/begin.html


Puregold - "The essentials for keeping goldfish"

http://puregold.aquaria.net/pg/care/care1.htm#essentials


Goldfish Anatomy

http://www.tunghoiaquarium.com/e_version/e-health1.htm


The Goldfish Farm (Good pictures of the different types of goldfish)

http://www.goldfishfarm.com/Gold_Fish/Page_1x.html


Good luck with your remaining fish,




Azul

[Mike Edwardes]

(Glenn Pelchen) wrote in message >...
> Hi all.
>
> My girlfriend has had two goldfish ( a comet and a Shubunkin) in a small (5
> litre) bowl for 18 Months. Three weeks ago I bought her a larger (25 liter)
> aquarium for christmas which the fish were placed into. They seemed happy a
> lot healthier in the new tank. One week ago four more fish (a shubunkin, a
> fantail and two smaller fast swimming ones that I cant remember the name of)
> were introduced into the tank. The local pet store informed us that there
> would be no problem doing this. All six were swimming around quite happily
> for the week. However yesterday we found that both the original fish had
> died, side by side. Neither had shown any sign of disease prior to this. Is
> this sort of thing common?

Yes. Your tank was way overcrowded and not cycled, i.e. unable to deal
with the pollution caused by the fish load.
http://mike-edwardes.members.beeb.net/Cauratus.html

Mike.
--
Mike Edwardes Tropicals
http://mike-edwardes.members.beeb.net