sophie wrote:
In message , Fuzzy Orange
writes

sophie wrote:
If none has been changed for three weeks after moving house this might

be your problem; also if you added three new fish you've doubled the
bio-load on an already overstretched system (your stocking levels are
a fair bit higher than recommended) and the filter isn't coping with
the extra waste. Did you notice vaguely cloudy white water at any
point?
Basically, your water has been getting slowly more toxic over the
last three weeks. You should probably do fifty percent water changes
daily (and do use something to get rid of the chlorine) for a while
and then keep a close eye on your ammonia/nitrite/nitrate levels. If
you do intend to keep all those fish in that tank (which no-one here
will recommend, btw!) you're going to have to be absolutely
religious about water changes and you will need to under- rather
than over-feed.
The white spots could be Ich, I'm not sure - you'd need someone who
knows more about stuff than me to deal with that one...


Are you serious?

The tank is nearly 3 foot long and has 6 fish in it - it looks nearly
empty!!


'fraid so. (it's a _really_ common misconception, if that's any
consolation; I made exactly the same mistake. only worse!)
your tank is about 28/29 US gallons. goldfish out to have - wait for it
- 10 US gallons per fish, due in part to the amount of waste they
produce which is gigantic compared to most other fish. It's really hard
for an aquarium to have a relatively stable ecology with a high
goldfish-load. (I think plecos are pretty bad, too) The other reason for
this is that you need to bear the adult size of a healthy goldfish in
mind, which can be a foot. Six foot-long fish in a three-foot tank would
be kind of unkind...

I like the idea of space in the tank (crowds give me claustrophobia),
but on the other hand I've chosen to out three goldfish in a four foot
tank. I could fit in another one and a half (!) if I wanted to, but
instead I've got a small school of WCM minnows, which are sweet, and
have weather loaches in quarantine waiting to join them for a bit of
variety. They also make the tank look more interesting, not to mention
fuller. Goldfish purists will disagree with me, I think, but this works
_for me_.

Have you been introduced to the nitrogen cycle at any point? if not, it
would probably help your understanding.

hth,


Thankyou - I appreciate your help so much because I am a beginner to all
this - Ive had fish for a while but never this seriously

The 2 goldfish are 3" long
And one fantail is the same size

Then there are 2 very small fish which a friend bought me only about 1"
long and i've no idea what they are hehe
And then 1 new fantail which has survived from the 3 I bought and this
is only an inch long at the most

I was planning on moving the goldfish next summer to the pond outside
that my neighbour has - as he has a few goldfish in there that are
roughly the same size and they seem quite happy

I've just found a site on the nitrogen cycle - reading it now

- Phil