In rec.aquaria.freshwater.goldfish Starfish wrote:

Definately a chlorine and chloramine problem.... There also might have been
way too much dust in the tank/filter and the dust got into their gills.

Did the person from whom you got the tank from have any problems with their
fish (disease, parasites etc.) If the tank was still wet the parasites could
have stayed

If the water has too much chlorine, what do I do? How do I get rid of
the extra chemical?

The person that I got the tank from, he specifically said do not use
any kind of washing detergants like soap, etc. so we just used clean
water. Come to think of it, the sponge I used to wipe the inside of
the tank is not new and might have contained chemicals.

The tank is completely dry and has been unused for a few years. We
cleaned the inside of the tank lightly with a sponge, but we didn't
wash the inside. He had some small rocks alone with some decorative
stuff in the tank that we kept. Now the tank has about 0.5-1 inch of a
layer of small rocks at bottom.

I have a slightly different problem now. The fish might have been
sitting in the tank for about a day after they died. I've removed them
now, but the tank now has a smell. I opened all the windows and it
helped, but I think the water has a slight smell to it. Subtle, but I
can smell it.

I've left both cannister filter running, one is a dust/particle filter
and one is a carbon filter. Would that eventually get rid of the
smell? I will change water but probably can't get to it until this
weekend.

So this is what I gathered I should do:

1. change the water completely.
2. let the system run for about a week with the clean water, the water
would've reached room temp which is about 60+.
3. introduce GF to the tank and hope for the best.

I will get a test kit for testing the level of the water. Someone have
also said I should add some salt to the water?

Thanks again for everyone's help.

Raymond