New to Goldfish...having troubles.

Well I have final exams coming up, and i live in a flat, so no pond, so i
thought id get a tnak and some goldfish. So off i go to the store. I
quizzed the guy on what to do, my mum had issues keeping ehr fish alive
in another pond so i figured they could be pretty fragile. So i came away
with a smallish tank, gravel for the bottom, a water pump thing and 2
small goldfish (about an inch and a half to 2 inches long each). The guy
told me to wash the gravel, so i did that. I put it in the bottom of the
tank and spread it out pretty evenly. He told me to half fill the tank or
so, add the pump, then to rest the bag with the fish in the water (we did
this back home with pondfish to let the temperature adjust). Coming home
we noticed the bag had a small leak, but the fish seemed completely
undisturbed by this. I elft the back there for alkmost an hour, then, as
the guy in the store had told me, i took the corner off the bag and left
it. After about half an hour both fish had swum out and were happily
swimming around.

Now the guy told me that theyd probably settle near the bottom of the
tank at first, and that i should top it up slowly then leave it (wtihout
feeding the fish) until they were swimming aroudn happily.

Well they swam around msot of the afternoon in the lwoer half of the
tank. The smaller fish settled in one corner, pretty much resting on the
gravel, but staying upright. The other seemed to playa roudn in the
bubble stream form the filter a bit then did the same. I figured this was
what the guy had said, so i didnt worry and when it got dark outside i
turned the lights off and went to bed.

When i woke up this morning the bigger of the fish is dead and the
smaller one is still sat in the same corner at the bottom. he doesnt
appear to be distresse,d gasping for air or anything. he's swum out into
the middle a little then backed away into the corner again a few times,
but doesant seem too happy.

Im wondering what killed the bigger fish, and if it's related to the
reason the smaller one is just sitting in the corner. my girlfriend
picked out the fish that died, so it'd be really useful if i could work
out what went wrong, i dont want to just egt mroe fish if they're going
to die. Our water isnt the greatest, but the shop is in the same area,
the guy said it would be okay, and it seems really clear.

anyone have any suggestions. When the store opens im gonna call them and
ask them about it, and i can go through this afternoon if needs be. I
want to get a couple of nice happy healthy fish, but obviously im not
gonna get mroe fish if they're going to die straight away.

hope soemone can help

Adam

Well, first off, sounds like the guy at the store is just trying to get
rid of fish. I'm not sure what kind of pet store would tell you to set up
a new tank and add fish at the same time. This, I've noticed, seems to
leave more fish dead than alive, or in your case, half your fish dead.
Set up a tank first. Let it cycle. There's many water conditioners that
can be used to get all your levels up to par and allow for a happy home
for any type of fish - be it freshwater, sal****er, whatever. Here we
have all kinds of treatments for a variety of water types and fish
types... I haven't set up a new tank in ages, but I do add a variety of
fish to all my tanks every now and then. I have 2 tanks of tropicals, one
sal****er and 1 goldfish tank here at home. I also have 2 goldfish tanks
set up at my dad's work for extra goldfish storage when they get too
big/too many in my tank at home.

One thing I NEVER do is add the water from the bag that the fish came in
from the store. This can lead to problems if the water is not free of
everything, as your tank should be a healthy tank. I do, however, float
my fish in the tank for a little while (usually at least 10 mins,
sometimes longer if I find other things to do around the house) then I
remove the fish from the bag and put them in a fish dip antiseptic (I find
at fish pet stores that specialize in fish only, rather than just your
average fish store that supplies for all types of pets) and the water for
the antiseptic is the same temp as my tank, to allow less of a shock from
being transported and moved so much with different temps. Fish stays in
the dip for about 10-15 seconds, then it goes into his new tank.

It just gives the fish an extra cleaning in case there was any illness in
the tank at the pet store. I've also seen that most pet stores here have
one filtration system for a whole bunch of their display tanks and fish...
All the fish share the same recycled water, and that means if one fish
gets sick, then all the fish have the potential to get what the one has or
had.

If I were you, I'd be a bit upset at the pet store, and I'd go back there,
but not for fish. Maybe pick up a book or two on goldfish (or fish of
your choice) and read it over. Or try the library or see if you can
locate someone with some informative books that you could borrow, and over
the next couple days, read through them and while you do that, allow your
current tank to properly cycle and become stable enough to add some fish.

Another good thing about reading up, even online, about fish is that when
you go into a store, you will get less runaround, and you'll have a better
idea on what to ask, as well as what kind of answers you should get!

That's just my 2¢... Maybe wait for a few more responses to see what
others have to say as well! You can never have too much information,
experiences or suggestions of what works for others and what doesn't work
for others.

Best of luck with your fish, and if you loved the fish at your mum's home,
don't let this one experience turn you away from fish. They're great, and
goldfish, I think, are great starters since they are hardly and fairly low
maintenance (when compared with a lot of other fish)


I went back to the store today, it was a different guy in. He asked me to
rbing a sample fo the tank water and he tested ph level, ammonia and
nitrates, and they were all fine. He suggested if the other fish didnt seem
distressed or anything to leave the tank a while and see if the fish perked
up or not, and to make sure to not feed the fish while it seemed 'under the
weather'. the fish that's left in the bottom still doesnt seem distressed
particularly. it appears to be resting on the gravel at the bottom and just
not doing anything. he's been there almost a day now, so i figure i should
sjut leave him and see.

I'm not likely to let it put me off fish. At the worst, if this one dies ill
leave the tank cycling while i do my exams over the next couple of weeks
then see how things are. I dont have a ehater or a light. the store guys
(both of them) have assured me that for only 2 fish in a tank this size i
shouldnt worry too much. they get a proper night day cycle being in our
living room, and the temperature doesnt really change (the room is heated
nby an array of crt monitors, no central heating. when it egts too hot the
window is opened, but the breeze only goes down one side of the room, not
the side where the fish are.

anyway, ill see how it goes and keep you posted, thanks for the help

if anyone has any mroe suggestions im all ears.

Adam