I thought I was dealing with constipation now I am not sure

[fantailfan1 26,742]

Another thing to think about is how big are the fish when you buy them?  If you're buying large adults they aren't going to live as long as little fish that you purchase.  I tend to get my fish very small.  I not only like to watch them grow and change but then I know that they've only been in someone else's care for a short time. 

 

I agree with the others though.  You have cared for them meticulously.  I truly don't think it's your "fault". 

[TonySydney 152]

Thank you both for your kind words. I feel so bad that I failed to help this little fish. I love the look of the butterfly telescope eyes and I love the intelligence of goldfish too. I get very attached. I find it a struggle to accept that doing everything right to keep these fish does not mean you wont lose them anyway.

 

I did an internet search to see what other intelligent fish I could keep instead of goldfish but I don't like any of the other recognised intelligent fish; except perhaps the Siamese Fighting Fish but I think they are a very short lived species. I will continue to care for the remaining two fish and hope for the best.

 

It seems this happens to all goldfish keepers and it is part of the facts of life of keeping goldfish. I'm just not sure I can cope with the loss of something I have become so attached to. I'll stop mopping soon, it just gets me down when I can't help the fish recover. 

[kiro 47]

It's perfectly understandable to be upset. Goldfish are full of personality and easy to get attached to.

Like koko said, we're here if you want to talk.

[QandD 573]

After I lost my fish Queenie, who I'd had for seven years and was the first fish I'd ever owned, I, too, thought that I would quit keeping goldfish. I also blamed myself bitterly for her death. I had another fish I needed to care for, though, which kept me in the hobby. After a few months I could reconcile myself to having tried to give my fish the best life to my abilities, and got a friend for Duchess three months later. 

 

It sounds like you're going to need to grieve for your fish, but like everyone here has said, you have been very meticulous and your tank is beautiful. I'm sure your fish was wonderfully happy while he was feeling well. I don't think you failed him at all. I'm sorry you lost him and hope you feel better soon.

[TonySydney 152]

I am two days late doing my 90% water change, I usually do two 90% water changes a week. Anyway when i tested the pH of the tank water it was 6.8; the tap water is 7.2. I hope this is not too big a difference for the fish to handle. To try to reduce any risk of shock I have slowly added the new higher pH tank water to the bucket the fish are in. I have added a 2 litre jug of water to the bucket every 15 minutes for about an hour. I am about to put the fish back into the tank. Is this pH difference a problem? It usually doesn't change much.

[Blitz 388]

I think if the PHs are within .5 of each other it should be fine.

[LisaCGold 1,691]

Do you use anything to buffer the ph to help prevent it from falling too much? Ideally a stable ph of 7.2 and above is best for goldies. I use baking soda to buffer my ph. See link below my signature for information on that. The key with using baking soda is to periodically (like every two months) do as close to a 100% water change to remove any baking soda build up.

[TonySydney 152]

Thank you both for your feedback, I will study your notes LisaCGold on using bicarbonate when I get back from my conference next week. I have thought about buffers before but they were so expensive I hesitated to try them.

[fantailfan1 26,742]

Baking soda = great buffer and cheap. 

[TonySydney 152]

I decided with time being short before I go to the Convention next week to buy a commercial Buffer. I bought Seachem Neutral Regulator. Writing this, I just realised I stuffed up, I need one that regulates to 7.2. I will take the buffer back and get them to order me a Goldfish version 

[mysterygirl 2,031]

I'm so sorry that you lost your fish, Tony. 

[TonySydney 152]

Thank you mysterygirl, I feel really sad that I could not save him. I still have two fish but I no longer enjoy them as before. I just seem to be waiting for something else to go wrong. I think these fish are too delicate for me to care for. I will do my best for these two but doubt I will get more goldfish when these two are gone.

[fantailfan1 26,742]

What does the other buffer buffer to?  Your pH doesn't have to be buffered to 7.2 . . . .

[TonySydney 152]

Hi Fantailfan1,

Sorry to take so long to respond, I have been away at a conference. The buffer is called Seachem Gold for Goldfish, it buffers between 7.2 to 7.6

[koko 14,384]

Hows the ph doing?

[TonySydney 152]

Hi Koko - Four days after a water change the pH is 7, I will be doing a water change tonight and the tap water is 7.2. I bought the buffer for goldfish but have not tried it out yet as the pH has been above neutral. While I have your attention may I run over the feeding of goldfish? I am not certain I am doing the right thing. I was feeding three times a day but have cut back to twice a day (morning & night). I am careful only to feed a mouthful or two to each fish at each meal. Is this enough food for my goldfish?

 

I want to hand feed them so I can control how much each fish gets but Buster is a moron who comes close to my hand holding the food then dashes away. He has always been like this, Bella on the other hand loves being hand fed. At the moment I hand feed Bella then use a net to keep Bella at one end of the tank while Buster takes his sweet time to locate and eat the food on the bottom of the tank! Buster is a moron but he is my moron so I will continue to do this until I can work out a way to get him to hand feed.

 

Buster is the top fish in both these photos, both fish are about 3.5 to 4 inches in the body.

 

 

[koko 14,384]

Hey hun I noticed you got Wood in the tank... Wood lowers the ph and kh in the tank... This may be a reason its going down... I may suggest taking it out....

 

As for feeding twice a day is good. When my goldfish got to about 3 years old I would back them to 2 meals a day with a good snack once or twice a week... (snacks.... lettuce, spinach something like that )

[TonySydney 152]

Thanks Koko - I will take the wood out and see it that stops the pH drop. My fish are under 2 years old I think but if you think two small meals a day is enough for them I will continue this feeding pattern. I must say they do seem more active on less food. I will put in duck weed twice a week probably just before a water change so they can eat up and poop till their hearts content and I can take out the poop before it has time to cause any problems. 

[TonySydney 152]

Hi Again Koko - I did as you suggested and removed the large piece of driftwood from the goldfish tank and the pH has stayed the same.Thanks for the advice 

[LisaCGold 1,691]

Maybe you can soak the driftwood for a while to help remove its ph reducing properties

[TonySydney 152]

Hi LisaCGold - the driftwood has been in the tank for over a year and it was soaked for about 2 months before it went into this tank. I wonder if it was just too big for the size of the tank? Can I ask you how often and how much you feed each of your fish, I am trying get an idea of what other people feed their fish and how much & how often they feed them.

[LisaCGold 1,691]

My goldfish are around 80+ grams. I've been feeding them around 1/8 tsp of pellets in the morning and then again at night. When I fed repashy it is about 1/2 a 1/4 inch cube (maybe the cube is a bit bigger). I only do two feedings a day, sometimes pellets both times, sometimes pellets in morning then repashy at night, etc.

[QandD 573]

I have smaller fish (50 and 20-25 grams, I'm guessing), and I feed about 1/8 teaspoon of NLS Thera-A .5 mg in the morning or a small brick of blood worms maybe 1-2x per week. After that they only get vegetable snacks such as a mouthful of Repashy SuperGreen, wall scrapings of algae, or a piece of a sheet of nori to preoccupy them (this is once per day). If I don't feed a lot of vegetables I find that they go after the plants, which makes me think that they like the nutrients.

 

I feed more bloodworms than I used to since I have a juvenile who is super duper hungry, and my older fish had some parasite issues that messed up her tail, and I'd like to give her a little boost to help her heal (I used to feed bloodworms about 1x per week or ever 1.5 weeks). Sometimes I feed Southern Delight goldfish pellets instead of NLS to mix things up, and when I do so, it's about 8-10 pellets since they are larger in scale. I only feed peas when they seem a bit floaty, which I haven't had to do for months. At least once per week I feed only one pellet meal or just vegetables. 

 

Neither fish seems to be obese, but I'm not a vet, of course. They're certainly not lethargic. My 50-gram goldfish has remained that weight for a couple of years now (she is 6.5 years old). She has good body comportment and is a fantail/ribbontail (not sure which since she was from Petsmart). She has very long fins. Also, by good body comportment, I'm going by my own standards, which are based on avoiding digestive problems for my fancies--not grooming show fish--so she is round like a female but not very wide or super deep-bodied. My juvenile oranda is growing quickly but not shockingly so, and she is getting a slightly rounder girl-belly, longer fins, and a tiny wen.  

Edited October 4, 2015 by QandD

[TonySydney 152]

Thank you both for taking the time to tell me your feeding regime. I was definitely overfeeding before. I am now doing two rarely 3 feeds a day and only one or two mouthfuls per meal for each fish. I make sure one of the meals is a vegetable meal. The fish do seem better with this smaller diet and there is a lot less poop to worry about too! Thanks again Tony

[DawnMichele 6,045]

Sorry for your lossTony.