Gold fish

Question
QUESTION: hi!
I am keeping gold fish for last many years.
the logest pair that lived with me was almost years+.
after that every time i am trying to keep gold fuish its getting died after 2 weeks time.
I changed water once in month if needed
I do know i dont over fed them  and fed them once every other day.
I have notice after putting fresh fishes they got Bruise mark after 2 weeks time and they got died.
these are cold water fish and I normaly keep water overnight to kill the colorine in the water before changing.
really confuse what could be reason .
water filter fine  too .
please advise as soon as you can

ANSWER: Hello Aurfan, Make sure that your tank is cycled properly. It can go through a mini cycle at any point in time, especially with goldfish. Depending on what size tank it is. I would guess that your bacteria has not become established and at the two week mark you either get a nitrite or ammonia spike from the fish and that in turn, kills them. Also, do not feed goldfish once per day. Feed them a VERY small amount 4 times per day. They do not have stomachs and must continually eat in order to get a sufficient amount of nutrients. If you have a local pet store that does free water testing, take a sample there and have it checked. If you have any other questions feel free to follow up and best of luck!

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Fish   QUESTION: Hi, thanks a lot for your very prompt and efficient service.
Just like to add to my problem. That I am using bowl type equarium  for last 6 years. 2 fish at a time.
Facing this problem for the last couple of months. Really strange.
I am always advised to feed the gold fish with flakes every other day.
But having same problem for last many month proving that there is one certain problem... Which I am not getting .
Please see the attatch pictures of fish with bruise, which got appear after 2 week time on one side of the body.
I am facing same problem with every fish .. Time limit is almost same around 2 weeks.
I Never turn  the filter off.
Hope you can guide me.
Please help.

Answer
Hello again, the brusing that you are talking about is from what is called an ammonia burn. When ammonia levels are too high in a fish tank, it can cause that bruise like blotch on your fish. The problem you are having is the goldfish is in too small of a setup. The two may have lived two years but that was entirely based off of luck. The minimum tank size for a gold fish should be nearly twenty gallons. They produce the most ammonia of any type of freshwater fish and therefore need the most space. A common misconception that pet stores will tell you is that goldfish can be kept in a bowl. While they are able to be kept in small spaces for a limited amount of time, their growth will eventually be stunted and if the ammonia spikes like yours does, they will get burns. The only way to solve the problem is to move them into a bigger tank or you can do a water change every day for the bowl. Even with a filter running, they will produce high amounts of ammonia. Also, your tank needs to be re cycled, this means that bateria need to be re established inside of the aquarium in order for your ammonia levels to drop down to 0. The reason that I know your tank needs cycled is that after two weeks, your ammonia level should "spike" This means that ammonia will go up. Weeks 2 and 4 are the worst for freshwater tanks and it takes a full six weeks or the cycle to complete itself. The options you have moving forward are either putting the gold fish in a larger setup or you can buy chemicals that remove ammonia from the water. Ammonia can kill fish which is why yours are dying. I hope this helped you out and best of luck on whatever you try to do. If you want an alternative fish to keep that is not as dirty, you might want to look at a few guppies. They are hardy just like goldfish but do not produce as much ammonia so therefore an be kept in a slighly smaller space. If you have any further questions feel free to message me back! I hope this helped you out.