I think my sons fish is dying

Question
Hi my son has a goldfish that started lying on the bottom of the tank this morning and looks as though he has deteriorated over the last couple of hours. We have changed the water, put in water ager of course, and some salt in case it is swim bladder. Over the last bit of time he is starting to roll over onto his side and his balance is worse too.

My son loves this fish and has fallen asleep lying on the floor next to the tank. I have promised him I will stay up and watch the fish for him. Please give me some idea of what to do. He loves this fish ss it seems to know when we are in the room and will always come up to us as soon as he hears our voices. I know that sounds stupid but it does. It will make a very unhappy xmas for him if anything happens to his fish.

Answer
Hi Meg,

I pulled your question out of the question pool.  I hope the fish is still alive at this point.

Is the tank cycled?  How large is the tank?  The biggest mistake goldfish keepers make is not cycling the tank before they add the fish and trying to cram them in too small a tank.  Goldfish require 20 gallons for one fish and 10 gallons for each additional.  I also always recommend double filtration.  So, if you have one in a 20 gallon tank, you need a filter for 40 gallons.  Anything less and the large bioload that a goldfish produces backs up and the ammonia in the water suffocates and burns them to death.

The biggest misconception that people make is that goldfish are starter fish or are somehow easy.  Simply not true.  They require bigger tanks, more care, and a lot more maintenance.  I find it appalling that pet stores are able and allowed to profit on the sale of 'goldfish bowls' and 'goldfish starter kits' that hold barely a gallon or so of water.  Absolutely impossible.

Also, if the tank has not been nitrogen cycled first, which is an 8-12 week process, before the fish is added they will die from the ammonia build up that comes along with that process.  Every new tank needs to be cycled.

The best way to fishlessly cycle is to have access to a well established, healthy tank.  You can scoop out a handful or large netful of gravel, tie it in new, clean pantyhose (DO NOT RINSE IT OFF IN TAP WATER as this will kill the good bacteria you need) and keep it wet in the water from the healthy tank until you place it in yours.  You can bury it in your gravel.  Once the tank is cycled you can pluck out the packet and throw it away.  You can also use filter floss or ceramic media from another tank and place it in your filter.  You can feed the tank a pinch of food each day for an ammonia source.  This is the fatest way and you can cut your cycling time down to about 2 weeks, from the original 8-12.

The other method, if you don't have access to another established tank, is to wrap a piece of raw jumbo cocktail shrimp in clean, new pantyhose and place it in your running tank.  Make sure your tank has the gravel and plants in it, filled with water, with the filter and heater running as you would if you were adding fish.  The shrimp will rot and the bioload will build up and this will also cycle your tank, probably also in about 4-6 weeks.

During the fishless cycling time, DO NO WATER CHANGES.  Buy a liquid drop test kit and every other day or every few days test your ammonia, nitrites and nitrates.  During the cycling process you will see your ammonia spike and lower, then your nitrite spike and lower and finally your nitrates will register.  A fully cycled tank has 0 ammonia, 0 nitrite and 5 - 20 ppm nitrate.  Once this is complete, you can do a 25% water change and then add one goldfish, let them adjust to the new surroundings, and let the bioload adjust to the new fish.  If all is well in a week or two, add 2-3 more if your tank size permits.  

If your tank size is too small and you do not plan to upgrade it, cycle the tank anyway and add one male betta or a pair of african dwarf frogs.  These are entertaining and make great tank buddies for children's rooms.  But remember, nothing deserves to live happily or will stay healthy in anything less than 5 gallons.

Good luck : ) April M.