Fish Tank Woes

Question
QUESTION: Hi there,

I am the second owner of a goldfish, and according to the first owner this fish is about four years old. He came in a pair, and about a week ago Charles Darwin (the fish that died, ironic, hmm?) died. He was found lop sided at the bottom of the tank, not breathing correctly. Since then, my boyfriend bought me two other small salt water fish, and one had died in the same manner. I changed the water out last night, and again today I come home to another dead fish. Charles Dickens is the only fish left, and he has been hanging out at the bottom of the tank, sitting on the bottom, and been breathing very heavily, not moving much at all.

I just washed out my 2 gallon tank (and all materials, heater, pump tube, etc) with hot water and human anti-bacterial soap, but I really don't know what to do. I don't want Charles Dickens to die, and I'm afraid it's a disease. Please help!
ANSWER: Well, I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but this is gunna sound pretty bad.

You're suffocating your fish.

First off, goldfish are fresh, coldwater fish. Saltwater fish will die a very painful death in goldfish water, and vice versa. So, avoid saltwater, and tropical fish. They have vastly different requirements then goldfish.

Next, Darwin died because of ammonia build up. Goldfish require (as adults) 3 gallons per inch of fish. A 4 year old goldfish is roughly 5-7 inches long, if housed correctly as a young fish. This means it requires about 15-20 gallons. Each fish. In a small 2 gallon tank, these fish are producing far too much waste *and are probably being over fed significantly* and thus, all that gunk falls to the bottom, rots, and turns into ammonia. Ammonia sucks out the oxygen from the water, as well as poisons the fish. So, Darwin died of ammonia toxic water.

unfortunately, the only cure for it is either rapid water changes, and lots of work keeping the water fresh in clean, getting a MUCH larger tank, or using chemical additives on a daily basis to neutralize the ammonia.

Hope this helps out! best wishes.

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Thanks so much for the information, but it's a little contradictory to the environment that I've had these fish in. I've owned the two goldfish for over a year, changed the water once every three weeks, and the previous owner changed the water twice in three years, according to what he told me.

I haven't started having problems with my fish besides the last three weeks. Dickens is barely a live, and I scrubbed his tank out this afternoon, changed out the gravel, and have been feeding my fish twice a week for the past year.

I don't know if that changes any of your advice, but the idea of Darwin dying of ammonia toxic water just doesn't make sense to me.

Thank you so much for your help!

Answer
Hey again,

My advise doesnt change from this, but a further explination can be offered to helpmake sense of it.

First off, goldfish are increadibly messy. The only fish more messy are hard core preditors that tear their food to peices. The mess they leave is organic material that, when left in water, decays into ammonia and other toxic compounds. In an "established" tank, bacteria builds up and processes that ammonia into nitrite, and further into nitrate. Typically, nitrate is not harmful in moderate amounts. If you properly care for your fish, they wont suffer from these toxic build ups. I'm fairly certain that these fish are in too small of a tank for their size and eating habits, as well as in a tank too new to support their waste productions.

again, the salt water fish died from not having salts (unless they were in a different tank then the goldfish. if they were, it was stress). the gold fish are dying from ammonia and nitrite poisoning. To prove it, you could continue as you have been feeding and such without adding anything to the tank, and when this goldfish dies, have the water tested. If you want to avoid that, I strongly recommend you follow the previous advise.

Hope all this helps, and best wishes.