# what am I doing wrong?



## hills (May 4, 2011)

First of all, I want to say that I have probably done some things wrong with my tank and I feel realy bad about it. I hope no one yells at me for it or judges me harshly...I'm trying the best I can and just need some advice. =)

I wasn't sure where to post on the forum about goldfish so I thought I'd start here given that I'm just starting up a new tank. I had a plain common goldfish (the kind that are often used as feeder fish) that I kept in a 40 gallon aquarium. He lived for 10 1/2 years and I was really sad when he died a few months ago. He died of an illness that caused him to have red streaks running through his tail fins. I did treat him with 2 rounds of the maricyn that the pet shop recommended to me, but unfortunately it didn't help. Thinking that it could possibly have been ammonia poisoning, I did frequent water changes, but with no success. 

After he died, I cleaned out the aquarium really well with hot water, scrubbed the walls and removed all algae, etc. I bought new gravel and a new filter since the other gravel and filter were so old. I set up the tank with the new gravel and filter, used water conditioner, and let the aquarium run for 2 weeks before I went to get fish to put in it. During that time, I also put a nice sized handful of gravel and the used filter cartridge from my well established tropical tank in the new tank to help with the cycling process. 

After 2 weeks, I went and got 2 small common goldfish. They were really healthy for about a week and then suddenly became lethargic and died. During that time, I had my water checked several times and there were never any traces of amonia. After the fish died, I let the tank run another week and went and got a small oranda goldfish. I've had him for about 3 weeks. He started out healthy and was swimming all over, eating well, etc. Now, he's on the bottom of the tank and won't eat. He has red streaks in his tail fins just like my 10 year old fish did. I'm treating him for it, but it isn't loooking too promising. Given that I don't know for sure what's wrong, I am doing 25% water changes every two days and am using melafix. I am concerned that I have done something wrong with the "cycling" process in this tank. I have a few questions:

-Are my new fish dying because the tank was still contaminated from my old guy who died?
-before I got new fish should I have cleaned out the tank with something more than hot water? 
-Is my using melafix interfering with the growth of good bacteria in the cycling process? 
-if this little oranda dies, what should I do....empty out the whole tank and start over becaues he contaminated the water? Continue trying to cyle this tank? 
I am lost! I thought after successfully keeping my old goldfish very healthy for 10 years, I'd know what I'm doing, but I guess I need some help. Any suggestions would be appreciated. Thank you!
*c/p*
Also, I forgot to mention that the water where I live is pretty hard.


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## jrman83 (Jul 9, 2010)

Are you treating for septacemia? What it sounds like.

It doesn't sound to me that your tank was contaminated, IMO. Congratulations for being able to keep a fish healthy for 10 years.

First thing I would do is to get my own testing supplies. I prefer the API master kit. It will give you pretty much everything you need to get your tank through the cycle. Melafix shouldn't hurt your cycle process, but with testing equipment you'll be able to confirm this.

How have you been acclimating your fish to your tank prior to adding? There could be a pretty good difference from your water to the store's and shocking the fish. Death doesn't have to be instant from this to have been the problem. Read this thread for the pregerred method: http://www.aquariumforum.com/f2/drip-acclimating-fish-11327.html.

Hope your fish gets better.


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## DocPoppi (Mar 4, 2011)

Besides living to a grand ol age (wonderful job! For a plain goldfish) when did the red streaks appear?
As jrman says it's not likely that you've hadany kind of passed disease from the previous fish. ( slim chance of somthing in the filter)
Figuring out what happened to the old guy may help...
Were there any changes that occurred? New decoration? Change of food?, cleaning chemicals near tank?, water softener? 
I say this for alot of malidie's... but get some NovAqua conditioner and and squirt a 1/4 bottle in you tank. This stuff is amazing. I buy it by the gallon and use it every waterchange. And I use this before I medicate.


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## NeonShark666 (Dec 13, 2010)

You say your water is hard. Is the water at your fish dealer also hard? Fish don't like sudden changes in water conditions and dumping them in very hard water they aren't adjusted to can cause problems and even death


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