# Why do my gold fish keep dying?



## Jesserob (Jul 16, 2014)

I had 4 gold fish in a reasonably sized tank. I don't have a filter but change the water 100% every one to two weeks. I put water purifying drops in, advised by the pet shop, feed them once a day and keep the tank as clean as I can. I had one fish die on monday (two days ago) and another die today. Very sudden deaths, very unexpected. I always feed them before I go to work in the morning and each morning the fish looked absolutely fine, but I come home and they are dead. 
Any one have any suggestions on why they might be dying? 
I haven't even had them that long, I've had two of them for about a year and bought another two about a month ago. One of the old ones and one of the new ones have died! Help!!!


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## Amelia66 (Feb 15, 2011)

where they upside down or on their side?

i know seems silly to ask, but on their side means they are not dead and have been over fed so thought i would check.


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## Jesserob (Jul 16, 2014)

On their side, but it isn't breathing ?


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## Quinzell (Mar 14, 2011)

You really need to add a filter to the tank as one to two weeks without any form of filtration is actually pretty bad. Most people with filtration will do water changes every couple of weeks.

In the meantime, I would add an airline to the tank to add oxygen. We've been experiencing some extremely warm weather of late and when this happens the oxygen content of water goes down.

When you say they are in a reasonably sized tank, what exactly does that mean? To one man a 5 gallon tank might be big enough, but to another totally inadequate.


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## NaomiM (Sep 22, 2012)

Firstly - as louiseh said, what size is the tank? For 4 fancy goldfish you need 300l minimum (some would say more. If they're commons or comets, they need a pond.

Second - filtration is not optional. The ammonia produced from fish waste is highly toxic, and causes multiple organ failure within a few days (quicker the smaller the tank). Goldfish are high waste producers, so need very efficient filtration.

Thirdly, 100% water changes will stress the fish. In an appropriately sized and filtered tank, you should be changing around 20-30% of the water weekly.

I made similar mistakes when starting up - the problem is we all have this image of a goldfish in a bowl, but the reality is they live for 20+ years in the right conditions, and commons can grow over a foot long. The only reason they used to survive in unfiltered bowls was their incredible hardiness - but it did them long-term damage and was far from humane. Plus they're less hardy these days than they were back then, due to over breeding.


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## Quinzell (Mar 14, 2011)

NaomiM said:


> I made similar mistakes when starting up - the problem is we all have this image of a goldfish in a bowl, but the reality is they live for 20+ years in the right conditions, and commons can grow over a foot long. The only reason they used to survive in unfiltered bowls was their incredible hardiness - but it did them long-term damage and was far from humane. Plus they're less hardy these days than they were back then, due to over breeding.


Absolutely this ^^^^


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## Phoenix24 (Apr 6, 2013)

As others have said, and simply put: You're goldfish have died because you have no filter and your tank is (probably) not big enough.

All fish produce ammonia as a waste product in the same way we produce urine. Ammonia is highly toxic even at very low levels, and builds up very quickly in an unfiltered aquarium. Goldfish are called 'messy' fish because for their size they produce an awful lot of ammonia, but whatever size or messiness of fish the same fact is true - with no filtration the ammonia will very quickly build up to toxic levels and kill the fish. A new tank and/or with a new filter has the same problem, hence why this is often referred to as 'new tank syndrome'.

So what is it that the filter does? Well, its all down to something called the nitrogen cycle. In the nitrogen cycle, nitrogen is converted from one form to another by bacteria. In our aquariums (and natural water bodies too) fish produce wastes in their bodies which are excreted in the form of ammonia (this is like human urine, but in its purer form), and this ammonia is broken down by bacteria in the water to another nitrogen based compound called nitrite. Nitrite is broken down by yet more bacteria into nitrate. Nitrate, as you know, is used by plants for growth, which are then eaten by other animals (such as fish) which then produce more wastes, and so on - hence why its called a cycle.

Ammonia is highly toxic. Nitrite is highly toxic. Nitrate isn't too much of a problem. The point of the filter is to provide somewhere for the bacteria that do all the breaking down and converting of wastes to live and grow. The bacteria grow elsewhere in a tank too - on pretty much everything - but the filter actively draws water into is and circulates it via the bacteria. Without the filter the effective surface area of bacteria coming into contact with wastes is very small, and is not enough to rid the toxic ammonia and nitrites from the water.

As I already said: Goldfish are called messy fish because they produce an awful lot of ammonia for their size, but any fish will produce enough ammonia to poison the water within a few days or so if there is no filtration.

It takes time for the special bacteria to grow in the tank and filter, which is why when people add fish to a new tank (with or without a filter) the fish are poisoned and die before the bacteria have had a chance to grow. And for bacteria to grow you need a source of bacteria to start with (a seeding culture) hence why just running a new filter in a tank will not grow any bacteria. Any chlorine in water will kill any bacteria that are there, hence why we use tap water conditioners before adding water to a tank (these remove chlorine, and another bacteria killer called chloramine, which are used to treat tap water to make it safe to drink).

My advice to you would be to rehome your fish to someone with an appropriate sized tank and mature filter, and to start again from scratch. We can guide you through the steps you need to do to prepare your tank safely for fish. Firstly we do need to know what size the tank is though. If you intend to keep any goldfish at all you are talking a 150L tank for a single fancy goldfish, and an extra 50L per extra fish. Long bodied goldfish belong only in a pond.


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## paulbeeston (Jun 28, 2009)

You swim around in your own waste for two weeks and see how you feel


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