Help dying goldfish

[Gazza58]

I bought two from a pet shop in Firth Park about ten years ago, their both going strong and show no signs of doing the backstroke

 

The oldest goldfish in captivity lived for 43 years:surprised

[Gluggy]

she thought she might have over fed the first one but when she got the others she was really careful the pet shop told her to remove any left over food after 5 minutes and only do a tiny bit which she did.

 

they were not alive long enough to starve either its a bit of a mystery

 

I suspect that the filter inst mature yet... if those were the first lot of fish added to the tank then there was a good chance they were swimming in their own (toxic) waste - a tank filter needs time to mature and grow good bacteria to break down the fish waste into something less harmful.

 

If possible try and get hold of some "gunk" from a tank thats been running for a while, this will kick start the process and give any new fish added a half decent chance of survival...

 

For more more info on the whole filter situation look at http://www.thetropicaltank.co.uk/cycling.htm or for a much kinder way that doesnt involve fish http://www.thetropicaltank.co.uk/cycling2.htm