Hello. I have a 40-gallon tank, and had seven small goldfish. Two died yesterday, and I am very distressed. (I have had them for years.)

I change 1/3 of the water every other week, and thought the water was okay. But I had the water tested, and the ph was high. So I did a 1/3 water change, and am hoping it's okay now. The water is at 73-74 degrees, and feels warm to the touch. I feed the fish flake food. I am so worried that my other little fish are in danger. What am I doing wrong? (Both fish looked perfectly healthy until they died.)

Please help!

Thank you.

Hi - I am sorry about your fish. When you got your water tested, did they give you actual numbers? Also, did you check the PH from your tap as well as that in the tank? You are slightly overstocked, and therefore might have high nitrates/organics or even measurable ammonia and nitrite. These will cause your fish to become ill, and high organics can even cause a PH crash.

You'd need to worry if the PH in your tank was considerably lower than that from your tap. PH crashes are very bad for fish. From what others here have said, high PH in itself isn't much of a problem, especially if it's consistently high. But, if you have any ammonia in the tank, I think it can be more toxic at higher PH, and ammonia is always very toxic. Do you have anything like prime or ammo-lock on hand?

If you can get these figures and get back to us, I'm sure the experts here will be able to help you. They have helped me a lot! Oh - just one more question - do your other fish have any symptoms? Any spots, parasites, strange behaviors? Please let us know, and also how the others are doing.

Ph isn't usually a problem whatever it is, as long as it doesn't fluctuate at all. It's when it suddenly drops that it becomes a problem. If your is steady then please don't start trying to alter it as it wil cause more harm than good.
Most problems are caused by poor water quality so you really need to give us figures for ammonia, nitrite and nitrate then we can help more.

Hi, everyone. Thank you for your responses. Maybe I better be a little more specific about the chronology of what happened. Both fish didn't die at the same time. Here's what happened. One fish died, I got the water tested, changed 1/3 of the water, thought I was out of the woods, and then the other died during the night. So it seems that whatever is killing them is still at work, despite the partial water change. This morning, I added twenty drops of (I think it's called) PH Down, because I was so concerned that the high PH was killing them.

As far as the exact levels of PH and other stuff, I don't have numbers. The pet store tested the water, and only said that the PH levels were high. I bought test strips, but the color results I get (for the PH test) never seem to quite match up with the colors on the box, making it difficult to give you a numeric reading. (As far as the composition of my tap water, the pet store guy asked where I lived, and seemed to factor in the levels of...whatever...in my tap water. Hope that makes sense...) I'm sorry if my knowledge level is low. This is actually my boyfriend's tank, and he is very conscientious, but I'm jumping in because I'm so concerned.

Anyway, thank you everyone for your care and concern. And most of all for not making me feel crazy for loving my fish so much. I am heartbroken this morning. But you are making me feel better.

Hello again. I forgot to answer one of your questions. You were wondering if any of my other fish have any symptoms. I have one fish (about four inches long) that has a bump on its shoulder. The skin appears to be somewhat red there. Its scales seem to be in good shape.(Sometimes, it looks like there are a couple of white dots on the bump, but it's very hard to tell if they're real, or just the light deflecting off the scales.) I've asked the pet store about this, and they can't tell me much.

Again, thanks for all your support.

Hi,
Consistently high ph is not a problem, as others have mentioned. Goldfish will adapt to a high ph and do better with a consistently high ph, that the fluctuations that occur when you try to alter it. I have a ph of 8.0 and my fish do just fine. I have to be rigorous with my water change schedule because as mentioned before, ammonia is more toxic at a higher ph. I do 30% water changes weekly in most tanks, but in the very long finned fish's tank, I do water changes twice a week. They will get blood streaks fins very easily :-(

If the two fish died within a couple of days of each other, I would think that it could have been from the same cause, but it just took a bit longer for the other fish to die.

So, if I were you, I would do a very good gravel vac, and a 30% water change, and see how the other fish do.

Also, as previously mentioned, test your ph from the tap and in your tank, to see if your ph is sagging or crashing.

It is a good idea to have a test kit at home for ph. Try the Aquarium Pharmaceuticals test kit for high PH. It works well for me and is not expensive. You put drops of fluid into water in a little glass vial. Much easier to read than the strips.

Thanks for the good advice. My boyfriend just went to the most trustworthy aquarium store we know, and they said that is sounds like something got in the tank. This makes me heartsick. The only possibility we can think of is that the woman who cleans our apartment perhaps used Windex on the aquarium. Windex is ammonia, and if high PH levels are made worse by the presence of ammonia, maybe this is a factor. Or, maybe we're grasping. It's so hard to pinpoint the problem.

On a slightly different note, I am wondering, does anyone else get really, really, really upset when their fish die? I feel inconsolable. I feel like I will never get over losing little Arnie Sargus. Can anyone relate?

If the mist from the windex got in the tank that could be part of the problem. As far as getting upset when fish die you came to the right place. Most of us get as attached or actually more attached to our fish than some people get to their dogs or cats......

You should mention to your cleaner to be careful what she uses near your tank, because things can be sucked into the tank especially if you use an air pump. So, if air sprays, insecticides or even cleaning substances were used near the aquarium these fumes could possibly be pumped into the tank.

I get extremely upset when one of my fish die. I was away on business for a week this month, and one of my lionheads died. The housesitter didn't know what had happened and froze the fish for me to look at, but there wasn't any external symptoms. I was very upset, and didn't sleep well for three nights.

So you are in the right place for sure.

Hi and Welcome.....

my first help to you is that a general rule for goldfish is 10 gals per goldfish since they get so big and are so wasty

Also I might see what the levels are for the ammonia, nitrite and nitrate. Ph would only kill if it drops or raises very dramatically fast. If you think it was Windex then I would get your water tested and get the numbers for the levels don't let them tell you its okay.........

I'm sorry to hear your fish died. I'm not sure if it's any consolation but after reading this string I will never spray window cleaner (I use 30% lemon ammonia) on or around my tank again.

I am so sorry to hear that you lost your fish. You certainly are in the right place as far as sympathizers. My fish are my kids. I lost my comet in August, after having her for over 8 years. She was a very very important part of my life and still is and I will always miss her. Still cry if I talk about her.

It sounds like a water quality problem for sure. How long has your tank been set up? Did you recently add any new fish? A water test will help us rule out a lot of things. Also do you dechlorinate your water? I would do a 30% water change right away, to get rid of whatever is in there. Were the fish you lost smaller than the others? Sometimes if you have an ammonia or nitrte problem the smallest or oldest ones will go first because they are most susceptible. Good luck and I hope you figure this out.

Hello and welcome
I am sorry to hear about your fish.

You keep mentioning that your pH was high, but you dont mention what. Also, after you added the pH down, what did the pH drop to and how fast???? My pH is constantly 8.0-8.4, and like you after reading the books when I first got GF I ran out and bought some pH down......then I came here and read and read and the pH down still remains in my fish supply box - unopened.

It might be that you have dropped the pH too fast and needlessly. Let us kn ow what the pH is. If it is less than 8.6 I wouldnt worry and wouldnt try to mess with it. As everyone has said, the pH per say isnt th problem to fish, it is the wide and fast fluctuations in it that will harm

Also, you are overstocked for a 40G tank. With 7 original fish you really needed to have had a 70G tank, at least.

Here's hoping we can save your other fish and let us know ALL of your ewater parameters!

It's always sad when a fishie friend dies. I'm really sorry to hear about them dieing. I had a beautiful fain tail goldfish I named Bubbles for about 4 years. We recently had an Ich outbreak and she died. I had treated her and all and she was even starting to eat! But now I'm starting to re-build my tank too. It's always sad, but just think of it this way, they get to play in the giant fish tank in the sky