I set up an aquarium about 1 month ago with 3 goldfish. They have all since died and I am wondering if I can continue cycling my tank with the water that is in there now and then add new fish once the nitrites and ammonia are gone? The first 2 goldfish died within the first 2 weeks. The last one seemed to be doing fine and then jumped out of the tank 2 nights ago. I am worried that whatever killed the first two was a parasite or something that may still be in the water if I don't start fresh. I'm not sure my 3 year old can take another dying fish!

If you are concerned about parasites, I would start afresh. Did you have any evidence of parasites such as the fish flashing or scraping before they died? Did you see anything that looked like a worm or a green disk hooked onto your fish? Another reason that your fish might have died was because some of the params got to high for them; this is also the reason for your other fish to have jumped out of the tank. What kind of tank do you have and do you have test strips? If your confused about the cycling at all, I would suggest looking at the Water Chemistry subforum under the forum Goldfish Tanks.

Hope this helps and post back soon!

This is just my opnion but I think I would most likely start over....Sounds like something may have been going on with the levels!!
I may not be correct though..just sounds kinda "fishy"...And one jumped out?........Do you have a hood on the tank or did he get out some other way?
Since they died within the first 2 weeks of having them it might be a good idea to start fresh who knows whats in there?.....
I agree kids don't like pets dying.....before we had the goldies I had gouramis, and when they died my son went around telling everyone his fish were dead and pointed to the backyard when people came over...I just coulden't flush them or put them in the trash!! So of course I had to bury them.....
What size tank did u have them in?

Roana...what is this green disk that you are talking about? I don't think I have ever heard of that?....I think we posted at the same time..... What makes them just jump right outta the tank like that?

The fish that died the first two weeks probably got stressed out due to the ammonia and or nitrites getting very high, which the stress caused them to become susceptable to disease. If the levels were still high, the third fish who died probably jumped out due to bad water quality. Fish will do this. Its sad, but it happens. In my opinion, I would start over. You can try to cycle the tank again with fish, but you would have to monitor the tank very carefully. testing everyday, and doing water changes probably almost everyday. I know this can be tough, but its the only way to keep the fish from not stressing out. If you do try it again, test the water daily, and dont let the ammonia/nitrItes go above 1ppm but dont let them go below .25ppms after a water change. After they spike, and fall, then they will fall to 0ppms. You can also try a fishless cycle, which can be tricky. I tried, but had difficulties, and ended up doing my cycle with fish in it. With monitoring my tank daily, and doing daily water changes, my fish never once seemed to get stressed, and I didnt loose any fish. Also, if your worried about the tank being infested with a parasite and you do start over, you can do this. This is what i did when I had an outbreak of ICK in my tank, and all of my fish died. I emptied the tank, cleaned it with a bleach solutions, and cleaned it over and over with hot hot water to make sure i got all the bleach out of the tank. I also threw out all of my rocks and put new ones in, and anything that had been in the tank that i did reuse, i cleaned in a bleach solution, and then rinsed and rinsed in hot hot water.

I know it can be tough on kids to loose a pet. I remember when i was young and having fish die all the time. My son is 15 months old now, and im just happy our fish are doing great, and ive finally got things situated. I dont know what we'll do when our goldies die. He'll be so upet.

Good Luck with the tank, and I hope you found some of the answers you were looking for.

I'm sorry your fish died, it's hard to lose them
We cycled our tank with two fish in it and kept testing the water. They were fine and it cycled in two weeks!

I think the "green disk" that is being referred to would be a fish louse or Argulus. They look like little green flying saucers that stick on your fish and suck their blood.

Actually, there are only a very few parasites that will survive in a fishless tank. Most parasites require a host as do most fungus and bacteria that can hurt the fish. Without a fish in the tank, they will starve out.

I personally think, as "BigRed" has said, that most likely the fish jumped because of poor water - perhaps combined with parasites. The others may have had other problems and, in a cycling tank, simply were not strong enough to survive the toxic cycling tank.

I personally am not a fan of cycling a tank with fish in it. I guess I am just too lazy. I do not like the daily water changes and the worry and the stress, added to the fact that I strongly believe that exposing fish to high levels of ammonia and nitrite can permanantly harm them - leaving them open to a whole host of difficulties down the road.

This said, there is a way you can cycle your tank, and starve out any bacteria and parasites that might be in there. This would be a fishless cycle.....

http://www.kokosgoldfish.com/FishlessCycle.html

You do ont have to start again or anything. The 2 + weeks it will take to get a robust cycle going will be sufficiant to starve out any nasties that may have been in the tank.

This is the best of all worlds for you do not have to work to change the water, no fish are harmed in the process and you will have the 2 weeks of an empty tank that can starve out flukes, lice, ich, etc. It is all a good thing.

Then when you do bring new fish in, give them a good salt dip, place them in the fully cycled tank and away you go!

I am so sorry your fish died. It happens - but is always very sad - particualrly for a child who does not understand why things happen. But you should be able to set up your tank, and enlist the help of your three year old in doing it - so you will have a happy bright environment of healthy fish to watch.

Thank-you for all of your suggestons. I guess i should have given some more info when I posted this yesterday...I have been doing daily water changes and testing the water every day. The ammonia has never been above .50 and the nitrites weren't present at all. However, the fish that the guy sold me were feeder goldfish (that they usually use for live food for bigger fish) so I wouldn't be surprised if they were diseased to begin with. The first fish just looked stressed and died on day 2 of having them. The second one was doing fine then started gasping for air at the top of the tank. Neither one of them seemed to have anything hanging off of them or anything like that. 25% of the water was changed hours before the third one jumped out and when I checked the levels 24 hours later (I was out of town and my husband was working nights so didn't find the fish until 7am - I checked the levels at 7pm when I got home) the ammonia had risen to 1.0. Before the "suicide" the fish appeared completely fine. He was swimming normally, eating well and was even recognizing who we were when we came in to feed him. He wasn't hiding or clamping his fins or any of that.

Yes there is a hood on the tank, just a small opening of about and inch part way across the back for the filter. Quite amazing that he found his way out of that small opening.

Thanks, Daryl, for interperting my jabber. Sometimes I'm not very clear...

If none of the params were abnormal, I would definatly start over. Are you going to try having commons again?