hello all,

I am hoping you can help me straighten out my tank. I had won two fish from the fair about 5 months ago. The two gold fish were doing great. Then I bought a black moor and another gold fish and things have been down hill ever since (3 weeks ago) I have a ten gallon tank.

Sunday George one of the original fair fish jumped out and (of course) died. Then Harry - the black moor - was sick. I am almost certain he had swim bladder.. I took him into the fish store and they told me to add salt to the tank, gave me a live plant and changed my food from petrafin flakes to bio-blend. Also, he told me the ammonia level was high (didn't say what it was exactly) and to take a third of the water out every three days for two week. So I did this on Tuesday. Harry died later that night.

Today, Fred, the other fair fish, had a two inch long string of poo (pink in color same as food) and Ginny - new fish - has a black spot on her top fin.

WHAT THE HECK IS GOING ON?!?! Any help you could provide would be greatly appreciated.

Hi, it seems to me, that the 2 fish you bought was sick, and the black spot on your fish is most likely ammonia burns, which come when they are healing,it is like your helping by changing your water, BUT the main thing is, the rule of thumb is,,, 10 gallons of water PER goldfish, they are very dirty fish, and therefore require LOTS of clean water to live in, Trust me I speak from experience.Make sure you alsop dechlorinate your water,and the long fish poo, is prolly just that .long fish poo , Hopefull your remaining fish will do fine. 1 thing also is, always make sure you quarantine your fish B4 you place them with your other fish, or what has happened to you will happen, the ammonia was high due to OVERstock in your tank, Hope any of this helped, and always ask away thats what we're here for .

I agree with the previous poster, that you probably caused an ammonia spike by adding the two new fish. 10 gallons is a small tank for four goldfish. The ammonia spike has caused the blackness that you see on Ginny's fins. The blackness is a sign of healing, so you are going in the right direction. George probably jumped out because of the irritating water (just speculation on my part), and the black moor was probably not well when you got him.

At this point, I would work on getting the water quality in the tank back to good quality. This is 0 ammonia, 0 nitrite and low (under 20) nitrate. You will be doing regular water changes to achieve this level. If you don't have test kits of your own, take the water to your local fish store.

Hopefully, the two fish you have remaining, will do well. In the future, as they grow, you can move up to a larger tank to accomodate them

I would continue with the 30% water changes, every couple of days, and take a sample in after a week and get it tested. Have the store write down the numbers, so you can keep track.

Good luck and please feel free to ask questions You have come to the right place to get lots of support and help

you should have a lid on your tank. goldfish jump alot, I cant imagine anyone having a lidless tank. Ive even removed the lid for a moment while I went to get a bucket to change water and when I got back one of my fish was flopping on the floor(this happened years ago) I saved the fish in time too. Never leave the tank with the lid open unattended. never have a lidless tank!!!!!!!! as for black moors, I had one that died a month later. Those are delicate fish. I made the same mistake overstocking my 50g tank, I have 31 fish if my count is right they seem to be doing fine besides the occasional fish dieing now and then but I still want another fish tank and sell some!