I noticed my little fantail was acting really strange after a water change, extreamy lethargic, floating around on his side, so I put him in a breeder basket to test ammoina.

over 8ppm.

What? My tank is a tad overstocked, but this?! So I test my tap water. Its over 8ppm. I am so mad. They didn't warn us, anything. Thank god I was lazy and didnt change the big tank.

I have my baby in the tank with a huge dose of prime, but is there anything else I can do?

I dont think he is going to make it. He will swim a spirel across his basket trap thing, then float to the bottom, lay on his back, and stop breathing. Then I freak out, run over, and he does it again.

I think this is the end of fish keeping for me.

Oh, dont let it be the end, its not your fault. Just get some water conditionaer that breaks down ammonia and expirement to see how big of a dose gets the levels down. dont give up

I really am sick of it. I spend all this time, money, and love on these guys to get their setup perfect, water perfect, and health perfect, and then something like this happens. Its like clockwork, every single time.

Anyway, he is starting to swim a tad more but it is still too soon to tell if he is going to make it. I still dont know what to do about the ammonia problem.

OMG!!!! Thats horrible..Its giving me goosebumps.

I'd add more prime just in case. Do you have any other healthy tanks that you haven't changed the water in lately? Maybe you can move him over there. Are there other fish with him? How are they acting?

Oh Andy, you're really having a lot of bad luck Don't give up, your fishies need you...

oh boy, , hang in there...

Chisower that is terrible. I think you need to contact the water dept. Ammonia that high isnt' good for humans let alone fish. Especially if it has not been like that.

Hang in there.

OH I have used a product called tank buddies ammonia remover from jungle labs, I have found it actually removes ammonia not just bind it.

Doesn't tank buddies mess with the pH? I bought a box a long time ago because I thought I should keep my pH at neutralish, and now I still have half a box.

How's he doing?

Kissy there are several "tank buddies" for various problems. The ones called ammonia clear are the ones I am refering to. I haven't used PH tank buddies, for I have wonderful PH (knock on wood).

ah I see okay.

I have no advice for you, I am very new here, but I just want to say I hope your little guy hangs in there!

Ok, good news and bad news.

Good news: He is still alive this morning

Bad news: He is doing so much bottom laying, I am afraid that if he does make it, his swim bladder will be perminatly damaged. If ammonia levels in the tap go down, I will do a nice water change with a big dose of prime.

I'll try to call the water company today.

Please let us know what has happened...

And, please don't give up...There is more to this than a fish in a bowl and it's a sad, steep learning curve.

Learn as much as you can from this experience. Keep moving forward with what you've learned. We are all in this together and none of us knew a thing before we started. The only way to be good at this, and anything else for that matter, is to keep at it...

Only let go of this when it doesn't make for a good fit as a pet for you... Make it your own thoughtful decision, not the result of circumstances we all face learning to be good fishkeepers.

Hope this helps...my heart goes out to you...I'm new to this too and it's hard to learn this way... You've done your best, really...

Fondly,

Mrs. Raven

Fishy didnt make it.

I'm sorry Andy

Don't give up on goldfish just yet. I'm sure things will get better. Remember you are a great fishy mom and your others need you to take care of them. They are definately better off with you than others.

I'm so sorry I was hoping he'd pull through this.....I hope you feel better soon

I am sorry to hear about your fish. I have never heard of ammonia being so high in tap water! I know how frustrating that is, and mine is only 1.0. You can't keep water pristine when it comes polluted with ammonia right from the tap. 8.0 is un--believable. Your water company should have sent out a warning. Think of all the pond, aquariums, etc that are affected by this. So, so sorry for all your recent fishy troubles.

The very worst part of it is that I cant keep bugs hospital tank perfect until the ammonia is back to zero. I havent tested it today, but I think it should be good by tomorrow.

Jeeze, I just realized I am almost out of prime and the only store that sells it is 45 minutes away.

I'm so sorry!

Can you use bottled water temporarily until the tap ammonia comes back down?

Andy, did you give the water department a call yet? Those ammonia readings are downright irresponsible, nobody should be exposed to such thing! THere is definetely something fishy going on, and it needs to be corrected by the department.
You have the right to request a water report once a year - it contains all the things that is in the water, and it should be several pages long. Aside from that, if the water department does anything to the water out of the ordinary, like flushing the pipes with a high dose of chlorine and other stuff, they have the legal obligation to let the consumer know beforehand - mostly I have seen that with newspaper articles. Such a high ammonia needs to be taken care of by them....
I am so sorry that your fish didn't make it, really such a shame after all the hard work you are doing with the hobby....

No, I havent called. I hate using the phone ...but..I guess I really should. *sighs*

At least everything is back to normal, and all the other fish are ok. Twinks tail is a tad tattered, and my danios gills look a little red still, but other than that things look good.