Ok I have a 10 gallon, which used to have two fantails, a dojo loach (he's still little) and a guppy.Its been set up since January. I feed them Hikari wheat germ about twice a week because one of them (the one that lived) will get bloated whenever he eats and get stuck at the top. I usually change about 1.5 to 2 inches of the water once a week but i'm not always that consistant about it so sometimes it'll go a bit longer.

Last week i noticed one of my fantails acting wierd lathargic, kept lodging himself into the plants, getting stuck to the filter, i lost him the next day. I had my water tested that day and my nitrate levels were high. I cannot remember the exact numbers but it was suggested that i do water changes every day. Since then (3 days) i've changed 3.5 inches each day and my second fish, (he was doing well before) has started looking bad.

He's been sitting on the bottom more frequently and will come up once and a while. HI recently found some frays in his tail and he wiggles back and forth a lot when on the bottom and when trying to get to the surface.

If you have any suggestions any help would be great. This is my 4th goldfish and the store keeps explaining it as you can just get weak fish. But I'm really tired of having them Die.
Peace
No-L

Hi and welcome to the forum.

Its better to do your water changes in gallons rather than measurements as its easier to know exactly how much you are changing.
We need you to fill in as much of the red box above as possible.
We also need exact numbers for your readings so take another sample and ask them to write them down for you.
Are you using a dechlorinator and a gravel vac?
We also need to know what filtration you are using as well.
For now I would coninue with 40% water changes every day. Have you got any aquarium salt?

Yea I'm using Prime declorinator each time i change the h20. I do not have a gravel vac.
Unfortunately i have class and work until 8:30 the next two days and the fish store closes at 8:00. I do have one of those home water test kits but its pretty sketchy.
I have a Neptune 15 power filter for 5-15 gallons.
I do not have specific "aquarium" salt but we do have sea salt at my house. I'm not sure what consitutes a gallon in my tank, and when i'm changing the water wether i'm changing that much or not. If you know what percentage or in a 10 gallon that would help very much but in the past i've just been visually shown with "hand measurments" (I.E. change this much) and all i have to change it with is a big blue bowl.

Hi. A gravel Vac is definately a Must have item.Not only will it help keep your Nitrates down,it will aid in keeping toxins from forming in your tank,which may be part of the reason why you continue to lose fish.
Goldfish are recommended to have a filter with a flow rate 10 X's greater than the tank size,so you may want to look into that.Goldfish are such big waste producer's that they need the heavy duty filter's not only for cleaning,but also for the aeration that it helps give off. Your best bet is to do weekly water changes and testing.You can buy a Bucket at the Dollar Store.They usually have measurements on the inside to tell you if it's a three gallon/5 gallon,etc.What Brand of Testing Kit do you have?
The signs your fish are showing,along with the frayed fins,lead me to believe that it may indeed be a water quality issue. For now,I would probably change out half the tank's water-Make sure that you match temps and treat water before replacing it.Just doing this may show visible signs that your fish may be feeling better. Once you replace with frsh water,you'll want to check all your levels again to see where they stand.If you feel uncomfortable with your test kit,your LFS will do it for free.Just have them write all your number's down so that you can post back. We'll start with this,and go from here.Good luck!

will changing half of it stress my fish out too much?
right now he's starting to chill underneath the plant (like all my goldfish have done before they died) so i guess its worth a shot. ALthought he was floating about when i woke up.

I think i'm going to put him down. I changed 50% of the water and he's still the same. Wedged underneath the plant and starting to tip sideways slightly. I'm just so depressed watching them die. I'm giving up after him, i'm going to europe for the summer so i don't want to burden my roommates and its too much to have a pet for 3 weeks and to get attached to it and then have it die. My first lionhead (water qualtity was fine) got swim bladder within a week and a half of me buying him and died. The second fantail the water quality was perfect (according to the LFS) and he died "because some can be weak" and the last one died because of water quality (my fault) and now Seabert... All this time my friend has had a fantail in a 10g without a filter that he changes all the h20 once a month and that fish has lived for 3 years.

Thanks a lot for the help girls. I'm gonna keep going with my Guppy and dojo loach, maybe when i get back from europe i'll try some other fish when i move into another house but i think i'm done with goldfish. I've spent way to much money on my short lived friends.

RIP Seabert.

Peace
No-L

oh goldfish bounce back quite well so don't give up yet.

He was gone when i came back from class.

I'm sorry... Good luck with your Guppy and Dojo Loach and enjoy yourself in Europe.

I'm so sorry you lost your him

im so sorry you lost him

I am very sorry you lost him. [hug]

I don't know what to do with mine.. He's basically floating since yesterday. Today, after the water change and giving him more room, he swam again. He reached the bottom and ate some of the pea. Now he's floating again.. I will try not feeding him and see how it goes. but WHEN do I know that it is painfull to live for him? as sometimes he looks to get better for a bit...

ps: I thought I was writing in the euthanasia post - got mixed with the forum-sorry if this was out of place.