Hi guys it's me again and I am pissed! I have another fish sick with the same diesease as all my others. I have concluded that it is my new filter. My fist fish lived for 5 years, then I got a filter and I died. I have two other fish, both sick in under a month. I have removed that ****** filter and chucked it out. GOOD RIDDANCE!

Anyways, Ammonia, Nitrites, Nitrates are all good. She has bloody streaks in her fins, fin rot, clamped fins, still eating though. Ph is fine, all water has been purified. The tank is 5.5 gallons, 1 fish. I change the water 3 times a week. No conditioners. I added something called Permafix to the tank. It's a medication for fin rot. I feed me fish flake food, soaked for 1 minute. Yes, bloody streaks were found. No unusual behavoir.

Please, help............again

first of all u need a bigger tank, second dont throw out the filter! Try disinfecting it with vinegar or something and put it back on, filtration is very important for goldfish!

Hi again Napoleon.

Before going any further I think you need to fill out these questions:

Ammonia Level?
Nitrite Level?
Nitrate level?
Ph Level, (If possible,KH and GH and chloramines)?
Ph Level out of the Tap?
Tank size (How many Gals) and How long has it been running?
What is the name and size of the filter/s?
How often do you change the water and how much?
How many fish in the tank and their size?
What kind of water additives or conditioners?
Any medications added to the tank?
Add any new fish to the tank?
What do you feed your fish?
Any unusual findings on the fish such as "grains of salt",
bloody streaks, frayed fins or fungus?
Any unusual behavior like staying
at the bottom, not eating, ect..?

I concerned that despite a lot of help and advice with sick and dying fish you are continuing to provide only 5.5gals. You cannot keep 1 fish in 5.5 gals let alone 2 or 3! You've been told many times that a fancy needs at least 10gals and a common, 20g.

'I have another fish sick with the same diesease as all my others. I have concluded that it is my new filter. My fist fish lived for 5 years, then I got a filter and I died. I have two other fish, both sick in under a month. I have removed that ****** filter and chucked it out. GOOD RIDDANCE!'

This conclusion is wrong - fish need filtration. Just because your fish miraculously survived 5 years in a bowl without one does not mean that it was a good and healthy life. The most likely cause of death and illness is down to poor water quality and overcrowding, plus the possibility that new and unquarantined fish have brought disease/parasites into the tank.
Before any help is offered again, I think you must answer the above q's in detail and re-read the articles on setting up a tank, cycling and filtration. You can find these on the LHS of the main page.
I imagine you do care about your fish, so why not really take care of them properly? Listen to the advice people are offering and read all the helpful articles on the board. There is no point in popping in every few weeks with more problems if you are just going to ignore what people are saying.

Look, you guys might be made of money but all I can afford is a small tank. Trust me, if I could get a bigger tank, I would! But still, my fish did so well until I got that filter. People have been keeping fish for hundreds of years. Have me had filters since the beginning of time? No. All it takes is hard work to keep your tank clean. This filtration is over rated. In the wild they don't have it either. It's just hard work. I'm going to keep the filter out of the tank and see how things go. Right now I just want to know what to do about the other problem. I have quarantined her and added a fin rot medicine. Is that good enough?

in the wild they arent kept in bowls and small tanks , there everythings is balanced. Get the filter back on ASAP, and more importantly get a bigger tank or rubbermaid!

Having a large container for fish doesn't have to be expensive. Many members of this forum make due with clean rubbermaid containers. Those are pennies-on-the-dollar compared to a traditional glass aquarium.

Besides, I don't understand how a filter -- a box that runs water through a media to remove particles of debris and waste -- could possibly be responsible for making your fish sick.

"I'm going to keep the filter out of the tank and see how things go. Right now I just want to know what to do about the other problem. I have quarantined her and added a fin rot medicine. Is that good enough?"

Of course it isn't good enough. Not nearly.

I think you have been here long enough to know that if you are posting in 911 you need to answer all the questions in the white box. You wouldn't expect a doctor to treat you in the emergency room without getting your vital stats first, would you? Well this is no different. What you are asking us to do is to provide a medicinal cure for your fish's illness whilst ignoring the cause.

I want to suggest that you change you approach.

So far you've come onto the board with a problem, asked for a 'quick fix' and never been willing to explore the background of your fishs health and real needs. Most times you don't finish your threads or answer peoples questions. The result has been that your fish have become ill and died.

I don't know how you have formulated the idea that filtration is 'over-rated' ! Filtration is essential. As is space and oxygen. All of this is present in the wild; large volumes of water; fast moving currents or large surface areas for oxygen exchange; muddy, gravelly beds where waste is cycled and a high mineral content due to all the organic compounds present in a natural environment.

What you are offering is something closer to a stagnant pond.

Meds rob the water of oxygen - how is your fish going to manage without any aeration?
Your fish produces ammonia - how will that be de-toxified without a filter?
You don't use a water conditioner - how are the harmful chlorines/chloramines removed from the water? They damage the fish's gills.

As Nenn has rightly said - keeping a fish in good conditions does not have to be expensive. But you do need to learn and apply the basic principles. So far you've dismissed all of them and as you see, your fish are not thriving.
Why not start by copying and pasting the white box at the top and answering the questions in as much detail as possible?

Pixiefish, as always, is being extremely patient and tactful. She, and others, are trying their hardest to explain the basic principles of fishkeeping to you.

If you didn't want to listen to the advice they are giving you, why did you come here?

So far it seems that what you need to hear is repetition, repetition, repetition.

Fancy goldfish need a minimum 10 gallons of water to survive and thrive. Common goldfish need a minimum of 20 gallons of water to survive and thrive.Filtration is as necessary to fish as air to breathe is to mammals. Your fish are dying from diseases caused by poor water quality. As far as you believing that fish are "fine" in bowls and tiny containers, if someone locked you in a small 5x8 cell and fed you everyday, you may survive, but would you thrive? And if you became ill, would you get well quickly if they just looked at you and tried to guess, treating you for whatever came into their minds? What about if they threw away whatever device conditioned and purified your air?

Your fish is a living, breathing creature that you have responsibilty for taking care of. It is your pet. You have already lost some fish, so it must be obvious to you that you're not doing something correctly, which is why you came here for help, I assume.

Please put your defenses down, put away your preconceived notions of caring for your fish, and heed the advice they are taking the time to give you. It can only be beneficial to both you and your pet.

Well, thanks for the tank help but there is more to a filter than just water passing through. And I answer all the stuff I just don't know how to get the test stuffs!

Well what the last post said is just my question. How come I had 1 fish for 5 years without a filter then as soon as I put one in, not like a week after, AS SOON as I put one in she died. I get some more, they die. Why can't I just clean it?

And you guys are making it out like I'm not appreciated what you do. Whenever I come on this site it is when i'm stressed. I've got sick fish and other stresses. Sorry if i've been snappy.

We all have our bad days, Napoleon - but we are also adults, and try not to let other people dragged into personal problems.
Before I repeat what Pixie and others have told you numerous times, let me tell you that pet stores do test water for you, for free in most cases. So, not having test kits isn't an excuse these days anymore. But then again, I get the feeling somebody must have told you that before as well.
Here is the deal - you don't need a test kit to figure out that something is wrong with your water. Above posters have told you that as well. I realize money is an issue with a lot of people, but we all have taken on responsibility with our pets, and ideally, we research them BEFORE we buy them. Of course, a lot of us ended up here because we had exactly the same problem than you have now - sick fish, overcrowding. But the difference is, that we have listened to what more experienced people have told us, and changed either the fish's habitat, or the number of fish. Rubbermaids aren't expensive, and that filter is essential.

Why your fish have survived for so long? It was either sheer luck, or it wasn't really 5 years that you have had the fish. One other scenario, and a very likely one, is that your parents have replaced any dead fish while you were in school, so you wouldn't feel bad. Believe me, parents do that, its very common, to spare the child the heartache of seing their beloved fish dead in the bowl.

Either way, the filter isn't the reason for your sick fish. So, before you ask any more questions about the continued sickness of your fish, have a long and hard look at their housing, all the advice that you have been given, and what you have to do to make their living conditions better. No meds in the world will help your fish if the housing is inadequate. Meds make it worse by depriving the fish of so much needed oxygen, or driving an already stressed fish over the edge.
Its like trying to treat continued sun burn with aloe and other aftersun stuff, when all you need to do is get out of the darn sun.
We all started out with mistakes when we first kept fish, but we had the wisdom of listening to any advice given and change what we were able to change. If you can't or won't change something with your goldies, then probably goldfish aren't the ideal fish for you right now.

A filter isn't "magical." There's no pixie dust or strange chemical agents that come with a filter that cause fish illnesses. What probably happened is that the movement of the water suddenly stressed your fish (which had been used to its already stagnant environment) and that little bit of stress compounded with its 5 years in a small environment did him in.

I'm sorry you lost your fish and I'm sorry you feel your bowl is a suitable environment. It's certainly your prerogative do to what you like with your pet fish, but all you have to do is look at the many other fish that the members of this forum have kept for 5+ years and see that there's a huge difference in both health and vitality.

just cause its surving doesnt mean its thriving (hey that rhymed!lol). If ur not willing to get the fish a bigger tank or rubbermaid then dont keep fish! Get a betta instead and return the goldie to the petstore, simple as that. But if ur going to keep the goldie, get it a bigger tank and a filter, introduce it slowly to reduce stress and get ur water tested.

And read up on the basics. If you only come here looking for a magic bullet once everything's gone wrong, you'll never learn about fishkeeping.Read the articles at the bottom of Nenns signature. That would be a start.
Otherwise, Shamu's advice is the best idea.