Second goldfish died

[Ides of March]

Hello guys,

Late yesterday evening another one of our goldfish has passed. This particular goldfish was about 6 - 7 years old. It was a fairly small Oranda in comparison to many other goldfish I have seen and originally came from a Pets at Home.

I noticed it was acting odd yesterday evening, swimming slowly at the top of the tank and into the corners where filter/air pump tubes are located. Furthermore, didn't seem too interested when offered sinking pellets. 

Tested water immediately;

Ammonia - 0ppm
Nitrite - 0ppm
Nitrate - 40-80ppm (The orange dilution is really hard to decipher)

Temperature of the water was around 21/22 degrees Celsius. A half water change was performed Saturday just gone (Half the tank of water, scrub down rocks/ornaments, scrub glass of algae). Added 6/7ml of Seachem Prime water conditioner.

Tank is 250 litres and the fish are fed a variety of food including sinking pellets (Saki-Hikari Balance), de-shelled peas and frozen blood worms.

There are two other goldfish located in the tank. Another Oranda of same age, slightly larger and a Ranchu about the same size. Both seem fine.

I hate to say it but I'm worried I might be doing something wrong.

Some extra comments;

- We get a build up of algae fairly quickly (A couple of days after cleaning) on rocks and the glass of the tank. Is this normal?
- Some of the plant leaves have browned and have some algae/fur stuff that is quite hard to clean/remove off. Again, is this normal?
- I was unable to perform a water change before the last which meant the tank went 2 weeks without a change.
- When preparing the frozen blood worms, I get a small bot and add some warm water from the tap. Then add the blood worm cube from the freezer. After a couple of minutes I break and stir the cube with a pair of tweezers and then finally pickup clumps from the pot and add to tank.

Any thoughts?

Thanks.

Edit - Forgot to mention that we have a Fluval FX4 filter which has been altered to the following spec; https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5NqNPKFGFCQ&t=620s I haven't actually cleaned out the canister since we setup the new tank (About August).

[Cheltgirl]

Hi

I'm so sorry to hear you've lost another goldie. From everything youve said in your post I would be confident in saying the death is down to natural causes relating to age. If he was quite small then I would think he was stunted in his growth, most likely from being in too small a tank for a period of time. Being stunted can cause health issues further down the line but 6-7 years for a fancy goldfish is not a bad length of life. Average is maybe 8-10 years for a high quality fancy.

I remember you getting this tank all setup (not many goldie keepers on here sadly) and I know you've done everything absolutely right for them. Please do not blame yourself for this. It's not anything to do with how you've maintained the tank.

Regarding the algae. How long are your lights on for? Aim for 6 hours as a starting point. Too much can cause algae. What are your nitrates from the tap? Are you using any plant fertiliser? If you are, are you dosing daily or weekly. Most instructions say to add XXmls per XXlitres weekly but it's better to spread that out over the week or the algae will use it all up before the plants can. I had awful algae problems in my goldie tank for a while (goldies are poop machines which creates a lot of nitrate which in turn feeds the plants/algae) I backed off on the lighting and reduced plant food until I got it all under control (EasyLife Algexit was a great help)

Although it's always horrible to lose a fish I don't think you would have been able to do anything differently to prevent it. So please try not to feel guilty.

[mrmigs2011]

 
- When preparing the frozen blood worms, I get a small bot and add some warm water from the tap. Then add the blood worm cube from the freezer. After a couple of minutes I break and stir the cube with a pair of tweezers and then finally pickup clumps from the pot and add to tank.

Any thoughts?
 

Hi ides, 

My advice would be not to do this, but instead use the tanks water itself, 

Remember your water supply more then likely has a form of clorine or chloramine in it which means your bathing the blood worms in something that essentially harm the fish if the water is unconditioned (with prime), some fish can tollerate the tinnies amount of chlorine but not for long! 

Just my two cents buddy, best of luck figuring this out!

[Gingerlove05]

Sorry for your loss
I’m not good with goldies as a rule. I think Cheltgirl and Mrmigs have covered most of what I would’ve thought of otherwise.

[plankton]

Sorry for your loss
I also agree with the previous posts.

[Ides of March]

Hello everyone.

Thanks for your responses. I will try to keep it short and to the point;

- The aquarium lights are usually on longer than 6 hours, probably closer to 10. I have since changed the timings to 6 hours.
- The Nitrates from my tap are quite high, however I have a Pozzani Nitrate filter which I use for water changes. This brings it down next to nothing; https://www.pozzani.co.uk/water-filters ... _info.html
- I did use a plant fertiliser a couple of months ago now. I did put in double the amount I should have done and have not added any since - I know this caused a huge bloom but wasn't sure how long it would last.
- With regards to thawing blood worms. I will use tank water only from now on. But I will have to leave it longer as it will be a bit slower to thaw.

Thanks for all your help guys. It could well possibly be down the goldfish itself but it's always upsetting regardless.

[Baddams]

That's a shame about the Goldfish.

I find blocks of blood worm thaw pretty quickly. I leave them in the fridge overnight & they're fine to use the next day.