Dad changed 90% of fish tank water!!?

Question

My dad changed almost all the water in my gold fish tank because he thought it was a little cloudy! Its only got 1 goldfish in it, and its relatively small.. I've got a filtration pump put in as well as an air pump. The little guy doesn't seem so active anymore, and swims kind of lop sided! what can i do !

Answer 1

One thing is that you should only change 40% of your water at a time because your fish can die or act drowsy. Your fish should naturally go back to its behaivor in a week or so.

Answer 2

wow, he is prob just stressed.. really stressed. Did ur dad at least treat the water he put in? if not condition/dechlorinate water? if not do it NOW!  the temp is now WAY off.. do u have a heater to adjust the temp quickly? How big is tank, cloudness is sometimes because tank is too small for gold fish their ammonia level is much higher, u need 2 gal of water for every inch of fish. So check levels of water, give him an orange maybe tonight as a treat, and check the temp. goldfish are supper troopers so hes got a pretty good chance.  

Answer 3

He'll be fine, he's just stressed out. Fast him for at least a full day and then resume normal feedings.

Answer 4

first off:

did he put water conditioner in/let the water sit 24 hours? if not, the chlorine and other harmful chemicals in the water will be unhealthy for the fish. also, it is not reccommended to change more than 40% of the tank water-that messes up the beneficial bacteria and might lead to you having to cycle the tank again. also, you mentioned that the tank was "relatively small". a fancy goldfish will need 50g/200l+ when young, 80g/240l+ when older (and 10g/40l per fish). if properly cared for, it should make about 10 years and 8-10 inches of length. if the goldfish is a common, it will be ok in a 50g/200l when young, but will be better off in an 80g/240l+. when older, the fish will need a pond or 150g/600l+ tank (and 20g/80l+ per fish). if it is a comet or shubunkin, it will need a pond asap. if it is a koi (which aren't goldfish anyway and it probably isn't) it will need a group of 5+ and a 1000g/4000l+ pond. putting goldfish in too-small tanks can result in stunting and, in very small systems, ammonia poisoning. if it is swimming lopsided, it may have a swim bladder disorder (common in fancy goldfish). read more about it here. bad water conditions can sometimes cause the problem.

http://www.goldfishinfo.com/ailment1.htm...

Answer 5

It may be a good time to add some water conditioner, any remaining chlorine will be removed and give the fish some stress coat.   Turn off the lights of the fish tank and wait.  

Answer 6

put some stress coat in there, turn the lights off, and don't mess with the tank. The less stress you cause the more likely the fish will adapt and be ok.

Answer 7

One common goldfish needs about a 50 gallon tank to reach maturity.  If you have water conditioner add it now.  Stresscoat is good.  

The reason your tank probably looked cloudy is that the fish is swimming in a septic tank of waste.  A small container should be cleaned totally about every 3 days.  It doesn't cycle and the fish needs to be out of the ammonia.

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