I’m a goldfish beginner – please advise?

Question

I bought 2 baby fantail fish and one of them died 2 days later. I am now left with one. I bought them from a reputable shop from a big tank of about 30. Should I replace the dead one with another or leave him be by himself? He seems happy, hungry and lively enough, but does for about 5-10 mins a day settle and sit at the bottom of my fish tank at home. Thanks!!!

Answer 1

Buy new one beacause i have had 2 fantails that have died in the past any the one buy himself looked bored so i got a new one and he was really happy!

I hope my advice helped =]

Answer 2

Hi Poopsy. First of all, you need to get a big tank for goldfish, they are really messy fish who need lots of space. So try to buy the biggest tank you can afford - looking at around 20 gallons minimum for a happy fish.

Secondly, did you buy the fish and the tank on the same day? You need to make sure you have a filter - this filters the water to get rid of all the nasties that the fish produce. If you don't have a filter, they are basically swimming in their wee and poo all day. When the filter is running, there are good bacteria growing in it to help get rid of the toxins - this takes are 3 weeks for enough to grow to cope with the fish. Ideally you would run this in an tank with no fish until ready, but if this isn't possibly you need to change some of the water each day (about a jugfull) which will help a lot. Also make sure you dechlorinate your water before you add it to the tank - this removes the chlorine in tap water which is also harmful for your fish.

Answer 3

Fish generally dont care about whether they are alone or in a group in such small spaces as fish tanks. However, Fantail fish do look much better when they arent in a tank alone so purely for aesthetic reasons I would say replace the dead one- and even add more!

Answer 4

get a good filter,

get some of the water drops that make the water 7 PH Netural,

get all that stuff,

feed them once aday

thats it

Answer 5

I'd buy a new fish. I had to do this too. I think he just couldn't stand the journey home, got stressed and died. Just plop it in with your old one. Fish do like having friends. I recently added 2 more goldfish to my aquarium and they  get on really well... :)

All this stuff about tank cycling (IMO) is rubbish. I just made sure the tank was clean before I filled it with water, added a few drops of water safe and off I went. Gold fish are very hardy creatures.

(I know a lot of people are now going to hate me and call me a fish abuser but I have had goldfish for over 13 years!)

Answer 6

why dont we adress the reason as to why it died BEFORE you add more fish. was the tank properly cycled before adding the fish? trust me, its a beginners mistake. done it myself. the tank has to be cycled for a month before you can put any fish in.  

Answer 7

it seems that you don't have a large tank enough. You did not specify your tank size!!!!

Answer 8

fish dont mind being on there own unless they are shoaling fish which goldfish arent... so its whether or not you want 2 or 1.. so yh its up to you! HAve fun!

^^)