What happend to our goldfish?

Question

this past monday, my kid brother's pet goldfish of five years died. he was really upset and it was hard for him to get over it. so my parents decided to let him get four more. so he got them on monday. they were four of the fancy goldfish. they had freshwater and then the bowl was changed a gain just yesterday. today, three of the goldfish died again. we fed them regularly. the bowl was almost always clean. what do you think happend? he's crying again and i'm beginning to think goldfish are a bad idea again.

Answer 1

they dont survive on bowls u need at least a 10gal tank

Answer 2

well first of all get a filter gold fish need filters and thats bout it dont you know that goldfishs need filters

Answer 3

If you cleaned the bowl with soap. That's a really bad idea, that could've been the reason for the goldfish dieing

Answer 4

because they are fancy goldfish the fishbowl was a bad idea.  Even the common comet goldfish needs at least five gallons.  You got 4 fancy goldfish and the smallest tank I would put four in is a 30 gallon tank.  They grow big and need room to move around.  

If you want goldfish get a bigger tank, no fish should be kept in a fishbowl although many are subjected to that habitat.

Bettas are wonderful fish and work great in a five gallon aquarium.  They are pretty and fun to watch.  

If you really want goldfish then get a five gallon aquarium and some comet goldfish.  If you really want the fancy variety then allow ten gallons of water per fish.

Fish are great pets but you have to know what each variety needs to thrive.

Answer 5

you cannot keep goldfish in bowls, I'm sorry you just can't.  they produce WAY too much amonia to be in any small space.  so that's probably what happened, the amonia just built up.

Answer 6

That pet store guy obviously didn't know what he was talking about because goldfish do need filters.

They CAN survive in bowls but they will suffer and eventually die.

How exactly did you clean the bowl? Did you take all the water out? Or even clean it with soap? All the water should never be changed at one time and you should never, ever, use soap on any fish tank or fish bowl. You should change some of the water every day. And replace it with tap water that has been treated with water conditioner and left to sit out overnight.

Answer 7

You need to get at least a 10 gallon tank. They do NOT survive in bowls well. 4 is also too many fish for that size of bowl. There should be 2 gallons for every inch of fish, is the rule of thumb. Get at least a very small tank and lessen your number of goldfish and you should be fine.

Fancy goldfish also will not live together if they are drastically different species, and don't feed them too much (we had a ryukin die from being overfed...!). Start off with two fish. That will be easier to mantain and they won't be lonely.  

Answer 8

Goldfish will not survive in bowls, and, to be frank, it is cruel to keep them in one. The bare minimum for one small goldfish is 5 gallons, if you have exceptional filtration and change the water every week. However, if you get them a good tank, his goldfish can live for over twenty years.  

Answer 9

i had the same problem so i stoped buying gold fish but if u bring the fish back to the pet stor u could get more 4 free.

Answer 10

did you treat the water

Answer 11

The simple answer is that they died of ammonia poisoning. Goldfish aren't as hardy a fish as everyone makes them out to be. With 4 fancy goldfish they should have been in a tank of at least 50 gallons. With the remaining goldfish I would put it in a 20 gallon as soon as possible.

Sorry for your loss

Edit: I rarely trust what pet store employees think they know about fish keeping. I would go on the www.aquariacentral.com and go into there coldwater section and you can learn a lot about keeping goldfish from them

Believe me alot of people got their start in the fish hobby the way you did. I know I did, my daughter won 4 gold fish at the carnival and I put them in a 10 gallon and bought 3 more and two cory cats to go in it because the pet store people said I could. Now I have 9 fish tanks and I have 5 goldfish in a 65 gallon and will upgrade them in about a year to a 120. This all happened in a matter of months haha.

Answer 12

firstly no fish should be in a bowl

secondly goldfish need heavy filtration

the rule is

fancy: 20 gallons for the first one and 10 for each exceeding  thats 50 gallons for 4 goldfish

or

for commons & comets 50 gallons for the first one and 10 for each exceeding  thats 80 gallons for 4 goldfish

they grow over a foot in length and if they are kept in a bowl they get stunted meaning that the fish stops growing but the organs don't and the burst and the fish dies

if your tank is over 2 gallons buy a small aquarium heater and get a betta

and dont trust that petshop again

Answer 13

Ammonia

               Debbie O