please help. all my fish keep dying?

J

Jennifer L

New member
By now i am very frustrated.

I have a 10 gallon fish tank. I started off with 8 fish. 1 oranda, 1 tiny bait goldfish, 1 shark [not really... i forget what its called but its a catfish that people call a shark. sorry] , and the rest were mollies.

I know it was over populated.
i also know that goldfish let off ammonia.

however
i am now down to 3 fish.
the 2 goldfish and AAA mollie

and as im typing the oranda is dying.

so. ive decided that tomorrow im going to go out and buy some more fish... just a few. and im going to buy anything and everything that is needed for my fish to stay alive.
with this said, i might add that i have no idea what these may be.

so, if possible could you provide me with EVERYTHING i may need and maybe some estimates of priced.

do i need PH strips? because the PH could be off and killing the fish ? [i have no idea, so please answer this question ]

what type of solvent could i buy that somehow prevents/aids in the illness area. so my fish wont get sick.

just PLEASE give me every single tip on this that you can. every detail will be appreciated.

I am so aggravated.

my dad set me up with this tank back in january and i can not manage to keep my fish alive. its really starting to bother me. i would ask my dad about all of this, but i dont see him very often so... there goes that idea.

just please help me. it is greatly appreciated and the person who helps the most not only gets 23490809238423984 kudos from me but 10 points as well.

thank you so so much in advance
Please do not think that i am a fish killer. this is not the case. i am asking for help so i dont kill more fish. if i did not receive any answers on this question i wasnt going to buy any fish at all. but yes, i think i will as the store. and when i change the water, someone recommended leaving a third of the original water in.. i leave more then that....is this bad? i think it would be worse to change so much water, wont that shock the fish?
lanab : you have been the most help yet. being harsh wasnt actually harsh. you are keeping me from killing more fish. i appreciate it. my small gold fish is still living so im not going to "get rid of it" im not even sure how i would go about doing so. im not flushing a living fish. anyways. i really do appreciate your help. i read around a little bit and my tank was a TERRIBLE set up. i did EVERYTHING wrong. i over populated. i didnt clean as often as i should [every ten days.. lol. seriously did not do that] i got the wrong fish entirely and too many at that. i just HATE that my oranda had to suffer through all of this. he was my favorite. i guess i learned the hard way.
 
seriously, a tank that size and the ammount/type of fish, it will not work without hard maintanence, still then not stable.
The smaller the tank, the harder to stablise.
I would not think of PH, I would be leaning in more technical, eg, ammonia, nitrates, etc.
There i would presume, is no/ near no good essential bacteria in the tank, which will keep you from having a stablized environment.

Take some water to a pet store and have them test it for you.
Are you using any carbon, ammonia remover, bio noodles, etc?
These are essential.
Weekly water changes of about 15% at substrate, Always use syphoned tank water to clean the filter medium. Do not clean the entire filter.
Some plants will assist and help.
Aquarium Life Liquid (advanced GEO-Liquid formula will correct all water issues, trust the product.)
Do you have oxygen in there, (airstone, etc)?
DO NOT OVER CLEAN THE TANK.

Hope this helps, good luck.
 
As you said, the tank in overcrowded. That is not even enough space for one goldfish. A single goldfish should have a minimum of 20 gallons of water. That is what is killing your fish. You can't bend the rules on this if you want the fish to live.

You need to look into smaller fish. A general rule of thumb is one inch of fish per gallon. You have to figure in their adult size, not their current size. Goldfish require something like 1 inch per 2 gallons of water.
 
It's your water. You need to make sure the ph is balanced, and they sell drops for that. You also need to make sure the temperature is where it needs to be and don't change ALL of the water when you do a change, leave about 1/3 of the old water in.
 
first of all you write a lot which means you also speaks a lot

hmm about your tank your water too much dirty and acidic to your fishes first of all don't buy any more fishes do a full water change + clean the tank then fill the tank with clear and fine water then add some of anti chlorine in it and add some of salt ( for 10 gal tank 1 1/2 tea spoon of fine salt and and around 30 drops anti chlorine) then put your fishes back in it and leave your fishes in it for about 1 week until you buy new fishes

just clean your tank its your dirtty tank and dirty water which is killing your fishes
 
Please don't rush to potentially kill more fish until you read up on and learn more about fish. Ph balance in the water, types of fish, types of foods ( how much and how often ) are all things to be considered. First educate yourself. There are tons of legitimate websites out there to help you; go to the library. Ask at the pet shop. Take your time..
 
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