Any fish people out here? I need advice

[skipollo]

Okay so this might sound goofy, but what sponge are you using to clean the sides of the tank?

We had tropical freshwater fish for years when I was younger, and there was an incident when a new sponge was purchased for wiping down the glass sides of the tank during tank cleanings. Well, it was a kitchen sponge, not a fish tank specific sponge. Very few fish survived that mistake

Considering you’ve done water testing for a lot of the things, I figured it’s worth checking to make sure you’re only using fish-specific products.

[CanadianTrotter]

@wildlifer

A fish’s slime coat is also very important to their health/immune system/swimminess(yeah, I just made that a word), so an additive that boosts/protects slime layer is a good idea when there are going to be any changes.

I’ve had quite a few fish of all different kinds and all different sizes of tanks up to 85 gallons. I always added a medication that would boost a fish’s natural slime coating. I cannot remember the name of now(Stress Guard?), but it turned the water blue for 3-4 days. I would add this with tank set up, 1/4 changes and when adding any new fish.

[CanadianTrotter]

Sorry you lost your old guys, it’s hard when you’ve had them for so long.

[2DogsFarm]

Thanks.
I know they’re “just fish”, but…

[CanadianTrotter]

I mourned my lost “old guys”.

I’ve had quite a few but the one that bothered me the most was a feeder goldfish that grew to over a foot long. I changed his name to Moby Dick when he grew over 8 inches. Another one, a Pleco that I called Rochester, also grew to well over a foot long including his long tail. I actually gave him away to a pet store because the biggest tank I had at the time was getting too small for him as his food consumption was growing as well.

[2DogsFarm]

Caveat: all sexing of goldfish in this post is arbitrary

My oldest was probably near a foot when he went belly-up. Took both hands to get him from the bucket.

His name was Alevah, Yiddish for Go.
Came from when he was the sole survivor of the Trough Experiment & living in the 1/2 barrel.
A friend asked what I was going to do with him when it got cold.
I shrugged, she looked at him & said “Alevah Sholom” = Go in Peace & what you’d say when someone died.

His first tankmate was a splurge: $3 shibunkin-type calico colored. I called her Shaneleh Punim - Yiddish for Pretty Face.

They were joined by plain orange Swimmy & Shondeh (blessing) who was so teeny when I first put him in the stock tank I figured he’d never make it through Winter, so didn’t bother with a name. But he did.

The new fish are just collectively Fishies.
But they recognize that & all come to the top when I call them.
They know it means FLAKES!

[fledermaus]

I would suspect chloromine, a newer sanitizing agent in city water. It cannot be removed by aeration or ‘cycling’.
discussion here

When I start a new aquarium I use some ‘dirty’ gravel from another aquarium and let the filter and lights run for at least two weeks. Then I add two or three small hardy fish like white clouds or danios, and wait another month before adding anything else.

I also plant my tanks very heavily (cannot do this with goldfish, they’ll eat them), so that helps a great deal too. But I’ve always been on private well water.

[Obsidian_Fire]

I agree, I use a water conditioning agent that’s supposed to remove chloromine. I am thinking it is not working as fast as it supposedly should. I think here on out I will prepare a bucket of water a week in advance, just let it sit with the conditioner in it, until I need it. If that doesn’t work, then??? I give up.

@2DogsFarm I know they’re “just fish” but doggonit… they recognize you, they are funny and personable in their own way.
Besides that, killing my critters just isn’t…

[good_booie]

I have great success with a product called Neutral Regulator when adding water. Best product yet and I have been doing this fish thing a long time. I also keep aquarium salt handy and also have test strips I use every few weeks. Good luck, I hate losing my guys

[beowulf]

A totally out of the box question: Have you checked the temperature of their water multiple times a day if you have a water heater?

A few years ago my SO’s 10 y/o Goldfish inexplicably died. SO was besides himself. Interestingly, my plecco (8 y/o) was fine. We tested water PH, we bought testing kits that morning, everything was within appropriate limits.

About two days later we realized it was the water heater/thermostat. It was going haywire and pushing the water up to over 90F at night, but by day time when we were up the waters were back to 70s, so we did not realize right away. Miraculously, the plecco survived all of this but everything else in the tank (including live plants) died.

Just a thought if everything else seems copacetic. Sorry you lost your old guys. It sucks.

[TheHotSensitiveType]

Slow to the party here, but do you test GH/KH? Low KH results in PH swings that can and will kill fish, and fish like guppies and goldfish need high GH otherwise they will succumb surprisingly quickly to mild illnesses.

I can’t keep guppies because my tap water has such low GH/KH. After killing a lot, I finally gave up and switched to tetras and bettas. No amount of additives saved my guppies which is why I switched the fish I kept. My more sensitive axolotls were having chronic mild bacterial issues until I figured out it was the low GH too but the additives do work for them.

[wildlifer]

Sorry, just have to say… axolotl!!

Carry on…