i found my little butterfly plec, jaques, dead last night.
i don't know whats going on in my fish community - theres only three residents left! i've done all i can think of, but i'm giving up, if these ones die, i'm not going to replace them.just thought i'd share because i'm feeling quite peed off with myself :down:
i'm thinking my tank could be over crowded, its 60 litres & now has one goldfish who is about 8cm long, a shubunkin who is about 6cm long & a small oranda who is about 4cm long. it doesn't look over crowded, it is a big tank, but i'm running out of theories:confused:

In general, you want to have 10 gallons per goldfish. Goldfish put off a lot of ammonia into the water, so you don't want to mix tropicals and goldfish, ever. Tropicals are very fragile (health-wise) and are easily killed. I'm not sure if you are saying that they were all in the same tank, but it does sound that way.
Also, if you are keeping tropicals, you need to have a heater in your tank (not sure if you do or not).

I don't know if this post is even helpful, I just wanted to throw that out in case you didn't know. If you do, then please disregard. :)

none of my fish are tropical, the plec was a coldwater one:-/ - don't tell me he was supposed to be in a tropical tank?

60 litres is only about 15 gallons, and thats just large enough for one gold fish. I think plecs need a larger tank too. Overcrowding could very well be the problem.

Plecos in the wild grow to be over 3 feet long.

It'd be a smart idea to buy an ammonia, nitrite and nitrate test kit to see what you're dealing with, water quality wise. Some fish stores will test your water for free.

you think that a 60 litre tank is only suitable for one fish? this tank is big, here's the measurements:
length: 23inches (or 60cm)
height: 12inches (or 31cm)
depth: 11inches (or 29cm)

i find it hard to believe only one fish could survive in there, when i was younger i had a tank quarter of the size with 2 goldfish in & they died aged 15years!
unless of course, my memory has failed & it has more than 60 litres in.

I used this site to do the conversion http://www.sciencemadesimple.com/conversions.html

60 litres = 15.85 US gallons

your measurements = 3036 cubic inches, which equals 13.14 gallons, so again, only big enough for one gold fish. You could have more than one fish, but they would need to be species that produce less waste. Gold fish are very messy, which is why they need so much water.

http://www.solodvds.com/beginner/fish_calculator.asp this is a site that calculates how many of a species of fish you can house in your size of tank. All three of the fish you have left are gold fish and each could be housed alone in your tank. If you want them to live (and thrive) you're going to have to upgrade.

Also 10-15 gallons/gold fish seems to be a minium, several sites while I was researching this suggest 20 gallons/adult goldfish to prevent stunted growth. http://hometown.aol.com/Kmam1/MyPond/GiantGoldfish.html picture of a VERY large gold fish :)

Sorry to hear about your frustration. You actually remind me of myself about 6 months ago when I got my first 10 gallon tank. I actually lost a pleco back then too.

When did you start this tank? Did you add your fish to the tank right away? I made this mistake. You are supposed to "cycle" the tank for about a month to 6 weeks before you add any fish. To cycle your tank means to let the algae and nitrate and other chemical levels to level off. When you fill up your tank for the first time and thus begin the cycling process, these levels fluctuate quite drastically, and is therefore not good for the fish, and can very well kill some of them, as what happened with me.

Anyways, there are some articles that can explain this better than me, so here are some links to a very helpful website, which was actually forwarded to me from some other VBers when I was going through the same problem, so it feels good to pass on the help :)

So, if this is the case, you're probably better off just not adding any fish for a while, at least until the cycle has completed . Don't worry about removing any fish. Get some testing kits to see what your levels are at (as recommend earlier).

The Nitrogen Cycle - by Vany Devos, Tiago Beltrão and Marcos Avila
Understand what happens in the first few weeks of your new tank, and why it´s so important not to add all the fish right away.
http://www.aquahobby.com/articles/e_ciclo.php

Fishless Cycling - by Shawna McGregor-King
After learning what the Nitrogen Cycle is, here's how you can do it without stressing or killing any fish!
http://www.aquahobby.com/articles/e_fishless.php

I hope that helps!

Also! I remember wanting to give up too, but you might want to re-consider. Tough this out and try to figure out what the problem is, and learn from it and your hobby will be a lot more fun. I was feeling so stupid and stressed out cause fish were dying on me. But, I learned a lot from that experience. Despite that bad times, fish keeping has been a very interesting/educating hobby, not to mention fun, especially since my fish aren't dying anymore :)

^^^ Good advice.

It's so good to see that you've stuck it out and are now enjoying it, newstars! :up:

thanks 4 the advice, but i still can't believe that this hge tank is only suitable 4 one little fish!!!!!

^^^ Good advice.

It's so good to see that you've stuck it out and are now enjoying it, newstars! :up:

Thanks man! I've come a long way :cry:

thanks 4 the advice, but i still can't believe that this hge tank is only suitable 4 one little fish!!!!!

No no, beepingbird, you got it wrong. Your tank is good for multiple fish to go along with your goldfish. You just might not want to have more than one GOLDFISH in there, since they produce a lot of waste. TWO or three goldfish in one tank could create problems.

However, if you have your one goldfish, it should be alright with other smaller fish that don't produce as much waste, like Tetras or Guppies. Although, I know goldfish can be aggressive, so I can't say for sure if they get along with Tetras or Guppies. Always do your research before adding new fish.

Anyways, let us know how things go.

However, if you have your one goldfish, it should be alright with other smaller fish that don't produce as much waste, like Tetras or Guppies. Although, I know goldfish can be aggressive, so I can't say for sure if they get along with Tetras or Guppies. Always do your research before adding new fish.

Anyways, let us know how things go.


Goldfish are really best kept with other gold fish because they're so messy, are cold water fish, etc. but that doesn't mean that she can't find a home for the goldfish (such as a brand new tank, I would totally use this as an excuse to go shopping) and then fill the smaller tank with other fish. The site I listed above gives examples of good fish groupings for a 15 gallon.

Goldfish are really best kept with other gold fish because they're so messy, are cold water fish, etc. but that doesn't mean that she can't find a home for the goldfish (such as a brand new tank, I would totally use this as an excuse to go shopping) and then fill the smaller tank with other fish. The site I listed above gives examples of good fish groupings for a 15 gallon.
yeah, goldfish realy should only be kept with other goldfish. thats not a prob though goldfish are realy cool in fact I would have to say they are my favorite kind of fish. getin a bigger tank for them will make everyone a lot happyer and healthyer.

Goldfish are really best kept with other gold fish because they're so messy, are cold water fish, etc. but that doesn't mean that she can't find a home for the goldfish (such as a brand new tank, I would totally use this as an excuse to go shopping) and then fill the smaller tank with other fish. The site I listed above gives examples of good fish groupings for a 15 gallon.

Ah yes, thanks for clearing that up. I left room for error in my comment cause i'm not really an expert, especially with Goldfish. But, I do use the "waste" rule for determining how many fish to put in my tank. I do stay away from goldfish because of how messy they are.

Messy, but quite charming. :D I :love: my goldies to a ridiculous degree.

i'm gonna try & post a photo to show you how big the tank is

Ah yes, thanks for clearing that up. I left room for error in my comment cause i'm not really an expert, especially with Goldfish. But, I do use the "waste" rule for determining how many fish to put in my tank. I do stay away from goldfish because of how messy they are.


I'm not much of an expert (I've only got one betta) but my grandmother was really into fish and several of her friends had goldfish that were well cared for and they were HUGE and very beautiful, they taught me about them and the image of little grapefruit sized healthy goldfish has never left me. She also had a betta that died at about 5. She loved fish :)

When I move out I'm interested in getting a used 55 gallon with a few goldfish but I don't have the room here, and my room is way too hot for them (I keep it 75-80 for the Iguana, the goldfish would hate me).

Messy, but quite charming. :D I :love: my goldies to a ridiculous degree.

yeah, me to


[QUOTE][She also had a betta that died at about 5/QUOTE]

wow, I was told they only live to age two

wow, I was told they only live to age two

Five is like the very maximum they can live. He was her baby, and therefore lived in pretty much perfect conditions (5 gallons, very well planted with real plants, frequent partial water changes, etc.) I think she got him from a real breeder instead of a pet store too, so he wasn't already sick.

The only thing we ever had to do with our little fishies- even when they were just in little goldfish bowls- was buy this stuff that takes chlorine out of the water. The easiest thing to do is to buy this stuff- you can get it anywhere, like at Meijer or whatever- and it takes the chlorine out of the water. If you don't want to do that, for whatever reason, you have to leave the water sit out and the chlorine evaporates out. My sister had like, 5 fish die before we tried using this stuff- it worked.

The only thing we ever had to do with our little fishies- even when they were just in little goldfish bowls- was buy this stuff that takes chlorine out of the water. The easiest thing to do is to buy this stuff- you can get it anywhere, like at Meijer or whatever- and it takes the chlorine out of the water. If you don't want to do that, for whatever reason, you have to leave the water sit out and the chlorine evaporates out. My sister had like, 5 fish die before we tried using this stuff- it worked.

no offence but, your sister should have done even just a littler bit a research before she got those fish, anyone will tel you you need to put that stuff in the water. and you should never keep them in thos little bowls goldfish need at least 10gallons of water per fish its vary mean (even if the human does not know any better) to keep them in those bowls they stunt their growth and lessens their life span.

Five is like the very maximum they can live. He was her baby, and therefore lived in pretty much perfect conditions (5 gallons, very well planted with real plants, frequent partial water changes, etc.) I think she got him from a real breeder instead of a pet store too, so he wasn't already sick.
Ive had my betta since decimber and hes in a two and a half gallon bowl he has 4 fake plants right now, soon Im gonna get some realy plants for my other tank and Ive been thinking of puting one in his

Five isn't the maximum bettas can live in...

Someone at Aquahobby has a picture of a very nice 10 gallon tank and the only occupant is that one betta.

And depending on the betta's temperment, you can add them to larger community tanks. I had my betta in a 10 gallon community for a couple of monthes and he was great towards the other fish. I just had problems feeding him, and he was getting older and not very active, so I removed him.

Speaking of my betta, Don, a year ago today was when I got him :bobo:

Five isn't the maximum bettas can live in...

Someone at Aquahobby has a picture of a very nice 10 gallon tank and the only occupant is that one betta.

And depending on the betta's temperment, you can add them to larger community tanks. I had my betta in a 10 gallon community for a couple of monthes and he was great towards the other fish. I just had problems feeding him, and he was getting older and not very active, so I removed him.

Speaking of my betta, Don, a year ago today was when I got him :bobo:

not five gallons is the maximum they can live in, five YEARS is pretty much the maximum amount of time they can be not dead. ;)

I'm actually thinking of setting up a 15 gal or so community tank for my betta when I move out, I'd like to do it now but I don't want to get more fish and then move them 4 hours in a few months. What kind of fish did you have in with him?