A beginner's question.

[Anthrice]

I think my fish may be in trouble.

Yesterday I put about 20 goldfish(different breeds) in my tank, and all was well.

Today, it is cloudy to the point where it is hard to see through the tank. All the fish are swimming at the top of the tank.
I know it's not time to change my tank filter, as I just opened it yesterday.... but I have no idea what could be wrong.

Please help. My fish's lives are at risk!

[Niki2105]

First off how big is your tank?? And what breeds of goldfish do you have in it?
Second since you wrote you just opened your filter yesterday im guessing that the tank is not cycled. You will want to look up cycling tanks here on this site. You will also need water testing kits to test the Ph, Ammonia, Nitrite, and Nitrates.
Im guessing that your tank is way over crowded with the 20 goldfish in it, that is unless you have a 200 gallon tank which i doubt. Fancy goldfish need at least 10 gallons of water each and Commons need more like 15-20 gallons each. Right now the best thing to do is a huge water change probally about 50-70% of the water. I would also consider taking all or most of the fish back to the store untill your tank is cycled.

Niki.

[Georgia Peach]

sounds to me like the ammonia levels might be pretty high.. you need to do large water changes everyday until you get the water tested. LIke stated above, read the thread on cycling!

[fish_doc]

As Georgia said do a water change now. goldfish create a large bioload on a tank and typically you should only add a couple fish of anykind at a time to a tank. Avoid doing a total tank cleaning as you need the bacterias that are in the gravel to help the water stay balanced.

[anasfire23]

My beginners Questions is at what temp should I have my tank water for my gold fish? It's currently at about 32 celcius which is around 89-92F is this too hot? what temp should I keep it at? They don't seem too bothered by the temp, actually they seem happier. Their activity level has increased somewhat and seem to be having a ball chasing each other. I have a 5g tank with filter, airstone and 150W heater and have two commets in this set up.

[violet]

Yes, this is too hot. IME, Comet (streamlined) goldies like slightly cooler temps than Fancy (egg bodied) types. I would not keep Comets over 75F/24C under any circumstances and would try to keep them around 70F whenever possible. Temps in the 60s will keep them happy, they will slow down in the 50s but not be harmed.

5G is waaaaaay too small a tank. Even if you just got them and they are babies and they are in quarrantine they STILL should be in a cycled 10G tank or 50% waterchanges done daily.

They are going to grow fast if cared for properly and need serious swimming space. Maybe a long wide 30G breeder tank would work short term but Comets will get to be BIG LONG (and beautiful) fish. They need long wide tanks. Tall show tanks are usually too short (left to right) and not enough room from front to back.

Remove the heater, get a MUCH bigger tank and a LARGE powerfilter. There is no way to make what you have described work.

violet

[fish_doc]

I agree. You can probably have them without a heater outright. You will need that extra space with the tank you currently have.

I would start planning on getting a bigger tank now so as the goldfish grow they will be able to live a long happy life in the proper surroundings.

[Niki2105]

Yes your water is way too warm. Unless your house or where you are keeping the fish is really cold then you probally dont even need a heater. I only use a heater in one of my tanks because it is in a cool spot and i like keeping the water at about 75 degrees.
Your Commets will outgrow the tank pretty quickly. They can reach lengths of 12-14 inches and more and do best in big ponds because of there size and strength. If you plan to keep these fish or any other goldfish you will need a much bigger tank. For Fancy varities its recomended at least 10 gallons of water per fish and for Commets and the like they need I belive its 15 or 20 gallons per fish. Hope that helped and good luck with your fish.

Niki.

[anasfire23]

I think I might have gotten the conversion from litres to gallons wrong. My tank holds approx 15 litres. I was planning to get a larger tank in the next month or two but I can't see them getting much bigger in this time.they're only about 4'' (10cm) long now. When I upgrade to a larger tank i'm planning on using the one i've got now as a betta breeding tank (as it was previously used for). I think I will get rid of the heater all together, as it is i turn it off at night and the temp only drops 4 or 5 deg ( i set it to have the tank at 25C) and they don't seem to be bothered by it. Still eating like the pigs that they are. Oh here's another question, Can and will goldfish eat live foods? I have a large amount of frozen bloodworms and brine shrimp from when I had my betta's jsut wondering if i can also feed them to my goldies?

[Willow]

I believe that 15 liters is approximately 4 U.S. gallons. This is far too small for two 4 inch goldies; even if you went by the (flawed) old "one gallon per inch of fish" rule, it would still be too small by half. It's good that you'll be getting a larger tank soon, but until then, you'll have to be very careful that the fish don't get poisoned by the ammonia that will accumulate in an overstocked tank. You'll have to do 20% partial water changes at least twice a week to keep the ammonia levels down to an acceptable level. Be sure to get a very large new tank; comets will get to 12-15 inches within a few years.

And, yes, goldies LOVE live and frozen foods, also a lot of fruits and veggies. You can try orange slices and blanched lettuce or spinach.