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Hi All,

I have just bought a new house and with it I acquired a fish tank and some fish (the previous owners emigrated). From reading through these forums I have learned a lot already but I have a problem with one of my fish. I am afraid that I don't know very much about them (or even what they are ) I think one of the fish is a Common Pleco and the others are gold fish or variants of.

One of the fish has spent a fair amount of time laying on the bottom of the tank until the other day when he started laying on his side with his back arched. He has now taken to hiding in the plant pot in the middle of the picture below. All the other fish in the tank are behaving

I think the water is a bit dirty and needs changing but I don't have the bits I need just yet I will be getting a pump and some dechlorination stuff and doing a 50% water change this weekend.

Any help anyone can give me I would be most appreciative of, I would like to try and help my fish...

http://img244.imageshack.us/my.php?image=p1014778vx7.jpg

Cheers, Jon.

Oh my...

I really hate to tell you this, but those fish are compleatly unsuited to that tank. They are beautiful fish, though. Some of them look like small koi!
I'm afraid these fish need a pond, and soon! The previous owners probably didn't know that, and I certianly wouldn't expect you to if you're new to keeping fish. I would look into finding new homes for these fish as soon as you can.
Where are you from? Is it warm where you are such that people might have ponds in their yards that don't freeze over? If so, then you might have luck selling them or giving them away through your local paper, craigslist, or you could try taking them to a local pet and aquarium store and see if they have facilities for taking fish that large.

It's unfortunate, as they are beautiful fish, but they need tons more room. The symptoms you described in one of them could easily be signs of poor health due to stunting, poor water quality, or any number of ailments helped along by their living conditions.

Hoping that there must be a word for everything I mean...

Hi illustrae,

Thanks for your prompt response, I am based in the uk so unless the fish can stand quite cold water temps then a pond is not possible.

I think it is a little to late for the fish in question, it is floating at the top of the tank now, I'm not quite sure what to do as it appears to still be alive. There is a little bit of mouth and gill movement every so often.

I would like to keep some of the fish, if I cleaned the water up and maybe offered some of the larger fish to my LFS would the smaller fish be ok in this type of tank ??

Can you give an idea of the dimensions of the tank? I realize it's hard to measure a hex tank, but just give the measurements for the widest points side to side and back to front, and the height.

Unfortunately, unless it's something like a 70 gallon tank, all of those fish are going to be too big before too long. The comet-type carp in there can reach over 18" in just a few years, and they can live for decades. Ordinarily, these are very active fish who like to have plenty of horizontal swimming room, which this tank does not provide.

In my opinion, all of these fish need to go to a better home, and you should try smaller fish that are less messy and less active. Once we have the measurements of the tank, I'm sure plenty of people will have lots of suggestions for fish that will be much happier in that tank.

I hope your LFS will take the fish, or perhaps they know of people who might want them.

Hoping that there must be a word for everything I mean...

Ok, the dimensions of the tank are roughly:

Widest point across: 64cm (25in)
Flat part of the hex across: 54cm (21in)
Height: 40cm (15in)

I hope that makes sense. I spoke to the guy at my LFS and they will take the fish and sell them on to a better home. They also suggested that the poorly fish had a spinal problem and was past saving. They suggested the best way was to cool some salted water to 0c and suddenly immerse the fish in it, thats the most humane way of helping it on it's way. Is this correct ?

You are spot on with your identification, the LFS showed me some koi that are around the same age as mine and they are identical.

In my opinion, all of these fish need to go to a better home,

I tend to agree with you, it would appear best that the koi get a better suited environment. It will be a shame though as I've got quite attached to them.

I'm sure plenty of people will have lots of suggestions for fish that will be much happier in that tank.

I hope so, I've quite got used to looking after them and would miss not having fish in the corner of my living room now....

Hi there,
Yes, Illustrae is right.
Those are common goldfish and koi and they need
way more space than that tank is providing.
Just looking at them you should be able to tell they dont
have enough space.
I would sell them privately, someone would probably
pay a nice amount for some beautiful pond fish like
that.

Koi actually need 1000 gallons a peice, common goldfish need 100 gallons each.
Sell them, some of those Koi are easily worth 40 pounds,
or about 120 US dollars minimum.
Maybe more.

The pleco should probably get out of there too.

Anyway, about maintenance,
with those many fish in the tank, you should do a
30% water change 3x weekly.
The waste they are producing is huge, and any less
is not enough.
Thats why one has died or is dying. Its probably dying
of ammonia poisoning.

I will try to find out how big the tank is.

Ok, its looking like it is a 30 UK gallon tank,
or about 300 times too small for the fish in there.

You could keep a single fancy goldfish like an Oranda
or a Ryukin or a Black Moor in there.
Thats all you could keep for goldfish.

Id suggest a smaller fish, maybe a large group
of schooling fish like Gold Barbs,
or Rainbowfish or a peaceful community tank.
In a 30g tank, unless youre keeping 1 single
larger fish, you should aim at fish that grow to be
no more than about 3 inches at maturity.

With smaller fish, you could do a 30% water change
once weekly, with a gravel vaccuum of 50% of the gravel.

For dechlorinator I recommend Prime. Its the best on the
market.


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For 30 UK gallons (I think it's close to 26-ish US gallons) you have a lot of options. It's a great size for a beginner tank, IMO. Does the tank have a heater? Koi and Goldfish are cold water fish so there may not be one on the current tank. Most of the fish suitable to that tank would be from tropical regions, so they would need a heater set around 23-25 degrees. If you don't want to get a heater or they are too expensive, there are still fish that would work, like white cloud mountain minnows and weather loaches.
If you do get a heater, then your options include just about any fish that doesn't get larger than 6-8cm or so. Tetras, rasboras, dwarf rainbows, and livebearers would be a great place to start. Cory cats or small loaches, or even trading in your large common pleco for a bristle-nose pleco would be great bottom feeders. You could even have some centerpiece fish like pearl gouramis, female bettas, or a single male betta, and I'm sure there are other options as well.

Goldfish eat live plants, but with the goldfish gone, you also have a lot more decorating possibilities, You could go with fake plants and plastic or ceramic decorations (make sure all decorations are non-porus and aquarium safe), or you could get a nice tall piece of driftwood and live plants, or a combination of the two.
You also might want to look into getting a new filter, or at least a new sponge for the current filter.

Good Luck!

Hoping that there must be a word for everything I mean...

The tank does not have a heater at the moment but I'm not too bothered about buying one.

Thank you for your help and advice, I think I need to go and do some reading on the fish that you mention. What looks to be my best option is to go and have another chat with my LFS and see what they can do for me. Hopefully I can persuade them to take the current stock of fish from me and place them in a better suited home, in return for a discount on the tank heater and some different fish.

Again, I appreciate all your help and when I get up and running with my new fish stock I'll post back and let you know how I get on. (I bet I'm going to have a question or two )

Thanks, Jon.

Hi,
if you plan to have any fish other than
a) goldfish b) white cloud minnows c) dojo loaches
and d) rubbernose plecos,
absolutely any other species will need a heater.
You would do best to buy one if youre planning
anything tropical.



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Sorry, that obviously didn't read right. What I meant to say was I am not that bothered about the cost of buying a heater

I have spoken to my LFS and they have a policy where if they take healthy fish that can be re-sold then they will give 1/3 the retail value of the fish to spend in store

Looks like I'm off shopping over the weekend for some new fish.