why can't I keep a goldfish alive??

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I know this probably really seems stupid but I keep killing the goldfish!! ! and I can't figure out what I have done wrong NOW. We are on our fourth fish! He's not dead yet but is VERY close, I give him one more day at the most. I have checked the water and all the levels are fine, he's not overfed, it is all very frustrating!! !! ! I think we are about to get banned from the pet store!

My dad and I have bad luck with that as well. I won a goldfish at the fair, and I changed the water and it died right after. I think the water was too cold.
My dad decided to move the fish tank upstairs, so he had to take this fish out. He put them in a bucket that had leftover soap in it, so they died as well. So I don't have very good advice.

I don't now much about rearing a gold fish, but did you provide enough oxygen in the water? Like one of those devices that produces bubbles in the fish tank...Also, I've heard that some people don't use tap water without purifying it because it may have harmful chemicals in it...

i'm no genius on goldfishes but i can relate to your situation except replace the goldfish with gerbils. our gerbils kept dying...my sister was not wonderful at taking care of them. we think the last one that died was eaten by the other hamster when it turned to cannibalism. we don't have gerbils anymore, lucky for all gerbils out there.

a sales lady at petsmart refused service from us because we kept killing our gerbils.

Sooner or later my cat would eat the goldfish and I'd be worried about kitty's health.

Jaleb,

I'm a bit of a fish expert, one of my obesessions. I've had as many as 5 tanks up at a time and worked in aquarium shop years ago. I have 10 yr old fish if that says anything. I'll help you if I can. Feel free to PM me if you prefer.

I need to know your parameters: how many gallons is tank? what other fish or critters are in tank with goldfish? where is the tank located in house? what do you feed and how much? how often do you change water and filter media? what temp is the water?

Also where did you purchase the fish? Do you use dechlorinator? Do you use a household sponge to clean tank?

I know a guy who is obsessed with fish. The amount of information you have to have to successfully raise a fish is mind-boggling. I guess if I were going to do it again, I'd head to the library or the bookstore and collect as much info as I could find. Things like the acidity of water and the amount of space you need are important, and all sorts of other factors. In other words, the solution I give to everything: research, research, research. And when you've done that...do some more research.

We've had both good and bad luck with fish. Sometimes they die withen four hours and sometimes they'll even last six years! And those were from a carnival of all places!

it is very frustrating, I have done lots of research and far as I know I am doing everything right, and I have talked to the guys at the pet store and they said I should be okay and we picked out this particular fish (oranda goldfish) because it was supposed to be one that should last (more than three weeks anyway). As of right now he is still barely hanging on but is floating sideways on top of the water in the same corner where he has been for two days now. If he floats backwards along the wall of the tank then he will swim back to his corner, but he is very lethargic. (sigh)

Instead of the regular goldfish, I'd reccomend getting the fancy-tailed goldfish (the orange ones with the big tails). They're the ones I had that lasted a long time.

i bet i know what it is! chlorine in the water.

where do you get your tank water? from your tap? is so, you need to go to the store and by some dechlorinator. i've heard that you can just let the water stand (in the tank) for several days before adding in the fish... but i know lots of people for whom this approach didn't work.

the dechlorinator can't be that expensive. just add a few drops and your fish should be fine.

we put a lot of =nasty stuff in our drinking water.

hope that helps

My dad used to have a lot of fish. He'd put water in the tank straight from the tap and then let the charcoal filter run for several days to get the impurities out before the fish went in. He also would gradually introduce the fish into the new water. He'd start out by just putting their baggy into the tank to let them get used to the new temperatrure slowly. Then he'd gradually mix the water from the tank into the bag before he let them out totally. The whole process took over an hour, so I am sure that Ticker will give you a much more detailed version of this type of "introduction" for the new fish.

I did the whole thing with the bag and I DO use a dechlorinator since it is tap water. I have the test strips to make sure the ph and nitrates and nitrites are all okay and I have changed the filter every 2 weeks. That is what is so frustrating, I am doing everything I am supposed to!

Well, that exhausts my limited knowledge on fish.

My brother's best friend's father gave us some large goldfish to put in our pond.

They went belly-up within a couple of days, because the pond is little more than a stagnant, disgusting mess when it has water in it, and a mulchy, disgusting mess when the water levels drop in the summer. Frogs can survive in it, but not much else.