General Care Discussion :: Goldfish Dying

[CactusJohn5]

So as most of you know i have a 300 gallon stock tank, with my RES in it, due to my own stupidity i have about 60 good sized goldfish also "living" in the tank I recently began to give them to the local pet shop as most are 3-5inches or larger! They are around 8 months old, recently i added a carbon bag to the filter to help balance out the fish amonia. It worked perfectly, the water is crystal clear. Downside is i think it is killing off the goldfish?!? I know the is a turtle forum, but i am worried that something is off in the water now. I have lost about 5 large goldfish in 3 days.

Any thoughts are welcome!

[devilduck]

Doesn't sound right. Is there a way you can test the water? Either bring it to a LFS or purchase a water test kit.

[CactusJohn5]

yeah i think i am going to take it to my local pet store they can test it, just curious if anyone had any ideas.

[devilduck]

Have you tried removing the carbon and doing a large water change?
I can't even imagine doing a water change on 300 gallons!

[CactusJohn5]

found out i have acidic water, my ph is around 4.5 so i have some stuff to add to the water, but i know i need to be careful with adding chemicals. Any advice?

[nariangel]

Omg 300 gallon! Have any pictures by any chance?

[devilduck]

That's pretty acidic. Try going to a purchasing a bag of crushed coral and putting it into the filter.

I've read some people add baking soda to buffer their ph also, although you need to know the carbonate hardness (KH) of your water in order to calculate how much baking soda you will need for 300g. There is a calculator here: http://dataguru.org/misc/aquarium/calKH.asp

I would do the crushed coral first since that will raise your ph gradually and not shock your fish.

If you have a source of clean higher ph water, maybe rain water or RO. You can add that to the tank to lower ph. Just remember to do it gradually.

[CactusJohn5]

Yeah my tap water is safe it's around a 7.2. So i am adding chemicals and doing a 10% water change a day, brought the ph up to 6 in around 2 days, i don't want to do it too quickly.

the turtles have been relocated to the tub for a temp home.

the pet shop recommended crushed salt ?!? So i used it, seems to be working, will be getting rid of 75% of the fish their urine is causing the PH to be so acidic.

I have plenty of pictures, i am at work, when i get home ill post one.

[devilduck]

Whoa! Fish urine caused your water PH to go from 7.2 to 4.5?!

[CactusJohn5]

that is even with a monthly 1/2 water change! Yeah i guess goldfish can mess up PH pretty quickly.

[CactusJohn5]

300 gallon stock tank with basking spot.

[adbritta]

My fiance and I are moving soon. We would both love to have an "indoor pond" like that, but I'm just picturing five very curious kitties attempting to jump onto the platform and then meowing plaintively because they're stuck, and one curious kitty not making the distance at all and falling in and flipping out and getting water everywhere. I can also see one of our dogs, with a shocking resemblance in both appearance and personality to Scooby Doo, taking a running jump into the water, or even better, trying to skid to a stop on the hardwood and hitting the tub with the force of a tsunami. I'm in law school, so my days of physics are far behind me, but I'm pretty sure that 72 lbs of exuberant puppy, running at top speed, slamming into that would be enough to bend it/break it.

[CactusJohn5]

the stock tanks are designed for outdoor usage, and are a HEAVY commercial plastic, the tank ALONE weighs like 100+lbs, it is not flimsey at all. Took 3 guys to get it in our house.

for 250$ i would recommend it to anyone with 2 or more turtles. All in all filter and tank and basking spot was less than 500$

we only have it about 3/4th full as that much water bows the floor.

260gallons of water and around 50 goldfish = VERY low ph, just some words of warning spend the money get a testing kit and test your water regurally!

[vear]

The carbon shouldn't be causing your water problems, did you get your water tested? Perhaps your ammonia, nitrate and nitrite levels are too high. Apart from dechlorinator I never ever add any chemicals to my fish tanks, fish are very sensitive. As was previously suggested to bring your pH level up as well as keep it buffered, use crushed coral. I Put it in a sock/cloth bag and stuck it in my filter.

How often are you doing water changes?

[CactusJohn5]

Water changes about once a month about 25-50% i add about 10-20 gallons a week as it evaps really fast in the winter. Ammonia and Nitrates were good, it was just the PH that was really low, we have started to correct it, but it's going to be a tough to keep it up with all the goldfish. Going to look into the crushed coral, sounds promising.