# gold fish poisoning?



## fishyfishfish (Aug 17, 2007)

I'm asking on behalf of my sister. She bought some "algae fix" solution to kill the algae in her tank. when she put it in she forgot to check the dosage first (she hasnt done this before) and put WAY too much. like it should of been about 1/2 to 1 teaspoon of the stuff for her tank and she put 2 or 3 times that. Her fish are now sick (which are smallish goldfish). 2 are upside down, occasionally moving on the bottom of the tank(still alive) and 3 are kind of swimming around but doing somersaults often. Is this poisoning and is there any way to reverse it? she has taken the fish out of the tank by the way and put them in her other tank which is normally just for growing plants. thanks for your help


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## Clerk (Nov 22, 2006)

Well, if it is related to the algaefix to several water changes, 50% immediately. Then 25% every hour or 2. That will remove it from the water. If you have a filter (and with that many goldfish you have to) if their is carbon in it, it will have already absorbed most of the excess. For best results, switch in a new filter insert, but drip the old one all over the new one for bacterial exchange.


What I would find more likely is the fish are suffering from ammonia poisoning, and swim bladder problems.

by moving the *5?* goldfish to that tank, ammonia will build up very quickly, and if that wasn't the problem before, it will be soon. Goldfish are very messy, if you transfered the filter over, it should be okay for the time being.


Now, we could use some facts.

What is the original tank size for these goldfish? What size tank are they in now? And finally, are these feeder/comet goldfish, or Fancy (fat bodied)?

Goldfish get very large, and messier as they age. With at least 5 you are going to need a minimum of a 60 gallon tank for all of them within the next 2-3 years (if Fancy). If they are comet goldfish (12-26 cents, carnivals, long bodied) they will not work in aquariums because they grow to large.


Goldfish are capable of growing to this size and larger, but in aquariums, they generally stay between 6-7 inches, and can live 20-40 years.


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## emc7 (Jul 23, 2005)

The could be poisoned by the meds, they could also be poisoned by ammonia. Killing all the algae in a tank at once can create a lot of decaying vegetable matter and cause more ammonia than the filter can handle. Their isn't any cure I know of for poisoning in fish, they either recover or they don't. Taking them to clean water immediately is key as is keeping the water clean. Since the fish are out of the original tank, change as much water as possible, maybe 90%, then repeat. That should reduce the toxin 100 fold. Then you can safely return the fish.


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## Fish Muffin (Aug 25, 2007)

PH Level, nitrite level, Nitrate level. Test those and post here then I will tell you what to do. The medicine could of increased your PH level which is killing the fish off. Sorry to say


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## Guest (Aug 25, 2007)

ph is not the issue here. rarely ever is. chances are the chemical either stressed them out too bad, or caused so much die off that you are having an ammonia spike. do as EMC said and just start doing some waterchanges, it can never hurt. anytime i see anyfish acting out of the ordinary, the tank gets an imediate 30%+ waterchange, cant hurt nothing.


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## Fish Muffin (Aug 25, 2007)

Oh Btw mike my Pleco Lived because of your 30%  so yeah Hear what Mikes saying he knows what he is doing.


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## emc7 (Jul 23, 2005)

> ph is not the issue here.


Its rare, but it is possible. Some meds are strongly acidic or alkaline and an overdose could have the same effect as tossing in pH down. pH is the easiest thing to test. A change can indicate other problems like high ammonia or nitrate. However, adjusting pH is only for advanced aquarists. It really annoys me when I see tanks packaged with pH up and pH down. Its really quite easy to kill fish with pH shock.


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## Guest (Aug 27, 2007)

Like i said, ph is not the issue here . Ammonia/nitrites are probably the culprit. but with out the test numbers, we will never know..now will we.


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