Uh oh!!!! Help!!!

[Angelicarboreals]

My boyfriend went out of town the day before yesterday, and his animal hobby is our four fish tanks. We have a 20 gallon with big, beautiful goldfish that we took with us from our other house (they lived in the pond, we don't have a pond, so we brought them inside). These fish have been with us for a year and a half, and even have names.

I just went into the dining room to feed them and every single one of them is floating at the top, and it looks like two of the four are still breathing, albeit labored. Last night they were completely fine. Now, I don't know much about keeping fish in general, but the temp thermometer reads 86 degrees. Isn't this too hot for goldfish? Are they going to make it?

Someone help, I would hate to have to call my BF and tell him that the fish are all dead. He would never believe that it was a heater malfunction, instead he will probably think I forgot to feed them.

And on another note, I refuse to put my hand in a fish tank (I got electrocuted at the pet store I used to work at by sticking my hand in a tank and the heater had busted unknowingly) so I don't know what I will do if I have to get these fish out. Dead fish freak me out, I think I will throw up if I have to handle them, and my boyfriend doesn't come back until next Saturday.

 

[ortegah]

Yes way too hot. Goldfish are cold water fish. Get cool water in there.

 

[Emmilyy]

Do you have a saltwater tank?

I know this may sound.. weird.. but a few times i've found my goldfish like this, and thought he was dead. I plunked him in the saltwater tank to feed the lionfish, and as soon as he hit the water - zoom! he started swimming him. i got him out, put him back in his tank - and he lived! I found him like that about once a month, dipped him in the saltwater - and he was okay again!

 

[birdman78]

Yes way too hot. Goldfish are cold water fish. Get cool water in there.

Correct. BUT don't do it to fast. You will "shock" the living fish.

 

[ortegah]

Well yeah, I guess I should've mentioned that. Do it slowly.

 

[birdman78]

You don't have a fish net to scoop them up in?

 

[birdman78]

Well yeah, I guess I should've mentioned that. Do it slowly.

We'll back each other up.

 

[ortegah]

Hehe, ok. I'm used to having my 180g tank that doesn't get affected very easily by tossing some water in there.

 

[Nikki]

Oh no! I hope you figure it out, and are able to help the remaining ones!

 

[birdlover82]

Oh no! I hope you're able to save some of them. If you unplugged the heater before trying anything it should eleminate the chance of it shocking you shouldn't it?

 

[birdman78]

Also, do you have a test kit to test your PH, amonia, chlorine, etc.

 

[waterfaller1]

You can run a small fan towards the tank, or get baggies with ice to bring down the temp. Having moved them, and also as the ones were dying, it is spiking the ammonia. Do you have any products that remove ammonia? I would recommend a 50% water change immediately.
Can't you call your boyfriend and have him walk you through what to do? I mean no disrespect to your BF , but if his hobby is fish, then he should have made sure someone who knew what to do was watching them. It is not your fault.

 

[waterfaller1]

I just read your post again. You have not taken the dead fish out, is that right? If you do not take them out and do a water change the other ones will die.

 

[ncGreyBirdLady]

Un-plug the heater-You do not need it for the Gold fish anyway.nd Yes test the PH and ammonia.A partial water change with colder water would help them a great deal-BUT if You have city or community water-Be sure to Use a dechlorinater for any water that You replace or add to the tank!

 

[WenM]

Can you get bottled water quickly that has no chlorine in it? Above is correct, no heater needed. Our Koi and goldfish from our ponds go into a 150gal stock tank in the garage with a stock tank heat that just keeps the water 32deg so it doesn't freeze - not heated though, just ice free.

If you do a temp change too fast, you can kill or injure them terribly - I blinded one of my large goldfish once with a drastic temp change. Be careful.

 

[Angelicarboreals]

Thanks everyone for the advice, I ended up having to call my boyfriend as I could not find the testing kits here. Apparently he had ran out of stuff to test with and never bought anymore. Of course, the first thing he asked me was why I wanted to test the water, so I had to explain the situation.

I have gotten the temp down to 80 degrees, only one of the goldfish is still alive at this point, and the minute that I started putting in cold water he seemed to perk up a little.

I feel really, really bad for the fish. I mean, I know they are only fish, but they are still animals, and ones that I was left to care for. Even if the fish keeping really isn't my thing I feel like maybe I should have known more about them so that I could have been watching the temps more closely.

I have unplugged the heater, but I am still worried about the other goldie and a part of me is wondering if I should not put him out of his misery.

 

[GG.]

Angela - goldfish are tough - ours live outside in a pond here year round - it got pretty cold here recently and I thought one of the ones in the deck pond was dead - I reached in to get him and as soon as I touched him, he was off in a flash

He will be a little shocky/stunned acting for awhile -

do you have any StressCoat - this always helps when they have been through an ordeal

and don;t blame yourself - you are doing the best you can with what you have.

 

[birdlvr466]

Angela I am sorry you had this happen. My husband is the fish keeper here, I dont know much about them either. I always worry if he is gone I wont know what to do. I think if the water continues to cool down he may be ok.

 

[Angelicarboreals]

Alright, I am now doing a 50 percent water change as suggested, we have one of those gravity tank emptier things (lol, I really have no idea what I am talking about, do I?) The last remaining goldie is still breathing. Oh, and I forgot that we also have a pleco in there, he is still alive as well.

 

[waterfaller1]

Great. Just go easy when you put the water back in, and remember as Bonnie said to use a dechlorinator if you are using tapwater. The fish will be ok tomorrow without food. Let him rest.