Goldfish?

[irie feeling]

Pellets?
We feed them goldfish flakes by Topfin. A healthy pinch twice day. 2 fish.
We lost one in 2 yrs. survival of the fittest.
I catch my fish "sleeping" on the bottom sometimes. Scares the bejesus out of me. Both at once. I tell you.
Not really an expert, but swap out that water, pretreat it, change the filter monthly. Or at least spray it out until you go to the pet supply store, feed them. Rinse the gravel and scrub the ornaments when they start looking green, and keep the glass clear.
Not much more I can tell you.

[GBDad]

Fish seems to be doing okay now. The funny thing is, everything you read says feed twice a day, as much as the fish will eat in 3 minutes. If I were to do that, we'd be feeding 20 pellets twice a day. For the first 4 months or so we were doing 4 pellets twice a day. Would eat them in 10 seconds. More? We didn't. Every time we questioned the pet or aquarium store, "You're feeding too much." Now we're down to one pellet, twice a day.

[irie feeling]

Originally Posted by GBDad

Fish seems to be doing okay now. The funny thing is, everything you read says feed twice a day, as much as the fish will eat in 3 minutes. If I were to do that, we'd be feeding 20 pellets twice a day. For the first 4 months or so we were doing 4 pellets twice a day. Would eat them in 10 seconds. More? We didn't. Every time we questioned the pet or aquarium store, "You're feeding too much." Now we're down to one pellet, twice a day.

Hmm. We do flakes. A big pinch between thumb and first finger morning and before bed. 2 fish in 10 gallon tank.

[irie feeling]

Our filter pump is dying. It's a Topfin10 about 3 years old.
We order a new one for home delivery. Only $10 plus a little shipping fee!
Should be here any day now.

[GBDad]

Wondered how long the pumps last. We have TopFin as well. We've been told to do pellets, especially if the fish seems to be floating at the top. Flakes tend to float and the fish gulps too much air they tell us. I don't know. This fish keeps us guessing!

[irie feeling]

Omg.
I changed 1/2 the water today and afterwards thought we were gonna lose both fish and it was gonna be my fault.
I temped the water. 25 c I think.
I used it from the tap, like the wifey does. (Well- not city)
I put 5oz of that stuff in that fixes the water.
I made sure to rinse the pitcher, before use.

Why did I do it? Not my job. But the wife ain't done it for months. Supposed to change 1/10 a week.

Both fish went lethargic and darn near belly up. For a long time. One floater, one on the bottom. Barely breathing.
Tank temp was down to 63. Off from 67. One degree below house temp.
After dinner they were back to normal.5-6 hours? Swimming happy.
My inter web research indicates I "shocked" them with unequal water temp. Too low makes them lethargic. Prayers answered, they survived.

[GBDad]

I always use an instant read thermometer to get the temperature of the water as close as I can to the temp in the tank right off the bat. Then let it sit for the morning with the additives before changing the water.

We keep the house at 68 degrees in the winter and 72 in the summer. That room temp will obviously translate to the water. Have wondered if the cooler water is part of what we've noticed with the fish. Maybe it likes/needs it warmer?