Q&A for How to Know when Your Goldfish Is Dying

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Question

My goldfish is swimming upside down and has cotton mouth. I am not sure if I should let it die in the tank or quarantine it and let it pass away there.

Emily Greenslade

Community Answer

It sounds like he has swim bladder disease or ich. If it is ich, it would be best to quarantine him, since ich is very contagious.

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Question

My fish wasn’t eating earlier, what should I do?

Community Answer

Any time your fish isn't eating, there may be something wrong. Make sure you are feeding your fish the right kind of food at the right time, and the right quantity of food. If problems persist, you may need to bring your fish to a clinic and get them checked out because something might be wrong.

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Question

How do you treat a sick goldfish?

Drew Hawkins1

Community Answer

If you notice your goldfish isn't doing so well, the first thing you should do is move it to a smaller tank if you have other fish. Fill a small bowl with new filtered water and move your fish to this "hospital" tank. Keep an eye on your fish for a few hours to see how it does. Sometimes changing the water can be enough to make them feel better. If your fish still isn't better after a few hours, unfortunately it may have a serious problem and will likely pass away. But if you were able to quarantine it quickly, hopefully any parasites or illness affecting it won't spread to your other fish.

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Question

How do you kill a dying goldfish?

Drew Hawkins1

Community Answer

Sometimes, the only solution you have for a suffering goldfish is to put it out of its misery. There are a few ways you can do it, but a simple and relatively painless solution is to use clove oil. Mix a few drops of clove oil into warm water and then add the water into your fish's tank. If you only want to kill 1 goldfish, remove it from your tank and place it in a bowl of clean water before you add the clove mixture. After about 5 minutes, your goldfish should be dead.

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Question

Why is my goldfish laying on the bottom of the tank?

Drew Hawkins1

Community Answer

Usually, when a goldfish is laying on the bottom of the tank, it isn't because it's dying or sick. It's probably stressed. When a goldfish is stressed, sometimes they'll just hang out in one spot and not move it all. There are various reasons why your goldfish is stressed out. It could be because the water in its tank is dirty, it doesn't have enough oxygen in the tank, or it isn't getting adequate nutrition. Another common cause of stress for goldfish is loud noise. Try to keep the area around its tank nice and quiet for a while to see if that calms it down and it feels comfortable enough to start swimming around again.

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Question

To get my water cooler, can I add ice cubes? It is an outside 125 gallon tank that cannot be moved.

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Community Answer

Yes, but be careful with the ice amount that you put in the tank or your fish might get killed.

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