My Goldfish Died After A Water Change (Causes and Prevention)

Written by John Sawyer in Goldfish,Fish Species

As an aquarist, you must face many issues at the beginning of your fish-keeping journey. One of the most common issues is your fish passing away after a water change. So, why is your goldfish passing away after a water change? Let us discuss this below:

Change in the water temperature while performing water change can stress goldfish leading to passing away. You should do a water change every week by maintaining adequate water parameters. It is vital as goldfish produce a lot of waste, leading to a spike in ammonia levels in the tank.

Let us dive into the article to know more about the requirement of water change in your goldfish tank. In addition to this, we will also discuss how to perform water change in your goldfish tank.

Does water change make your goldfish pass away?

Water changes do not make your goldfish pass away, as it is essential to keep the tank clean.

Goldfish are messy fish that produce a lot of waste, making a regular water change necessary for survival.

Therefore, you must ensure frequent water changes in your goldfish tank to provide them with a healthy life.

If you avoid doing a regular water change, it can lead to severe health issues for your goldfish.

It would be best to always consider the water parameters before performing water change in your goldfish tank. If the fresh water and the tank’s water parameter is different, it can stress your goldfish.

We want you to know that if the tank’s water temperature is 70° F, the freshwater temperature should range between 68-74° F.

In the further article, we will discuss how to perform water change in your goldfish tank.

Also read: What Is The Ideal Water Temperature For Goldfish?

Reasons behind your goldfish passing away after a water change?

Here are the reasons behind your goldfish passing away after a water change: 

  1. Water change after a long gap
  2. Changing all of the water at once 
  3. Change in the water temperature while performing a water change.

If you perform a water change after a long gap, it can cause stress in your goldfish, eventually leading to the passing away of your fish. 

It would help if you kept changing your goldfish tank’s water every week to keep the tank clean.

As goldfish are messy fish, they produce a lot of waste in the tank, leading to a spike in ammonia levels. Therefore we advise you to use a test kit to monitor the ammonia levels in your goldfish tank. 

A significant spike in the ammonia levels can damage the gills of your goldfish, further leading to the passing away of your fish.

You should avoid changing all the tank’s water at once as it can lead to stress in your goldfish. 

Changing one-third of the tank’s water at once will be advisable instead of changing all the water at once. 

The significant difference between the freshwater and the tank’s water temperatures can lead to severe health issues like stress in your goldfish. Excessive stress further can lead to the passing away of your fish.

Is water change necessary?

Water change is essential in your goldfish tank to provide them with a healthy environment. 

Performing regular water changes help to prevent several health issues like stress in your goldfish. 

Goldfish produce a lot of waste that can lead to a spike in the ammonia levels in the tank. 

The increase of ammonia level further can lead to severe health issues like turning your goldfish black by burning the gills of your fish, eventually leading to the passing away of your fish. 

The leftover and the decaying plants in the tank can also lead to a spike in the ammonia levels that can cause severe damage to your goldfish. 

Therefore, it will be advisable to provide a well-filtered tank to your goldfish to avoid such health issues. 

A water filter helps eliminate all the toxic chemicals from the tank and helps to keep the tank water clean. 

To know more about the benefits of water filter, you can read my article on Do goldfish need filters.

It would be best to always consider the following before performing a water change. 

  1. Always change one-third water than changing all the water at once.
  2. The freshwater temperature and the tank water temperature should not differ significantly. 
  3. Perform a water change every week instead of performing after a long gap. 

How to perform water change?

You need the following equipment to perform water change in your goldfish tank:

  1. An aquarium Vacuum ( also called a hose or siphon)
  2. A bucket.
  3. A cleaning sponge

After you have the equipment, you can perform the water change in the following steps. 

  1. The first step is to turn off any tank equipment like a filter. 
  2. After turning off the filter, the second step is to put one end of the vacuum in the bottom of your tank and the other end in the bucket. Turn on the vacuum to transfer the water to the bucket.
  3. The third step is to keep vacuuming the water while moving the hoes to a different gravel area until one-third of the tank’s water is shifted to the bucket. You may have to empty the bucket once or twice while doing this process.
  4. After this, the fourth step is to place your biofilter in the tank water bucket. Remember not to put it in the tap water to eliminate the good bacteria from the filter. Squeeze the filter gently to clear out the blockage from the filter.
  5. After you have cleared the gunk from the filter, the fifth step is to install the filter back in your tank.
  6. Once you have installed your filter, the next step is to wash all other equipment and decor in the tank water instead of tap water.
  7. The next step is to clean the walls of your goldfish tank with the help of a cleaning sponge.
  8. The next step is to fill your bucket with tap water and treat it with a water conditioner before adding it to your tank.
  9. The final step is to gently pour the treated tap water into your goldfish tank. We want you to know that there must not be a significant difference between freshwater and tank water temperatures. You can use a thermometer to see the temperature of your goldfish tank as the change in the water temperature can lead to stress in your goldfish. 

These were the steps to perform water change in your goldfish tank. 

Mistakes you should prevent

Here are the mistakes you should prevent while performing a water change in your goldfish tank.

Washing the tank decorations in tap water 

You should never clean your tank decorations in the tap water. Instead of cleaning in tap water, you should clean it while performing a water change. Clean your tank decorations with bucket water during a water change.

Adding untreated tap water in the tank 

Another mistake you should prevent is adding untreated tap water to your goldfish tank. Untreated tap water can cause serious harm to your goldfish as it contains chlorine that can damage your fish gills. To know more about the disadvantage of untreated tap water, you can read my article on Can goldfish live in tap water.

Adding water too fast

Adding the water too quickly or when it is at a different temperature can stress your goldfish, leading to severe health issues in your goldfish.

Also read: What To Do If My Goldfish Is Stressed?

Conclusion:

  1. Water change is essential as it helps keep the tank clean and also helps to prevent several health issues in your goldfish.
  2. Changing water after a long gap or changing the water at once can lead to passing away of your fish.
  3. Water change is vital as goldfish produce a lot of waste that can spike ammonia levels, further leading to severe health issues in your goldfish.
  4. It would be best to change your goldfish tank water once a week.
  5. It would be best always to avoid adding untreated tap water in the tank to prevent severe damage to your goldfish.

Reference: NCBI

Recent Posts