Why is my comet goldfish swimming slow and his top fin is flat?
It's practically impossible to keep ten comets successfully in an aquarium. I have 7 comets in a 400 gallon freestanding pond on my porch, for example. The clamped fins and lethargic behavior I can almost certainly diagnose as ammonia poisoning. Try doing a 50% water change and use the vacuum to get all the gunk out of your gravel. You will need to repeat this tomorrow, and probably every day until you can find a more suitable home for your goldfish.
Can Comet powder be mixed with water to create a spray bottle for easy use?
There are much better bathroom cleaners that won't leave behind an unsightly film of Comet powder. In fact, there are cleaners specifically made for cleaning bathrooms, and they usually contain bleach, which sanitizes as it goes. For tough stains, try 409 With Bleach, which cuts through almost any grime, and which also sanitizes. Ants are a special problem; no matter how much you clean, they always seem to come back. If you set out a couple of drops of Terro Ant Poison (which is really just sugar water with some Boric Acid mixed in), that usually kills off the colony of ants in about 1 week's time. In the beginning, the ants will clean up the droplets very quickly. As their numbers decline, the drops will last you longer. One day you'll notice there are no more ants. And you're done... until next year, when they will return anew.
Why do fishes in aquarium die suddenly, what could be the reasons?
I find that a fish dying suddenly is a very rare occurrence. They will almost always show signs of illness before they die, at least that has been my experience, and I have dealt with many dead fish at my job.The problem is that most people, and even a number of hobbyists who lack an eye for detail, are unlikely to notice many of the signs of illness in fish.The main cause of truly sudden death is shock. This is generally caused by rapid fluctuation in water temperature, or other water conditions such as the ph. This is often due to introducing fish to a tank without proper acclimation, which is dependant on the sensitivity of the fish.Some diseases can kill very quickly, like certain strains of Columnaris. Although I still wouldn’t call this ‘sudden’ death. Likewise with other things that can kill quickly, such as insufficient oxygen level in the water, one would still notice the fish acting in a sickly manner before they die (unless one is ignoring the fish for days at a time).I would like to reiterate, because the way that this question is worded bothers me (if the asker is not a native speaker then it is ok!), fish do not die for no reason, and usually their deaths are not sudden. A better wording of this question would be “Why do fish sometimes die suddenly?” or “What could cause a fish to die suddenly?”.Now I do not mean to imply that it is always the owners fault if a fish dies. Fish are rather delicate animals and there are a lot of things that can potentially kill a fish. However when I find people saying that they had fish die “for no reason”, it is usually because they are not keeping them in appropriate conditions.
High levels of phosphate and nitrate in my tank...?
Cloudiness isn't going to be harmful to your fish, but the cause could be. Milky or white cloudiness is a bacteria bloom that is there in response to the higher levels of ammonia and nitrite being produced be a large fish in a fairly small environment. High phosphates shouldn't be a problem unless they get so high as to cause chemical burns and that's highly unlikely. Nitrates shouldn't be a problem as long as you can keep them under about 150 or so. Far better to be much lower of course, but not a health concern for the goldfish either. The only real way to reduce either phosphates or nitrates is through water changes, but if this doesn't seem to be doing the job I would wonder about your tap water. You might check the phosphate and nitrate levels from the tap. Some plants in the tank would help reduce the nitrates somewhat and in the case of certain floating plants, like Riccia sp. for example, would help reduce the phosphates as well but not a very large reduction. I would say check your tap as a potential source of both contaminants and change to bottled water for a while if need be. MM