Having problems keeping any fish and I don't know why!

[Fish Eat Fish]

20 liters is 5 gallons, you can't keep fancy goldfish in a tank that small.
20 liters is sufficient for a betta or a few guppies (note: a few means like 3 not a whole breeding group and babies) , small killifish, stuff like that.

30 gallons is bare minimum for goldfish, and that comes out to 113 liters.



Listen to the above. If you don't understand cycling a tank don't buy anymore fish. You can try cycling your tank with your current goldfish but they may not survive or at the least have a greatly reduced lifespan, and you need to upgrade your tank to do so. Your current tank is not sufficient, so there is no point in trying to cycle it with them. Better to either take them back or upgrade the tank, you will be in a losing battle, constantly killing fish as you've already done.
If you upgrade your tank remember that goldfish are very messy so you'll need a filter far over what the pet store likely recommends. If you choose to upgrade we can give filter suggestions based on your tank size. (Do not go by the fish store, their knowledge of fish and filtration is usually very slim).

I good rule of thumbs is to never ask anything at a pet store other than 2 words..."how much?" the rest of your questions can be answered either here or by "The Google"

 

[fishoverlivingspace]

I good rule of thumbs is to never ask anything at a pet store other than 2 words..."how much?" the rest of your questions can be answered either here or by "The Google"

It's amazing how hostile people here are towards lfs's.... I say support them, and they are home to a wealth of information and experience. At the LFS I work at, everyone there has at least a few tanks (I have 14) from different biotopes and environments, and uses forums like these to gain information to pass onto the customer. IMO, it's the only thing that keeps LFS's in business. If you can't answer direct questions and give good advice, why are people going there?

 

[ShadowBass]

It's amazing how hostile people here are towards lfs's.... I say support them, and they are home to a wealth of information and experience. At the LFS I work at, everyone there has at least a few tanks (I have 14) from different biotopes and environments, and uses forums like these to gain information to pass onto the customer. IMO, it's the only thing that keeps LFS's in business. If you can't answer direct questions and give good advice, why are people going there?

I'm good friends with my LFS, and they get so much money from us it's ridiculous (we also get deals in return) but they're lacking a lot of knowledge compared to us (they do listen when we give information and suggestions though.)

The point was you can't automatically trust someone just because they sell fish. Information from a fish store is often completely outdated or just incorrect, it's best to go online and research or talk to a fishkeeper you know and trust about what you hear at your fish store before you automatically buy what they tell you.

Just like on here, you should never take information from just one person and assume it's true. Not everyone on here knows what they're talking about with everything either.

 

[fishoverlivingspace]

I'm good friends with my LFS, and they get so much money from us it's ridiculous (we also get deals in return) but they're lacking a lot of knowledge compared to us (they do listen when we give information and suggestions though.)

The point was you can't automatically trust someone just because they sell fish. Information from a fish store is often completely outdated or just incorrect, it's best to go online and research or talk to a fishkeeper you know and trust about what you hear at your fish store before you automatically buy what they tell you.

Just like on here, you should never take information from just one person and assume it's true. Not everyone on here knows what they're talking about with everything either.

Definitely true. Even if it's my boss who's been keeping fish for almost 30 years, I always ask more than one person their opinion on how I should be running my systems and compatibilities and stuff. Bottom line, though: LFS's can be one of those sources for good advice. I would say that between the 5 of us at my LFS, we have the knowledge (if not the knowledge, certainly the resources) to answer almost any question someone would be wanting to ask us, and we are better equipped to answer these questions than any other LFS in the area(I guess that speaks out against my saying that LFS's can be good sources of info. My point is, that although other LFS's may be good, WE RULE.).