sickly fish.

[Sultanita]

I have a 5 gallon freshwater tank with two little goldfish.

The tank was inherited to me, and when I got it, a third fish had been dead in it for a couple days, and was literally covered in algae. I buried the dead fish, wiped out the algae, and changed about 2/3s of the water. (It was so cloudy and dirty that I could barely see the fish.) For about a week, the fish seemed really happy.

Then, one of them, a smaller one that I had noticed eats less, has been pretty lethargic in the bottom of the fish tank. I got worried, but after about 3 days of lethargy, I spotted him swimming around happily. That lasted one day, and he changed spots, and now he is lethargic in another spot at the bottom of the tank. He has been like that for two days now. I tried poking it with the net this morning, and he didn't move places. He just flapped one of his fins a little bit.

This is my second tank. The first one was a 1 gallon with a betta I kept at the office. I had it for about one month, and my coworker helped me out with it. I have no clue about fish!! HELP! I worry about it.

 

[incysor]

What type of filtration are you using. How long has it been since you did the water change? I assume since this is FW that you're using tap water with some kind of dechlorinator in it?

B

 

[Sultanita]

I am not sure what type of filtration the tank has. Previous owner said it was up to date, but obviously, it was not. It was a little waterfall thing with something that looks like a filter... I wouldn't know if that is indeed a filter.
I did the water change about 1.5 to 2 weeks ago. But I also did another partial water change last Sunday... I changed about 1/4 of the water.
It is freshwater, and I am using tap water with a dechlorinator. The name escapes me, but that's what the person at the LFS recommended. Also, before I do the water changes, I let the water I will use settle for a day or two... I am not sure if that makes any difference, but I figured that any other potentially harmful particles like heavy metals would sink and be therefore partially removed from the water, making it safer, but that is just my geekiness trying to figure out this whole fish-care-taker job.

 

[sadielynn]

Hi ,
I am not a pro at this but what you may want to do is
to pull up some tap h20 and leave it sit over nite
treat it with what you us to treat the h20 with and
get a new filter pad ( you could go to walmart in the
pet department and get a hang on back filter for around 20 dollars
for a 5-15 gallon aquarium . then do a 100 % change keeping aprox 2 -3 cups
old h2o to seed the tank take the new filter pad and rinse the carbon pad out
in the old tank water place fish in keep dark for 1st day and then the next day
offer a small ammount of food for the fishies then start you feeding schedule every 3 or so days also with gold fishies you may need to change the filter
every 2 weeks or so or what we did was when we did the h20 changes we
rinsed the filter out in the water that we took out and changed the filters on a
monthly basis best of luck sadie

 

[incysor]

If it's a small hang on back cheapie filter it may need to have the filter pads changed out as well. What's the temp of the water?

B

 

[Sultanita]

filter... it totally escaped me... will look into that tonight.

I don't know the temperature of the water. I know it's cold to the touch, I do not know the exact temperature. Definitely no heater. Guy at LFS said goldfish live in cold water. Previous owner says he has always kept the fishies in cold water, and never dechlorinated or waited for the tap water to settle. He had the fishies for about 3 months.

 

[incysor]

Well, I'm pretty much at the end of my useful advice on what to look for. I've never kept FW fish other than a couple betas, and don't know the specifics on temp requirements for different types of goldfish. I do know that 8 out of 10 LFS employees don't know their @ss from their elbow. You might try and find some fresh water boards and do some research, so you can determine for yourself whether the LFS guy you're talking to is one of the few good ones.

B

 

[Sultanita]

i would not really know.

This one fish that is lethargic has always been slower and smaller than the other one. He eats less, and at times seems to be blind. (crashes against the plant decor, the glass, and the floor; won't eat unless the food hits him)

I haven't really found any freshwater fora.

I went to the LFS where the previous owner bought them, and the guy seemed at least confident on what he said.

A co-worker was talking about the possibility of ick... but I don't see any white spots...

The other fish seems to have no problem with the water at all. Chlorinated or not, algae or not. Eats well, swims like crazy.

 

[Sultanita]

My sick goldfish passed away some time last night. His left side was swollen and his eyes were oversized at time of death. He is survived by the other goldfish, who seems very healthy. I have purchased the new filter, too. It will be installed tonight. Thanks for the advice. I will continue to post here, as I plan to start a saltwater nano reef.

 

[dragon79]

Hey Maria, sorry to hear the loss of the goldies, but they must have came to you diseased or with issues to begin with. To start over, I'd just dump the water, clean it up and start over.

When you are ready to go reef, be sure to let us all know

 

[SoUnDwAv3]

Sickly fish

Hey Sultanita. I'm sorry 'bout your fish. I have an 85 Fresh water planted tank that I've kept for quite some time. It's mainly tropical fish; discuss, angels, clown loaches, angelicus botia, yo yo loach, plecos, congo tetras, a guppy, and a fat goldfish :shock: I got for a dollar about a year ago. When I bought him he was the size of a golf ball. In just one year he's a little smaller than a tennis ball . I know for a fact that goldfish can take a beating...literally. They prefer cold water 70 to 75 degrees but tolerate a wide range of temperatures. I know from experience that they can be dirty lil fish so make water changes at least once a week. Don't keep too many. Hopefully the remainder goldfish you have will live a long life. Good luck.

 

[Sultanita]

I am planning to put my other goldfish on a smaller tank, so that he can happily live there by himself, and then condition the 5 gallon tank to go reef.