My gold fish is ill :-(

i_love_pigs!

Hi

My fancy goldfish has started to act odd. It cant swim properly and has been floating upside down at the top of the tank for a few days. Ive put some disease stuff in which helps unwell fish but it doesn't seem to have helped.

Any ideas what i can do?

Laura

TheWaltons_3

How long have you had it?

Has it been stressed out recently with a Water change... have you tested the water?

mike_halls

Asus_Mobo wrote: »

flush it down the bog u noob

Wow how sensitive!
But he is probally right if your fish is swimming upside down he probally doesn't have much longer.
Do you any other fish in the tank?
If so you should seperate the sick one as you dont want the other to get sick.

southernscouser

Make sure the water is well oxygenated. Is the pump clean and working properly?

TheWaltons_3

don't seperate it without putting it into water that has been treated - my OH filled a bowl with tap water and put my poor fish in it.. died within about an hour from major shock :eek:

tiamai_d

Firstly, exactly what treatment did you use?

It sounds like swimbladder to me.

the best treatment for this aquarium salt (unless you have used one of the tonics which is basically salt water anyway).

Is it a 'fancy' goldfish, with a big fanned tail? Have you been feeding flake food or pellet food?

If flake food, go get some pellet food asap, as most of the time swimbladder in these fish are caused by the way they eat. they take in air especially with flake food. (a bonus is that pellet food doesn't make the water as dirty)

Do make sure that you have a filter or at the very least an air stone as these fish need extra oxygen (the movement of the water absorbs oxygen from the air into the water) and a live plant if possible.

All you can do is add in aquarium salt (or a pre made tonic) and feed pellets instead of flake. You can buy swimbladder treatment, but tbh, salt is better.

hope this helps.

ailuro2

Boil some garden peas, take the shells off and then mash the remainer.
Allow to cool.

Sprinkle a little in, give it a few hours if he hasn't eaten peas before- once he likes them he will be fine.

Fancy goldies, incl orandas, pearlscales,bubbleeyes are all prone to swimbladder problems becasue of their shape.

Make sure he goes at least one day a week with no food- yes, I understand he will make hungry eyes at you, but it gives his digestive system time to catch up with the food going in, and means he doesn't get constipated.

On a more serious note, he could have swimbladder disease, pretty much untreatable.Sorry,only time will tell if this is what he has, i.e. the disease and not just constipation.

As for treatments- forget the adding stuff- adding salt too wuickly will make him feel worse.Swimbladder disease treatments from the pet shop rarely work.
Regular water changes with dechlorinated water, not putting him into a different container while you do this (no need!!) will give him a good environment to hopefully recover in. I'm sure you know already it is a myth that everything needs well scrubbed in his tank- clean the filter in used tank water and siphon off his poo from the gravel every water change. The less water they have the more water changes they will need. For one goldfish you are looking at around 50 litres tankspace to support him as they are big waste producers.

Best of Luck , hope he's well soon.

i_love_pigs!

Hi there. Thanks for the helpful replies and to the not so helpful soul saying about flushing down loo...do you not know thats a horrible death for a fish???

I have 5 fish altogether 3 fancy goldfish and 2 black moors in a good sized tank with filter and light. The ill fish I have had for about a year now, his brother died few months ago after acting the same way but died fairly quick. They look like cheese ball / puff snacks if you know what i mean. I recently added 2 new fish (the black moors) but he wasn't his usual self before that however he has got worse since the new additions. Could this be a coincidence?

I used some 'disease safe' from local pet shop which is for goldfish.

I feed them flakes but have got some pellets that i'll try. I was told or read a while ago to not feed them one day a week so i follow that through already.

He's still not looking good, I'll try some suggestions asap.

I leave the light on 8 hours a day should i turn it off if he's at the top?

Thanks very much for your time and suggestions, much appreciated

Laura

TheWaltons_3

i_love_pigs! wrote: »

Hi there. Thanks for the helpful replies and to the not so helpful soul saying about flushing down loo...do you not know thats a horrible death for a fish???

I have 5 fish altogether 3 fancy goldfish and 2 black moors in a good sized tank with filter and light. The ill fish I have had for about a year now, his brother died few months ago after acting the same way but died fairly quick. They look like cheese ball / puff snacks if you know what i mean. I recently added 2 new fish (the black moors) but he wasn't his usual self before that however he has got worse since the new additions. Could this be a coincidence?

I used some 'disease safe' from local pet shop which is for goldfish.

I feed them flakes but have got some pellets that i'll try. I was told or read a while ago to not feed them one day a week so i follow that through already.

He's still not looking good, I'll try some suggestions asap.

I leave the light on 8 hours a day should i turn it off if he's at the top?

Thanks very much for your time and suggestions, much appreciated

Laura

I have lost a Black Moor (probably going to lose another soon as I replaced their large rock before and whilst using the Magnet to clean around the Tank.. the rock had tippedonto the Moor, who couldn't move) too, 2 Pearlscale and a Redcap.

I don't know loads about them, but it isn't advisable to leave the light on much because this increases algae in the tank, so you will need to keep on top of it more.

tiamai_d

You could switch the light off during the summer if the tank is getting natural light, save on cleaning.

It may be less stressful for the sick fish, and if it makes you fell better why not? The others wont mind if the light is off.

You should keep your light off for a day when you add in new fish to reduce stress.

Blackmoors are lovely fish, but prone to whitespot,so keep your tank nice and healthy, and add some aquarium salt next time you do a water change. I go on about it, but it is cheap and handy to have. Also they are a lot more delicate when it comes to water variations, so keep a good routine of waterchanges, and a nice healthy filter system going and you should be fine.

Remember that some fish only have a lifespan of 2 years anyway, so it is sometimes down to old age too.

Chia

I have to disagree with TheWaltons about your 8-hour photoperiod being a problem - sunlight is much more of an issue when it comes to algae than aquarium lights, so 8 hours is just fine, do not worry about that. I do a 12-hour photoperiod and the only one of of my tanks with algae is the one near a window.

It is very possibly a swimbladder issue, so please do try some of the suggestions above such as adding some aquarium salt and feeding him peas to reduce any possible constipation.

Good luck!