My goldfish is unwell- please help!

[bantymum]

Does anyone know about goldfish?,
my dear little fish is a bubbleye (not sure of correct name for species) her or his dorsal fin is flattened to her back when it should be upright, she is hanging around bottom of tank as well and stops moving for lengthy periods. This has been happening for 2 weeks.
I only have her and another larger standard goldfish in the tank who is much more active.
It is winter here and Ive put a heater in there yesterday to make it comfy.24*c
I have changed water also.
I also noticed that 1 eye looks glazed and dull which is a pity, she has red lipstick (little lipshaped mouth) so cute.
Both are white with orange markings.
Any suggestions as to what is wrong????

 

[justusnak]

Go to your local pet store, where they sell fish, and or meds. There are several types of antibiotics on the market for fish. However, you might have to seperate her, and take out any filtration you have in there, due to the charcoal filters the meds out. Sounds like clampsia. Good luck with her.

 

[bantymum]

Thanks Deb,
She is looking much better now and the fin is coming out again to its former glory!
Ive actually purchased 5 more friends for them as Its a big tank and looked empty for just the 2 of them.
They are having a fishy party.
They love the heater and all hang around it.
Temps on 22 which is nice for them!
Thanks
Helen

 

[justusnak]

Fish party!

When we bought our home 2 years ago, it had a small pond. I had 6 or 7 ( cant remember now) goldfish in my other small walmart front yard pond. They made it through a winter in the small plastic pond, so I thought....what the heck! I bet they will love the bigger pond. BOY DO THEY!! What was 6 or 7....is now OVER 75 easily! I think they adapted well!

 

[WoodlandWoman]

I'm glad your fish is feeling better.

Have you checked your nitrate levels lately? Elevated nitrates cause a lot of problems with goldfish, as they get bigger.

 

[bantymum]

Thankyou
I havent got a nitrate kit but amonia levels are fine, however it is 100% new water so it hasnt cycled yet so Im expecting some amonia spikes.
Ive put in some armourcoat which helps and ill do 10% water changes until the bio filter kicks in
Thanks
Helen

 

[WoodlandWoman]

You probably already know all this, but as a new filter is cycling, levels of ammonia and then nitrite are the biggest problems. After a filter is cycled, nitrates become the biggest problem, especially with goldfish. They just develop such a huge body mass and need to eat so much food to maintain themselves, not to mention grow. Kept in higher nitrate levels, fish often develop secondary infections, as a reaction to the nitrate toxicity.

I've got a couple of ryukins in my living room right now. I can't believe how much trouble I'm having keeping their nitrates down!

I've had to change a lot more water than I thought I would at this point in their development. The fish we have in the ponds are a lot less work! It's worth it for me, though, to have Madge and Sandy hanging out with me all day.

 

[bantymum]

Thankyou woodlandwoman,
Yes I have had lots of experience cycling tanks.
I used to have an axalotyl called Petal
She was beautiful and it broke my heart when the drinking water here got loaded with whatever.
I did a water change 25% and lost her.
She was the hardest pet I have had to keep her comfortable.
The water temps were up in summer and it was so stressfull.
Im hoping my fishies will behave!!!

 

[WoodlandWoman]

Oh, I'm so sorry you lost Petal. That is such a sweet name! I don't know a lot about them, but I've seen photos. Was she one of the white ones?

I hope your fish behave, too.

Mine are begging. I'm going to give them a water change and then scoop a huge clump of duckweed out of the pond for them. They graze on it over a couple of days and always seem so happy. I'm not bringing in any bugs for them, though!

 

[bantymum]

Hi Woodland Woman, gee i love your name, it is me to a tee!!
Here is Petal