Slight fraying to goldfish tails

[Deminox]

29 gal tank, cycled, get the water tested monthly, it's been "perfectly fine" for 4 months now. (There was a slight fluctuation when changing from my 10gal to the 29, and another slight fluctuation when adding fish but it's leveled out)

I have two medium sized fancy tails and a 1.5" long female bushy nose pleco. The pleco is fine (but wow she changes colors a lot!) Nothing wrong with her tail or fins. My two fancy tails have slightly frayed tails, just a few small splits here and there but that's it. I lost a goldfish a while ago to fin rot, happened almost overnight her whole tail was gone. I want to make sure that doesn't happen again.

I gravel vac half the tank each week which also removes about 4 gallons of water each time. I add aquarium salt back in every time for the volume of water i remove. I keep the temp at about 75, any lower and the heater legit just does not turn on.

Without adding meds any way to treat this, and is there an easy way to find the cause?

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[Delapool]

To go that quick would be a bacterial infection.

How are your fish at the moment at that temperature otherwise?

Otherwise first thing I would do is increase water changes. I found as the fish grew, the water changes had to be increased.

 

[jlk]

Do you have your own liquid test kit for your water parameters? 'Perfectly fine' according to most lfs testing with strips rarely ever is truthful or accurate. With very minimal water changes, my suspicion is there is an issue with your water quality that is causing the issues with their fins. Additionally, the use of salt which likely is at quite a heavy concentration right now is only further aggravating the situation.

I would start by increasing your water changes to daily of 30-40% with temperature matched properly conditioned water and stop the addition of salt completely. Unfortunately, without knowing the parameters of your tank or your tap water, I am hesitant to suggest larger water changes right now because there may additional water quality issues with your tap such as ammonia, acidic water or even nitrite and nitrate.

If you can provide exact numbers for your tap and tank for ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, and ph (gh/kh if possible), this would be very helpful in diagnosing your fish's condition properly and making more specific suggestions for aiding them. What type of diet do you feed them?

 

[Deminox]

We use Britta filtered water for all water changes. Takes longer but i never trust pure tap. I only replace as much salt as i remove water as it doesn't evaporate. As for testing, it's a locally owned pet store chain and they do the liquid drop tests across the board. Nites, amonia, ph, everything. It's like 6 different vials. I don't have the exact numbers from last time, but they let me know anytime anything is off.

I feed them shrimp pellets, and they share cucumer and zucchini with the pleco. Occasionally flakes and bloodworms, and once a month a few peas for digestion but with the cukes and zucchini they don't seem to need it.

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[Deminox]

The first one i lost she was stuck in a little ten gallon, it never fully cycled and the poor girl was hit by nitrate spikes, amonia spikes, her immune system was toast by the time i could get her a 30gal. But there hasn't been any measurable water quality issues since the 30gal cycled that's why I'm confused.

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[jlk]

Thanks! Do you have city or well water? Do you drink your water?

Unless there is something drastically wrong with your water, there should not be any reason not to use it along with a good water conditioner such as Prime. Using the 'filtered' water is actually creating problems. It filters out very acidic but then swings back to your taps ph within hours. It's also removing things necessary for fish health and tank stability and likely partially responsible for your present issues.

I would start by taking a sample of your tap (straight from the faucet) and a sample of your tank water to the your store. Then write down the specific numbers for ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, ph, kh and gh for each sample. Post them here and we will be able to further advise on your situation as it sounds like your water is the primary issue along with insufficient water changes. No more salt either as it's not needed nor is it providing any benefit to your fish.

In respect to their diet, shrimp pellets alone are not sufficient to cover their dietary needs. A quality sinking pellet (no flakes) along with daily veggies and some fresh proteins will cover all bases. Goldfish eat over 80% of their diet in vegetive matter in a natural environment so it's important to make sure your guys are getting their veggies regularly in addition to a food that covers nutritional aspects. Please ask any questions!!


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[Delapool]

Following

Out of interest how much salt are you adding? Also have you considered getting a water test kit? I find doing my own tests leads me to do more research as it all tends to be interconnected. I don't use each test every week but they are pretty easy to do any time I want to check anything.

 

[em1981ma]

If you want more ideas on veg. Goldie's love par cooked Broccoli, shelled peas and asparagus.

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[em1981ma]

Watch out for cucumber it rots v.quickly in tank water

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