New fantail goldfish, rescued

[jlk]

Your welcome!! Im goldie lover so i want whats best for ALL goldies!!!! Ok- aquarium salt for 2-3 wks along with pwcs to keep the water healthy & lots of gravel vaccumming to suck up eggs/parasites should be sufficinet to kill ich. If, after 2-3wks salt treatment it doesnt work (he may get worse initially), then we can consider other meds. Simple remedies first! It sounds like the right amount of salt (1tbsp per 5 gal is average)-i believe its a 15gal you have, right? When your ready to move them & their new home is setup, we will address moving! In prep, pick up some of those giant plastic ziplock-type bags (they have really big ones-i use them to store my daughters toys & games) & make sure you have a large bucket (two is better) to start!

 

[cabbagebutterfly]

60 litres so I think 13gallons in US and 15 in UK!
How many pwc? Daily? (presumably the amount to change is dependent on how the cycle is doing, but the vacuuming alone can just be enough to hoover the bottom)

(the tank only has some large 'pebbles' in, no actual gravel as yet. Should I take the plants out? (they're not expensive so am not fussed about their survival per se, more about their impact on the treatment success)

Do I just add more salt as I do pwc, or add more as I go along? I know something I read said 1tsp per gallon every 12 hours until it's the equiv. of 3tsp per gallon...?

re moving, we have some moving bags from the fish shop already and buckets at home (using the work bins atm)

 

[jlk]

Keep doing your pwcs to address any amm/nitrite issues & re-add salt per the amount removed (this may be a bit tricky here but aim for averages). So, if you remove 10gal, add back 2tbsp. Remove 5gal, then 1tbsp. For smaller amounts, i believe its around 1tsp (not tbsp) per gallon. If your not doing so already, make sure you remove a cup of tank water & dissolve the salt first before adding it to the tank (add slowly so the filter has time to circulate it). Im not familiar with the 3tsp per gal-that sounds like an awful lot of salt! The plants may not survive being salted, leave them be & if they survive, great! Btw, the salt will not affect your cycle or your bacteria. Keep us updated!

 

[cabbagebutterfly]

Hmmm, ich-y fish seems to be a lot more gaspy than he has been the last few days (or at least I am noticing it more). It shouldn't be the nitrite surely, it's only been about 2 hours since I did a 50% water change?

 

[jlk]

Check your water & see how it reads. If he is still doing this (gaspy, acting strange) before you leave, do another big pwc & skip the salt. He may just be having a hard time adjusting to the salt & it may need to be added more gradually (1/2 dose tommorrow instead after another pwc help with nitrite levels if they dont look good). Hope this helps!

 

[jsoong]

OK to treat ich with salt you need 0.3% ... which is 3 grams per liter. This generally works out to 2 teaspoons per gallon. 1 tablespoon per 5 gal is too low to reliably treat ich. It is best to weigh the salt ... at 60 l you want total of 180 gms.

However, you do not want to add all the salt at once. That will be too harsh on the fish. You want to increase the concentration by 0.1% per day ... ie add 1/3 of the amount everyday to build up the levels. With pwc, you maintain the actual salt concentration. So, if you remove 1 l of water at 0.3% salt, you add back 1 l of water with 0.3% salt added (ie 3 gms in the l).

There is also a need to account for evaporation with salt dosing. However, if you are doing daily pwc, the evaporation is likely minimal & can be ignored in the short term.

Gasping for air may be due to ich in the gills. This is not a usual reaction to salt. <Overdose with salt cause lethargy ... the fish passes out at high enough levels (generally 0.9% & up) ... This may be useful as a form of easy sedation for procedures.> I would start the salt treatment in spite of the gasping. <Although as stated before, not the entire dose at once!>

 

[cabbagebutterfly]

Well the fish are back at my house now Took them over yesterday and they are now in a 125litre tank (whilst our guppies and platys are hilariously in a 210litre tank!) They still look a bit shellshocked from the move, probably with a total change of water and size of tank, as well as the fact that I couldn't accustom them to the water before putting them in it as the tank would have overflowed! :| (there was just me, an open bag, cranky fish and a full tank)

Just a couple of questions really:

1. How are goldfish in tanks with gravel? It still has gravel in from the guppy/platy occupancy, but they do seem to be chewing on it and it's worrying me quite a lot. Are they ok with gravel, and if not, what's better?

2. How do you make a tank pleasant and fun for goldfish? Currently they have one plant and a lot of gravel...(oh and a very underpowered air pump but they're ignoring it's tiny trail of bubbles!)

Thank you very much indeed!

 

[jlk]

Hi Butterdly! Do you have large or small gravel? Goldfish will suck up smaller sized gravel & spit it out constantly on their search for food. I have large gravel in my main tank to keep them from doing this. I have heard they can choke on small gravel but i havee never experienced this personally. Sand is supposively the best for goldies but i have no experience with it yet (picking up new, used tank today that im going to do with sand). I think easy low-tech plants are the best thing to make a tank interesting & fun without alot of work. They hide in them, play in them & pick at them 24/7 & it makes it a more natural environment. Hope this helps! Enjoy your new fish!!!

 

[jsoong]

Gravel size is the key ... Something in the 1/4" (6-7mm) range might get stuck in the throat of goldies when they pick it up. to be safe, have smooth edged gravel of at least 1/2" (1.5 cm) in size <rocks with sharp edges can cut the long fins & or hurt the fish's mouth>, or something small (like coarse sand 1-2mm size).

I have Schultz Aqua-soil in mine, which is 2mm sand like particles, and is good for plants & for the fish to dig in. I have also river rocks of various sizes for decoration, anywhere from 1-4", and driftwood to form large "caves" for the fish to swim through. <Be careful of ornaments with small holes, goldfish can get stuck in them.>

My fish love rooting in the sand looking for bits of food. Plants are good, but do get ones with tough leaves or they will be eaten .... <For goldfish salad bar, get a veggie clip & put in some spinach or lettuce (blanch a bit if the leaves are tough) ... The fish loves to nibble on the leaves & will hopefully leave your plants alone. Plus veggies are good for them.>