Fish sick... but not sure from what

[FMJnaX]

I'll try to keep this short, but there's a lot of information:

We went on vacation from July 12th to August 1st. I had my wife's grandparents feed my fish (2 goldfish and 1 clown pleco), but not do any water changes or anything. We were fortunate enough to be able to stop in town for one night half way through vacation so I did get to do a water change during the time.

Once we got home, I did PWC's every 3 days to get rid of any solids and junk in the tank. Water params were steady during the entire process (0 ammonia, 0 nitrite, 10-30 nitrate).

About a week after getting home and just a few days after I quit the short-interval PWC's, my goldies started to lie at the bottom of the tank, back in the corner behind the wood. They seem to spend more and more time lying there as the days go by. I thought for sure it was signs of stress, but it hasn't let up any. My pleco doesn't behave out of the ordinary though.

All fish eat just fine. The goldies eat flakes, pellets, anti-parasitic pellets (every other day just as preventive medicine), and algae wafers (steal them from the pleco). The pleco eats veggies, algae wafers, and algae on my glass.

Water params are good at 0 ammonia, 0 nitrite, 10-30 nitrate. pH is stable (I quit injecting CO2 before vacation). Temp is about 73F and rises to about 76F during the day due to the summer heat. Filters are clean of debris. Plenty of O2 saturation from the two HOB filters (AC 200 and Penguin BioWheel 100).

No visible signs of disease. Poop is normal (little thick, but that's because I haven't fed veggies in a while). Gills are a good color. No streaking in the fins or anything. Bodies are not bloated. No ick, fungus, or any other notable exterior problems. When lying at the bottom, their fins are not clamped at all.

Breathing is normal, except for the goldies while laying at the bottom. When laying at the bottom, they'll breathe just a couple of times per minute. Scares me a lot because I think they're dead, but when I get close, I can see their eyes moving around and I'll catch the occasional breath. I thought it could have been lack of oxygen, but both filters are working great and there is PLENTY of surface agitation.

Both goldies swim, play, eat, etc just like normal... except now they lay at the bottom of the tank in the corner more than anything else. I know they've got to be sick, but what could it be? I'm out of ideas and things to look for. It just seems like they have taken a liking to sleeping on the gravel.

So, can anyone make something of this?

 

[odobenus]

So, can anyone make something of this?

Not in the least! But maybe asking some questions will help you think of something else... Have you alway fed the anti-parasitic flakes? Could they be a little, well, stuffed up from a long period without fresh veggies? Could it just be stress from so many pwc's?

 

[FMJnaX]

I've always fed anti-parasite pellets ever since my goldie in my avatar lost his eye to hole in the head (so about 3 or 4 months).

I'm sure they could be stuffed, but I've layed off the feeding for the last 3 days. I even went 48 hours without food. Still the same behavior. They don't look bloated either.

They could be stressed, but I don't see any tell tale signs of it (aside from lying at the bottom). They swim and play (in fact, I'm watching them right now play around and dig around in the gravel). Their color is very bold and bright. I'm kind of ruling stress out, even though I have no hard evidence to do so.

It's just really interesting. The ONLY other thing I can think of (and what I'll correct tomorrow) is that I have my water level so low (because I thought it was lack of oxygen) that the extra agitation is creating too much water movement for them to handle 24/7. This is why they are in the opposite corner behind the wood. I'll fill the water up more with the water change tomorrow. The only thing that shoots down this theory is that they were lying on the bottom BEFORE I dropped my water level to increase agitation.

This is just really confusing me and driving me nuts.... :?

 

[Devilishturtles]

Have you changed anything in the tank at all? Decorations, moved any of it around, anything like that? Any sort of contaiminant could have gotten in there, either from your skin or an outside source?

When you did your PWC's and readded water, are you positive that is was the same temperature? Do you use a python, and could have accidentally have either very hot or very cold water fill the tank?

Did you test your tank at the time you came home from vacation for the break, and then right when you got home again before you started water changes. Was the ammonia nil for the entire time?

Maybe you can try taking a sample of water to the LFS and get them to do one of those thorough readings on it, to see if anything out of the ordinary is wrong. Maybe you could call your local water and sewer authority(I think these are the right people to call) and see if the local water is being treated with anything, or has changed at all?

 

[Jchillin]

Gonna take a shot in the dark along DT's thought pattern. I'm thinking the ph has swung a little in the intervals between that initial PWC. Since the water had not been changed for a couple of weeks and you did one which brought on the onset of the condition?

 

[FMJnaX]

The pH suggestion is probably a good one because I did stop injecting CO2 just before leaving. I haven't started back again yet.

To answer DT's questions:
Water was good before I left and was the same when I got back in 1/2 way through. It was still the same when I got back at the end. I didn't check pH though so I can't say it was 100% the same. The nitrogen cycle numbers were the same though.

Nothing in the tank has changed. When I do a PWC, I put water in a 5 gal bucket and I test the temp and params before I put it in the tank (I treat the water as well). Temperature is steady except for the small flucuation during the day.

I'm going to go and purchase a master test kit today and start some daily tests to see if any numbers are being thrown off. It could be quite possible the the water company has done something that caused a change in the params from the tap. We'll find out soon I suppose.

Thanks for the tips!