goldfish problem

[mk1tom]

my goldfish hangs in water as though its dead, seems to do this mostly after feeding, i only feed small amounts of bloodworm as fish seems worse after eating flake food, ive treated the fish with swim bladder treatments,change water every week also tried revitaliser tonic but nothing seems to work, any ideas please ? thanks in advance. tommy

 

[jlk]

Hi Tommy! Welcome to AA!!! Can you please provide us some more info so we can better help you? Tank size? Stocking? Exact numbers for ammonia, nitrite, nitrate & ph? Water change schedule (%/#wk)? Diet (just bloodworms & flakes)? Are the bloodworms frozen or freeze dried? How long he has had these symptoms and does he have any other symptoms (bloating, red streaks, strange poop, etc)?

It sounds like he is having buoyancy issues specifically related to diet but some more info will help rule out any other possible concerns.

 

[mk1tom]

Hi, thanks for your reply, ammonia-0.25ppm, ph-7.6, nitrite-nearly-0ppm, nitrate-10ppm, i change water weekly, feed small amounts of (frozen) bloodworm daily(de-frosted first) as the fish seems worse if fed flake daily (1piece of flake) tank size 30ltr only 1 fish in tank, the fish has a large tail for its size and when this problem occurs the fish seems to be kinked over by its tailfin . the fish is about 4yrs old and has had this problem for about 2yrs and seems to be going slowly worse, also it doesnt seem to grow at all. many thanks Tommy

 

[mk1tom]

Hi , forgot to add ,no bloating, red streaks, or strange poop, just seems and looks normal, Thanks Tommy

 

[jlk]

Thank you, Tommy! Ok, bad news first. His tank is only @8g. This really is on the small side for goldie. 20+g is the general recommendation for one fancy. This is the main factor behind his lack of growth. For now, I would work on increasing your water changes to atleast 50%, atleast 2x a week. You have some ammonia in your tank & trace nitrite and these may be further influencing both his symptoms & his growth.

Second thing I would work on his diet. Fancies with buoyancy issues can sometimes be well managed by simply making changes in their diet. He is obviously affected by the flakes & I suspect any commercial dry food may have the same affect. You have a few options to try here. The first would be to switch him to a gelfood along with lots of daily veggies. You can either make your own (dont let this scare you- its very easy!) or purchase a commercial gelfood such as Repashy's soilent green. Some goldies do still have diet issues on the Repashy though. The other option would be to stick to a strictly natural varied diet consisting mainly of veggies along with fresh protiens (earthworms, bloodworms, human shrimp & fish). Heres some more info:

The Goldfish and Aquarium Board
Repashy Superfoods :: RETAIL :: By Product Type :: Fish Gel Food Premixes - Repashy Ventures - Distributor Center
http://www.myaquariumclub.com/goldfish-101-11174823.html

Sorry! The gab's links are not working correctly today for some reason (they frequently have website issues) but the link will take you to their site & you can search for 'gelfood recipes'

 

[mk1tom]

Hi, How long would you keep the 50% water changes going for ? Many thanks in advance. Tommy

 

[jlk]

Honestly? Indefinitely while he is living in his present tank. In a larger tank, you may be able to reduce them to once a week once your amm/nitrite are staying at zero. To give you an idea, I dont follow breeders standards for water changes (50-100% daily), but I do 75 & 100% water change on each my tanks every week. A bit extreme for most people but the importance of healthy water is the key to a fish's health. With ammonia & bit nitrite in your tank, you will need to work on keeping them in check with water changes. Hope this helps!

 

[mk1tom]

Hi, ive read a 25% weekly water change is ample but will change to 50% twice weekly from now on on, will try fish on "soylent green" and see how he gets on, how would i go about making my own "vedgie" food for this fish as you suggest in reply ? thanks Tommy

 

[jlk]

If you check out the GABs site, they have a bunch of recipes for making your homemade gelfood. For veggies, start offering him plain, cooked veggies daily (no salt, no canned stuff). Remove & replace every 12-24hrs. Pretty much any veggie is game- spinach, broccoli, zucchini, deshelled peas, carrots, peppers, aspargus, cauliflower, kale, etc. Just skip the heavy starches such as potatoes/corn or spicy stuff. I buy the steamable bags of frozen veggies & micro them then put them in a tupperware container in fridge- they last about a week. Or set aside some stuff when I make dinner. You can also offer fruits 1-2x a week, too. Oranges/tangerines are well loved in my house but bananas, soft apple/pear, grapes, berries, melon, etc work too.